One Year Update

So it was one year and 3.5 hours ago that we had the girls. For a quick reminder here is the link to our first blog entry: http://jchungum.blogspot.com/2007/07/our-familys-first-posting.html

We want to thank everyone that came out to the girls' party this past Saturday. It was their second party, and I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. It is amazing to think how far the girls have come since 7/14/07. Here is a reminder of how much the girls have grown:

Sid Day One


Addy Day One - Poor girl


Addy & Sid One Year


We are completely blessed at how healthy our girls have become. Addy started off with some heart problems, but now she is now completely off of any medications. The meds also could have caused kidney problems, but she is completely fine. Both girls had acid reflux problems early on and spit up ALL THE TIME! Now they are on medication to control their acid reflux and they do not spit up. I mean they will barf sometimes, but nothing like what it used to be. They also could have had a multitude of other problems: eyes, hips, weight, etc. All is well so far, and both girls are nearing the 20 pound mark. We'll be taking the girls in to their one year appointment next week and see if we can put them on whole milk. Their hips are fine, and we need to take them into get their eyes checked soon. Addy & Sid are both crawling, and Addy wants to walk SO BAD.

Jami and I can't believe we survived the last year. People ask us how we did it. In hindsight, I don't know how either. You just do it. It was crazy hard, and many times it was just Jami and I trying to survive. It is so nice to sleep more than 3 hours at a time. Often times we felt alone and struggled because we didn't have much family here to help us, but we pushed on. Our friends were invaluable, and we couldn't have done it without them. We want to thank all of our friends that helped us with babysitting and helping out with the girls.

• Dave/Em - We can't count how many times you came over to help out, babysit, bring food over, whatever. We seriously couldn't have done this without you.
• Woj/Audrey - Thanks for supporting us, babysitting, and Woj's endless energy to entertain the girls.
• Nerha - You helped us on all those Sundays when John went to play basketball.
• Amber/Alma - Amber made those terrible days in the NICU bearable and we wouldn't have had anyone else be our nurse. These two also babysat for us. Thanks Alma for the burp cloth trick!

I'm sure I've forgotten other people that have helped out here and there, but the last year was a blur. Of course both of our parents helped out tremendously as well when they came to Chicago!

Jami and I don't know how the girls survived! I love messing with the girls and they don't seem to mind. My favorite these days is "I'm gonna get you!", "Close Talker", and "Can I suck on your chin?". The first one is all about smelling Addy's armpits and tickling the girls' necks. The other two I think should be self-explanatory. If you want to see demos, just ask me. The girls have a tiny room in a tiny condo. We cram everything in, and I wish we could move to a bigger place. But they are surviving as well. They handle our ways, our outbursts, and even our mistakes. Sid took a fall off the couch early on and Addy took an even bigger fall off the counter one day. I was seriously scared sh*tless. We got a new toy and we put Addy on the counter. We always keep an eye on the girls when we do this, but for some reason both Jami and I went to grab something and took our eyes off of her. We both thought the other had her, and Jami sees a blur of purple clothing fall! She is obviously fine, but dang we won the "Worst Parents of the Year" award on that day.

So here we are a year later, a year older, a year wiser. I won't lie and say it was all so great and having children is the greatest thing in the world. Life sucked for a long time, but God was good and many things that could have gone wrong didn't. It was worth it all though as any parent will attest. After many long battles and endless hours up at night with Addy & Sid, they always seem to be able to show us their love for us. I guess that makes up for them being such a pain sometimes! There is nothing better than a goofy grin from Sid and loud scream of joy from Addy each morning and when we get home from work.

I can only thank God for such blessings. Jami and I know that after this first year we can get through anything...well unless we have another set of multiples!!!