Merry Mead 2009

Harvest season is here which means the farms are up and running in our neck of the woods. We trekked to Merry Mead farm for our annual apple slinging. We had a great time which was coupled with fantastic weather, almost too hot. Below is an album of photos I put together (double click for larger viewing). I had to include the very short video clips too. I can't stress enough how amazing it is to sit and watch our girls take part in the festivities full force this year. Adeline was tentative and needed much holding but participated in EVERYTHING, even face painting. Need I say, there once was a time. . .






Best yet is Savannah's concentrated apple slinging with Lila trying to climb into the apple bin behind the scenes. By this time in the day, the apple man knew her by name (listen for him in the first part of the clip). Not sure if it is a good thing??

October

It seems like fall is more abrasive than I remember.

So far this month. . .

The heat is on

The girls are in footed PJs

Adeline and Lila have ear infections

All three have coughs

The little girls have noses that require blowing

I, for the first time in two years, had Alex fly home from TX because I couldn't take care of the girls. Yep, even Mommy needs a sick day.

Is summer here yet?

Uh Oh

"Adeline Grace! No No!"

That is what I have heard every time Adeline has made a wrong move today. Possibly Lila Grace thinks Grace is more of a condemnation than middle name. Guess we better work on that one.

A Summer Accomplishment

Full Cirlcle

As mentioned a few times before, we are finding many full circle moments in our lives. Now that the twins are the same age that Savannah was when they were born, I am showered with flashbacks of emotions that ruled our lives three years ago.

Today, Lila Grace had her Get Acquainted Tea at school. All of the parents come and watch both three year old classes sing a few songs followed by snacks and fellowship. It is a bit overwhelming for the kids to walk into a room filled with parents who have their cameras firing. Lila didn't know we would be there (most kids didn't know what was really going on). She followed her line in the room and then spied her daddy. While most kids were still and shy, we could hear, "Oh, hi Daddy, hi!" Oh look, it's Daddy." She repeated this and even tried to come over to him. We didn't get it on video because Daddy was too busy being a proud parent. I quickly grabbed the camera and went to a spot where I could grab some pictures and Miss Grace spied me as well. Unfortunately the discovery prevented her from doing any of the song or motions. I am not sure she would have anyway.

The full circle moment was when we were leaving the tea. We bumped into Mrs. K the preschool's director. She said watching Lila point out her parents while being so full of life and health brought her to tears. As she welled up she reminded me of the thank you note I had sent her three years ago with the girls' footprints on the front cover. A tearful Mrs. K reminded me that this tea was more than a proud moment in my life. It is miraculous. Lila Grace stood could be heard signing very nicely as the classes walked down the hallway, was (for this occasion) the kid that everyone thought was cute and sweet, and didn't differ from her neurotypical peers one bit. I know I always say it but never in a million a years. . .

Savannah's Get Acquainted Tea
Here is a clip of Lila discovering me. The second is her being cute and then hearing her teacher talk about the lollipop center pieces. The way to Lila's heart has always been lollipops (Let's not forget that Savannah wasn't allowed to have lollipops until she was three and a half. Hmmmm)

Miss Cynthia Returns

In case anyone was wondering if we miss our EI therapists, the answer is YES. We were treated with a visit from Miss Cynthia and her son today. For the half an hour before she arrived the girls were going nuts. Opening and shutting the door, Adeline was growling, "I play Cynthia" and Lila was in time out for some form of inappropriate behavior. I had to pull out the video camera once Adeline started to hang out of the door. She is hard to understand but her enthusiasm isn't. I was lucky to get her reaction to seeing Cynthia drive by on video. I had no idea she was going to drive by at that moment.

During the visit the girls were thrilled to sit on and love Cynthia. They even got disgruntled when the other one was on her lap.

Oh how we miss her!!

One Last Birthday Sundae

While on the way to drop the grandparents at the airport, we took the girls to lunch at Ruby's. We surprised Savannah with another round of signing and ice cream. After the waitstaff sang to her, she told me that she thought they were coming for someone else since today isn't her real birthday. She was as sweet as ever and enjoyed her ice cream. I must admit that the birthday celebrations have worn our big girl out and crankiness was starting to set in before I forced her to take a much needed nap this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures of Savannah with her ice cream and some farewell pics with the grandparents. I am also including some pictures of Lila Grace who has finally learned to smile with her eyes open and on command. I still have to remind her to open her eyes but once she does it, she looks pretty darn cute!
I guess Kindergarten has extracted Savannah from her shell. . .