Lila, when left on her own, gets lost in her pretend play. She is rarely in a room by herself because she and Adeline are always together. This weekend, she found herself alone with her Bunny and Ducky. This is what I found.
It reminded me of all the times I have scrutinized her play so that I can check off the pretend play milestone - REAL pretend play. Well, that milestone has been checked for quite sometime but it is always nice to walk into a sweet little scene like this. The only thing that was missing was her serenading Bunny and Ducky. Little Miss barely has time to pretend play between all of the singing she does!
Savannah and her neighbor friend spent hours working on their Club House. They decorated, drew in furniture, moved it out to the grass and coned it off from the little girls (with very little success), and finally gave painting a try. The little girls caught wind of the it and joined in too. It always amazes me how much fun kids have with cardboard boxes
Here is the beginning of being covered from head to toe in paint. Miss Lila just had to get her finger in it and then her hand. Next thing I knew, I was being beckoned to the garage because Lila was painting her legs and feet.
July 26th will always be Adeline's day . It marks the first day of her fight for life. Here is her story.
July 26th is always a tearful day for me. I have a heightened awareness of what I almost lost. I also have a greater appreciation for what I have.
I had to work tonight. As I drove home, I was anxious to go and check on Adeline. I needed to have that quiet time with her. She was awake when I walked in her room. She was sniffling and asked to go into my bed - something she does very rarely. I brought her in and laid her on my chest. I felt her breath, I smelled her hair, and I marveled at how big she has grown. We laid like that for a half hour. She just fit.
As I lay there taking her in, I thought about all the things that I would have missed if Adeline never made it into this world alive. I remembered back to the first time I heard her laugh and how tears fell from my eyes. It was just a tiny gurgle that was over powered by the oxygen flow in her cannula but it was a laugh that made me laugh until I cried. I remembered the NICU nurse practitioner telling me that she could see it in Adeline's eyes - a will to live, a life to lead. I doubted her. Looking back I believe the nurse was telling me something she truly believed. Adeline is the brightest yet quietest presence in the room. Her quiet determination has not only changed my life but has made an impact on her teachers and therapists as well. Adeline has taught our family how to love deeply, dream big, and believe in the unbelievable.
Not too surprisingly, Adeline perked up and ended our late night snuggle. Late night is her brightest hour - just like her Daddy. I thought it would be a good time to get one of our conversations on video. Here is Miss Adeline approaching four years of age. She is the baby that doctors said would never be born alive.
I was pregnant and happy for the very last time. The next day, I headed into the doctor's office and was told my baby Adeline would never be born alive.
Four years ago, was my last day to be the giddy mommy that was expecting twins. I enjoyed telling people, when asked, that I was expecting two baby girls. I had fun choosing names, dreaming of the nursery, and getting our new house in order for their anticipated arrival. It was fun to be me!
It has been four years now. It doesn't feel that long but when I look at my life from the outsider's view, I see how far we have moved from those very dark days. Those dark days stay in my heart. Being told that my child was going to die, forever changed me.
Today, I had a chance (not unlike many other days) to appreciate and marvel at what was never supposed to be. After church, we had a home day. The girls played and played. They really play so nicely together! Alex and I sat back and listened to their conversations and watched their playful and sweet interactions. Adeline and Lila were inseparable today.
One of the sweeter moments took place at the piano. Adeline was the designated piano player and Lila the singer. They turned the pages of Savannah's piano book, stopping briefly to play and sing about whatever picture they saw. If it was caterpillars, Lila would sing, "Caterpillars - Baby Einstein (Adeline's favorite caterpillar)" over and over again. Soon the page would flip and the words would change but the tune did not. The girls sat and did this for a good half hour. As seen in the video below, they would ask each other about the picture if they didn't know what it was. Adeline keeps asking Lila if the fire is a firework (something she is currently terrified of) and Lila reassures her that it is just fire. They both are unsure about the Native American. Once Adeline turns the page, you can hear Lila switch the words to, "Santa's sleigh," which isn't half bad since the song was, "Jingle Bells."
It is hard to express what these moments mean. They are the essence of everything we thought we were losing four years ago. They were the moments that were too hard to think about because twins were no longer in our future. Today was the day I dreamed of, and only by the grace of God, did I receive.
You really have to turn the volume up the hear their conversation
It was so hot today that there was no other place to go but the pool. Luckily, we decided to purchase a pool membership this year. The girls really enjoy the pool. Savannah is all over the deep end while the twins hang in the baby pool. Over the last couple of days, Lila has stepped it up and taken to wearing a life jacket in the deep end which is more than we could have gotten Savannah to do when she was this age.
I loved watching the twins play together in the pool today. They really are best of friends. When one would pop out of the pool to come over to me, the other would follow saying, "Come swim with me." Then off they would go back into the water.
Lila discovered that goggles let you see underwater.
Savannah and Daddy enjoyed the water slide.
Here is clip of Savannah swimming her laps. I try to get in her in the lap lane each time we go to work on endurance.
After three hours in the sun, we came home and crashed. Four of us slept while a certain big girl got lost in her pretend world.
Savannah and Lila enjoyed learning the game of tennis this week. Lila was only able to make it to clinic a couple days but Savannah attended all five. Neither girl demonstrates great hand-eye coordination so I thought this non-competitive format might be a great way to to enhance their skills. I had my fingers crossed that Savannah would really like the sport. She lacks the urgency/drive to play sports like soccer or basketball which leaves swimming, tennis, and golf etc. I think golf is terribly boring so we are focusing on swimming and tennis for now.
Both girls really enjoyed themselves on the court, especially Savannah. I love her attention and focus. After getting in the car on Friday she said, "Mommy I am not just learning how to hit the ball, I am learning how to hit the ball over the net." That she is. She understands the directions and concepts pretty well. Her swing is getting better with each day and once she learns to move her feet, she might not be half bad.
Lila lacks in the attention department at times but made great improvement on the second day she attended clinic. She made contact once or twice on the first day and on the second day, she hit the ball multiple times. She is at a slight disadvantage in a clinic setting because she is a lefty. When everyone else is working on forehand, Miss Lila is stuck working on backhand. Much harder! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Lila.
This was a jam packed weekend. Daddy flew out to New Mexico to help our good friend Steve drive to his new home on the East Coast. This left me solo with my three little ladies. No need to worry about keeping them busy because I had the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, of hosting Charlotte and Henry for first night of Daddy's cross country trek. The 5:1 ratio wasn't so bad! It was the first time the girls had a friend their age sleep over. The girls had so much fun running around after each other and little Henry just toddled along after the excitement. Unfortunately, I was too busy to pick up the camera and catch the many sweet and funny moments.
This morning, we had a full beauty salon operation in our house. We painted finger and toe nails, rolled our hair in curlers, and put together the most lavish princess attire we could find. Oddly, my girls are not into princesses and have very little knowledge of the Disney princesses. We did the best we could and, in the end, the girls looked pretty darn cute. Once everyone was satisfied with their appearance, we headed off to Charlotte's 4th birthday tea. Miss Melissa had the house decorated beautifully and the tea was a big hit, especially with Adeline. She adored her dainty tea cup and was the last child left at the table. Never have my girls experienced such an exquisite spread!
The beautiful birthday girl!
Soon after the tea, Sleeping Beauty arrived. She talked like a princess, sang like a princess, and giggled like a princess. She was very impressive. All of the girls gathered around while she sang (check out her set of pipes in the video below) the popular Disney princess songs. My girls were memorized. Adeline tried to imitate hand motions while Lila and Savannah hummed along.
We most likely overstayed our welcome because the girls were having so much fun. I finally strapped everyone into the car seats four hours later. Instead of killing time at home in anticipation of Daddy's return, we went to our local pool and enjoyed a refreshing swim.
We began our Holden Beach tradition 8 years ago. It was a shot in the dark. I was ecstatic when our friends said yes! Never did I think they would still be saying yes eight years later.
The tradition began with one child in the group. We have been productive, or should I say "reproductive," over these past eight years haven't we?
We spend less time at night circled around around board games and more time working or reading. This year we found ourselves cracking the laptops open instead of beer and waking up at 7:30 instead of 9:00 a.m. I guess we have grown older and dare I say wiser over the past eight years. It was, after all, the first year without sunburns. In fact, we all like to huddle under the umbrella in hopes of keeping the wrinkles at bay too.
Gone are the days of photographing couples. Those days have been replaced with countless shots of our children.
Year II couple shot - the last one. . .
What is true is that these wonderful people have grown to be a part of our family. Our kids look forward to the beach each year and so do I. I hope we find ourselves trekking to Holden Beach for many more years to come.
Our second year. . . (couldn't find a picture of year #1)
Here are the annual beach portraits. Savannah is the only one I don't have a great shot of. She was just getting sick on the day we had her out.
I could look at these pictures all day. It reminds me of how lucky we are, how much fun my girls are, and how fortunate I am to be loved by these wonderful, sweet girls.
Adeline's love affair with giraffes started in the NICU. She had the Cadillac of isolettes because, at the time of her birth, she assumed the, "Sickest and Tiniest Baby" label. The isolette is called a giraffe isolette because it goes from looking like a typical isolette. . .
to looking like a giraffe very quickly. It gives the doctors full and immediate access to the baby in distress.
Every since her NICU days we have enjoyed Adeline's true attachment to giraffes, even if we kind of pushed them on her in the beginning.
On the way to North Carolina we stopped at the Baltimore Zoo. We had our fingers crossed that the giraffes were in the mood for some tasty bamboo at the feeding station. Imagine The Belle's excitement when the giraffe walked right up to us and ate the leaves right out of our hands! Miss Adeline, who balks at the smallest creatures, stood strong and brave while reaching out toward this enormous animal. She really does love giraffes.
All three girls fell in love with boogie boards this year. To my surprise, Adeline was okay being pushed around by the waves, and at times, being thrown from the board. As long as she kept her head above water, she was okay. Lila, who I didn't ever catch on camera, walks out like a big girl and, with my help, hops on the board and rides the waves by herself. The last couple days she was more tentative and has played lifeguard to all the young ones. For some reason she thinks everyone is going to drown. Savannah is completely independent and worries me much less than I expected. She enjoys the BIG waves. It is a good thing that she has a wave riding partner because waves are always more fun when enjoyed by two.
Here are clips of Savannah and Adeline enjoying some time on the boards. I never knew when Adeline and Lila were going to be aggressive and go deep. My luck had it that I never had my camera on these days.
When getting ready for bed, Lila hopped on the potty. I walked into the bathroom a few moments later and Miss Lila was holding her nose (while sitting on the royal throne) and declared, "It is stinky in here Mommy. Stinky, Stinky!" 'Who made it stinky in here Lila?" I asked. "I did!" she says :)
