Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Mirror Images and Birthday Wishes

 Ten years ago today I gave birth to my youngest two children. Seth and Joshua came into this world nearly 5 weeks early, and weighing just 4 lbs. and 4 lbs 13 oz. After 4 children that were quite a bit larger than that, it almost seemed like they weren't quite "done" :-) They were so tiny. I gave birth to them 11 days before my 40th birthday! How's that for a birthday present? I had a friend that sent me a card that said "I'd rather be 40 than pregnant!" Inside, she wrote "Oops!" They are definitely not an "oops" in our life though. They are sweet gifts from God. They captured the hearts of our whole family from the minute they were born and we've never been the same since. 
 They are known as "mirror image" identical twins. The description fits well. Mirror image twins look alike but it is almost as if they are looking into a mirror. One is left handed, one is right handed. It's the same with that little swirl at the back of their heads, one is slightly to the left, the other is slightly to the right. In case you were wondering, it has to do with when the egg splits :-)
 Although they look alike, they are very different in personality, as any parent or sibling of twins would know. 
Seth was born a minute before Josh, so he claims to be the oldest twin. I do see this as a misnomer since they were created at exactly the same time :-) He is more outgoing, and was the one who seemed to develop the twin language they had when they were little.
Josh is the quieter of the two, at least when he first meets someone. He can be quite loud around us though!
Early on, we started dressing them in different colors. They looked so much alike that this was our best way of telling them apart. I was out running errands one time when they were little, and my son Ryan (our practical joker around here) decided to dress them in each others clothes. No one even realized it until I came home and noticed the switch. It was a bit eye opening to realized we identified them by the clothes they were wearing! 
 So in many photos, Seth is in blue and Josh is in "the other color", whatever that might be :-)
Seth and Josh, we love you both!
 Happy Birthday my sweet boys!
 And the answer is "yes" to those of you that are doing the math.
I am about to turn 50...
Yikes!
Blessings,
Marcia

30 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures!
    Happy Birthday, Seth and Josh!

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  2. They are adorable little boys Marcia! They are growing up for sure! And I'm 53, so I know how you feel plus 3. You'll get used to it!
    Happy Birthday to the boys, so neat to be twins!
    Hugs
    Cindy

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  3. Well let me dry my eyes...I couldn't help but cry...they are precious. Our family had all hoped for twins when I was pregnant at age 35, then again at age 42(that one is in heaven)...we thought surely twins at age 44!, but no...I had a very healthy 10 pound 4 oz boy...my joy! I know the joy you have is double...enjoy, they are precious! Celebrate!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. How handsome and mischievous they look now. Happy Birthday Boys!!!

    Becky K.

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  5. Happy Birthday boys! Twins are awesome! I might be a biased though!!!

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  6. Happy birthday!
    And you know that 50 is the new 40 don't you!
    Just had a look at your mirror too. I love it! That whole vignette looks so pretty. Great job.

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  7. hi.
    happy birthday to two beautiful boys,
    so nice photo of them.
    have a good celebration.
    hug from sylvia

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  8. These kids would be happy not to know me because I would have spent the last 10 years smooching their faces!

    Happy Birthday guys! Double digits! Woooooo Hooooo!

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  9. Happy birthday to your precious boys.They are charmers. Hope the have a special day.
    I'd like to be 50 again.

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  10. You have such nice-looking kids, Marcia! Happy B-day to your boys and Happy Up-coming 50- whenever that will be. LOL Age is relevant, I still feel young at heart, believe me!! Sometimes my knees question the years though. Years of pounding out high impact aerobics have taken their toll. ouch!
    Take care~ Sue

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  11. I have twin grandsons and never having twins, (I had all of mine one at a time. :)) I adore having twins. Well, in your profile picture I thought you were about 30, Mary Pride said once the more kids you have the younger you will be, 50 is wonderful, really,
    I think it has been my favorite age so far.Thanks for your comment, finally someone who listened to Diana Waring, that made me so happy.
    She helps me get my mind of going back to school and what I have to teach this coming year.
    So have a wonderful time turning 50!

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  12. Oh how I remember those days when my twins were babies. Not much older than your twins. I miss having a baby in each arm, juggling two babies in church, getting the whole 2 hours sleep in the night!! Happy birthday to your precious boys.

    I think I will make a post about my twins. I'll scan in some pictures. Even though their birthday isn't until January!!

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  13. What a wonderful blessing!
    They are adorable.
    Warm wishes, Tonya

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  14. Marcia, hard to believe the boys are that old. That means I'm ten years older. Oh,dear!

    Tell the boys I send a belated birthday wish to both of them.

    Adam and the family LOVED having Randy there. The kids adore him. Of course, he's the adorable type!!

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  15. Happy B-Day to your adorable boys!! They grow up so quickly, don't they? Enjoy celebrating!
    ~ Jo :)

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  16. Awww...:) What a sweet post this is! Your boys are adorable. What a blessing from God they both are! Happy Birthday to them!!
    My dear hubby turned 50 in July. He does not like that! I will be 49 in September, so I am close behind. :)
    Have a bright, and beautiful day!
    @}~`}~~~ Gloria

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  17. Oooops! I meant to say my hubby just turned 51!!!
    the memory is the first to go...lol :)

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  18. What sweet boys...you are sure celebrating the birthdays my friend..have fun. oxxoox

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  19. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your beautiful boys form Oslo :-) nice pic.:-)

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  20. Happy Birthday boys! I love to see pictures where siblings are hugging or with their arms around eachother. My girls don't do it enough.

    Hope you have a great day celebrating those two wonderful boys!

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  21. Happy birthday to those handsome boys. What a sweet post. And you my dear are looking fab at nearly 50. :) Best wishes, Tammy

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  22. Sweet boys!!! And..., me too, Marcia! I'll be 50 on my next birthday.

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  23. Awww... Marcia, they are so sweet! They were so adorable when they were little- and I could see how they could have been hard to tell apart! And by the way- you don't look your age at all, so "5-0" is just a number!! *LOL*
    I'm so glad to have the time to start blogging again- I feel like I've missed so much so I'm off to catch up on your older posts. Hope you're having a wonderful week!
    Hugs,
    Paula

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  24. Your boys are delicious! What fun looking at all those twin pictures. Growning up, my best friends were twins. They were identical in looks but very different in personality. I just loved them both. Yours are positively edible. Happy birthday smooches on them both. Oh, no worries, you're gonna love 50 and it will look great on you!

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  25. They were beautiful babies and they are growing up to be handsome young men! How fortunate you are to have been blessed with them...just beautiful sons!
    Mona

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  26. You are so blessed, they are adorable...happy birthday to you!

    Thanks so much for stopping by, I loved having you♥

    Rondell

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  27. They are just adorable!What a wonderful 40th birthday gift!

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  28. Happy Birthday to your handsome young men!

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  29. they are so incredibly cute!
    I sure didn't know about that mirror image thing...so cool.

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Thanks so much for stopping by :)
Blessings,
Marcia