A Special Visitor

Henry came to visit today! He is Charlotte's younger brother (all of 19 days old). Luckily, he was able to make it to 35 weeks which allowed him to weigh in at 6 lb. 3oz. He is quite a success story.

I just love this baby. He is so tiny and precious. I have been anticipating his birth for so long now, not knowing if he would make it to term. Well, he came pretty darn close.

Henry makes me wonder how I felt that the girls were big when they were discharged. They were a pound smaller than this little guy. How quickly you forget the sensation of holding a one or two pound baby. I know I recently posted how Adeline just "stuck" when I held her on my chest. What I can't visualize is her hand or her tiny nose and mouth. I was so troubled when looking at the girls early on. How on earth do I not have the sight of them so small seared in brain? Then again, what really baffles me is that the girls were between 10 and 12 pounds on their first birthday. I see babies that big all the time and they are tiny infants in an infant carrier. Lila was standing and Adeline had just started sitting up. They must of appeared so odd to the outsider. I must say, you don't see a 12 pounder cruising furniture and a 10 pounder sitting up.

How quickly I have forgotten when I promised myself I never would. It was what I was going to hold onto when success wasn't as rapid as I would like. Remembering how small they started out would justify missed milestones etc. I guess my girls have grown and I have grown as well. I no longer need to use their size as an excuse or justification. I am working hard at not measuring them against the rest of the world and just letting them be who they are. After all, they are much more than I ever dreamed they would be.

Welcome to the world Henry!

Before and After

I took Savannah to get here hair cut today. Her hair was extremely long and messy. We have only cut it four times at the most. She was very cute when she told me she wanted it longer than her friend Jillian's but not longer than her friend Katie's hair. We cut about four inches off and it feels much better. The strange thing is that most people wouldn't notice. I sure did as we walked away from a pile of bleach blonde hair. She will have to work on getting those highlights back this summer. As we left Savannah asked me if she looked like Adeline. Before leaving, I randomly did the same hairdo on Savannah as I did for Adeline this morning. The Belle has the longest hair now.

Before. . .I know, hard to tell how long it really is. Let's just say it was pretty long.




After

Giving the Potty a Try

This is what I saw when I returned home after a fantastic shopping trip. A local Acme is closing it's doors and everything was at least 50% off. I took a picture of my gigantic pile of groceries because it was such a steal. DVD's for $1.25, Pull-ups (88 of them) for $5.oo, well you get the idea.

Back to the scene at home. When I get to the top of the stairs, I see Alex and Lila sitting and watching Duke basketball. Lila was on the potty. She was pretty excited to show me her pee-pee as she stuck her head almost completely in to make sure it was still there. We are taking the diapers away, with exception of naps and nights for the next three days. That is about as long as I can keep her physically at home. We will see how it turns out. It has to be all or nothing. I can't center my day around asking Lila if she has to go potty or running to public restrooms. She seems to be showing readiness. Whenever she "stinkies" she runs to her daddy if he is home. I guess he has a better diapering technique than I do. It certainly doesn't hurt my feelings. If I ask her if she stinkied, she says no and tries to blame Bunny, Ernie or whoever else is in her line of vision for the smell. I guess time will tell if she is really ready. Wish her luck and me patience.




Of course I had to include the picture of my stash. The keyboard was $2.50!

A Far Cry From 2.5 Years Ago

I was getting ready to update about yesterday's appointment when I glanced at the picture of Adeline passed out on top of me. It reminded me of holding her in the NICU. I would get her snuggled up on my chest and pretty much be hands free (except for tying to manage all of the cords and tubes). She wouldn't go anywhere. It was so strange that she wasn't heavy enough to slip down. Whenever I would hold both of the girls I would have to support Lila but Adeline would magically stick. I also remember fitting my thumb and middle finger on either side of her and having lots of room to spare. Kind of like wrapping your hand around a water bottle that is flush with your chest, but much smaller. Gosh, we have come a long ways. Here is a picture of her just a few weeks before discharge. I guess she had grown enough and needed me to support her. How did she get so big?

Just to reiterate. . .

Kennedy Krieger Institute

We just got back from a seven and a half hour trek down and back to Baltimore's Kennedy Krieger Institute. It was a long day but Adeline was a star. She was going on day two of no nap. Yesterday, Adeline was at duPont all afternoon for a cardiac appointment. She underwent a EKG and Echocardiogram for her heart. Savannah came with us today and Lila Grace stayed at Miss Neely's -God bless her for offering to watch my kid for 7+ hours when she has three of her own.

Everything went well. I will give more details later. Just wanted to let everyone know that we walked away without a diagnosis!! The doc confirmed my hopes. No one would look at Adeline and imagine she was born at 1.0 pounds. She has a full life ahead of her. I couldn't be happier.

The Belle is pooped!

Our Week in Ten Pictures

These items all made it into Lila Grace's crib this week. Each day she picks something new to sleep with.
Bananas are better when turned into snowmen


Lila was very tired and snugly this week. I guess when mommy doesn't have time, a basket will do. She didn't want to come out!
Adeline has rekindled her love of Giraffes


Savannah is teaching her sisters to carry around more than just their Bunnies. She lined up all of her guys for a photo shoot. She is getting pretty good with the SLR





Valentine's Day morning. Excuse the hair - we didn't get that far before the girls discovered their gifts.



We were lucky to have our friends from New Mexico with us this weekend. Steve, Heather and Baby Kate made our weekend that much more enjoyable. Lila keeps asking, "Where did the baby go?" "Night night?"

Valentines

This isn't something I usually post about. I figure people have enough creativity and certainly aren't going to be better off for having heard about mine. My crafts aren't noteworthy unless they are created with a mouse :) However, making Valentines with my girls this year was quite an experience. First, I did it when they were awake. Second, they actually helped. It was a big first for me. Their attention was held, their effort was was admirable and, overall, it was a big success.

I hesitate to say it, but the experience was huge realization for me. Oh, I really don't want to jinx it. . . but I will say it anyway. I THINK WE ARE FINALLY ON THE ROAD TO EASIER, NOT HARDER. For the past two and a half years, I have tried to hold my head high with the full understanding that things are hard, going to get harder and stay that way for a really long time. I remember Alex telling me about conversation he had with a dad of twins (twins were normal and term). The dad told Alex that the first TWO years are really hard. I was holding two five month old babies at the time and was instantly deflated. "Was it really going to be years?" Yes it was, and has been. But now, and not before now, I think we are on the uptick. The girls are finally able to participate, understand what "no" means and spend lots of time in "time out" when the world isn't going their way. Things are working well for us and I finally have tangible evidence to prove it. All three of my girls had a hand in this year's Valentine making.

The details

Find a Wilton heart mold, must be rubber and flexible

After removing wrappers with an exact o knife, break up CRAYOLA (don't cheap it up here) crayons into each heart

Back at 350 until melted.

Let cool and remove

Create a hole - forget using a skewer, a drill is much better

Adhere to card


Finally, build an island that seats THREE