Memorial Day Weekend

It was the perfect holiday weekend, in which we played outside most of the time, finally planted Meggie's pumpkin and watermelon patch, cooked over a fire, and made many happy memories to last a lifetime. Here it is, in pictures:

This made me laugh until my stomach hurt.

♪ My "Little" Preemies... ♫

My formerly tiny babies aren't so tiny anymore! Both Kristen and Austin had check-ups today...which was purely coincidental, because we scheduled them at different times and didn't even realize they were on the same day until I finally penciled them in on my calendar a week or so ago! Darren took Kristen to her two year appointment this morning and, although we knew she was growing really well, we were shocked to discover that she's grown right off the growth chart! She's measuring 37.5 inches now and weighs 35 pounds. (I suspect it won't be long until she catches up to Meghan, who, at four years, is 41.25 inches and 36 pounds!) She is such a doll!

And our little Austin is doing so well that, upon entering the exam room, the doctor laughed and said to me, "When I came in here I thought, 'This must be a different baby!' I thought I was looking at the wrong baby! He's grown so much!" He explained that, even without adjusting for prematurity, Austin is well within the average range for both weight and length: 15 pounds 2 ounces, and 24.5 inches! And he was so impressed with how well Austin just holds himself up, looking around and smiling and cooing, even when placed on his tummy on the exam table! I'm so proud of my big baby boy!

*A note about the title of this post: Remember me saying before how much I love to sing? As soon as I wrote the words "My Little Preemies" I thought of this song from way back in the day, and don't think I won't be singing my own rendition often and loudly from now on. :)

Bumbo, Baby!

Blue Girl

My kids are used to me working night shifts; I've been doing it all their lives.  And with few exceptions, my chronic fatigue is a fact of life about which they rarely complain.  Still, I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the comic strip Caitlyn was working on yesterday.  In this most recent creative collaboration (Dylan is her editor!), Blue Girl is running to wake her mom on Christmas morning.  Her poor mother, however, is sound asleep, oblivious to Blue Girl's excitement.  Taking matters into her own hands, Blue Girl decides that the next best course of action is to climb up onto the chest of drawers and jump onto her mother's bed!  "Alright...you asked for it!", she proclaims, perched on the precipice as she prepares to pounce her peacefully prone parent!  Hmmm, now that I think about it, I better watch that girl!  Might be a good idea to sleep with one eye open after working all night!  :)

 

He Cannot Tell a Lie

"That's 'Your Wildest Dreams'," I told Darren, belting out my best impersonation of The Moody Blues.

"No, it's not," he said. "That's more like my wildest nightmare."

His honesty is just one of the many things I love about him. ;)

(And hey, I never said that I could sing...only that I really, really, enjoy singing.) :)