Don't feel sorry for us...

Many times since the twins have been born we have heard things like, "wow, your hands are full" or "I can't handle my 2, how do you handle 5?" Then if they find out the twins have cerebral palsy, most people don't know what to say or they say that they are sorry. I'll be honest, I used to be sorry too. I was sorry for myself. I would think how this could happen to us and how are we going to handle it. Will the twins ever have a "normal life"?

Michael and Matthew were born 8 weeks early in 2008 and spent 7 weeks in the NICU. Once they came home and grew we began to noticed that something was not right. They were not doing the things babies would do normally at their age. Since they were early, we knew they would be delayed but, by a year old they should be able to rollover but, they could not do that! A couple of months after their 1st birthday they were diagnosed with cerebral palsy (cp). We knew something was wrong, but this? This would be something they would have to live with for their whole lives. Hearing that was a hard blow.  Many thoughts filled my mind, "will they ever walk? or how will they survive in this world?" How did this happen and why wasn't it detected when they were at the hospital? 

As time as gone by, things have changed, I have changed.  I've gone from feeling sorry for myself and sorry for them to accepting them for who they are and how God made them.  They really are the most amazing boys I have ever seen.  They are so full of love and joy.  They have no idea that they have a disability.  Don't we all have disabilities though?  Some are just less noticeable on the outside then others.  What is also incredible is how their brothers and sister treat them.  They know nothing different except that the twins were born early and they don't walk yet and that is ok.  They take care of the twins and love them.  What a great lesson for Abigail, Daniel and Christopher to learn:  to accept their brothers for who they are, not what they can do physically.  What we can do physically doesn't and shouldn't define us.  Don't get me wrong, Michael and Matthew are determined little boys.  They are the hardest working boys I have ever seen and they don't give up!  I know I could use to learn that lesson from them.  I admire how brave they are!

I have come to realize how blessed we are to have them.  I still don't understand, nor will I probably ever understand why God would give us such a great blessing and responsibility.  There are days when I am unsure if I can handle it all.  God continues to provide, one day at a time and that is all I can do, is to trust in Him that he will see all of us through (because believe me, I'm blind as a bat!)

So, if you ever see us out, don't feel sorry for us; we don't.  In fact, if you do see us, we are all usually pretty happy and happiness is hard to find sometimes in this world. 

Costco and The Clows

Let me start off by saying, I love Costco.  I am probably there at least once a week and sometimes twice.  The kids love to go as well.  Who wouldn't like to go to a place where you can get free samples and for a $1.50 a foot long hot dog and a drink!  

In our visits to Costco in the last few months we have been eyeing a set of sectional couches.  We have been in need of new couches for sometime.  Finally, last week we were able to purchase them on Monday and bring them home.  The whole family was very exicted to have new couches to sit, jump and climb on :-)  I was exicted as well but, a little nervous to spend the money since this is one of the biggest purchases Mark and I have made in our almost 11 years of marriage (minus buying a car). 

Yesterday (Sunday) after church we stopped at Costco to pick up the usual...juice, bread, hot dogs for lunch and we walked by the display for the couches we just bought.  I had to take a second look at the display because the price was $200 less then what we bought it for.  I was surprised, to say the least since we just bought the couches only 6 days earlier.  Maybe it was a misprint and if it wasn't, maybe they could refund us the $200 since we just purchased the couches.  After going to customer service and speaking with a manager we were told that they couldn't refund us the money, but we could return the couches we had and purchase a new set of couches for the lower price.  Seriously?  For $200 we decided it was worth it to return the couches and get a new set.  Thank God for friends we ran into at Costco because they helped Mark return the couches while I watched the kids. Luckly, we live really close to Costco.  So Mark and our friend took all the seats out of our minivan, and loaded up the couch.  It took two trips. So, we returned the other couches and they gave us a $215 credit on a Costco gift card and they returned home with the last set of boxes. 

The story is over right?  Wrong!  As they unloaded the last piece of sectional, they found that underneath the couch was completely torn up and missing the legs!  What was even more ridulous is that it had an inspection sticker on it!  So, Mark and our friend, turned around and brought back the broken piece.  Thankfully, they just swapped out the broken piece for one of the pieces of the sectional we just returned! 

Our friend put it to us this way..."you got to try out the couch for a week for free to see if we liked it, returned it and got $200 back".  Pretty good deal, right?! 

What I can't understand was the manager told us they will lose more money on us returning the couch then it would have been just to give us $200 back but, that is there policy.  Sounds like a stupid policy to me!  Instead the only options they left the customer (us) was to not return it and not get $200 back or go through the trouble of returning the couch and purchasing a new one. 

I am glad we did it, having $200 back made the deal even sweeter but my view of Costco isn't as full of love as it was before.  I will still shop there but, it made me think about how big corporations are run and how much financial waste there is.  What is a shame is that to get a lower price on items, you have to scarifice on customer service.  Yes, ultimately we did get the lower price but, we had to be really inconvienced to do so.

We ended up having a really great day, despite the couch ordeal.  We ended up spending a wonderful day and evening with friends, with lots of time outside in the beautiful weather.  That wouldn't have happened if not for the couch.  

God works in mysterious and humorous ways!