Welcome Zachary!

Please join us in welcoming to the world Zachary David MacDonald!

What everyone really wants to see (first pictures) are available at http://pix.tazman.net/v/Zachary/.

Please continue to pray for us, as Zachary was admitted to the NICU this evening with respiratory distress, likely due to fluid in the lungs that was not cleared at birth. If so, this is not uncommon with C-Section deliveries and should clear up in a day or so with close monitoring. As a precaution they are also running panels for various infections and lung underdevelopment, however. In any case, we are told it shouldn't be a big deal, other than the fact that he isn't staying with us, but please pray for a speedy resolution and our mental state since this pregnancy has been a long road that never seems to end.

Dan

A picture to strike fear into the heart of any parent of twins! :)

Shot at night under less than ideal circumstances, so it may take a closer look to notice that there are TWO car seats on the other side of the infant carrier. Amazingly they all fit! Of course, Baby Mac may not have any ears left after whichever brother is in the middle yanks at them, and in our test drive the boys were already quibbling over who gets to sit in the middle. It's great fun to watch the boys climb up to (my) chest height to get into their car seats.

A peek inside

One of the coolest things about seeing the high risk doctor (2x a week!) is getting to have 4-D ultrasounds at no additional cost. Our sonographers have been trying for weeks to get a shot of the face of our baby, with no luck. We have good ones of the boys parts, a few pictures of the top of his head, and even a 4-D image of his foot from last week. But today, we got lucky! Baby No-Name graced us with a quick shot of his face. No, not his whole face, and yes, there is a hand and a leg in the way...but we didn't care! Take a look for yourself.

31 weeks, 4 days
38 days until full term
59 days until my due date

Our First Drum

The boys got a new drum last night. I don't think I need to say anything else.

Blog Carnival III: Adoption Photos

The writer's over at Grown In My Heart are hosting another adoption carnival this week and I decided to play along! Here's what we're supposed to do:

Carnival III: Photos of Adoption. What is your most treasured adoption photo (or two)? Block out faces if you have to, find a scanner, or simply tell us about it if you can’t post it. We do understand that. Adversely, if you don’t have one, tell us why you don’t.

Yeah, I couldn't decide on just one picture, so you get to see a few! I think all of these are on our Adoption Blog, but I don't think they were ever shared here. It was fun to go back over all the pictures we took when we were in Vietnam in 2007, but I knew even before looking at the photos which ones were my favorites.

This is one of several photos we received as part of our referral. I love it because it was the first tangible thing we had to link us to our children. I love that one shirt has the word "boys" on it, just in case you didn't know they were boys (and trust me, we knew!) and that the other shirt is pink. What you don't know about this photo is I had to crop it to make it acceptable for public viewing. I guess everyone wanted to make sure we knew 100% that Matthew and Nicholas were boys. :-)

Referral Picture: Matthew-left, Nicholas-right.

The next photo is one we took when we walked into their room at the orphanage. Their caretakers had dressed them the same, and put them in the same cradle so we would be able to see them together as soon as we walked in the door. Those outfits are one of two things we have from their time at the orphange. Although they never wore the hats or the onesies after this day, I have saved them to give to them when they become adults.

I honestly have no idea who's who in this photo.

The next two photos were taken just a few minutes after we arrived at our hotel. Dan took a ton of pictures the whole time we were in Vietnam, but the two below remain two of my favorites.

Nicholas

Matthew

The last image was made by our dear friend Aimee while we were still in Vietnam. The three pictures above (not including the referral picture) were the ones we sent via e-mail to friends and family. Aimee took those three photos and created a baby announcement for us. Although we never sent announcements in the mail to anyone (who has time with twins???), it is also a favorite of mine, and one we shared via the internet.

(Click to enlarge)

You've Been Boo'd!

The air is cool the season fall
Soon Halloween will come to all
The spooks are after things to do
In fact, a spook brought this to you
"BOO" is a shield from the witching hour
Just hang it up and watch its power
On your front door is where it works
It wards off spooks and scary jerks
The treats that came with crypted note
Are yours to keep, enjoy them both
The power comes when friends like you
Will copy this and make it two
Then others here among our friends
Will give warm fuzzies that do not end
We'll all have smiles upon our face
No one will know who "BOO'ed" whose place
Just two short days to work your spell
Or a big zap will strike your tail
And don't forget a nifty treat,
Like something cute or something sweet
Please join the fun, let's really hear it
And spread some "BOO's" and Halloween spirit.

Happy Almost Halloweeen to you! I hope you get Boo'd, too! And if you haven't, start the tradition in your own neighborhood, just like someone did in ours. Click here to find out how to do it!

Happy Anniversary

All of my life Ihave dreamed that somehow love would find me
Now I can't believe you're standing here
If beauty is all in the eye of the beholder then I
Wish you could see the love for you that lives in me

And you would know you have my heart
If you could see what I see
That a treasure is what you are
If you could see what I see
Created to be the only one for me
If you could see what I see

It's all of the light and the grace
your belief in me drives me to say
that I promise you
A faithful love, forever true

If you could see...
Then you'd understand
Why I fall down to my knees
And I pray my love will be worthy of
The One who gave His life so our love could be

If you could see what I see

You're created to be
The perfect one for me
If you could see what i see

If beauty is all in the eye
of the beholder then I am beholding...
true beauty

Happy EIGHT Years, Dan. I love you!