The Mulligan Family

A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10

2012-01-19T17:10:00.003-06:00

To all our faithful supporters, family, and friends, I apologize for the lack of updates from us. We have had an intense and trying first 3 months in Haiti. A lot has happened, and every time I sat down to write an update, I just couldn't get anything out. What do I really want to say? What am I "supposed" to say?

Well, in my last post I stated that the Lord prompted us to send our children home for a while after a string of armed robberies were happening to (mainly) missionaries in our area. Friends, was I ever thankful for this prompting and protection from God!

We feel that we need to share some details, as to accurately give due credit to the power of God and his protection over our family, friends, and the entire Hands & Feet Project, and what He has delivered us from.

A couple days after I returned to Haiti, my worst fear happened. At around 1am, a group of 7 armed men broke into our compound. They started in one of our girls' houses. It was a house that I happened to be sleeping in that night. About an hour and a half before that, I went up to sleep with one of our fellow missionaries, Stacie, because I couldn't sleep and I felt it would be a safe house to stay in if anything did happen. After all, the robbers were after money and electronics.....things that weren't really in that house...

It started with a loud crashing noise and Stacie and I flew off our bunk beds and scrambled into the shower where a lot of little girls poured in, and with trembling fear in their eyes, clung to us. We knew exactly what was happening the moment we heard the crash. It was our turn. The next thing we knew, there were 3 armed men, standing there demanding that the "white girls" come with them. They were leaving the children alone, so we immediately surrendered and with immense fear went where they drug us.

To be honest, the next hour was the scariest hour of my life. The men took us at gunpoint through our compound, demanding all the money we had, and stole anything else of value in sight. After us, they broke in and got Stephen. Later they took 2 very close friends of ours who flew in that day to help us put up additional security on our compound, and finally involved another fellow missionary shortly before leaving.

The scariest part was that everything we gave them never seemed to be enough. Visions of fellow missionaries' robbery reports flashed across my mind, and I was waiting for gunshots to start firing. Would it be me, my friends, my husband?

For the last half hour, we were surrounded by the armed men in the middle of our compound, while others were in looking for more money. Nowhere to go. Nothing to hide behind. We had never been in such a vulnerable state. Ever. Stacie started to get a little panicked at this point as her foot (later we found out was broken) was throbbing from the fall off the bunk, and we were feeling a super defeated and helpless. We were praying constantly since the first minute, but at this point of desperation, I started to pray out loud. At one point, I just started whispering Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is right HERE with us. Jesus.

Let me attest to the power in his name alone. In those moments I felt the presence of God in a way that I can't even describe. I literally felt this force-field type hug around my group of friends. Psalm 34:7 says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." We all are confident that the Lord sent angels to to "encamp around" us that night in the courtyard. Eventually the men let Stacie and I go, and we fled up to the girls room as fast as we could. A few minutes later, Stephen came up to tell us that all the men were gone. Not a single shot was fired, and not one of us were physically harmed directly from these men.

While I was praying in the middle of the compound that night, the thing that kept going through my mind was, "All we have is the armor of God." I will never read these verses the same again.

Ephesians 6:10-18 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

Now, don't get me wrong, we were terrified and felt super hopeless at times. But that night, I feel like God handed each one of us that shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Somehow, we each had this peace from God that passed all understanding. This peace that allowed us to stay calm in such an unfathomable situation. No matter what the outcome.

Moving forward.....the next day, under the direction of our director and board, we moved all the children off our compound and to our sister site in Grand Goave. We stayed there for about a month. Grady, Ella, and Mikah remained in the states with my parents during this time. Stephen and I got the opportunity to go home for about six days for some counseling and rest during this time period as well. When we returned, we worked on sprucing up our compound, had an amazing group from Washington come and help re-paint each of our houses and build new lockers for EACH of the 66 kids at Hands & Feet. We got some full time security, the robberies died off (we've heard positive reports this group has pretty much been caught) and a couple days before Christmas, all our children returned back home, to new houses and Grady, Ella, and Mikah returned with my parents!

Yes, that was the extremely SHORT version of what happened after the robbery :) It was a difficult process to work through, and we're still working through it, but we have strongly felt the Lord's hand on us throughout ALL that has happened. He took our children out of the situation, and also protected us and the rest of our staff and children. In all honesty, we've wanted to run back to perceived safety in the States, but we cannot deny God's presence walking along side us here. This is where He wants us, and He continues to show us this every day. We've experienced many arrows thrown at us, but our battle is certainly not against flesh and blood, but against the evil one. And the Lord has already claimed that victory for us.

So for now....we continue to walk out one day at a time. God has turned this awful event around and used it for GOOD and his purposes! More on that to come in a different post!

A HUGE thank you for all you that have continued to walk along side us in prayer and support....even with a lack of updates.

And I promise to keep you all more informed of the every day adventures in our lives and how God is moving at the Hands & Feet Project :)

the move, transition, and the unexpected...

2011-11-13T09:35:00.001-06:00

I need to apologize to all of our amazing supporters, family, and friends that I am just now getting around to making a post since our arrival in Haiti. We arrived close to three weeks ago, and it feels like we've lived in Haiti a year already! It's been a whirlwind and there is so much to share, so I will break it down:

The Move:

We had four wonderful friends travel over to help us with our initial move. Curt, Nancie, Kyle, and Katie. We cannot thank them enough for their sacrifice of time and money to support us in this move. From luggage problems in Miami, almost not making our flight to Port-au-Prince (ohhh boy), unpacking our stuff, cleaning our apartment, watching our kids, bathing our kids, entertaining our kids, doing projects around Hands & Feet.....they were such a blessing and gave some amazing moral support! From the bottom of our hearts we thank you guys!!

The Transition:
It hasn't been an easy move. As we've stepped into our position there have been inevitable challenges....and let's face it: we're directing an orphanage with close to 70 children - there's going to be tons of challenges! Days are long and there's always lots to do: from bringing sick kids to the doctor (and another doctor, and another all in one night to get the child accurately treated) to getting supplies, to payroll, to staff meetings. We also must not forget stopping in the middle of business to love on a kid who's having a rough day. It's crazy, but we're loving it. We already love each and every one of the Hands and Feet kids (we've seen quite a few of them grow up over the last five years too) and we're beginning some good relationships with our Haitian staff.

Our children (as in Grady, Ella, and Mikah :) have done amazingly well in the transition. Even better than we anticipated. They were of course a little reserved at first, but a couple days into it I started having a hard time getting Grady to come inside for supper. He would rather play with all the boys outside! Not a bad problem for this mommy to see! He loves playing with the older boys - and it probably helps that they are the ones that have some good English-speaking skills. I heard him speak his first Creole word without prompting in the second week. He opened up the front door and our dog, T-Bone, came up to him. Grady said, "T-Bone, Alé!" (T-Bone, Go!) It cracked me up. The girls have done very well, too. They love to go upstairs with one of our nannies, Francine, to play!

The Unexpected:
Some of you may know that there have been some unanticipated events in the first 2 weeks of our move. The area we moved to has been a very peaceful and safe area. Unfortunately, there have been a string of armed robberies in the past few weeks. American missionaries have mainly been targeted. We've been on it, trying to "up" our security even though we live in a fairly secure compound. After the third armed robbery (to missionaries in the area we know) happened last week, we started getting quite a bit more concerned. They've appeared to be getting more frequent and bold. After a bunch of prayer and talking with our director, we decided it was best to send our kids home for a while. It was a very, very tough decision. We decided that they needed to be in a safe place while we get some additional security measures in place, and even wait to see if the dust settles with this group of intruders. The UN has started a night patrol of the area, and the town police have shown up when called to the robbery situations. We're praying that these men are found and pay for their crimes, but even more importantly that somehow their hearts would turn toward God. I brought the kids home last Thursday, made it all the way home on Friday, and leave early tomorrow morning to return to Haiti. I (along with Stephen) am going through some pretty raw emotions right now as we will be apart from the kids for a while. They have loved Haiti, the kids, and are doing sooo well. We don't want to confuse them or anyone else that will be rattled by this situation, but are very comforted knowing they're safe while we figure situations out in Haiti. After all, we've only lived here about 3 weeks. We're hoping for them to return in a few short weeks...but will play it by ear. We will not bring them back until we're confident to do so. In the meantime, it's very hard on us as we have a job to do in Haiti and a bunch of very special kids to take care of. We're praying for things to be settled as soon as possible.

SO........we're calling out for some huge prayers over this situation. For us, our kids, Haitian kids, staff, and all area missionaries. We almost didn't want to share this crazy news, but know that Satan likes deceit. We want people to know the truth and how to specifically pray for us! Pray for safety, for our kids and family back home, for peace in the hearts of those who have been robbed and are fearful as they try to move forward, for the men to be caught and arrested, as well as their hearts - we know they need a savior just as we do!

I've struggled as we've dealt with this whirlwind JUST as we got to the mission field. WHY, God? That's been a pretty common question in my heart these days. I was reassured this weekend, by the book of Isaiah:

⁶ Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
   and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
   and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

In my mind, this situation is ridiculous. Why now? Why would God allow this to happen? Right as we moved our family down? But God's thoughts are not my thoughts, His ways are not mine. No, God is not responsible for the evil-doing, but I'm confident that He has a way in which to work this situation out for His glory! I'm not sure how yet....but I know it will be done. I'm confident. Until then......we appreciate all your prayers!

if we are faithless, He remains faithful

2011-10-18T00:20:00.000-05:00

If I could find a book entitled, "Moving Your Family to a Third World Country for Dummies" I would buy it. Strangely enough, I haven't found one. Ok, I'm sure even if it existed, it wouldn't make the process any easier! Instead, we'll keep plugging away, making a new 'to do' list each day, and pray that everything is miraculously taken care of by next Tuesday!

One week left.

Have I mentioned how stressful this process has been? Have I also mentioned how throughout all the stressors, God has remained faithful and shown up in His perfect timing to work out details from big to little. He's shown up just when we need him to give us encouragement. To take something off our plate. To calm our fears.

I was reading in 2 Timothy tonight. 2 Timothy 2:1 says: "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." How poweful is that? Even when I'm faithless, God is still faithful!

This past week has especially been a roller coaster for us. Let's just say that a few short nights ago, we were so discouraged that we didn't think we could go to Haiti. I ashamedly admit we were nearing that faithless point. "If God wants us in Haiti, how come our house isn't sold/rented? There's only one week left! Should we really go? There's a lot of issues to work through in Haiti once we get there. It would feel safer and more known if we just stay in the US. Can we do it? Can God really use the Mulligan family for these tasks and His purposes there?"

Doubt. Fear. Faithlessness. It all crept in. We sat on our (empty) bedroom floor praying that God would answer just ONE of our unknowns right now. Just one. Then, a day later God revealed His faithfulness when my faith was almost gone. A perfect renter came to us, signing a year lease with the potential of adding a second year. An older couple that needs to move closer to family from out of state. God had this planned all along, and it wasn't just about US needing to rent our house, but about THEM needing to find a place this past week. Funny when you get reminded how life isn't all about ME! :)

The verse in 2 Timothy was written by Paul (in a letter to a pastor named Timothy) when he was in prison in Rome. At the time he was expecting that in a short while he would be executed for his faith. He wanted Timothy to know that trials and hardships are a normal part of life. He encouraged him to stand firm and faithfully follow Christ even through those hardships. Something that Paul was such a testimony to. Did I mention Paul was expecting to be executed for his faith while he wrote this???....."God remains faithful"

I'm so glad I have that nugget of truth to hold on to. We've been scared....but we're surely not facing execution (as Paul was) for serving orphans in Haiti. Yet Paul stood firm in His faith in God. You see, all the "roller coasters" we've been on over the past few weeks have served a purpose. I truly believe God has wanted us in a place where we can't do any more in our own powers or manipulations. Where we depend solely on Him to provide what we need next. We're not accustomed to that dependency in the US. We can do a whole lot on our own with our resources and create a false little bubble of security. Haitians know that dependency, though. They depend on Him daily as they lack the resources to create a security bubble. God has wanted us to look to Him FIRST and trust in the him for everything we need. We've been in that state of dependency. Badly. He has remained faithful, and I love the place it has left us. Craving him more. Loving him more. Depending on him more - for everything!

What a refining process it's been. I know there's a lot more refining to do, as always, so please pray for us in the roller coasters to come! We're excited as we enter our last week in the states with energy and confidence in our new journey.

We're excited to get rolling in Haiti. Please pray for our staff in the coming week. Our Haitian staff and American staff. That we would all click as a family and that we can work together for the common purpose of caring for the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti with the love of Christ, and to ultimately Glorify God.

Countdown Begins!

2011-10-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

It's official. We are IN the month that we leave for Haiti. It all seems a little surreal at this point. We move on October 25th. I have to admit, I haven't changed over our family calendar to October because it makes me so sad! Don't get me wrong, we are super excited for our move....but with it comes some inevitable sad goodbye's. We are blessed with some amazing family and friends who will be extremely hard to leave. Anyway, moving forward......

Two weeks ago, we packed up our house (or at least a few items from our house that will fit in our apartment!) and loaded them on a truck being shipped to Haiti! We were so blessed by the people that donated this moving truck to ship over supplies to our H&F sites, and that we were able to use some space on the truck to send over stuff for our apartment. We also had a great lunch with Drex and Jo (H&F's trip coordinators who originally started the site we will be the directors of) who were driving the truck across the country. It will soon be in Florida and then on it's way across the Caribbean!

We are pushing through our last few weeks here in the states finishing up our fundraising. Before the update, I need to do a little 'shout out'. God has extremely blessed us with a wonderful team of sacrificial ministry supporters who are partnering with us financially. A very sincere THANK YOU to each and every one of you that have joined our team with a one time gift and those who are giving monthly/yearly to our ministry. We couldn't do this without each and every one of you. You truly are a huge part of being the Hands & Feet of Christ to our children in Haiti. We are praying for all of you.

We are getting so close to having our full budget raised! Our monthly need is $5800. When all of our current pledges come in, we are about 10 people at $100/ a month away from being 100% supported! If you would be interested in joining our team, please let us know. Of course, it doesn't have to that specific amount. You can check out our page on the website at: https://handsandfeetproject.org/stephen-and-carrie-mulligan/ You can sign up online from that link, or we can send you a form to fill out and send to our stateside office which is in Franklin, TN. All contributions go through The Hands and Feet Project (a 501(c)(3) organization) and are tax deductible. Our email is csmulligan@gmail.com. Please feel free to contact us with any question you may have and we will be happy to give answers :)

OK, I promise we won't be using this blog in the future as a way to fundraise, we've just recently had many questions about how the support raising is going. It is truly a necessary part in enabling us to do our job, which is ministry to the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti. We are praying that God will close the last gap in fundraising and bring us the needed supporters to be fully funded by the time we depart on October 25th.

With that, as I said, we're counting down. Our final days are being scheduled to the max to get everything accomplished. No day taken for granted, enjoying every moment with family and friends before we move across the sea!

Please pray for safety for our family in the move. For us as we transition into a new culture. For our kids as they transition into a new culture. For the huge task we have ahead of us as the directors of a children's village that is responsible for nearly 70 children. For the current Haitian and American staff down at H&F as they care for our amazing children. For the children that they are given the best care and family possible. For peace for our family back home as we leave the country. That God would take some very imperfect people and accomplish His will in Haiti.

Thank you for all the prayers and support!

I have to leave you with a picture of the kids in a wedding a couple weeks ago! Aren't they precious? Congrats Melissa and Andy :)

eye of the hurricane

2011-08-24T14:56:00.001-05:00

Life has been a bit overwhelming for us lately. That could even be a bit of an understatement.

It has been a daunting task to get all the details together to move to a third world country, fundraise a large sum of money, raise our family, try to sell our house, as well as Stephen working many hours a week on a big project that is currently paying our bills "in between" jobs.

Then there's the drama in between it all. Doing life with a bunch of imperfect humans wouldn't be complete without it. I'll admit it, we have felt very defeated over the past few weeks. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually defeated. We're getting ready to head out on an exciting adventure in Haiti the Lord is sending us on. We're confident in the calling and many details are falling into place, but we've been caught in the chaos of life around us. Wednesday a bunch of issues and disappointments all got the best of me and let's face it......I was perfectly content in the land of a personal pity party.

Then this song I've never heard before came on the radio as I got in my car that evening (here's the first couple verses):

Feels like the hurricane has come,
Feels like this ship is sinking,
These skies seem they are empty of your mercy tonight,
Sometimes the mystery of grace runs deeper then I am thinking,
In the dark I find your light,

(Chorus)
When I am over my head yeah,
I am waiting for a miracle,
I am fighting the wind and the waves,
Then the weight of this storm drives me straight to your arms,
You hold me I know that I am safe in the eye of the hurricane,
In the eye of the hurricane.

Sometimes I am crying for relief,
God let this night be over,
One word if you would speak could silence the storm,
Instead your mercy has a way of turning heart ache to faith,
So that hope will be reborn,

The phrase just made me instantly melt in my Father's arms: "Then the weight of this storm drives me straight to your arms."

I knew that's exactly where I needed to be. Pity parties never really get me anywhere! God reminded me that we're ALL imperfect and I can't put my complete faith in any person other than Him. Just as nobody could ever put their faith in me as I will surely let them down. So I rested in the Lords arms that night. When I got home, Joshua 1:9 popped out at me from something I was going through in our fundraising tasks: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

It's amazing how refreshing that is. How can I lose sight of that so easily? I'm so thankful I have a God whose arms I have to run to "wherever I go".

What's your hurricane? We all have them going on. My "hurricane" probably sounds silly to the storms facing others right now. I encourage you to run to your savior's arms today and rest in the "eye of the hurricane." It's a great place to be!

funny of the day

2011-06-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

Conversation of the day: (to set the scene, we were driving past the courthouse, aka: Ella's castle)

Ella: I'm going to have a wedding at my castle.....and Jayden (cousin) is going to dance with me....and I'm going to wear a princess dress and be a princess just like you were mommy.....and Grady's going to be a prince.

Grady: Noooooooooo (in disgust)! I'm NOT going to be a PRINCE! I'm going to be SPIDERMAN! And I'm going to have a wedding at a basketball game!!!

Enough said, I guess. We couldn't have twins with more of a girly girl and a completely opposite "all boy" boy!

Moving Forward

2011-06-22T00:13:00.002-05:00

It's been quite a while since I have posted. Let's just say it's been a crazy few months. Here's the rundown since our last post:

-Stephen's been crazy busy with work!

-When not at work/traveling around for work, he's been working on finishing up loose ends on our house. I have an awesome husband!

-We've been attempting to check things off our Haiti list in our spare? time (kids' shots, fund-raising prep, etc).

-We had a successful garage sale getting rid of a lot of the excess!

-We've made trips to Indiana (fund-raising seminar), Tennessee (take care of some Haiti business), and Kentucky (orphan summit <-------awesome!)

-Had a fun and special weekend in Illinois with my family for my Grandma's 90th B-day

-Mikah turned two :)

-Twins started swimming lessons :)

-Stephen took a trip to the boundary waters with a group of guys from our church

-AND, we officially got our house listed today!

I know there's plenty of things I've left out, but those are the big ones. We've also managed to keep three kids alive and thriving :) That's a big enough task in itself! In other big news, Stephen has 8 days left of work at InVision! It's going to be a bittersweet end, but I am looking forward to having my husband around and to be able to devote the time needed to fully prepare for our move. Please pray for our family during this transition that is coming faster than we ever anticipated. Pray for our marriage, our kids, and that all the details we need to work out would fall into place.

Also, check out Hands and Feet's new website! It just launched this past week and is pretty cool.

I'll leave you with a conversation Grady and I had on our way to the store tonight:

G: Who's truck is that mommy?

Me: Um, that's Aaron's truck.

G: Daddy sold his truck because we're going to Haiti, and we love Haiti, mommy. And all the kids there.

(funny fact: Stephen didn't sell his truck to move to Haiti. His truck died like 5 months ago!)

A New Journey

2011-03-27T16:02:00.005-05:00

I've been thinking for a long time on how to even make this post. Well, without babbling on for days that is. The simplest and most sincere way to put it is this:

We are moved.

Five years ago, Stephen and I made our first trip to Haiti. We instantly fell in love with the people and culture. Since that first trip, it is crazy for us to look back and see that God has been shaping and refining us for the last five years to serve somewhere in the country full time. It wasn't something we planned out, but something that God was planning out for us. Over this past year, God has specifically burdened our hearts for the orphan and the social injustices of the world. As parents it breaks our hearts, just as it does our Father's heart, for the thousands upon thousands of children in our world that have not one person to advocate for them.

Psalm 82:3 says, "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed."

We are moved.

Our family has the opportunity to serve at at a children's village in Cyvadier, Haiti called The Hands and Feet Project. Their mission exists to care for orphans and abandoned children of the world with the love of Christ. The vision is to raise a generation of orphans who will grow into men and women who will have a relationship with Christ and be leaders in their communities. The Hands and Feet Project has a big impact on the community around them, employing 40 + people in an otherwise job-scarce country.

Stephen and I truly believe in this mission and are humbled by the opportunity to join their team full-time. With the burden of our hearts, we are excited to use the skills God has given us to advance His kingdom....in Haiti. Hands and Feet currently has one main site in Cyvadier with 50+ kids and a new site in Grand Goave with 31 kids. Stephen will be the project manager for these sites as well as dealing with daily needs around the orphanage. My role will evolve as we get there including tutoring the kids, working with the nanny's, the many short-term groups that come throughout the year etc. Grady, Ella, and Mikah's role: to be kids, make lots of new friends, and spend more time with their daddy than they currently get to :)

Our move date is October, 2011. Now let me tell you dear friends and family, we of course have some fears! We know it seems a little crazy to move our family of five to the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and the reality of our move is hitting closer and closer to home as our plans move forward each day. With each and every fear though, God confirms to us each day that this is His will for our lives right now. We have had friends, family, and even somewhat strangers ask if they can financially support our mission before we have even launched our funding endeavors. God is good, and He continues to tell us to fear not, for "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). We know in this journey we will face many trials, some of which are currently known and some unknown. But we know where our Hope and future lies, and with that in our hearts we are confidently abandoning our lives as we once knew it and embracing the journey God has in front of us.

Our prayer as you read this, is that you will join us on this journey. We are extremely blessed to have loving family and friends in our lives and we will continue to update this family blog regularly along the way.

Blessings,
Carrie & Family

Birthday Parties!

2011-02-14T15:57:00.001-06:00

Grady and Ella got to celebrate their birthday three times for their third birthday! It started with a celebration with mommy on the actual day, followed by a party at our house the next day, and one at Grandma and Grandpa Mulligan's a few days later. It was more of a birthday week :) I now have two super-big three-year-olds! Gotta love them :)

As requested, a Ming-Ming duckling cake for Ella...

...and a dinosaur cake for Grady!

fun in the sun......i mean blizzard

2011-02-02T10:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, the girls had a blizzard party. What winter storm party is complete without bathing suits?

Don't you wish you looked this cute in a bikini in the middle of winter?

Mmmm, a bowl full of cheese :)

Ella loved being in her swimming suit all afternoon, but was pretty disappointed we weren't ACTUALLY going swimming.

cloudy with a chance of pizza

2011-01-26T15:06:00.000-06:00

I don't find much time to blog about all the crazy happenings and funny things that come out of my kids' mouths, (heaven knows we're not lacking for stories in this crazy home) but I really wish I would write some of the silly things down more often. So without further ado; a story from this morning!

To set the scene, our house has been pretty chaotic for the last three weeks. Stephen has been working late hours and he's started teaching another class at UNI for the spring semester. There have been at least three nights out of the week over the past 3 weeks that he hasn't been home until after the kids are in bed. This has made it extremely difficult to stay on top of the cleaning and errands that need to be done, as I've just been in survival mode. Oh yeah...have I mentioned that we've only had one vehicle for quite some time now? We haven't had a full refrigerator or cupboards in a while....and even if I could muster up the ambition to bring my three small toddlers to the grocery store, I don't have a way to get there during the day and our grocery store closes at 9pm. Ok, I'm not whining. Just setting the stage for our morning :)

I once again wanted to get to the grocery store last night, but Stephen wasn't home until 8:00 and I couldn't make it in time. This morning we were at an all time low for food. I was struggling to figure out what to put together for the kids for lunch. Stephen happened to be working in the area this morning, so I called and asked if he could stop by the store and grab something for lunch for the kids before he left for Waterloo. He said that he'd grab a frozen pizza and leave it on the front step so he could get on the road asap. I heard a knock at the door and thought he had changed his mind and decided to come inside. I told Grady to go open the door, so he ran to the door and found a bag.

"Moooommmm!!! I found a PIZZA! It dropped. It got dropped by the sky!!!!!! I found it!!" Then Ella joined in, chattering away about the pizza that dropped from the sky. I haven't laughed so hard in ages. Oh, to be a kid and actually believe that a frozen pizza in a Fareway sack dropped out of the sky. I just played along and we had a magical lunch time :)

Happy Birthday Grady & Ella!

2011-01-18T10:01:00.000-06:00

3 years ago

Now!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Grady & Ella! Three years ago today, you guys made quite an entrance to this world and we've had a crazy, fun journey ever since. I've been blessed to see you grow from little helpless babies, to little tiny people. Ella, you make me laugh every day with your funny conversations, belly laughs, attention to detail, and love for learning. I know and pray that God will shape and use that strong will of yours for something amazing some day! Grady, you're a pretty funny BOY! You sure know how to balance out all the girly activities during the day by "rooaaaarrr"ing at the girls like a dinosaur when you're frustrated or turning their play cookies into basketballs. But, you have such a tender heart that will (in the VERY distant future) make you an amazing husband and daddy someday!

Life is always a little chaotic as you now know that you are 'twins', but you guys make quite the pair! I love you both so incredibly much! Happy Birthday! Love, Mommy

Pumpkin Patch

2010-12-20T11:27:00.001-06:00

Some fun before the snow arrived at the pumpkin patch!

Fun on the train with friends Alaina and Noelle

I'm a superhero, flying around....

2010-11-10T14:16:00.005-06:00

Anyone else listen to that crazy Go Fish song? The twins love the superhero song. If you don't know what I'm talking about, buy the Go Fish Snazzy cd for your kids for Christmas and have a dance party with them :) Anyway, when that song is on, it's always accompanied by blankets tied around their necks as capes, and they fly around and around the island in the kitchen until the song is over. Yes, just a typical day in our house! When I saw these costumes at Walmart in a bin for $1, I couldn't help but get them.

My super heroes! Wonder Woman and Spiderman :)

Ella really wanted me to take a picture of her cape!

Halloween Fun :)

2010-11-01T11:28:00.003-05:00

Some photos of our Halloween fun! Thing 1 and Thing 2 loved their costumes (especially the blue hair) as they really like watching "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" lately! They had so much fun trick or treating. They were astonished at all the people just handing them candy! I think I had just about as much fun watching them :)

Our cute little pink kitty who was a little under the weather :(

With their buddy The Cat in the Hat (Johnnie)

Met up with cousins Wolverine and Dorothy while trick or treating!

One day in the Mulligan household...

2010-10-19T20:30:00.002-05:00

Yes, this was my day. October 19, 2010....

I found this after I got done giving Mikah a bath this morning. Yes, a new carton of eggs all smashed on the floor! (Notice the two responsible for this mess are not in the picture. I did not want them to think I found this amusing!)

Later in the day while I was making supper. I knew the cheerios had been dumped, but I was trying to get lasagna in the oven. I thought Mikah was sitting there eating the cheerios; little did I know a new mess was being created!

I'm going to bed :)

Does it get any cuter than this?

2010-09-14T23:11:00.003-05:00

A little PB & J smootch at lunch time today. They love each other.....and I love them :)

Bedtime Fun

2010-08-05T09:44:00.002-05:00

There's just something sweet about lots of giggles before bedtime :)

Birthday Party

2010-07-26T14:18:00.006-05:00

Mikah's birthday party was definitely two months ago, but hey, a late post is better than nothing, right? It's been a crazy summer for us! Here are some bittersweet pictures from a great birthday party at our cabin (which is pretty much a loss after the flood this weekend). We had a fun afternoon celebrating the first year of our sweet Mikah's life :)

I'm one!

Uncle Joey helping Ella swing at the pinata.

Grady didn't need any help!

Candy!

Fun with water balloons

Sisters :)

Hanging out with Grandma

Presents!

Mmmm....hot dogs........

.......and cake!

Cousins - Grady (nice pic by the way), Jayden, Mikah, Halle, and Ella

Stephen, the twins, and Uncle Phil chilling on the dock

It was a good day!

Happy Birthday, Mikah!

ONE tough baby!

2010-05-29T23:51:00.008-05:00

Our baby girl is ONE today! She has made it a whole year in this crazy household. Yes, there have been bumps and bruises, pacifier stealing, hits, and shoves down on the hardwood floor....but there have also been lots of hugs, kisses, "Sowwy, Mikah" and "Dove you, Mikah". We've got one sweet little peanut with lots of people who love her very much.

We don't know what we'd do without you - Happy Birthday, Mikah :)

I love this picture...Grady and Ella are so intent on reading to her, and I can just see a little thought bubble saying, "Mommy, please help me!"

thursday morning song time

2010-05-06T15:19:00.003-05:00

Grady and Ella have recently loved singing "twinkle, twinkle little star" and "the itsy bitsy spider". Here is a snipet of video from singing this morning. Just a warning...they sing/shout pretty loud! (Notice the little helper in the corner!)

And don't mind the fact that they're not dressed yet. I do dress my kids.........most days :)

future doctor?

2010-04-16T12:47:00.002-05:00

I don't know if it's the excessive amounts of time we've spent in the hospital, or what, but Grady and Ella love to play with this stethoscope. They put it up to each other and say, "listen, heart".
Yesterday they were doing this for an especially long time, and it was pretty cute so I had to get the camera out......

Right after I took the first picture, Ella said, "Grady around....listen back" I had to try really hard not to laugh! Ella remembers everything!

Easter

2010-04-05T21:43:00.005-05:00

The best family picture we could get..... :)

Happy Easter!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you" 1 Peter 1:3-4

sneaky baby

2010-03-23T23:59:00.003-05:00

Tonight Grady and Ella got a pudding treat after dinner. I was cleaning some stuff up in the kitchen when I noticed Mikah...... If I would have found the twins in this scenario at 9 months, I probably would have freaked out, but I just decided to get the camera instead! I'm pretty sure there was more on her face than could have gotten in her mouth :)

First night alone.

2010-03-08T20:29:00.003-06:00

Carrie has stepped up to lead a group of 6 to Macau China to partner with Jan Roys, a missionary from our church. I took them to the airport yesterday morning and got confirmation this afternoon that they arrived safely. You can follow their trip at http://www.macau2010.blogspot.com/

The kids spent the night at Carrie's mom's house last night and I went to bible study. It was a sad and lonely night coming home to an empty house. She has only been gone for a day but has seemed like eternity. I'm not going to lie, life is hard as a young family. 3 kids are a lot of work and Carrie does such an amazing job as a mom. I have yet to know how she does everything and still has the sanity to get up and do it again the next day.

Tonight I'm home alone again as her mom is going to watch the kids tomorrow too. It was just easier to have them spend the night there than trying to coordinate in the morning.

I miss her so much. Miss having someone in the passengers seat when I'm driving, someone to talk to at night, laugh with, someone to watch TV with, read with, cuddle with. You don't realize how much you love someone until they are gone. God works in crazy timing and I needed to realize how much I love her right now.

Pray for their mission, that God would use this group to impact generations to come and his name be known. Pray for his will and that every circumstance would deepen our intimacy with Christ.

Stephen

oh, grady!

2010-02-24T11:42:00.006-06:00

On Sunday afternoon we wrapped up yet another stay in the hospital for Grady. I brought him into the doctor Monday morning of last week and was not prepared to be sent over to the hospital for six nights from the doctor's office. Yes, I believe Grady has spent somewhere around 27 days in the hospital in his short two years here.....which has many of you asking, "Why in the world is he getting pneumonia and being hospitalized so often?"

Well, we have a little better grip on what's going on after this last visit. They've diagnosed him with "restrictive (or reactive) airway disease". No, this is not asthma. It's actually just kind of a fancy term used as a specific diagnosis can't be made - if you can make sense of that! In Grady's case, he has had a history of very labored breathing and wheezing when he gets sick...causing him to be a lot worse off than when the average kid gets sick. We've adopted a nebulizer at home because of this and need to use it to help him breath almost every time he gets sick. For the first couple of bad illnesses, they called it "bronchialitis". Since it has been a recurring thing, his doctor now classifies him as having this "restrictive airway disease". Yes, he has had pneumonia as well, and although he's been on antibiotics each time, they don't believe these bouts have been true bacterial pneumonia, probably just viral. The steroids and breathing treatments are what it took to get this kid back to normal.

Anyway, his doctor has explained to me that as Grady grows, his airways will get bigger and will hopefully outgrow these problems. Good news! For now, we've started him on some preventative medicine that he takes each day to hopefully prevent future hospitalizations.

Grady is a true trooper at the hospital.....and if I might add, a favorite patient among the nurses! We're so happy he's better, and so are his sisters! Thanks for all your prayers, help, and all the generous offers of help over the last couple weeks. We're so blessed to have a great support system!

Grady getting a surprise visit by Ella.

Showing her his cool play room at the hospital

Our last night here, and on the mend! I think he's going to miss the ice cream at every meal!

I think he was getting a little bored in the play room when he wanted to be in the baby swing!

Ready to go home!

Bye-bye hospital!

The night we got home, he wouldn't take off Ella's sunglasses for anything! He's getting good at giving himself the nebulizer treatments!

Back to playing "jumping janes" in Ellas crib! I love you, sister!

Birthday Party

2010-02-12T08:21:00.004-06:00

A Dora & Diego party with pizza.....all our favorites!

"Dowa cake!" as exclaimed by Ella

Ok, you can eat with your foot on the table on your birthday!

The cake of shame......long story short - four cakes later as two cakes stuck to the cake pan on the way out....the Diego cake mommy was making didn't get finished in time :( Mommy shed a few tears when she realized his cake wouldn't be done in time. Daddy saved the day pleading with a HyVee bakery person to change a truck cake into a Diego cake! They did it, and guess what? I don't think Grady cared that his cake wasn't made by mommy. Ohhhh the things we do "for our kids" which we're actually doing for ourself! It's time to be honest :)

He actually really liked the plastic toys on the cake! Can you believed I even debated finishing his Diego cake after the party to take a picture and make it look as if I finished his cake in our photo memories? Hehe..

Out sweet little, big boy!

Dancing on the couch! Wish I would have gotten a good picture of them with their cousins at the party....anyone have one to send me?

Ending the night with quite possibly our favorite presents....the electric toothbrushes!

mikah!

2010-02-02T09:09:00.008-06:00

Our sweet baby Mikah just turned 8 months. Wow, does the "baby" time sure fly by fast!

She is turning into a little person right before our eyes and sure keeps me on my toes as she is into everything. She likes to follow Grady and Ella around, which they are not always so fond of. I think they liked her a lot better when she was a little blob lying in a bouncy seat and out of their way! They're very sweet to her when she's drinking a bottle and like to help.....but look out if she wants their toy. (Ok, as I type this she just got a lego thrown at her -luckily Ella doesn't have great aim!)

I think this could be the month she walks as well, (which seems way too early to me) as she experiments letting go and standing on her own for longer periods of time each day. She is very pleased with herself :) I don't know how we lucked out with such great babes, but Mikah is honestly the most content, happy baby in the world. I have to consciously take time in the day to stop and play with her individually, because she would never complain if I didn't.

Here are some of Mikah's adorable six month pictures taken by Ashley Schrage. http://www.ashleyschragephotography.com/ Yes, this was two months ago! Time slips away so fast. Enjoy!

2 years ago today...

2010-01-18T09:48:00.002-06:00

...our babies were born!

Now look at them!

Happy Birthday, Grady & Ella :)

a mid-winter swim

2010-01-13T13:46:00.003-06:00

Over the last year and a half, Stephen has been on federal grand jury duty during the first week of every month. The state pays for a hotel room over the days they're in session, but he rarely uses it as he just drives back and forth . Last night we took advantage of it (as next month is his last time!) and brought the kids to the Mariott in Cedar Rapids. It was fun to bring the kids swimming in the middle of this frigid winter and just get out of the house for the night!

passing the time

2010-01-07T10:54:00.005-06:00

Our little trooper has managed to be happy a lot while in the hospital. They let him go over to the play room yesterday for a change in scenery! He had fun and even got to eat his supper in there. Although, he does LOVE eating his meals in bed!

We found out yesterday he'll be here at least until Friday. We're just waiting to see the doc today, although his actual doctor won't be back until tomorrow, as he's seeing patients in another city today. They started weening his oxygen last night, but ended up having to put it back up in the night. Although, he seems to be doing very well right now.

I'm so glad we're at the hospital in Waterloo this time as he's on the peds floor and there's a nice playroom for the kids!

Being a little creative when he wanted to ride in the wagon. I had to push his IV pole while dad pulled him along. The oxygen tank served as a nice steering wheel :)

Our friends Christina and Melissa came to visit and brought Grady some fun balloons. He really enjoyed playing catch with Christina!

and we're back

2010-01-05T21:24:00.003-06:00

Mr. Grady has landed himself in the hospital again. We were in the doctor yesterday for a really bad cough and some strained breathing. After chest x-rays, and a 'strong suspicion' of pneumonia they sent him home last night with nebulizer treatments and antibiotics. I got a personal call from the doctor this morning (which I thought was a little strange) asking me to bring him back in so they can check him out again. When we got there they admitted him to the hospital. He did really great for the first couple hours we were here, but he hasn't been very happy for the past few hours. In Grady's words, he's "all done" and wants to go home. He's also having trouble keeping his oxygen levels up. They've increased the oxygen he's getting a few times, but he's still having a little trouble with it. Please keep our little guy in your prayers!

A balloon that Daddy got for him brought some smiles to his face!

He was up cheering for the Hawks for a little while!

Christmas '09

2010-01-03T21:08:00.004-06:00

We all had a really fun Christmas this year! Christmas Eve and morning we spent hanging out at home with the kids. It was great spending time as a family at home as we haven't had much family time in the last few months to hang out doing "nothing." The kids have loved having daddy off of work extra days in the last couple weeks. Me too!

Of course Grady and Ella still choose to play with Mikah's toys instead of theirs

Do you notice any ornaments on the tree? Me neither...I'm pretty sure half of our ornaments have either disappeared or broken over the Christmas season!

Playing with Mikah's toys again on Christmas morning...

Our yummy tradition of Christmas cinnamon rolls

Playing in Ella's new (to her - actually my great uncle made this for me when I was a kid!) baby crib - all ready to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's

Grandma, Grandpa and grandkids

What our little baby has been doing for the last three weeks...

Love it......Ella, baby, and Grady crashed with Grandpa while mom and dad played games with Uncle Joey and Aunt Heather late into the evening!

Onto Christmas with Stephen's family on the 26th...

Ella showing off her fish face...supposedly fish stick out their tongues!

Grady enjoying time with Uncle Phil playing with trains

'Thanks' just isn't enough..

2009-12-07T02:27:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday our family made the much anticipated trip to Wapsie Pines Tree Farm to pick out the 'perfect' Christmast tree -something Stephen and I have done each Sunday-after-Thanksgiving since we've been married. We love real Christmas trees, including the adventure in getting it (even the inevitable arguments about what tree is best) and the way it makes our house smell so good! No, of course our kids don't care about getting a Christmas tree yet, but it should still be fun to bring them and spend time together as a family....right? Well, of course the twins didn't get down for their naps right away after church, causing them to sleep further into the afternoon. We decided to wake them up so we would have time to get to the tree farm and pick out a tree before they closed. Bad idea. Of course they didn't want to get ready to leave and Grady whined the whole way there. We ended up quickly choosing a pre-cut tree in the front of the farm as not- so-little Ella was whining to be held the whole time and Grady was inconsolably screaming for the "tacta"(tractor) that was pulling the trees to the front of the farm to be strapped onto the vehicles. We went into the cute little hut to get a cookie for the kids that they didn't even want, paid for our tree, and left. Now there's some family fun!

On the way home, we decided to stop at Pizza Ranch in Oelwein to feed the kids. A desperate attempt to make the last 30 minutes of our ride home halfway peaceful, as we really love eating out with two 1-year-olds and a baby! As I brought the kids to a table while Stephen paid for the buffet, I noticed a strangely familiar face a couple booths behind us kind of looking at us. I didn't look closely because of course people stare at the crazy people bringing their three very small children to a restaurant. A couple minutes later I turned around when I heard Stephen's voice talking to that familiar face. How could I forget that face? It instantly brings me back to the most painful night of my life, a place my heart guards my mind from going...

I was lying down to get a little rest for the first time after the twins were born. Night number two in the hospital. Stephen was heading into the office to grab some work to bring back, while I tried to close my eyes and rest with Grady in the room, Ella was over in the NICU. That familiar face in Pizza Ranch, our nurse, came in and insisted I send Grady to the nursery so I could really sleep while they took good care of him. I was a little resistant, but accepted and I quickly drifted off to sleep for the first time in 2 days. Only five minutes later, the door flung open as Stephen, with tears flowing down his face, runs into the room. He couldn't even get out words. My heart sunk trying to figure out what was wrong. "What had happened to Ella?" I thought. My beautiful baby girl was taken away from me not too long after birth because she wasn't breathing well. At that point, I still didn't really know what was wrong with her and how she was doing. Then, I heard Stephen utter Grady's name. My heart sunk a little lower. The healthy one. Now something's wrong with him? Until 2 days ago, I had surprisingly carried twins to full term, only having a c-section because Grady was breech. They were both healthy the whole time and grew just as a singleton baby should. Now, my supposed healthy babies both had problems and I had no control of the situation. I hear Stephen get the words out, "Grady...not breathing....rushed down to NICU...." I still was not moving well and in a lot of pain from the c-section, but I'm pretty sure I sprinted down to the NICU. To my horror there was a hospital chaplain there, trying to stop me, I rushed in to see them working on my blue baby boy, who had just started to breathe a little. I gave them their space as they said he was stabalizing and collapsed in Stephen's arms in the room across the hall. We were both sobbing at the thought of losing our son. They even sent a chaplain up to talk to us as they expected him not to make it. I just wanted him to leave. He was a nice man, but my heart was aching so bad I really just wanted to throw a fit and kick him out of our room. A few minutes later (which seemed like an eternity) we knew he was going to be ok. They told us he had somehow choked causing him to stop breathing in the nursery and that he was Septic. They joked with us that it was his way of getting to be back with Ella again as they then shared a NICU room. You see, that lady at Pizza Ranch saved my son's life. We got to see her again when Mikah was born a few months earlier and I had to fight back the tears when I saw her. I blamed it on the hormones then, as I just had a baby. But I had to do the same thing again this time. God sent us that amazing, humble nurse to convince me to send Grady to the nursery. She then saved his life by performing CPR when she saw that he stopped breathing. Something that wouldn't have happened if he stopped breathing in the bassinet next to me as I slept in my room. I have no words when I look at this woman. Oh, how I wish I did, but happy, thankful tears are the only things that come out.

So as we sat there eating pizza on the end of that Thanksgiving weekend, the crazy Christmas tree hunt, the dumped-out parmesean cheese, pizza sauce everywhere, and running around the tables didn't bother me so much. I was even thankful for the tantrums in public, because we had two little kids there with us to throw those tantrums. I was so thankful that God made our paths cross that night, to give me that perspective. How can I so easily forget all that I am blessed with? I have SO much to be thankful for.

Much Better!

2009-10-20T09:00:00.003-05:00

We just met with the doctor, and Grady's going to be sent home sometime later this morning! Last night, Grady started to get his spunk back! He ate some ice cream and had lots of fun eating ice chips. This morning he got up and ate almost a whole pancake! We are so happy to see his appetite starting to come back and act like himself again. They might put one more bag of antibiotics through him before they take his IV out and let him go, so we're just waiting on that. After three nights in this room, this little boy is ready to get home and play :)

Sick Little Buddy

2009-10-19T13:43:00.003-05:00

Our poor little guy was admitted to the hospital Saturday night after being pretty darn sick since last Monday. We had him at the doctor on Wednesday, and finally took him to the ER Saturday night concerned that it had gone on for too long after the limp, tired little boy had his temperature spike up pretty high once again...and looked pretty bad for being such a cute little man! It turns out that he has pneumonia and influenza A (which they told us is probably H1N1, but they can't officially tell us that until the test comes back in another day or so).

Today his vitals are doing better, but he's still not interested in eating or drinking. They increased his fluids a little and the doctor said they want to see him with a bit more of an appetite and definitely drinking some more before they send him home. We could possibly get to go home this evening if any of this would happen and he perks up after his nap this afternoon! It's challenging keeping a one-year-old in a hospital room hooked to an IV, and I know he misses Ella! They've never been apart this long. We're praying he can go home asap, but know he's in the right place to get better!

Apple Orchard

2009-10-06T13:16:00.004-05:00

On Sunday afternoon we took a much-needed family day and went to Wilson's Orchard near Iowa City. It's a really neat orchard that I heard about from a friend and was worth the drive! There was a tractor-pulled wagon that brought us down into the orchard to get all the apples, (which Grady of course loved) a pumpkin patch, and let's not forget the most amazing warm apple turnovers ever - worth every minute of the half-hour wait in line :)

So it was pointless to try and pick the apples for ourselves as self-appointed bucket holder, Grady, thought it was more fun to throw the apples.

Look mom, I found a pumpkin!

but I want a pumpkin too...

Happy Monday!

2009-09-21T10:21:00.002-05:00

Wedding

2009-09-13T13:19:00.009-05:00

We headed to Chicago over the Labor Day weekend for Stephen's cousin Laura's wedding. Grady and Ella had the honor of being flower girl and ring bearer. I can't think of a cuter duo to cover the job! (I'm not biased of course) It was a beautiful wedding, and we really had a great time. If you don't count the fact that Grady got ahold of a razor type object and cut his mouth, resulting in gushing blood everywhere about 15 minutes before we needed to be at the wedding site for pictures, everything went pretty smoothly :) We did manage to get the blood out of his white shirt and the bleeding stopped about 10 minutes before the wedding. It would have been WAY too easy if something like that didn't happen - keeps life exciting :)

Congratulations Laura and Kevin! We had a lot of fun being a part of your special day!

We were waaay too exhausted to get a good picture with the beautiful bride and groom! :(

The handsome little man...

The pretty little girl...

Reading with daddy while waiting to go down the isle...

Cousin Lili pulling them down

Don't forget about me!

Daddy and his girls :)

Vacation Fun

2009-08-12T13:58:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago, we went on our annual trip to Table Rock Lake in Missouri with my family. We had a fun and relaxing time mostly spent by the pool and on the lake. My kind of vacation :) Stephen and I had our annual date night to our favorite restaurant in town (Danna's Smokehouse) followed by a competitive mini-golf game at Pirate's Cove! No need to brag about who won......... :) We were a little bummed that we had to leave the day my brother's family got there. Hopefully next year we'll all be there at the same time!

Enjoying a morning boat ride

Ella loves driving the boat with Grandpa

Grady's turn!

We even rode on the tube for the first time...

Ok, maybe we didn't like it! (Don't worry, they were basically just on the platform in the back and we were only idling!)

Mommy and Mikah

Pool time!

Grandma and Mikah hanging out at the pool

Happy girl!

I love the tummy.....

and the ruffles on the bottom!

Home!

2009-08-04T10:46:00.002-05:00

We have a home again! We had an offer accepted yesterday, and we're super excited. We close in about 30 days..........then the work begins! It's a home we'll be completely remodeling, but are pretty excited about the end result. We won't be moving in until we are done, which we are fortunate to be able to do! It's just down a couple houses and over a street from where we are now. We can't wait to get posession and start working :)

2 Months?

2009-08-01T00:52:00.003-05:00

I can't believe Mikah turned two months the other day! Wow, do babies grow ever-so-fast. She's a great baby and is sure a smiley little sweet pea! We had Ashley Schrage take some pictures of her a few weeks ago. (I highly recommend her :-) We have some pics of the twins as well, but here are a few of our baby girl for now! We just love her to pieces:)

While Daddy's Away...

2009-07-16T12:08:00.006-05:00

...we've been perfect little angels...

loved on our little sister...

gone to visit family... (cousins: Mikah, Teagen, & Lexi)

pet some baby animals at the fair...

(Ella and friend Isabelle...who does a great job entertaining the twins!)

eaten some fair food...

taken only one bath...... (oops, we'll try to get another one in tonight!)

slept like a baby.... (well, some nights)

and of course have been a little goofy!

**Stephen's been on a mission trip to the Hands & Feet Project in Haiti since last Friday. Although I was unable to go this time, I'm glad he had this opportunity to return to this place that we hold so near and dear to our hearts (along with my mom and sister-in-law)! I will say that I am more than ready for him to return home on Sunday! I have realized even more how much I appreciate all he does as a husband and dad over this 10-day 'single mom' experience. Come home safely -we miss you!

Daddy

2009-06-21T22:53:00.003-05:00

We have the Best Daddy in the whole world!
Happy Father's Day - we love you, Dad :)

-Grady, Ella, and Mikah

Lots of Kisses

2009-06-15T20:49:00.004-05:00

Mikah gets lots of wet kisses throughout the day. Here are a couple videos of what Grady and Ella do just about every time they notice her....such tender kids....very precious :)

Mikah's home!

2009-06-04T21:42:00.007-05:00

Well, we have made it home. Grady and Ella have done really well welcoming home their little sister. Grandma and Grandpa have helped out by keeping the twins overnight for the first couple nights home and they've been introduced to her in small doses. Today was their first full day with her and they're back at home in their cribs! We've missed the little buggers, so it's great to have them back. They've shocked me with very little jealousy and they even will bring her a blanket and try to put a pacifier in her mouth.

Mom on the other hand (to be honest) has been a wreck! It's physically and emotionally exhausting to bring home a new baby to a home with two one-year-olds (especially when we don't have our own place yet!) and start the baby process all over again. We're so blessed to have family and friends around to help us out. Thanks to all of you!

Mikah has been a great baby in her first five days of life! She's sleeping most of the day but is already having more and more alert time each day. She has such pretty eyes and funny spikey hair! She's been doing well at night, and when I get up with her in the wee hours I am SO thankful there is only one of her :) I love my little twins to death, but have no clue how we have made it through the past year to the point of them sleeping from 8pm to 8am! Praise the Lord for three happy, healthy babes!

Haven't even left hospital and already attached to pacifier!

Bonding with his little sister

First bath at home...

A few pictures

2009-05-31T07:56:00.004-05:00

It's a Girl!

2009-05-30T20:55:00.005-05:00

Thanks for being patient for this post - the internet hasn't been working for most of the day....

It's been an exciting few days for the Mulligans. Carrie and I went to the hospital Friday morning to be induced as she had reached 41 weeks. We got here at 8 but didn't get the meds started till 10 because they had a full house. All of the other inductions were cancelled because lack of rooms! Carrie would have hurt someone if that had happened....

She was fully dilated by 2 am and by 4 am started pushing. That didn't go so well as her contractions sort of fizzled out. She took a good nap for about an hour and then started pushing again at 6:30. Our daughter Mikah Noelle was born at 8:42 Sat morning. She weighed 7lbs 15.6 oz & 20 1/4" long. Mom did great with the very long labor and I have a new respect for moms! That is a lot of work!! She had a sucessful VBAC with no complications.

Baby and mom are doing fine. Mikah is beautiful and feeding great. She has a full head of hair and looks just like her big sister. Ella and Grady stopped by this afternoon to check out the new addition to the family. They did well with the baby but the real test will come when we go home on Monday.

Thanks to everyone for prayers and support (and watching the twins). It's great to have a huge support team around us.

Pictures to come later (sorry - using my computer not Carrie's)

Proud new dad (again)

Stephen

It's been a while...

2009-05-16T21:31:00.006-05:00

It's been quite a while since I've taken the time to make a post, and I got some ambition tonight which is pretty rare these days! The first few pictures are of the kids on Easter. Man, it's hard to get good pictures of 2 one-year olds! Grady and Ella have loved the good weather recently. They are definitely outdoor kids! They like to take rides in the wagon they got for their birthday.
The pictures at the end were from last night and the newest addition to our household...........no, not a new baby, but the froggy potty! As we are preparing to start buying diapers for not one, two, but THREE "babies" we decided we want Grady and Ella to start being interested in using the big kid potty! I think the frog is kind of goofy myself, but honestly it was one of the cheapest potty chairs I found, so I got it :)

This picture cracks me up. Ella loves to read to herself. She looks just like a grown up enjoying a good book on a spring day! Grady on the other hand is probably trying to figure out an escape route out of the wagon to get into some mischief.

He's such a little man!

Ta-Da! This is Grady's favorite pose to strike after he accomplishes something cool.....or just wants attention. (Yes, Ella is still reading.)

Little Miss Curly

This is a fun chair, but I have no idea what it's for!

Looks like we might be doing some business.......but she didn't.

Here.....let me help you

*On a final note, the count down is on. I'm officially due in one week. A lot of emotions going on in this house right now with exhaustion from being pregnant, taking care of a couple very active twins, and preparing to be a family of five! Ready or not, it will happen soon. I'm definitely ready for non-pregnant life again, and we're excited to meet this new addition. I've enjoyed watching the boy/girl poll.....so if you haven't voted, make your guess and we'll find out soon :)

Enjoying My Little Girl

2009-03-19T22:37:00.008-05:00

I couldn't help but make a post about Ella's hair! We have recently discovered that if we don't brush her hair down after a bath, it curls into a cute little mop on her head! I don't know where these fun curls came from, but I have a feeling they won't stay forever by the looks of mom and dad's hair! I'm just having so much fun with it, and of course her spunky little personality adds to the cuteness. This afternoon I decided to get some little hair bands while I was at Wal-Mart and put in her first pigtails when I got home. She flashed a big smile for the camera :)

Meet Baby Mulligan (finally!)

2009-03-02T20:59:00.002-06:00

I'm finally getting a chance to post a picture of the baby from our 20 week ultrasound! This was actually eight weeks ago, but the cd burner was not working on the ultrasound machine, so I just was able pick up the cd of pictures at my appointment today. I was a little bummed because the 3D pictures weren't on the cd (I do have print-outs of them). The picture I posted is just a profile picture of the baby on his/her back. I'm sure a picture of the baby today would look much different! I'm 28 weeks along, officially starting the 3rd trimester. It's downhill from here... The baby and I are both doing great. This one is pretty active, although there are no one-on-one matches going on inside this time - thank the Lord! This pregnancy has actually been a breeze compared to the twins. I had no clue pregnacy could be so, dare I say, enjoyable? Alright, not sure if I'm willing to go that far... :)

Anyway, we obviously did not find out the sex of the baby. I must say I'm getting pretty antsy to know what we are having, but we will wait until the big day to find out if Grady & Ella will be joined by a brother or sister. I've decided to put a poll on our page on whether it's a boy or girl, so cast your vote!

Where did you get that?

2009-02-25T10:08:00.003-06:00

This morning I was changing Ella's diaper when I realized I haven't seen Grady for a little while, and he's being very quiet. I went around the corner to find this! What in the world is that blue on your mouth? Oh, an M&M. Not to mention, a peanut M&M! I did a swipe of his mouth and he had actually chewed up the peanut too! He has never had any candy, and was he a happy boy! I'm pretty sure he has been searching the floor ever since then to find more...

One Year Pics

2009-02-18T10:32:00.014-06:00

A few weeks ago Grady and Ella got some one year pictures taken. Ashley Schrage took them and did a wonderful job! She actually just got a website up and running: http://www.ashleyschragephotography.com/. I'd highly recommend her to anyone in the Waterloo area! She does a great job and works really well with the kiddos :) Below are a just a few of the pics she took!

Wow, have these twins changed in the past year! It's amazing what a year does. Ella is our silly little girl. She loves to chatter! Her current words are momma, dada, Dady (Grady), no-no, and deddy (teddy - every stuffed animal is a teddy to her). She's seeming to work on a lot more lately, but those are the consistent words. In the past week she has really taken off as a little walker. She's been taking steps on her own for quite a few weeks now, but is finally getting confident. She gets so excited at her accomplishments and breaks out in a round of applause for herself regularly :) Ella loves music! When I turn some music on, she instantly starts bopping, clapping, and singing. She's a funny sight to see in church. Ella loves to play with her brother as well as discipline him! Whenever I tell Grady no and she is in earshot, she goes over to him and says, "no, no". She has even taken it upon herself recently to discern on her own when Grady is doing something wrong and tells him no-no. She cracks me up! Ella has such a soft, girly side to her as well. It just melts my heart when she spots a stuffed animal, picks it up to hug it, and says, "de-ddy" :)

Grady is a crazy little boy! He definitely knows what he should not get into, and tries to get into it all day long! He has a funny little squeal/scream that he does when he's mad, excited, or just plain bored. This sort of replaces talking for this little boy! Ok, well he does say mama and dada. He's also started to say no. Of course this would be his other first word since he hears it all day long :) Grady is fast - at crawling that is. He walks all along our furniture but when he lets go, he gets down and does a sprint crawl to wherever he wants to go. I think it will be a while until he walks on his own because he's too darn fast of a crawler! Grady's favorite toy is his basketball he got for his birthday. He will pick it up, throw it, and chase it for hours! He has finally turned into a champion eater. We've struggled with him eating ever since we first started solids, but lately he's eating everything and a lot of it! He especially loves all fruit, and cottage cheese. I think he finally might start filling out (maybe?). At his one year check up, he was in the 10th percentile for weight at 21 lbs, and 75th percentile for height at 29 3/4"! With all of Grady's activeness, he also has a gentle side. Whenever he sees his blanket on the floor he does a head dive into it and cuddles up. He loves cuddling with mom and dad too!

It's also been fun to watch the interaction between Grady and Ella over the past year. They've always been aware of each other, but in the past few months they've started playing together a lot. My favorite is when they start chasing each other and squealing. They also like playing 'steal the pacifier'. They take it out of each other's mouth and go back and forth while giggling. It's also pretty normal to see one of them put a pacifier in the other's mouth if he/she starts crying :) They get very concerned about the other one when they're crying because of getting hurt - not if it's a whine. If one seriously bonks their head, the other will soon be there patting the other one! One that I will always remember is when Grady slipped on the wood floor and split his lip open. Ella was beside herself trying to console her brother with a very concerned look on her face. It's amazing watching these two. Every day is an adventure!

Oh, the stress...

2009-02-13T14:09:00.003-06:00

Well, it's official. We are completely out of our house in Waterloo; we close on it at 4:30 this afternoon. I usually don't get attached to things very easily, but I must say I've been a bit sad since we left the house the other day. It probably has something to do with the facts that it was the home we brought Grady and Ella home to, and we haven't found a new house yet! We are still ready to move on, though.

Things have been a little crazy to say the least. Since we haven't found a house yet, we are moving in with some friends in Manchester. Stephen's been in the process of finishing their basement for them the past few months, so we'll have a space downstairs complete with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a big living room. There's also a big walk in closet that might turn into the twins' "room" :) Grady, Ella, and I have had lots of long nights with dad leaving straight from work to work on the basement! It is finally ready for us to move in this weekend which works out perfectly. It has a few finishing touches that need to be done, but those can be taken care of while we live there. We are definitely ready to be settled in one place for a while! We have been doing so much driving back and forth which needless to say, is very difficult to do with 2 one-year-olds! Now, we're just praying for a good house to come on the market sometime soon! We feel so blessed to have such a great place to stay while we look for a house.

The twins just had their one-year pictures taken a few weeks ago and they turned out great! Be

looking for a post of some of those pics soon :)

Bye, bye little story book house :)

Fun Weekend

2009-01-28T20:50:00.002-06:00

This weekend we had a get-together with some of Stephen's family in Williamsburg for a late "Christmas". We stayed at a hotel, hung out, and did some shopping at the outlet mall on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks to some good deals we got the kids stocked up on clothes to get them through the rest of winter. They're sure growing out of current clothes like crazy! Of course, the hit of the weekend for Grady and Ella was the POOL! It had been a while since they'd gotten a chance to get in the water, but they quickly remembered how much they love to swim and kick around in their floaties!

Alright, so Ella wasn't so fired up about this picture!

Now I'm happy :)

Hi, mom!

They liked to play bumper boats. Ella was making a "vroom vroom" noise like she does with her riding toys at home - she's a funny one!

Swimming with dad

We're ONE!

2009-01-19T19:21:00.007-06:00

Grady and Ella had their FIRST birthday yesterday -so hard to believe they're a year old! We have two crazy, active, goofy, loving, learning more every day babies on our hands. They had a fun birthday party last night graciously hosted at the Each's while we're currently in our packing and transition state at home. There were seven other kids besides Grady and Ella, so needless to say it was a little chaotic. They all had a good time, though. Enjoy some of the party pics :)

Birthday girl

Yay for new tricycles! Feet don't quite touch the pedals...but we'll have fun this summer!

Birthday boy!

Enjoying everyone singing to them :)

Yay, let me at that thing!

Hmmm....

Give me some more of that!

Gazing at the candle....I think I want that!

Not so sure....

We had to put him in the tub afterwards!

Cousins Halle and Jayden

More cousins...William, Maddie, and Lili

First and Last

2009-01-15T13:32:00.006-06:00

For Christmas, Grady and Ella finally got some new car seats as they were getting way too big for the infant ones. So here's a look at the very first time they got in their car seats leaving the hospital, and the very last time. It makes me teary-eyed looking at the first picture! Ohh how long ago that seems...

Leaving the hospital

Home from their last ride. (I should have put them in the same order!)

Merry Christmas from Grady & Ella

2009-01-07T09:51:00.006-06:00

A Christmas Party

2008-12-17T18:37:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday we went to the InVision (Stephen's company) kid's Christmas party. Grady and
Ella had a lot of fun! They got to watch a marionette show, eat milk and cookies (oh wait, mom and dad didn't let us participate in that part!) and even got presents from Santa! As you can see, Ella was not happy about sitting with the big jolly man!

The party was at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. So after all of that fun, all the kids went over to the Youth Pavilion to play. It's sort of like a science station place. There was a little area with mats and a big mirror for crawling infants. Grady and Ella LOVED playing there. They would have been content there all day if we let them! What a fun time!

Our first Tree!

2008-12-08T15:13:00.014-06:00

Last weekend we took the twins to get their first Christmas tree! Stephen and I have gone to the same tree farm every year since we got married to get our tree, so it was fun to bring Grady and Ella along this time. (Ok, actually we picked out the tree, then got them out of the car to take a quick picture!)

Let me at that tree! We usually have barricades up but they still find a way to get at the ornaments.

Silly boy! They both stand up on everything these days, and do really well walking behind their walker toy!

I just took this picture this morning when I noticed they both fell asleep in their high chairs for their morning nap. Must have been tuckered out!

Ella got a black eye this weekend taking a nose dive into the table from dad's lap :( It's getting better.

Had to leave you with a better picture from a couple days prior to the accident! Doesn't she look like such a big girl?

Little Panthers

2008-11-01T18:28:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, we went to a pumpkin party for InVision (Stephen's office). Grady and Ella went as a Panther football player and cheerleader. I must say they were much cuter than any of the real ones I've ever seen at the games!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, so we played outside with the leaves and pumpkins! Grady and Ella love playing outside outside - way more things to try and eat!

A lot going on

2008-10-20T23:06:00.004-05:00

We've had a lot of stuff going on lately! Here's an attempt to catch you up to speed...

Stephen: What a lucky guy! He was chosen for federal grand jury duty a couple months ago. This basically means that he needs to keep the first work week of every month open for the next year and a half. Yes, you read correctly.....he potentially has to sit in on the grand jury for one week a month for a whole eighteen months! I had no clue that duty could be that long! Anyway, he's been pretty lucky as the last couple months they've only had to meet for 2 days of that week. They meet in Cedar Rapids, so we've been making the best of the situation and I've been going down with him and the kids because they pay for a hotel room. Good excuse to bring Grady and Ella swimming!

On the home front...we've recently listed our house with a realtor. We're praying our house sells very soon! We've decided we're heading to Manchester, and are pretty excited about the decision. We're currently staying with my parents for a couple weeks. Stephen is doing a little remodel project on their kitchen and it's kind of necessary to be out of the house for a while as our realtor is showing our house a lot! Kind of impossible to keep it in showing condition with the twins.

Grady: a crawling, tooth-growing maniac. He's been crawling for a while now and is fast! I just noticed his second tooth yesterday which is soon to be followed by a third I see coming in! He's just a fun little boy!

Ella: a uniquely maneuvering, toothless girl! Nope, she's not doing your official crawl, but can sure get around in her own little way. I'm pretty sure she's just going to skip to walking. She's testing the waters with pulling herself up on things and has the scrapes to prove it. No teeth yet :)

And last but not least......Stephen and I were quite surprised last month to find out that we're expecting again! Hey, I heard your gasp! The reality is finally settling in that this spring, we will have three children sixteen months apart! (Due date: May 24) We do have confirmation that it's only one this time as we had an ultrasound last week! I've been feeling so overwhelmed with this news, but as we saw and heard that little heart beating on the ultrasound, we instantly fell in love once again!

I'll leave you with a picture:

This was actually taken a couple months ago, but I love it as it is rare to get a good picture of the 2 of them :)

Bath time and mischief

2008-09-30T13:18:00.007-05:00

I can't catch it!

...still can't

My bowl!

We're innocent!

You always get me in trouble!

Florida

2008-09-11T09:41:00.008-05:00

We recently spent a week in Florida visiting Stephen's mom. How relaxing it was! We spent the majority of the time lounging around in the pool. Grady and Ella LOVE to swim....babies after their mom's own heart! It definitely wore them out and they took great naps in the pack and play's next to the pool during the afternoons! We did take a trip to the beach one day as well as an afternoon at some outlet malls, and of course the twins were completely spoiled by their Nana. Here are a bunch of pics :)

Grady and Ella loved the beach, and their cool shades! They liked to dig their toes in the sand as the waves would come up! (and yes, Ella loves her pacifier...even at the beach)

Silly faces...

Swimming with mommy in the fun new suits that Nana bought us!

Ella fell asleep in the pool more than once!

We loved our floaties!

Bam......

.....just kidding, love ya sis :)

Airport Fun!

2008-08-28T16:30:00.005-05:00

We finally made it to Florida to visit Stephen's mom after some unexpected airport delays! Our plane was supposed to leave at 4:40 pm on Tuesday evening. To make a long story short, we finally left on a different plane they sent from Atlanta at 2:30 am. A LONG time to be in the airport with 2 babies! We of course missed our connecting flight in Atlanta, but caught another flight to Ft. Meyers at 8am Wednesday. Needless to say, we slept most of our first day of vacation. Luckily Grady and Ella did AMAZING. They were so happy and entertained the other 13 people waiting until 2:30 am for the plane. I was so proud of them - they were more content than mom and dad were! The video shows a rousing game of peek-a-boo they played with daddy.

So content.....showing off their sitting up skills. (Ella has been sitting up for almost a month now, but it is a new thing for Grady just this week!)

hmmm

2008-08-15T12:22:00.003-05:00

I tend to find the twins doing funny things when I walk in the living room after leaving for a few moments, but this one really had me laughing when I figured out what happened. No, Ella's diaper did not leak....that would be Grady's spit-up on her bottom! Never a dull moment in this household :)

Atlanta

2008-08-05T12:28:00.006-05:00

Last week, my mom, the twins and I

went to Atlanta to hang out with some

family for an extended weekend! We

had a great time...

Grady on the plane (Once we took off, he was sound asleep for the whole ride)

Ella was sound asleep even before the plane took off!

My cousins Wendy, Nolan, Riana, my mom and I went to the Georgia Aquarium while Amy and Kathy watched the twins (Thanks!) We had a great time! Don't worry Nolan and Riana.....the picture with Deepo didn't turn out, so it's not posted :)

We also went to World of Coke. We had a little trouble getting there! Our parking ramp elevator brought us to a really nice building with absolutely no people in it. Hmmm.....we couldn't figure out how to get out! This is everyone posing with the elevator we took a hundred times trying to get outside..........maybe you just had to be there!

We did eventually get there! It was quite the interesting place. You could sample every Coke product made from around the world; a tummy-ache waiting to happen!

Nolan and Grady - the brave boys who hung out with the girls all weekend!

A Food Story....................by Ella

2008-07-22T10:57:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I started getting really hungry in the middle of the night. I would wake up and cry and cry trying to get mom and dad's attention. Grady would just sleep while I was doing the hard work of waking them up, but somehow he would always get fed too. Lucky kid. Then mommy told daddy that they needed to feed us cereal so that we would sleep through the night again. I wasn't sure what cereal was, but it was fine with me because mom and dad were kind of cranky in the middle of the night. So they put us in these weird chairs, and put something towards our mouth that was not a bottle..........

......and that's what I thought about that.

Mom was saying that Grady ate like a champ........

.....so I showed her what a real champ would do - hold my own bottle!

Then Grady had to steal my thunder.

We decided to drop our bottles a few seconds into this, though. We didn't want mom thinking we could feed ourselves yet. It's very entertaining for us to watch her try and feed us both at the same time during the day!

Where did June go?

2008-07-07T22:04:00.002-05:00

Wow, summer is flying by. A lot has changed in the Mulligan household since I've last posted. First of all, Grady rolled over for the first time at the very beginning of June, followed by Ella a couple days later....so the time came to sleep in separate cribs :( Okay....well the twins were fine with this; mom is the one who was sad! Now, Ella is a little rolling maniac. Every time you set her on her back, she immediately turns to her tummy. Grady doesn't roll quite as much which I am quite content with as I know the days of them being where I left them are numbered. I had a good laugh on Saturday when they were both trying to play with the same book on the floor. Grady grabbed it and moved it to the other side of him so she couldn't reach it, followed by a prompt swipe of Grady's pacifier from his mouth by Ella! How funny they are :)

On Father's Day we had a dedication service for Grady and Ella at church. There were four other babies dedicated as well. I thought that six new babies in the past 8 months was a lot for our small chuch.....but just when I was thinking that, Stephen had to remind me that our kids made up 1/3 of that number!

We just got back from vacation down on Table Rock Lake last week. We had a fun, relaxing time. Grady and Ella loved the pool! It was a little bit of a bummer that Ella was sick half of the vacation. She was running a high temp. for close to 3 days. Poor girl.

House for sale! We're trying to sell our house. We've had it on the market for a couple weeks and have showed it about 4 or 5 times......no takers yet. If you know anyone looking for a house in Waterloo, send them our way :) Our flyer is online at http://150prospect.mdmichel.com We're praying it sells fast as it is very hard keeping our house clean with the twins and ready to show at any time!

I took this picture today...when I left the living room they were lying side by side...when I came back, Ella was hugging Grady!

Kiss me right here!

Chilling in the pool

Nice evening for a swim!

What a month!

2008-05-25T15:35:00.007-05:00

We've had a busy month full of traveling! We've visited cousins, all our grandparents, met new cousins, had a garage sale, gone on many walks in the warm weather, and turned four months old.......what hard work for little tykes! Grady and Ella are little gigglers these days. They love to smile and laugh at toys and other people as well as each other. I found myself smiling last week as I watched them stare at each other for 15 minutes staight. Grady kept laughing at Ella while she stared intently at him cracking a smile every once in a while. Laid back and happy babies - I love it :)

We sat so happily in our stroller during the garage sale...no we're not for sale!

Jayden, Halle, Grady, and Ella

Halle loves "Ewwa"

Triplets? Nah...the one with the cute head of hair is our cousin Emily :)

I loove to smile!

Just playing :)

A few moments with Grady and Ella

2008-04-29T20:06:00.005-05:00

We're Growing!

2008-04-15T09:53:00.005-05:00

Here are a few recent pictures of Grady and Ella. They sure seem to be changing every day....most excitingly that they are going a very long stetch between their last night feeding and the morning one! Last night we fed them at 10pm, and not again until 5:00 this morning! Yay! Now, if only we could get them to sleep that whole time.........

Bath time!

I leave the room for two minutes, and daddy has turned Ella into a couch potato!

Loving our Babes!

2008-03-24T23:49:00.009-05:00

Happy Easter!

It's hard to believe the twins are more than 2 months old now! They are sure growing like weeds! As I've been looking back through pictures since they were born, I want to cry - they were so little and now they're so big. I've been sad as I slowly put away the newborn clothes they no longer fit in. Even though we're still not sleeping a whole lot, it makes me want to cherish these crazy days as I know they'll soon be walking and I'll miss these cuddle-filled days. The most exciting news is that they're both really starting to smile a lot. Grady's smiles go from ear to ear and Ella's tend to be a little more sly. It just melts our hearts :) They're also starting to check each other out a little more. Of course, any chance Ella gets close enough to Grady, she'll stretch over to his head and start sucking away. He doesn't quite know what to think! They sure crack us up sometimes, and never cease to amaze us at how many diapers we can go through in a ten minute time period some days! (We still haven't had to purchase diapers yet - thanks to all of you who have contributed to our diaper supply!!) They really are great little babies. In Stephen's words, "I love them so much, I just want to eat them!" Hmmm.....whatever you say, dad!

We just had a great Easter weekend. On Friday night, we went to a Good Friday service at church with my parents. It was basically a time of communion and prayer. As we sat there, we were reminded of the same service last year.....where Stephen and I were praying that God would bless us with children in His timing. We had no clue we'd be sitting there a year later with 2 beautiful children - how crazy blessed we are. When they were born, I instantly had this new capacity to love in a way I've never experienced. With the emotional roller coaster of health issues they faced as they entered this world, I immediately learned that this parenting thing wasn't going to be easy. I want to put Grady and Ella in a little bubble and never let anything happen to them! As I sat in church on Friday, I caught a new glimpse of the sacrifice it was for God to send His son to die a brutal death on the cross for us. Thank goodness for Sunday! How comforting it is to know that He beat death and is alive in heaven. It sure makes this parenting journey seem possible. Our prayer is that Grady and Ella each grow up and accept the gift God gave in dying on the cross for them, and choose to follow Him.

Love my daddy!

Bottoms up!

Our little sweetie pie!

He's a silly boy!

Loving the smiles

Here I come........

.....Yumm

Lack of updates...

2008-03-06T12:45:00.002-06:00

I would like to take a minute and apologize for the lack of updates on our blog. Living on one income, we had to make some decisions - Internet or cable tv. Since Carrie is home all day, everyday with the babies, we opted for the entertainment. We have no Internet unless we go to my office or Panera. We'll try and make an effort to update but don't get frustrated if they are few and far between.

Babies are doing great; more pictures to come later!!

Stephen

Some new pictures!

2008-02-25T21:24:00.002-06:00

Big Eyes!

Cuddle time

Ella Beth :)

Grady James :)

Just hanging out

Our Family is Home :)

2008-02-01T16:14:00.000-06:00

Let's go home!

Snoozing

Grady after he was discharched

Ella shows off a little smile!

I can't believe we finally made it home. Praise the Lord! This was definitely not how I pictured my first 2 weeks being a mom! It has been a crazy emotional couple of weeks...I didn't know where one day ended and a new one began....but as I look back through our blog and the emails, cards, and notes of encouragement everyone has written us, I feel truly blessed. Thank you to each and every one of you for all of your endless prayers throughout this joyous, yet difficult time for us. We can't even begin to tell you how much you all have meant to us. We now have the two most beautiful babies in the world home with us and are loving every sleepless minute of it!

Grady and Ella had their 2 week appointment today and everything looks good! Grady's back up to his birth weight and Ella is almost there as well. Ella has a little heart murmur from a tiny hole in her heart, but the doctor said it is fairly common and believes it is small enough that it will close on its own as she grows. (Our pediatrician is actually an infant cardiologist, so we trust him!) Grady is still on his reflux medicine as well. Other than that, our doctor has no major concerns - praise God for healthy babies :)

The twins love their new home and can't wait to meet everyone. We're not venturing out much yet...but feel free to give us a call and stop by sometime!

Home in sight

2008-01-30T12:01:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update on a busy day.

Clarification - although Grady was discharged he is still here in the NICU with us. If he left, he wouldn't be able to come back for infection control reasons and with Carrie feeding, it would just be impossible to split them up.

Our big news of the day is that Ella is being discharged this evening between 5 and 6. The doctor came in to do a check up this morning and said he had no issues with letting her go!! We are so excited to go home. Carrie hasn't been there since the 18th!!

Today we are doing vaccinations, pictures, discharge paperwork etc. We'll post pictures before we leave.

Thanks to everyone for prayers and support. God is faithful and all things work to his glory.

Stephen

Grady is ours!!!

2008-01-28T16:28:00.000-06:00

The big news of the day is that Grady was discharged today. He is off all of the wires and everything!! He is sooooo cute and we're enjoying every moment with him. He is still on the reflux medicine and Dr Waziri said he'll probably be on it for up to 6 months. We have an appointment on Friday to see the pediatrician and we'll see what he says.

His sister had a good x-ray. The chest tube was removed yesterday and there are no signs of repercussions. She will be weened from the oxygen and hopefully off the cannula tomorrow or Wednesday. Her IV is out and off the antibiotics. She's still on the monitors but we're getting closer. She had a echo cardiogram today - Dr Waziri ordered it because he heard a murmur in her little heart. Dr Chandra will review it and we'll see what he says on Friday.

Today is the first day that they have indicated a discharge date for her - this Thursday is what we are hoping. THings have been sort of crazy here today. Last night we both got hardly any sleep as they are on different feeding schedules (hopefully soon to be corrected) We spend about 2 hours nursing and then an hour off and we're back at it again. Definitely a two person operation. We've been filling out paperwork today for his discharge, getting prescriptions, nursing and more diapers than I can count......

I hope to post some more pictures soon.

Thanks for everyone dropping in and sending stuff. We really feel blessed to bring our babies into a loving world.

Stephen

More Pictures

2008-01-26T18:06:00.001-06:00

Ella and Grady reunite after a week apart.

Cuddling....

Close up (Grady on the left/ Ella on the right)

Mamma and baby time

Family photo!!

What a good start to the weekend.

Grady is only on the monitors and some medicine for his reflux. They still want to keep an eye on him even though he is stable. He is feeding like a champ almost back to his birth weight. Last night they weighed him in at 5lbs 13 1/2 oz. The doctor said that they would discharge him 'soon' - we're interpreting that as early next week...... with no defined date.

Ella is also doing good. The doctor ordered that her chest tube be clamped and then a 24 hour observation period starts. If she does good on her x-ray, they will take out the tube tomorrow.... keeping our fingers crossed. He indicated that mid week would be her discharge if she continues to do good. She is still on antibiotics for the pneumoia though but does not have fluids being pumped into her anymore. Mom has been able to feed her and was able to hold both at the same time.

They are both in the same crib too. That is a big relief and they are so cute cuddling together. It is interesting how much they look alike, especially from the nose up.

Mamma is doing good. Still in some pain from the surgery and emotional that her babies are still here. She really hasn't been able to talk to anyone on the phone so please don't be discouraged if she hasn't called back. The emotions from the week are still pretty relevant. We are taking visitors in the lobby if you want to stop by but have to be sensitive on people coming back. There is RVS going around. This is bad virus infection that could be fatal to babies. There is another baby here in the unit that has it and there are numerous infections in the peds. floor.

A great update for all of us. Thanks for faithful prayers. God gives us the desires of our hearts and this is ours. Hopefully we can bring our babies home soon!!

Stephen

Happy 1 week birthday Grady and Ella

2008-01-25T11:12:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a slow day around here. Not too much excitement. Grady is now off of the O2 and Ella has moved to 45 ml of milk (still alternating bottle and feeding tube). They are sleeping good right now. The Doc came in this morning to review Ella's x-ray. He said that the pneumo has decreased to about the size of a quarter. Good news from yesterday.

Mommy is tired. She is sleeping as well. There wasn't much sleep on Wednesday night so our nurse took extra care last night to make sure that Carrie napped between feedings. She slept for an hour this morning too.

Please pray for our nurse last night. She was such a sweetheart but has a heavy heart. Her husband died 4 years ago shortly after a miscarriage. They had only been married for 11 months. She shared her testimony with us and had a great conversation.

We are just taking this one day at a time. I told the nurse they should have a sign that says 'we'll know more tomorrow'. We are taking an infant CPR class tomorrow. In light of Grady's chameleon trick, we thought it would be a good idea.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. We can feel the blanket love of Christ surrounding us during this time.

I'll try and write more this afternoon.

Stephen

Big steps for little people

2008-01-23T23:58:00.000-06:00

Daddy with Grady

Ella's first bottle

Ella bonding with Carrie

Yesterday was a great day. Updates on all are good.

We started the day with the usual x-ray and lab work. Dr. Wazuri came in around 11 to take a look at them both. He said that the results were positive. He felt that her progress overnight was great and order the removal of the C-PAP. This is the breathing device that helps to keep her lungs expanded. Usually this is a stepped down removal but her breathing had improved to the point that she didn't need it!! She is still on the cannula - a small tube that issues O2 to the nasal area. She had some increased pneumo areas on her right side so he ordered another x-ray this evening at six. he also said that she can begin oral feeding (by bottle) starting at 3 per day. the rest is by IV and her feeding tube. She looks so good with the C-PAP off. A much happier baby. The 6 o'clock x-ray showed that there is no increase in the pneumo and her medial sternum is centered back in her chest. The air had misaligned it putting pressure on her heart as well. All great news. The chest tube is still in and she has to lay on her right side to help with that. No holding today which was hard.

Grady is doing good. He's a squeaker and sounds like a little mouse. He is still on a cannula as well but they are moving in the direction of weening and hopefully removal of that by tomorrow???? Fingers are crossed. He is finally nursing well and is comfortable with his role in the process. He was lazy for the first few days making it quite stressful at times.

Mamma had a painful day. We had given the prescriptions to Diane Tuesday night when they were here. It was about 11 when e realized that the pain meds were wearing off. She was able to bring them up last tonight and get them filled for us.

A lack of sleep is really getting to us both. We want to be up with them but it is quickly wearing us out. Maybe tomorrow we will leave for a little bit. The window in our room is quite drafty and I've been taking notes on the layout and functionality of the unit. I'll have to have a talk with the firm that designed this building...... and give them a few pointers from the patients perspective.

We really feel blessed to be lifted up by everyone's prayers. Thanks so much for the encouragement and support.

Hope all is well with everyone else.

Dad

Progress!!

2008-01-23T01:25:00.001-06:00

Grady with mamma....

Ella with mamma

Daddy's first feeding with Grady...

Snuggle time with daddy

What a great day. This morning the doctor came in to talk with us after the lab and x-rays. Everything is the same as yesterday for the most part with some progress.

Ella's labs were a little better so they have begun the process of weening her off the oxygen. This is a long process, reducing only percents at a time. At 1:33 AM on Wednesday, she is at 44%. She was at 50% this morning. They will continue until she is at 'room' O2 levels (22%) and then ween her off of the other functions of her breathing tube. The tube giver her a small amount of pressure at the beginning and end of each breath plus an additional 15 breaths per minute. Each of those will be reduced slowly and one at a time. Reducing them too quickly will result in regression and the pneumo will be back at it's original state. She is now taking feedings every three hours in lieu of 4. They are only at 6 ml because she isn't able to digest more than that. She is still on the IV feeding tubes and will be for a while. Carrie was able to hold her this evening. The first time since her birth. It was a very emotional time for both of us. The staff was great as it took 30 minutes to move all of the tubes and wires to get her to Carrie's chest. A delicate process.

Grady is doing good. He is no longer in the warmer bed. They have taken that bed out and returned him to a bassinets. Just knowing that he's no longer in the 'bubble' is progress to me. He is showing some signs of Jaundice, a high level of billy ruben in the blood that is usually removed by the liver. They will monitor him closely as the next few days that number will peak. If it gets too high there is a special blanket that will reduce those levels. We have been able to hold him today after feedings. He's still on the O2 and IV's. Both babies are still on antibiotics. It's great to be able to bond with the babies again.

Carrie is doing good. She was officially discharged today. Tom and Diane came up and helped me clean out the room. The NICU room is a sterile environment so we had to select what things we could bring with. We weren't able to take any of the flowers or food with us. (thanks to those that sent them) Carrie and I want to share the joy they brought us so we donated the flowers to the OB unit with instructions to give them to moms who didn't have a daddy with her. The real pain from the c-section is setting in now that she is off the hospital meds. Definantly tender and has a hard time getting up and down sometimes. She doesn't complain - signs of mother hood! Babies needs over mine.

The staff is phenomenal here. They know the pain and emotions that we are going through and try to explain every detail to us as well as involve us actively in their care. I was able to snuggle with Grady tonight. Skin to skin is very therapeutic to preemies (and for daddies!!)

We're still one day at a time but there were some big moments today. Sorry that I didn't get this out sooner. The posts are such an encouragement. Thank you to all.

Daddy

Monday 1.21.08

2008-01-21T14:24:00.000-06:00

Another day, another update.

Carrie is doing ok. She's still in a lot of pain and emotional. in light of our situation. There is comfort in seeing both of the babies at the same time rather than going back and forth between ends of the unit. They plan on discharging her tomorrow. She can 'stay' in the LDRP room till midnight so it gives us a place to have all of our stuff until we move to the NICU.

Grady is stable after last night's scare. They have him on an IV along with the other monitors. He's on some O2 as a precaution but the nurse said that he would be weening off soon. Carrie was able to feed and hold him this afternoon. Big steps in the NICU. The x-ray and lab results indicate that he is a 'septic' baby. This means that he has a whole body infection which was probably the cause of yesterday's code. His breathing is good and he loves to listen to our voices.

Ella is breathing so much better today. The chest tube has alleviated so much pressure from her lungs. The respiration rate has decreases but still spikes sporadically. She is being naughty and pulling out her nose tube and has a healthy scream. They put in a feeding tube to supplement the lipids and electrolytes from the IV. That is great news since its a step toward oral feedings. They were able to give her some of Carries milk, again great news.

Overall, we are still day by day. They will continue to do daily x-rays and bi-daily lab work to monitor their conditions. Our nurse Wendy indicated that Grady will probably be here for 10 - 14 days. They said that I would be able to stay with Carrie in the NICU room which is a relief too. Leaving my family overnight would have been extremely difficult.

Thank you to everyone for prayers and support. It means so much to us. Carrie appreciates the emails and comments to the blog. It is hard for her to talk on the phone with people, so written communication is best right now.

If anything changes I will update again

Proud daddy

A few more thoughts

2008-01-21T03:57:00.001-06:00

We talked to one of the nurse's tonight and she thinks that he might have been choking on some spit up. Praise the lord that he wasn't sleeping in the corner of our room and was with the nurse's in the nursery.

Please continue to lift our family up in prayer. We feed blessed to be surrounded by friends and family who care for us so much.

Stephen

Miracle

2008-01-21T03:08:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I was rocked to the core. It was about 11:3o Sunday evening- Carrie and I were getting back from visiting Ella in the NICU and were going to the nursery to take Grady back to our room. The nurse encouraged us to leave him there since Carrie was planning on sleeping and I was going to go into the office to wrap up a few loose ends. We decided that was ok and went back to our room. Carrie got into bed and I got ready to leave. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by the nurse's station to make sure the nurse knew that I had left. She came out from the nursery with some bad news. Grady had coded- he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. They did CPR and a swarm of people were around him. (This was within ten minutes from when we last saw him) She took me into him, he was blue and had just started to breath on his own. The NICU nurses came and admitted him next to his sister. He stabilized within the hour and is doing fine. They have administered O2 and IVs but is doing ok. They have done some x-rays and lab work to see what is going on. We will know more tomorrow when the doctors come in.

His cries are so difficult to hear. We were just getting used to comforting them..... Now we can only touch his hand through the incubator.

This whole experience brought me to my knees. My faith in Christ is the only thing that I had to lean on. Carrie is doing ok although shaken up as well. What a solid rock during this helping me deal with everything. We are bunkering down tonight in the NICU as long as we can since we aren't Sleep really doesn't seem that important......

God sometimes uses hard circumstances to mold our reliance on him.

We'll post more when we know more.

World's proudest and most tired dad....

One day at a time

2008-01-20T18:52:00.000-06:00

Quick update on where things are at. Grady is doing fine and has a healthy cry. He has lost some weight and Dr Chandra is going to evaluate him tomorrow. There is a small possibility that he will go the NICU to get a feeding tube to help him out for a few days... (Mom is trying hard to prevent this) Ella is doing better. Dr Waziri reviewed her x-rays this morning. She has a portion of her lung that is deflated and has pneumothorax, a condition in which a pocket of air has escaped from tiny holes in her lungs and air is still trapped in her chest cavity. He inserted a chest tube to help alleviate some of the pressure and help her breath. There was positive signs from her x-ray later today showing progress. She has pneumonia that we are treating as well. She still has the c-pap which is a breathing tube in her little nose. The doc has reduced her from 100% O2 down to 50% O2 this evening. (good news) We are probably looking at least a 10 day stay for Ella.

Carrie is recovering fine. The pain is very real at times but the staff is quick to help or issue pain meds. The emotions are intense. We want to be at two places at once. Carrie hasn't been able to visit her very frequently because of feedings with Grady and her own recovery. We both desparetly want to hold her but are told it will be at least a few days.

Right now, the plan is day by day. Grady and Carrie have a chance to get discharged tomorrow but will know more later. With Ella still in the NICU, we will transition into her room. Grady can only be back there if he has never left the hospital for infection control reasons. There is only one parent allowed to stay overnight which logically would be Carrie. A hard transition for a new family being separated. It will be challenging for the next few days but we are confident that we serve a sovereign God. His plans are greater than mine and sometimes, as hard as it may seem, I just need to accept that.

I will try and update as we get news. Thank you for everyone's prayers and support. If anyone would like to visit, please call before hand to check in.

Proudest dad!!!

Contact.....

2008-01-19T11:25:00.000-06:00

Feel free to contact us by phone 319-404-8819 or Carrie's cell 319-290-5678. We'd love to hear from everyone. We'll be checking email too.

Our two bundles of joy!!

2008-01-19T10:57:00.000-06:00

Proud new dad writing..... On Friday, Janurary 18th - Grady James and Ella Beth were born to the Mulligan Family. Grady was born at 4:24 pm, 6lbs 3 oz, 19 1/2 inches long and Ella was born at 4:26, 6lbs 11oz, 19 inches long. The c-section was a sucess and the birth was amazing! Both of the babies returned to the room with mom for recovery. We enjoyed greetings by grandma and grandpa Gatto. Ella's oxygen level was of concern so after an hour in the room, the nurse's admitted her to the NICU. She is breathing sparatically which is causing her low O2 levels. They have done some chest x-rays and lab work to determine the cause. She had a small spot on the x-ray of her lungs they think is an air sack that was deflated during the birth. They also believe that she inhaled some fluids then too. The NICU doctor will be in today to do a diagnosis and we'll go from there. Our nurse's tell us that the recovery is up to Ella and she'll be the one to dictate when she gets out. They said it could be tomorrow or two weeks. We're just going day by day trusting that God is holding her since we can't.

The pediatrician came in and saw Grady this morning. He is doing great and learning to nurse. Carrie is getting a taste of the pain from the surgery since the spinal is wearing off. The staff is great here and taking good care of us.

Sorry - no pictures, I don't have the cord to camera. Trust me, they are the most beautiful babies I've ever seen.

I'll try and update everyone again tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers.

Stephen and Carrie

Update

2008-01-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that there are no babies yet! I had my 36 week appointment last week which confirmed I will be having a c-section, as baby A is still breech. My doctor still wanted to let the babies stay in without scheduling anything yet, despite their 6lb 9 0z. weight status - yes, EACH. The good news is that if I don't go into labor in the next few days, the c-section will be scheduled for sometime between 37 1/2 and 38 weeks. So the end (I guess really the beginning) is near! Despite all of my discomforts, I have to continually remind myself that God is blessing us with being able to carry them this long; for this reason I'll hopefully deliver two healthy babies! We feel incredibly blessed, and can't wait for our new family members to arrive.......soon :)

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-29T11:02:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would post a few Christmas pictures after numerous lectures about not keeping the blog "updated!" Sorry, but I haven't been in the mood to have a camera pointed my way these days :) Stephen and I had a pretty laid back Christmas at home this year...still waiting for babies! We celebrated Christmas here yesterday with my parents, "Mom", Joey, Heather and the kids. It was a fun day and good to have family at our house :)

Lucy likes to incubate the babies.

Heather and Halle :)

Jayden liked those cookies!

Daddy?

2007-12-19T13:05:00.000-06:00

Last week we had our last Lamaze class, and Stephen was lucky enough to experience "pregnant" life for about 20 minutes wearing the "empathy belly". What a good sport!

Welcome!

2007-11-25T01:09:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone! We finally got our blog page up and running...and by popular demand, here are a couple pictures of the babies and I at 29 1/2 weeks. We were hoping to get a couple good pictures of the babies at our ultrasound last week, but they were both facing my back. I guess they want to surprise us with their good looks! They are growing fast, weighing in at a whopping 3 pounds each at that last ultrasound! We're anxiously awaiting their arrival and with the thought of an approximate 6-7 weeks more to grow, I might be a little more ready than Stephen :)

Stephen thinks this picture does the size of my belly a little more justice!