29 weeks!

Friday's are always great days. I always wake up a little earlier than usual and am ready to hurry to the shower so I can get ready to take my picture of another week's success!

While I often reflect on our situation, this morning I have spent a good amount of time counting my blessings and all of the positive things that have come from what some may consider a bad or not ideal situation. I simply don't see how any of this is bad. That's not to say that I don't miss the comforts of my own home, my dogs, my students, and privacy (and the list could go on). I do miss those things, but the reality is they will all still be there when I get home (hopefully in about seven weeks!).

The benefits of being here in the hospital are all short term in the grand scheme of things. I'm more focused on enjoying it here while it last, because chances are I will never have this experience again. So what could be so good about being in the hospital day in and day out you may wonder? I'll start with the obvious, the babies and I are safe and sound and watched 24 hours a day! Other little benefits are my room is cleaned for me every day, all of my meals are made or brought to me (in bed! lol),and my bed is changed daily (who doesn't love the feel of clean sheets!).

Moving on to the more meaningful things...I get to just sit and visit with family and friends and catch up with no distractions -real family/quality time. I have had the opportunity to visit with people from school and from Aaron's work who I didn't really know. Now they are my new friends, and without being here, I would have probably missed out on getting to know them. Along with making new friends, the nurses and staff here are people whom I'm going to really miss seeing everyday. I've gotten to know a lot about them and there have been several occasions where we know the same people (small world huh?).

The nurses and staff have stepped into the role of a good or best friend. They have put on "shows" for me, they give me a word of the day (that no one else gets :), and they share hilarious stories that put me in stitches. I could really go on about all the fun we have together. They have also seen me at my worse or in situations you usually don't want people to see you in...they wake me up in the middle of the night-gosh who knows what I look like then, they've seen me with no make up, dirty hair, and my ugly face when I've broken down on them to cry. Again, I could go on and on about how wonderful these ladies are.

I have learned while being here how to be a better friend. So many people have reached out to Aaron and I in so many ways that we are just baffled. I am sure Aaron would agree with me when I say how thankful we are and how loved we feel. In the future, I'm going to be a better friend now that I know how to be.

While I could continue to go on and on about how great things are here and how God has been showing us through this experience that he is around us every day, I'll finish with what is the absolute best thing about being here. Being here has forced me to stop. It has forced me to stop running the "rat race" of life.

It has given me the opportunity to sit back, reflect, and really focus on what is important in life. I feel God has taken this time to not only keep Landen and Caroline safe, but for me to realign myself for this wonderful new journey Aaron and I will be on when the babies arrive. I feel like I will be a better mother to them and a better wife. The time I have now with the twins is time most people don 't get either. I get to listen to their little hearts beat every morning and evening...I get to see them on ultrasounds twice a week...and because I am not distracted by a million other things, I get to experience every kick, punch and roll. That's pretty special....and it's all because I'm here.

Like a roller coaster during the winter, taking a well deserved break after a very busy season of climbing hills and racing around the track, the time will soon come for our next season of thrills.