My Latest Favorite

For those of you who don't know, Alex and I have recently started a photography business. We are working on getting our website up and running and will let you know more details later. We received a bunch of equipment in the mail yesterday when the twins were sleeping. Thus, we were able to let our big girl, twirl, jump, and be silly for the camera. We had a lot of fun.

Before she got too crazy and while she was still sleepy from her nap, we got the shot below. It is worth a million bucks in our eyes because it captured Savannah. She still loves her bunny and sleeps on her every night. In this picture I see the inevitable getting older fighting against her innocent and younger mindset.

This is my Sweetie Pie and she is possibly the world's sweetest and kindest little girl.

Thinking of You Miss Charlotte

Our good friend/NICU neighbor is going in for her first surgery tomorrow. As we know, this can be stressful. In our experience, we were always pleasantly surprised by both girls' post-surgery, pleasant disposition and quick discharge. We are confident that Charlotte will follow the same path.

When Adeline was in the hospital for her heart surgery, Charlotte found a way to send her a giraffe for good luck. We aren't that clever. However, we are kicking off her day with a little "good luck/we love you" beat. I thought it would be better than some sappy tear jerker. A little out of character for us, but fun nonetheless.

We love you Charlotte!

Cognition. . . I think YES!

There is that "C" word again. Possibly my biggest fear when it comes to my littlest girl. We still don't have answers in the cognitive department and it is very hard to step back and assess progress as a parent. Obviously, our last visit with Dr. Bernbaum didn't leave us jumping with joy as Adeline was reported to be on the high end of "not normal." Does this mean she will be a high-functioning, impaired child? Although this terrifies me and keeps me awake at night, during my day, I often forget about. Things are busy and our day "just happens."

I don't work with Adeline like I once did. It is almost impossible as both girls FIGHT for my lap. Preschool ending hasn't helped things because I have one more in the background asking for my attention too. I want to read to Adeline and help her point to and identify pictures in the book, work on animal sounds, give her more opportunities to stack blocks, color and all of the other activities that support cognition. Instead, I find us playing in the drive way, working on walking, going for walks and playing in the pool. As much as I am more an outdoor kind of mommy, I worry that Adeline needs to be an indoor kind of girl. Regardless, it isn't going to change because I have to meet the needs of all three girls. I guess there are pros and cons to be one of three.

While in the height of my cognitive worries, Adeline's nurse paid us a visit for a weight and lung check. Usually, both girls scream and want nothing to do with someone dressed in scrub type clothing. This time was different. Miss Belle showed off her walking skills, was remarkably pleasant and tipped the scale to 20 pounds for the first time!!! What was even more remarkable was, when gearing up for good old fashion lung check, Adeline took the stethoscope and placed it on her nurse's chest. "Must of been a fluke," I say to myself. She follows it up with placing it on her own chest. "Can't be reproducible," are the words on the tip of my tongue. Luckily, I bit my tongue and after her nurse listened to her and took the required respiratory and heart rates, Adeline lifts her shirt a little and puts the stethoscope right back on her chest region. I am shocked. She continues to appropriately play with it for the next five minutes. If someone had asked me if she could use an everyday object in an appropriate way I would have said, "Yes, the phone, cup, comb and baby doll accessories." Never in a million years would I have thought that she could add stethoscope to that list. Don't tell me the wheels aren't turning!!!

Happy Memorial Day

What a weekend! We had beautiful weather and have tan lines (I have burn lines because I can't remember to put sunscreen on myself after lathering three kids) to prove it.

Our good friends came over this weekend for a BBQ. Their little girl was a NICU neighbor. The girls had a great time playing together. We spent time up at the playground (still a challenge for us even when Daddy is there to help), enjoyed some good food and drink, and spent the later part of the evening hanging out in the driveway. It is impossible to not be overcome with gratitude when watching all THREE girls play together. The girls have developed their own personalities at this point and they are all very different. What makes them similar is the percarious road they traveled for three to four months in the NICU. No one would have predicted that they would be running around in our yard, fighting over toys and barely giving their parents a chance to sit and relax two years later. How lucky we are.

Charlotte - 24 weeker with the most beautiful eyes popping out from behind all of that hair


We ended our weekend with a family day at home. The girls spent a solid couple of hours playing in our new wading pool. Lila Grace absoluetly loved it and Savannah still considers swimming in the driveway a big treat. Adeline was slow to warm up and had to play in the water while standing outside of the pool. Eventually, she got her feet wet and was the last one in the water. I think she enjoyed it the most.

All three girls have a tinge of red on their noses and faint tan lines from their suits. I guess summer is officially here and I couldn't be more happy!

Preschool Graduation - Or Maybe Not

Our Memorial Day weekend kicked off with Savannah's preschool graduation ceremony. It is assumed that most of the kids in her class will enter Kindergarten in the fall. We planned this for Savannah and have her registered. However, after attending the Kindergarten open house, I had misgivings. I finally gave into that nagging feeling in my stomach and asked the director of her preschool if there was a spot in the 5's class next fall. There was ONE! Well, there was my sign. I asked Savannah if she wanted to go to her preschool or to Kindergarten next year and she enthusiastically replied, "To Brandywine." That sealed the deal and took a tremendous "worry weight" off of my shoulders. Not surprisingly, Savannah asked a few days later, "Are my Kindergarten teachers going to be sad that I wanted to go to the Brandywine School?"

Savannah makes the cut off for Kindergarten by two days which would most likely make her the youngest student in the school. Academically, I do not think that poses a problem. Socially and emotionally, it does. Unfortunately Savannah took a little bit my personality (worrier/perfectionist) and paired it with a little bit of her Daddy's personality (wall flower/pleaser) and has created a very sweet and thoughtful little girl. The kicker is, that this sweet little girl worries about EVERYTHING and tries to please everyone at any cost. She lacks confidence and is "much more cerebral than most kids her age." (words from her preschool director) While most kids are running around and not giving much thought to things, Savannah is caught up by the litter she sees in the parking lot, the ant she accidentally stepped on and the name that so and so called so on so at school. She allows kids to "take advantage" because she is too scared to stand up for herself. She is slow at seat work because she is afraid her teacher will be disappointed if it isn't perfect. I am finding it hard to describe her without writing a book but the above is representative of the many reasons we are keeping her in preschool (a.k.a. out of the real world).

This, of course, did not lesson our enthusiasm for her "graduation." Savannah's class sang a few songs before walking across the stage to get hugs and a diploma from their teachers. I had a hard time holding back the tears. She looks so old! I can already feel her slipping away.


She got to use rollers for the very first time!


Still loves her Bunny and Teddy Bear


Her Diploma


Savannah and Mrs. Jones


Savannah and Mrs. Weinberg


Trying to get a picture of all three girls in the same dress for the first time.

Zippity Do Dah

Savannah's last dance class was today. She has been attending since January and has really enjoyed it. It was new to me as much it was to her since I have never taken dance. Those of you who have seen me dance already know this of course. Her Daddy and I thought it would be a good "first" activity. We were hoping that it would help her gain confidence by providing a platform that made it impossible to fail. It did, and it has enabled her to come out of her shell just a bit more. She is painfully shy and very inhibited in her "dance" at class. She can tear it up at home but therein lies the difference between home and the real world.

I have to share some clips from todays class. I am so proud of my girl. She tries very hard and is unfortunately fighting off some tough left footed genes. I saw a smile on her face today was coupled with a look that said, "Look Mommy, I can finally do it in both directions!" (scooting across the room sideways in the video) We have practiced this so many times across our hardwood floors. I just wanted to run out to the floor and give her a great big hug. Instead of going for speed and skipping over the technique, she took the time to do it right. She was beaming and so was I. Please God, don't let moments like these end.

What may be most ammusing is what goes on behind the scenes. Savannah attends with three other preschool friends who happen to have mommies that are very good friends of mine. We all have babies around the twins' age which leaves us with four one and a half year olds trying to patiently wait until big sister is done. No, we are not among the parents you see in the background. We are in a tiny "holding room" with a baby gate blocking the opening to the dance floor. Often, you will see four little heads peering over the gate with pure envy. Once the gate is down they head onto the dance floor while sister gets ready to go home.

The poor videography is partly due to Adeline trying to climb all over me in hopes of getting her hands on the camera. Thank goodness I left Miss Grace on the other side of the gate.

I Knew It!

For the past couple of weeks I have heard birds chirping in my foyer. After many unsuccessful attempts of identifying their location, I conclude that they are in my walls! Honestly, you can hear little birds chirping in my house when all is quite.

Since Alex didn't take me seriously and the chirping stopped, I forgot about my little friends. The other day I found it odd that there was a substantial amount of straw on my doormat after a very strong wind/rain storm but didn't think anything of it. Well come to find out, it was the fall of my little friends' home. My neighbor pointed out that my wreath had a nest attached to it. Unfortunately, the wind had made my wreath turn which must have left the little birdies tumbling across my yard during our latest storm.

I can't bring myself to do the final demolition of their home even though I have very little hope that they will return.