Naughty Grandpa

I interrupt my previously scheduled recanting of the holidays to bring you the exciting adventures of Nina's imaginery friend who is lovingly known as "Naughty Grandpa"

Nina has been creating pretend friends for a while now, mostly she mentions them in the context of something she really wishes she were big enough to do, for example
"My friend Tinga goes to my dance class and we get every color of starburst every time"
We don't have and friends named Tinga, but Ella and Liana go to dance class and recieve candy if they put in good effort, Nina has been promised that she can go to dance class when she is 4, but in her imagination she is happily already there. This kind of imagination I understand, but half way through the Christmas break, Nina started telling me things like this:

"My Naughty Grandpa put a sticker on his wall." (a big NO-NO in our house)

"My naughty Grandpa dropped some presents down the stairs."

"My naughty Grandpa wears swim glasses (goggles) to dance class."

"My Naughty Grandpa likes green, it's HER favorite color."

"My Naughty Grandpa put really spicy in his food and it didn't taste very good so he put in in the trash, so he put juice in his food and it taste very good cuz he likes juice. And he likes jumpin jack cheese."

I must interject at this point that while Nina does have 2 actual living Grandfathers and a few other great uncles etc. none of them in any way resemble these descriptions, though picturing it does make me smile, the Christmas holiday continued and the stories kept coming,...

"My Naughty Grandpa got popcorn for Christmas and it was so yummy and it was so little you have to chew it with your broken teeth"

And most recently....

"My naughty Grandpa was naked and he go-ed to school naked with plain tap shoes."

Certainly, we know now why he is called "My Naughty Grandpa!"

If you are laughing now, watch out cuz her attentions are wandering, now a new character emerges, ...

"All my aunties have light red hair and they always go poo-poo in the potty, and they are coming to meet my church friends..."

Liana at 6!

In the middle of the holiday season, I have an extra reason to celebrate,

Her name is Liana

What makes her so great you ask?

She is there when you need her....

When you need a lift...

When you need someone sweet...

Someone tricky...

Someone to be fabulous with...

Someone sneaky?....

Someone to observe and report...

For all this and more, Liana is your girl!

I'm glad she is my girl all year round!

One year done twice!

The babies have survived their first year, and we have celebrated.

A week or so before their birthday it really hit me that we have "survived" this year. I don't mean to be dramatic but at the time each event in our lives happened I only just had time to get through whatever it was and try to enjoy moments along the way. Now that I am a little distanced I can be grateful as I consider what could have easily happened.

The babies were born at 35 weeks, while they were small and had their own health issues, by making it that far, they were born with good vision, hearing, and normal development.
The babies only spent 17 days in the NICU - there were plenty of families whose babies were there before they were born and were still not home when we left.

My mother came to stay with us 5 days before they were born and stayed with us for 6 weeks. If the babies had been born earlier our big girls would have been in turmoil and Eddie would have had to balance work, family at home, and family in hospital. As it was Grandma was able to help keep the home side balanced and allow Eddie more freedom to be with me at the hospital. Then, my father came for Christmas and he was able to drive me to and from the hospital allowing Eddie to keep working a while longer and take his leave when the babies came home.
My oldest Brother and his family came for Christmas too, they have survived and thrived after a much longer and involved NICU stay and my tween- niece was a welcome sign of hope every time I came hope.

While the babies have enjoyed fairly good health, we have struggled with a myriad of viruses and bacteria, they babies as preemies qualified for RSV shots and other vaccines that kept us out of the hospital. I will trade a sleepless night in front of a humidifier for a hospital any day!
Our Church friends have been incredibly supportive, I have in my immmediate circle of close friends 3 mothers of twins, in my congregation at least 5 mothers of twins, some whose children are now in their mid-twenties, I have a wealth of helpful advice and sympathetic support around me. All the books I read to prepare for twins said I should join a support group, something i probably would not have found the time to do, but God provides and I am blessed.

So happy birthday my babies, thank you for thriving!