Our Summer

WOW!! What a summer we have had so far. Filled with so many different things.

A week after the accident we took a trip to the coast with several of Jamie's family members. It was so nice to get away from reality...especially since I was suffering from panic/anxiety attacks and post traumatic stress. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because of that. :(

When we got back Hunter started his CRAZY hectic summer sports schedule-all of which HE wanted to do. He signed up for 3 different football camps/clinics (most he would attend in the same day), private quarterback lessons, Little League All Stars Baseball AND a 9th Grade Bastrop Summer Baseball Team. Not only was Hunter extremely exhausted EVERY SINGLE DAY, but so were his parents from driving him to and from all of his camps, practices and games. So glad that the summer is coming to an end along with all of this craziness. I just feel sorry for Hunter that he hasn't really had any time to relax and enjoy the summer before he starts high school.

Ava cheering on her Bubba at one of his practice football games.

Ava and her Grandma Sher Sher

Ava and Momma

Ava and Daddy...she doesn't want to take her eyes off the game for a second!

Finally....she gets to see her Bubba!!

Hunter, Ava and some of their cousins after one of Hunter's baseball games.

We also got to enjoy one last "big" vacation before the twins arrive. And what better place to celebrate that Disney World!! The crazies thing of all is that some of our closest friends had also planned a trip to Disney during the same time we were there and we had NO idea beforehand!! Even crazier is that they were planning on staying at the SAME hotel as we were, so Michelle, Austin, their son Banks, and Michelle's mom Donna made sure to get a room right across the hall from us. We had a blast, and were so lucky to be able to share this experience with great friends. Not to mention Ava had a little buddy to play with while we were there!!!!

At Magic Kingdon in front of the castle.

At the restaurant Banks and Ava were having the best time!

Banks grabbing a hug after some dessert.

I love Michelle

Every restaurant we went to there was a balloon artist. Ava got her fav....POOH!

Even at Denny's she got a balloon animal! Lol!At the hotel's sandy lake area

Trying to show Ava why she can't swin in the little lake. She REALLY wanted to get in!

Michelle and Banks in their Mickey ears.

Hunter and Ava getting ready to see a 3D show at Disney

Riding the train around Disney

She loved it!!

Hunter and Ava in their Mickey ears. Ava was hot and tired...

We spent another year celebrating the 4th of July at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort. We used to drive to the one in San Antonio, but when the new resort opened and it was only 2 miles away from home, we made the switch. We ate dinner, swam and watched fireworks on the lawn with Damon, Tara, Gavin and some of Damon's family.

Our family of 4...for now...

Momma and Ava...patiently waiting for it to get dark.

Gavin and Ava. The best we could get for two toddlers. I love Ava's face....guess she's not so sure about holding hands. Hahaha.

Ava luvin' on her some Damon. She always gets SO flirty/shy around him!!

Damon, Gavin and Tara

Hunter and Ava

The fireworks finally start. Ava was scared of the loud bangs, but still wanted to watch the "balls" in the sky as she says, as long as we covered her ears and held her tight. :)

The weekend of July 11th was quite an eventful weekend, and was also the last weekend I was allowed to travel. It was Maddy's FIRST BIRTHDAY as well as my first shower in Dallas.

I can't believe that Maddy is already one. She is growing so fast and I hate that we live so far away and miss large chunks of time from her life. We really enjoy the time we get to spend with her, and were so thankful we got to enjoy her first birthday with her!! Maddy had a pool party/cookout and everyone had a blast.

Ava sitting by the pool with Great Aunt Terri waiting for Maddy to wake up and for the party to get started!!

Finally awake and ready to party in her grass skirt and bathing suit! ;)

Sun screen can sure do crazy things to a girls hair. Hehe.

Dressed and ready to tear into some presents.

Ava's Aunt Dee Dee and Maddy

Blowing out her first candle!

And tearing into her cake. She ate it ALL!!

Just had to throw this picture in. She was slurping up this spaghetti so loudly and so quickly I couldn't believe it! Hahaha. I love you Maddy and can't wait to ring in several more birthdays with you!!! MUAH!!

The next day was my first shower. It was perfect. My mom did such a wonderful job on all of the food and I got to share it all with friends and family. Thank you all SO much for all of the wonderful gifts you brought for the twins. They are going to get such great use out of them all!!!

Ava and Mommy before the shower. Ava actually crashed out in the bedroom and missed the whole thing.

Only 27 weeks here and already HUGE!!

Can't believe Ava is going to be a BIG sister!!

So glad I got to share this with my closest friends. I love you all!!!

Thanks Dee Dee for organizing the shower. You did an amazing job.

Things are pretty quiet now. I am not allowed to travel, but wouldn't choose too anyway since I am getting SO uncomfortable and it is just WAY TOO HOT outside to want to go anywhere!! We are taking it easy and enjoying our time with Ava and Hunter before things get hectic with the twins arrival. Now we will be focusing on finishing the nursery and other projects around the house before we forget what its like to have a free moment to do anything. Lol.

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. I will try and get better about updating the blog! ;)

THANKFUL

I did not want to blog about this, but since I have so many distant relatives and friends wondering about it, and I emotionally can't talk to everyone about it, I thought it best to just do it all at once on here. Even sitting down to write this blog is one of the hardest things to do.

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This past Wednesday evening Ava and I were in the Suburban on the way to church. Jamie was following behind me in our work van that we were going to drop off after services. Our church is in Austin about 30 miles from our house in Bastrop, and we take a small highway to get there. There are two lanes in one direction and two going the other with a grassy median in the middle. There are several small country roads intersecting the highway and you have to cut across the two lanes to make it to the median to get on the highway to go the other direction.

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I am sure you can see where I am going with this. Ava and I were going 65 MPH when someone tried to cross over the highway at the very last second and we were in a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE accident. It all happened in slow motion and there was nothing I could do to avoid her. I did everything I could in those few short moments, but unfortunately, I T-boned her directly in the drivers side door. She was in a small sports like- older two door car.

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I slammed into her throwing her car off to the side and luckily was able to stop in the grassy median before heading into incoming traffic. I remember every detail of the accident very vividly. I will forever remember the screams from Ava in the backseat after the impact. I am sure I will never hear that particular scream again either-except for in my head. Of course the airbags deployed hitting me in the chest and stomach. I stumbled out of the car and just went to lay down hoping that my little twins were ok, and that I wouldn't go into early labor. By the time I stumbled to the back of my car Jamie already had Ava out of the car and was telling me she was ok.

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I could not believe what had just happened to me. I couldn't believe that I was alive at all. It was someones worst nightmare coming true. I layed there in the grass just praying for the other driver. I could feel my arms burning- burns from the airbag-and my legs hurting-but I knew for sure nothing was broken. Ava only cried for a short while after being out of the car, and I knew in my heart she was fine as well. I just kept praying for the other driver. Since everything happened in slow motion I knew I had hit a woman, but that it was bad.

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I was taken to a nearby ER via ambulance. All of which was something I never want to experience again. Too many needles and IV's all at once...so much chaos. They immediately did a sono and both of the babies were perfectly fine. What an enormous blessing from God. How was that even possible after what I had just been through???

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Eventually Jamie was able to get back to see me while they were still running tests in the ER. He told me Ava was doing great. Running around like nothing had happened, and just had seatbelt marks on around her neck and chest. Praise the Lord again. He also told me that the driver had died...probably on impact. Wow. I still don't think it has fully sunk in. Even though it was 100% not my fault, I was in an accident where someone died. I have some bruises and neck and back pain, my daughter has some small marks, and the other person passed away. I can't even wrap my mind around how truly truly truly blessed we were and still are.

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There was also a passenger in the car that is in a coma. I heard her hysterically screaming the whole time in the background after the accident, but had no idea she was the passenger and never saw her. Not sure how she came to be in a coma after that. When I layed down in the grass I subconsciously layed down with my back to her car. I am glad that happened. Not sure I could handle remembering the images that were going on just mere feet from me.

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We later found out that the woman driving was around my age, had no drivers license, was driving a car that was not hers, and was in possession of cocaine. They are doing an autopsy to see if there were any drugs in her system. I pray though that this is not the case. This is just information that was given to me by the DPS.

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So, today I am THANKFUL to be alive. I am thankful that my precious little girl is alive. That the two babies growing inside of me are still alive. I am thankful to have walked away from such a horrible accident with only a few bruises and pains. I still can't believe that. I am thankful to have been driving a huge Suburban. If I had been driving anything smaller everything could have been different. I will never drive a small car/van again. EVER!! I am thankful that I had both hands on the wheel and I wasn't on the phone, messing with the radio, handing Ava a toy, getting a drink of water...any number of things. I was in a position to do everything I could do right at that exact moment. God was most definitely watching over us that night...in so many ways.

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Now I just have to get through dealing with the daily emotions of reliving the wreck. I also feel so horrible for Jamie. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him watching his pregnant wife and baby girl get into such a horrible accident. Not sure if when he reached us if we were even going to be alive. I just can't even imagine.

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I would like to ask for prayers for the other woman that is now in a coma. I pray that she survives the coma and whatever other injuries she sustained. Please please say a prayer for that other woman...that if she isn't a Christian, she will become one after this accident.

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Thank you to all of the friends and family for your continued prayers, calls, and kind words. I know that those prayers truly have helped, and will continue to help me through this very very difficult time. I could not get through it without you all.

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Never take any moment or day for granted. Do not live life for tomorrow but for today-you never know when something unexpected can change your life forever. Tell everyone in your life how much you love them and how much they mean to you, and NEVER pass up an opportunity to tell someone about Christ. It very well could be their last day as well.

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I love you all, and thank you once again for helping me through this.

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Love, Lauren

My New Friend

Jamie has been wanting to take Ava back to Build a Bear for a long time to get her a new "baby." You would think I would be the one to be begging to take her there, but no, it is my cute husband. Last time she got a bunny. This time she got a snuggly lamb.

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Picking out the heart.

She was NOT sure about this lady, and was really scared of the stuffing machine. She has become really scared of noises lately.

Jamie had to help her put in the heart, because she didn't want to get close to the lady. :)


"Washing" her new baby.

Carrying the box herself! Hehe.

After she took the lamb out of the box she tried to trade it for a cookie these ladies behind her were eating. Just like her momma....loves her some Great American Cookie!

Excited to have her new baby.

We just have to pick a name. She snuggles with the both now at night in her bed. So cute!!

My First Ponytail

I can't believe Ava's hair is long enough for a real ponytail! My little girl is growing up so fast! It makes her look SO much older! These were the best pics I could get. She is hard to keep still for pics sometimes. (Ava says please excuse her pj's). ;)

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Drum Roll Please....

Last week we found out for sure what we are having. I say this because two weeks prior to that my doc told me he was 100% sure of one and 95% sure of the other. I told family and close friends, bought bedding, even narrowed my list of names. Come to find out 95% sure just wasn't good enough. He was wrong! He said, "Well, I did give myself 5% wiggle room".

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We were shocked to find out there had been a change. The best surprise in the world!!! I actually hit the doctor on the arm and started laughing and crying when he told us the news. I couldn't stop for hours afterwards! We are totally excited about the change in plans! Now he says he is 100% of both. So without further ado....

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As you can guess, we were first told we were having two girls. I was a little bit disappointed when he told us the second was a girl, because I thought for sure it was a boy. You see, before I even had my first positive pregnancy test I had a dream that I was pregnant with twins...one was a boy and one was a girl. So, I was sure that was what I was going to have all along. Turns out my premonition was right. SO crazy the dreams pregnant women have!!

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(Sorry it took me so long to post, but I have had a really bad head cold that moved to my chest, in addition to taking care of Ava, the blog didn't get much attention.)

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Now I am back to the drawing board picking out names and trying to figure out the best way to decorate a nursery for a boy and a girl! The name part is actually more of a challenge. (I have a very hard to please husband!!)

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The babies are already becoming very active. I feel the boy more often than the girl. Don't know if it is because he is more active or stronger. I have a feeling this is just a sign of things to come. I can also sometimes feel them with my hands. Already! I think because it is already so squished in there that they are getting pushed out against my stomach more. Totally crazy!! I still can't believe I have TWO babies growing inside of me!

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They are both growing right on track...measuring the exact same. I will go back in two weeks for another sono. I pray things keep going so well with the babies growth and development. (And that we don't have any more changes!)

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Can't wait to share the names and nursery once they are decided!

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MUCH LOVE TO ALL!!!!

Happy Mothers Day

What a wonderful Mothers Day it was this year. My last one with just us two girls. It was a very relaxing day. Church, lunch, an extra long nap courtesy of my husband, church again, then dinner cooked by my husband. If only it was like this every day! :)

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I can't believe that next year I will have two more little ones surrounding me!!

I love Ava's face...I am thinking she is shocked by the belly. Hehe

She was in such a good mood taking these pictures...I love this one!!

Kissing her babies. She gives one kiss for each side of the belly and then one big hug every time!!

18 WK belly shot. This thing is gonna get HUGE!!