Portland Senior Photos: Brooke + Brandon

I was 10 years old. More than anything I wanted my mom to get pregnant again. I remember having dreams of holding a baby in fuzzy yellow pajamas and wishing that my dream was reality.

That’s when I started praying. I had an infallible trust that God was there, that He could hear me, and nothing was impossible for Him.

We had 3 boys and 3 girls in my family, and were already considered oddballs for having so many kids- so naturally to keep it even I prayed for twins. A boy and girl twins to be exact. 4 boys and 4 girls would finish us off nicely. 😉

I prayed my little heart out….

…and My mom got pregnant at 40.

“We’re having twins, a boy and a girl” I said. No one believed me, but I knew with absolute certainty. We were having twins.

At 8 months, questions started coming in- “are you sure you’ve only got one in there?”, they asked my mom. “Maybe you should get an ultra sound” the mid-wife finally suggested.

I’ll never forget their dazed expressions upon their return from the Drs. office. Dad helped mom out of the car, arm around her and slowly walked into the house. I was pretty sure they had been crying. (with joy and some level of being totally overwhelmed)

“Well” Dad said, “We’re having twins. It’s a boy and a girl”.

You have never seen such excitement at the Taylor house. We danced like we won the lottery and jumped on all the furniture. The joy was contagious, our entire community rallied around and flooded our family with staggering amounts of support, love, gifts and baby paraphernalia.

4 weeks later (at full term!) Brandon and Brooke were born. God does answer prayer.

So here they are today, 18 years old, high school seniors. They have kept my parents young, served our family and our church community, been hilarious additions to the family circle, purveyors of excellent style, and taken the brunt of many an older sibling joke. Life wouldn’t be the same without them. 😀