The Laughlin Twins March for Babies

Here are the girls after a long day of playing outside. They love sitting on this ledge at the base of our house. It is the perfect size for their little bottoms. I love these milk and cookie outfits because they say "Can't have one...." "Without the other". That is pretty much how we feel about it too!

Most of you know our girls were born 3 months premature at only 28 weeks of gestation. Renna weighed 2lbs 15oz and Reagan weighed 2lbs. 10oz. They spent two and a half months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and endured countless transfusions, IV's, bloodwork and surgeries just to name a few. They recieved wonderful and life-saving care. Adam and I feel so blessed to have them here with us and healthy little 22 month old toddlers. We are walking to support the March of Dimes again this year. The March of Dimes supports research for babies who are born prematurely or with congenital birth defects. This research likely helped save our daughters' lives. We want to give back as much as we can to help support such a wonderful cause. On May 7 Team Laughlin Twins will be marching for healthier babies. If you can help support us in anyway please visit our team website at: http://www.marchforbabies.org//team/t1496348. Any donation you can make is greatly appreciated and may help save some babies who are in similar situations that ours were in. We hope that someday all babies will be born healthy. We want to thank our family and friends who have supported us through this journey. We are so blessed beyond what we deserve. God has truly done amazing things in our lives and continues to do so everyday. We feel so blessed to be the parents of these two beautiful girls who continue to amaze us everyday.

Here are a few pictures of them when they were in the NICU.

Renna at about 2 weeks old
One of the girls at 2 days old.
Reagan several weeks old.

Babies, Babies, Babies

The girls are really really into babies right now. Babies of all kinds, humans, dolls, animals, pretending to be babies. If it has the word baby they are interested. We loaned our bouncy seat out to some friends and we recently got it back. The girls latched right onto it before I got it put away. Here they are fighting over it and both wanting to be the baby.
My sweet Baby Reagan. This is so funny because for the first two months she was home from the hospital this is the only thing we could get her to sleep in. I guess she still loves it and insisted on being covered with her blankie as well.
Our friends Amanda and Tanner came over recently with their two sweet girls, Ava and Allie. The girls were so excited to feed and hold baby Allie. Reagan is especially intrigued by her and always wants to hold her or give her a bottle. It is so precious to see her trying to be a little mommy. Thanks Amanda for letting the girls play with your beautiful daughters!
Renna holding Allie. Sweet Allie just slept right through the process. But Renna who never seems to stop moving sit there for a really long time so still just holding her. We had to make her get down.
Right along with all of the baby pretending we have Renna constantly wanting to wear my shoes around the house. I guess here is she pretending to be me and take out the trash. The odd thing is she has my shoes spread all over the floor in the closet and always comes out with a perfect match! My smart little girl loves shoes
My parents are having baby goats right now and they have one bottle goat. She is so adorable. My mom brought her over to spend the day and the girls were so excited. They drug the poor goat all over the yard and pasture with us. Here is Reagan excited about feeding the "Baby Goaty" a bottle.
Renna feeding the bottle...or attempting to.
We led her all over the yard. She came willingly most of the time. Of course both of the girls wanted to hold the rope.
The girls newest phrase is "hold it". That is what we heard all day while the goat was here. She was so tolerant of all the loving and snuggling.
This goat even rides golf carts!
Did I mention she loves wagon rides too? I think a baby goat may be in our future next year.
These are a set of twin goats at my parents house. We wanted to get a picture of the twins all together....this is the best we got.
A little fun time on the farm riding the four wheeler. This winter the girls developed a fear for loud noises and were not too excited about the four wheeler. They took a ride with their daddy recently and now they are cured. They love riding around on it, especially with their cousin Sara. Don't worry we don't go fast. So that is pretty much what we have been up to lately.

Zoo Time

Since the weather has been getting nice we have been on the go. Here are daddy and the girls walking at the zoo. I cannot get over how big they look. We have been to the zoo a lot lately with our zoo pass. What a great invention for people with children. The girls are really starting to notice the animals and enjoy the outing as much as I do. Their favorite so far are the chimps and the seals. I must say I agree with that as well.
Reagan walking with our niece.
Renna walking with our nephew. Aren't they cute holding hands?
We got to try the carousel since daddy was with us. Renna loved it as you can see. Reagan got very scared so I couldn't put her down to try and get a picture.
He we are loving the elephant show! It was great to see the elephants up close, they kept the girls attention for at least five minutes, and that is a lot for them!
We love that Daddy has one day off during the week since he works Saturdays. It is fun to go visit places during the week that are normally packed on the weekends. Renna was totally done with pictures as you can see.
Checking out the elephant statues.
Over spring break we got to go to the zoo with my mom, sister, and my niece and nephew. We had a great time even though the zoo was packed. It was fun to have my mom go with us because she hadn't been to a zoo since Amy and I were little.
Renna enjoying a little time with cousins Sara and Gage.
Are those really my big girls walking all over the zoo? They have gotten a little spoiled about being able to get out of the stroller since we have went with family recently. Usually when I take them it is a rare occasion to let them out of the stroller. We love having our families close so that we get to spend time with them. Everyone check out your local zoo, it is a lot of fun.

We're Learning to Swim and Growing up

One of our best friends, Amber, invited us to go mommy and me swim classes with her and her sweet daughter Paisley. We were so excited at the opportunity for the girls to get a little water exposure before summer comes. This picture is us right before our first class. Daddy was able to leave work early and make it to the class. We were really glad he made it. However we need to thank Amber and her mom Dawn for helping me get the girls dressed and ready. We love spending time with you all and are looking forward to the rest of our classes. You can see Reagan was already a little hesitant about the situation.
Here we all are in the pool. Renna has loved the water, which is shocking because she is our little shy girl. Reagan who is our more outgoing daughter was really scared at first. I guess they are just trying to keep me guessing! Anyways they did really well and Reagan eventually warmed up to the idea even though she seemed a little troubled about the cold water.
Family pool time!
Here is Amber and sweet little Paisley. Somehow we managed to get no pictures of Paisley's beautiful face. You can see Renna and I in the background practicing swimming on her belly. We have three more weeks of swim classes so we are excited to see how the girls gain some confidence in the pool. Our favorite part so far has been socializing with Paisley and her parents!
I had to post a few recent pictures of the girls. They look so grown up to me in these next few pictures. I cannot believe my little ladies will be turning two before I know it. I am loving this stage as they are now starting to really communicate and repeat everything! My little Reagan may be small but she is very good at loudly expressing her emotions. She is also my little sweetheart and readily shares her toys with others. This most of the time leads to her getting pushed around by her sister and others but it is so sweet to see how giving she is. She is usually pretty confident in new places and trying new things. Love our little sweet Pickle!
Renna is our little talker. She repeats everything and continues to repeat the word until you understand what she is trying to tell you. It is so cute! She is very in to details and immediately notices and comments on what she sees. She is a very determined child and continues to push the limits at every corner. Our Punkin is also our little shy girl. She gets very overwhelmed at strangers talking to us and getting too close. The girl just needs her space and needs her mommy and daddy close by. I am also proud to report she has started using her potty periodically! She started asking to go so we got some potty chairs and let the fun begin! Of course we aren't officially potty training yet but when a girl asks she needs to sit on her potty.
I just love this picture of Reagan. She looks so happy! Notice the stick in her hand. She loves gathering sticks outside. Luckily we have lots of trees so an endless supply of sticks to play with. Reagan is also our little singer. She loves music and just has to sing and move to the beat....I wonder who she could get this from? It makes her momma so proud.
Renna giving Daddy the look! Seriously dad, more pictures?
We stopped at a boot store after church one day and the girls fell in love with some boots. They looked so precious in them and they both cried when we made them take them off. We didn't get any real cowgirl boots yet. We are enjoying the hand-me-downs from the cousins right now.
Renna rockin the hat and the boots! Everyday with these girls is something new and wonderful. I am so lucky to be their mom! We can't wait to see what adventures are in store for Spring.

Sledding in the Snow

It seems weird to be posting this now when it is 75 degrees outside. We are definitely not complaining about the rapid change in temperature. About two weeks ago we finally got to get the girls out and do a little snow sledding at Grammy and Papa's house. I was a little concerned they would hate it but they actually had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the snow fun.
Renna getting ready to check out the snow. She was a little unsure at first.
I love this one of Reagan and her huge smile! This is an action shot of them going down the hill. She wasn't scared at all.

Daddy giving the big push off. He was so proud of his brave girls. They hung on really well.
Grammy and the girls playing with a snowball. They just wanted to eat it of course. I guess the snow ice cream we made earlier could have put that idea in their head.
Here we are getting all suited up to go out. I guess I posted a little out of order. We wanted to say thanks to our two sisters for giving us some hand-me-down snow suits and boots so we didn't have to buy any. We love all the hand-me-down clothes!
I just had to post this picture of our little Reagan reading the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association! She grabbed it and just had to have it in her highchair with her. She obviously needed to catch up on the latest in veterinary research...it is always good to keep yourself informed of the latest medical breakthroughs! I guess she is just a little veterinarian in training. Now I need to get her a little practical experience at the clinic to go along with her research reading!

Blizzard of 2011

This picture is of the girls with their first snow on Dec. 24, 2009. Can't believe how tiny they were and they are 6 months old in this picture. This was basically the only time they have ever seen snow until Tuesday.
We recently had a blizzard!! Crazy! That doesn't happen here very often. And just one week ago we had 75 degree temps and were playing outside in shorts! Now on to 0 degree weather and blizzards! We enjoyed Daddy being home with us for one day off work during the worst of the storm. We decided to let the girls stay in their jammies all day. Here they are playing with some snow Daddy brought inside. You can see the towering sheets of white outside the door. We decided due to the very very low temps and the fact that the girls currently have a cold to play with the snow warm and safe inside the house.
Renna holding some snow. She kept saying Cold, cold, over and over. So Cute!
While the girls were napping we had to drag ourselves outside in the 3 degree temps and blizzard snow to shovel out the drift from the garage and driveway so Adam would be able to get to work the next day. Here I am all geared up. Needless to say Adam shoveled about 4 times more snow than me but at least I was out there trying to help right? I am pretty good and feeding animals and pitching hay in the snow but not a great shoveler.
Here is Adam just getting started. Did I mention he had the huge stall cleaning shovel and he gave me the tiny metal one? Probably a good move on his part. He wanted to get the job done. Thanks Daddy for working so hard and going back to work in the bad weather to provide for your family. You are a wonderful father and amazing husband. Saving the world one dog and cat at a time...right?
When the girls got up from their nap we played with the bowl of snow and made our first ever snow ice cream! It came out pretty good and we all ate some with a little chocolate syrup of course!
Reagan wasn't to happy about being fed the ice cream. She wanted to do it herself.
Renna loved the ice cream.
Just a quick shot of the end of the day with Reagan eating some Chicken Enchilada Chili for supper! Yummy!
A few more pictures of our cold days spent inside. Before we had kids we would try to do a date night on Friday nights, now on Friday nights we always do a movie night after supper. I know we are pretty wild and crazy, dinner at home and a Netflix movie. But we actually really enjoy this tradition. Usually it is just a movie for me and Adam but the girls stay up for the beginning. Anyways this is Daddy enjoying the movie when Renna came and joined in. I thought it was so cute I went to get the camera....when I came back I found this...
They were all three sucked into the movie!! How cute is that. I think Reagan was frustrated she couldn't see as well. Doesn't daddy make a good recliner? Precious family memories.
It has been so cold and miserable we have barely left the house. Here are both the girls enjoying riding their Ozzy! Did I mention he is the most patient dog in the world? He has pretty significant arthritis in his hips so I am sure this can't feel good, but he never complains.
My two favorite girls enjoying some time in the baby strollers while drinking their "Cokes." Don't worry it is just milk but those of you who know how much I love Coke won't be surprised that they call their milk Coke. Makes their momma proud! It could be much worse, they could be really asking for Coke. I wonder how long before they figure out they are drinking something different from Mommy? It cracks me up they always want to sit in these strollers themselves with their babies. Good thing they don't weigh too much. Not sure how much more these strollers can hold. So here is hoping for no more snow! These three ladies are ready for spring so we can play outside.