One Year Later

This time last year I was laying in a hospital bed, in labor with twins.  I knew I was about to give birth to double the babies I had previously given birth to.  I knew these babies would mean double the diapers, double the baby clothes, double the money, double the sleeplessness, etc.  I had no idea these babies would also usher in a season of double the joy, double the grace, double the favor, double the fruit. 

In the last year, we settled into a new city and state and Jordan settled into a new job, we got a new van, I got a job, we bought our first house, and I ran my first 5K (small potatoes to my many runner friends out there, but an accomplishment to me, as I have NEVER been a runner!).  On the flip side, our computer broke, my phone broke, and we survived our first stomach flu epidemic as a family of five (these three happened within the same week).  Lots of victory, lots of challenges, lots of change.  In my 27 years of life, in my 7 years of marriage, in my 3 years of motherhood, I have never had a year like this one. But the over-arching change, the one that surpassed them all, the one that changed the dynamic of our life, was the addition of Nora and Abel into our family. 

If you've ever read a funny blog, quote, or post about twins, you'll have likely read sarcastic accounts of how fed up twin parents are with being pulled aside and regaled with other peoples' twin stories.  "I had a cousin who was a twin" or "my mom had two sets of twins" or "my neighbor's cat just had twins."  It's true - everyone has a twin story, and if they don't, they are still incredibly enamored by the fact that you have twins
.  And it's true, there are moments when I long to walk into a store and not feel like a circus clown, with my three-kid shopping cart.  There are moments when I long to be invisible again.  But this is also true - it is an enormous privilege to get to hear these stories, and to have a way to identify with people from every walk of life.  Twins have no respect for economic class, culture, ethnicity, or religion. They burst into the lives of all kinds of people all over the world, and when one family with twins encounters another family with twins, there is a bond that transcends all the other differences that may be present.  What a gift.

And sometimes I kind of like the attention.  I remember when I had Asher, and was no longer pregnant, I would walk into a public place and feel a little bit ignored.  There was no more of that "oohing" and "ahhing" and stomach-rubbing that we all love to hate.  "What, I'm not special anymore?  Now that this kid is in my arms instead of my stomach I'm just another lady with a baby?" With twins, the attention remains long after the pregnancy.  I will always be a special kind of spectacle when I enter a public place.  Sometimes this is exasperating, but when I'm able to just shrug my shoulders and accept the chaos, it can become fun.

With your first baby, everything they do is original and exciting, because it's the first time it's happened.  The first time they walk (or let's be honest, the first time they blow a spit-bubble), you fall over yourself running to the computer to post it on Facebook.  With the second baby, or in my case, the second and third baby, I've found that there isn't the same exhilaration with each new thing, because it has happened before.  Instead, there is a richness that's felt.  I feel rich that I have had three babies, and that I get to go through each precious stage three different times (although with Nora and Abel, their stages are simultaneous, which adds an originality and newness all its own). 

I could continue to reflect and perfect this blog, but the reality is I have a new house to unpack, and limited time before the birthday boy and girl wake up from their naps.  Nora and Abel, it is your birthday!  I wish your birthday didn't have to happen in the middle of this crazy move. I wish that you were in really cute birthday outfits instead of just your pajamas.  I wish I hadn't spilled coffee down my shirt as I was composing this blog.  But that's just our lives, right?  You've never known any different, God bless you.  I promise not to let your birthday get buried under all of these boxes.  Because you're both precious, and original, and worth celebrating.  Thanks for all the sweetness you've brought to our family.  Thanks for making your daddy and me stronger.  You are dearly loved.