Something to Talk About...

This morning I awoke early and spent time in prayer on the back porch. I was in complete awe of everything that appeared before me. The day grew brighter and brighter as the dawn unfolded. The birds sang with gratitude, the flowers opened with praise, the clouds broke with anticipation of the glorious sun. I sat, a mere mortal, in a metal chair grieving that I so often fail to praise this miraculous event that has taken place morning after morning for thousands of dawns.

This afternoon, I was again in complete awe of the miracles of my heroes pictured above. Every day, they face new challenges with such strength, perseverance and patience. When they smile, joy immediately fills the room from corner to corner. On our simple daily walk hope is restored to the grumpy elderly man at the grocery, joy fills the heart of the man sitting alone in the corner at our favorite coffee joint, and the faithful workers at the American Red Cross are reminded why they remain faithful to what they do.

We had our six month evaluation with our developmental therapist today. I sat speechless with tears in my eyes as Emily asked the girls to do a particular skill and they did it with no hesitation. She went over how they are doing developmentally and my heart was overwhelmed. Nearly two years ago, the doctors and therapists told us about the multiple challenges the girls would face from their premature birth and their hearing loss.

Today, the girls are walking, they dance, they try singing, they sign over 100 words, and they speak over 40. Their favorite new phrases are "bye bye baby", "fall dow (fall down)", "no, no o-e (no sophi)", "no, no a-na"(no, no raena), "night night baby", "luv yew (love you), "be rye ba (be right back)", "e pease (eat please) and my not so favorite new Sophi phrase..."bye bye, Bicki". She stopped calling me mommy and has resorted to my first name! Unbelievable! Six months ago they scored at 10 months old on the language portion of the evaluation. Today, they scored at 24 months!

The girls love dancing together.

We even love kisses and hugs.

Big girls at their learning table.

Therapy time with daddy.

Bring on the social life!

With the lift of RSV season and the rapidly approaching magical second birthday that all of our neonatologists promised us would some day arrive, we're out finally enjoying the world!! Purell is still our closest friend, however, we face restaurant high chairs, slobbery plastic toys in play group and the ever forbidden nursery doors with great hope and excitement that the girls are strong enough to fight back! Thank you for your patience with our journey!

The girls are out and about and absolutely loving their social life. There are no shy bones in our family. We just went for ice cream tonight and the girls would say "hi" to everyone who came in and blew kisses. What personalities!

It's been birthday season and the girls are loving celebrating life with their friends. They recently went to My Gym for a birthday party for Kiera and Kasey. Are you seeing double?

Sophi takes a break at the gym from climbing...yes, I said climbing! Thanks Ericka for all of the physical therapy and Emily for all of the developmental therapy!



Raena enjoys being pulled through the parachute tunnel.

Just a side note...yes, we are spelling Raena's name differently. I guess I should have told everyone, but it started out as an experiment that kind of stuck. Everyone continues to call her "Ree-na" because that's how I spelled it. Give me a little slack, I had 24 hours to come up with two names while two little ones were doing somersaults in my belly and a nurse was sticking me with steriod shots! So, while their legal names remain Sophia and Rena (we don't want to spend the money to change social security cards, passports, etc. right now), we prefer to call them Sophi and Raena.

Sophi and Bailey play at Ethan's first birthday.

Sophi in her cool hat thanks to Grandma Janet!

The birthday boy with his mommy.

All the kiddos with their special hats. Happy birthday, Ethan!

Lions and tigers and elephants, oh my!

So, we've missed quite a lot of posting so I'm going to try to catch up with a myriad of photos and a few stories. In May, all of the G.O. staff was in from the Dominican and we enjoyed an afternoon at the zoo with Tim, Samira, Tony and Jen. In April, we received the all clear from RSV season meaning no more monthly painful shots for the girls!!! It also means we can come out of isolation. It has been a blast hanging out with friends, playing with other kids, and going to our first playground at the zoo! Bring on the germs...slowly!!

Rogers' and Krauss' with the baby elephant.

Tony finds a new friend.

Raena, the tour guide.

Daddy and Sophi hang with the birds.

Daddy walks through the zoo with his girls.

Team Bionic Duo & Walk America

Thanks to all of you who donated to Team Bionic Duo for the March of Dimes Walk America walk! With your help, our team raised nearly $1,000 to help end the devastating effects of prematurity!

We stopped by the girls' story on Ambassador Alley.

Team Bionic Duo! Sara, Jeff, Brittney, Vic, Toby, Joel and Robbie. Thanks, guys for enduring the 20 degree temperatures!!


Memory Mile was dedicated to our angels. We know that sweet Phoenix looks over his parents and his friends, Sophi & Rae every day. We miss you Phoenix!

Thanks everyone for a great walk!!!

Walking in the DR

The girls decided to take off in the Dominican. We were there for nearly three weeks and the girls learned to walk...no more crawling!! They also learned how to say, "hola"! How fun! Here are a few shots from the trip...much more to come!

The girls stop for a second for a photo with abuela Marisol and Angela.
The girls' first trip to the DR was during Tony's first birthday...we got to celebrate his second birthday this year! They absolutely LOVE Tony!!

Can we take these off?

Vanessa helps Raena take a swipe at the frosting!

Remember Nico and Paulina's twins, Paola and Adrien...they're growing!!

Yesica loved playing with Raena....Rae doesn't look so sure in this photo though...man, she looks like Jeff!

Ronald McDonald Helps NICU Families

When the girls were born, we spent 8 weeks going back and forth to the hospital. We would sit for endless hours by their isolettes. We were lucky because our dear friends, Joel and Toby, lived close to the hospital and we stayed with them to remain close to our girls. Many families lived hours away and would either run up incredible hotel bills or not be able to see their babies. As a result, for the girls' first birthday, we asked our family and friends in lieu of gifts to make a donation to the new Norton Suburban Family Center in conjunction with the Ronald McDonald house.

We are so happy to say, that now the Family Center houses up to four families, has a full kitchen, laundry facilities, internet access, and a family room where families can relax, rest, and become rejuvenated. Because of many of your kind donations, families can now remain close to their small ones as they grow and become stronger.

The girls enjoy a little time with the clown.

Rogers' family poses in front of the wall

The girls' names!

Thank you!!!!

Our Girls are Finally Walking...Now You Can Too!

As you all well know, we are always making requests for global aid as that is the line of work we're in. We're hesitant to make this request because many of you already give so much to so many worthy causes…including to us! However, this request is the result of our sweet daughters and their journey that has forever changed our lives. As you know, Raena and Sophi entered the world 10 ½ weeks early. While the odds were against them, prayers and the doctors saved their lives. We were among the fortunate who were able to bring our children home, but many never have that opportunity. We want to make sure no other parent or child has to endure what our children did.

We are participating in our first WalkAmerica because we believe in the March of Dimes mission to save babies. Jeff and I currently serve on a March of Dimes NICU Family Support Committee and see the many efforts of WalkAmerica to end premature births. You have an opportunity to help by putting on your walking shoes and joining our family team for a little exercise and a wonderful cause! Or you can sponsor us to walk, the girls will be riding. It's easy - just visit our Bionic Duo team web page to sign up and raise money for this very worthy effort. Click on the link, then click the "Join This Team" button. The link is http://www.walkamerica.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=377585

The money we raise helps save premature and sick babies. Premature birth is the #1 cause of newborn death and the biggest threat to babies’ health today, and through WalkAmerica, the March of Dimes is funding important research to find out why premature birth happens and what can be done to prevent it.

We’ve joined with millions of compassionate people across the country who support WalkAmerica each year. Join us to save more babies!

Peace in Him,

Vicki, Jeff, Sophi & Raena

Well it Finally Happened...

Well, the girls have been wrestling with the "D" sound for some time now. You might recall that they were very quick to say "Momma" even if it was by accident, at least the first time. Over the past two weeks (and after a tune up of sorts to help them hear the lower frequency "D" sounds at the audiologist)the girls have been working hard (and Vic has been working hard with them) to say DaDa. The early manifestations were "ah-ah" but over the last two days I have begun to hear a very distinct "Dada." So, as you might imagine, Dada's glad to hear it.

Peace,

Jeff

Preemie Party!!!!

Sweet Zoe turned 1!!!! Zoe was a 31-weeker and spent time in the same NICU as the girls. Her parents are good friends of ours and we never knew we would walk the same path together. It's good to have each other....especially during the winter months! If you notice, there's only one balloon in the background. There were three until my little monkeys came in the room and crashed Zoe's party!! Happy Birthday, Zoe!!

Sophi too!

Well, we finally caught the little stinker on tape! Sophia takes a few steps for us on camera. Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1OnI19nB88

Curly locks...

Sophi sits still as Aunt Laurie cuts her curls for the first time! While the girls had half of their heads shaved for their surgeries, they've never had an official "first haircut". We couldn't wait to have Aunt Laurie give them the professional treatment! Thanks, Aunt Laurie!!

Rena's making sure she doesn't take too much off!

Aunt Laurie with Rena and Sophi after their first haircuts!! Great job, Aunt Laurie!!! She's at Force 2000 for anyone who is looking for a makeover!

Play Date...and just playing!

My friend Wendy is in town as her husband, Major George, is courageously off to work "saving the world" as Debbie tells baby George! The girls had their first play date with George and had a blast!

Sophi gets smooched by sweet Dazzle. Both of the girls LOVE dogs and make the sign for dog and start barking "arf, arf, arf" when they see one!

Sophi says, "Happy New Year!!!"

Ditto! from Rena

Happy New Year!!

He's cutting teeth too!!! Rena enjoys a close-up look of Jaws at Newport Aquarium.

Rena Walks!!

We said we'd post it and here it is!! We're still waiting to catch Sophi. Follow the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-b5zJcVHA

One foot in front of the other...

Our focus has certainly been to just keep putting one foot in front of the other this past year as we've watched the girls endure many challenges and slowly meet their milestones...our girls' seem to have picked that trend up as well. Sophi put one foot in front of the other and took her first steps on Thursday and Rena followed on Friday!!!

To many, this might not seem that incredibly exciting, afterall, most kids eventually learn to walk. But to a preemie mom who daily remembers the all so encouraging words of her doctor to the tune of "we'll just have to wait and see", who has fervently been praying for this day for the last 18 months, and for our therapists who have stood by us and patiently tried many different avenues to help with the girls' slow development, it is just so surreal!! Let's have a party Emily, Ericka & Kristie!!! Thank you so much for cheering the girls on and loving them almost as much as we do!!

I still remember the day they told us about Sophi's brain bleed and the many outcomes it could have. Walking was one of our next hoops to see if she would be able to do it. And not only was she able, but she did it with that huge toothy smile and energetic bright eyes! What a joy these angels are to us!

Needless to say, there is a big party at our house!! We're trying to get it on video so we can post it, but the girls love a stage and it seems that when we get the camera out, all they're interested in is seeing themselves in the camera screen!

Next on the list....cartwheels!

Uh Oh!

Well, its been a little while since we’ve reported any new happenings with the girls' speech development so we’ll try to get you caught up. The sounds are sutble and come in batches. The girls will utter a few new sounds and then just kind of wait for about two weeks and then suddenly, again, something new! Something surprising.

So…
About four weeks ago the girls started saying “Eee! Eee! Eee” at breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. They are missing only the “t”. “Mama” was there first word. “Eat” is officially the second. It was funny. Several days ago in the evening Vicki and I had fed the girls about an hour and a half before we decided to eat something ourselves. I asked Vicki, who was playing with the girls, what she wanted to eat. The girls had their backs to me and as soon as the question left my mouth they both turned, faced me, and started saying, “Eee, eee, eee,” signing and crawling. I said playfully, “Who taught these kids how to hear? You two are always eating! Let us eat.” So, for the first time, having daughters that circle our plates like vultures anytime we try to eat, we have to spell it out to each other if we’re going to get into something we don’t want to share. “Hey Vic, do you want to “E-A-T?”

They also make a “ma” sound for “more.” We know this because they often accompany the sounds with the sign it signifies. And when they sign “please,” more often than not it is accompanied by “eeaze.” They’re working on “eyes,” “nose,” and “ear.” They come out “Iy,” “Noo…,” and “eugh” (yeah, use you’re imagination on that one.) Vicki got after Soph the other day and said, “Sophi, No!” To which Soph responded by turning to her, smiling and putting her index finger on the end of her nose. That probably means she’s not hearing the S’s on the end but that’s ok for now.

They also make a kind of chirpy noise, especially when they’re scolding us for taking something away or telling them no. They sometimes sound like Dino from the Flintstones and at other times like Beeker from the Muppets. Its pretty cute.

This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Crosspoint, a church that supports our work in the Dominican and Haiti. We had the opportunity to stay with our friends Page and Christina (we met them when they came down on a short-term trip to the Dominican last July). Page has some dogs that were barking at the girls from outside of a glass door. The girls stood in their faces on the opposite side and barked right back for the first time ever, “ar, ar, ar!” They were outrageously excited by the dogs. Sophi, in particular, was fearless.

Later that night one of us dropped something and said, “uh oh.” Rena, for the first time and clearly as can be, looked up and said “Uh oh.” She did it again and again for us but I’m sure that when the time comes to show her off to our therapists she’ll clam up just for fun. (I had to come back and add this part: as I was writing this Soph started saying “Uh oh” just as clearly as Rena!!) How cool is that! Thanks Page for the awesome hospitality and all of your love for the girls!

And thanks to all of you who check this so frequently out of the same love for our girls. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Grace and Peace, all

Connexin 26 is not the title of an old Alias Episode...

We finally have discovered the root of our girls’ deafness. The girls’ genetic test results came back and it turns out that it is as we suspected, Vicki and I are carriers of a rare recessive gene for deafness.

So, above is our Punnett Square. Remember those from science class in highschool. Remember thinking, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” Well it just goes to show that you never know what might prove to be useful in your life. Anyway, as I said, Vic and I are carriers which means that our hearing genes are Rr (R=Typical Hearing, r=hearing loss and/or deafness). So combine the two above and we’re left with the 25% chance to have a child with typical hearing who is not a carrier of Connexin 26, a 50% chance of having a child with typical hearing who is a carrier of Connexin 26, and a 25% chance of having a child with significant hearing loss/deafness.

So, there you go. And so what’s the bottom line you ask? Well, quite frankly, we’re a family of X-Men! So all you regular o’le humans, don’t be haters!!

For more info check out the new link to the left “What is Connexin 26?”

Christmas 06

Merry Christmas!! The girls enjoyed their second Christmas and their first "hearing" Christmas! They love signing "Away in a Manger" (they really just move their hands around!) and humming it with a little babble in there too! Among their new signs this week...Christmas, tree, monkey (unrelated I know, but still very cute!), and present.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Rogers' crew. Sophi likes Granny's elf hat...it had a bell of course! Rena preferred Uncle Mark's santa hat.

The girls have sweet little short legs and are still too short for chairs...so Granny and Papaw found some perfectly sized stools for them to learn to stand up from. They really think they are big girls now!!!

We have a complete band now with keyboards, bells, tamborines, and drums!! As you can tell from the photo at the left, Sophi hear's the bells just fine!!
With all of the toys, wrapping paper, lights, etc....the winners for the day were the apples the girls received in their stockings at Grandmother's house.

The girls enjoyed their apples with their great grandpa Charlie. Can you tell he adores them? He prays for them every day and says the only thing wrong with them is they're not blondes!