Growing...

The plants are growing...they haven't all died yet. I think it is a miracle. The girls are excited about this too.

All by Herself...I Swear

So...we are eating dinner...Camryn is smiling sweetly...but wait...what's that on her plate?

Peas and carrots?

Flipped...oh yes...arranged into eyes, nose and mouth of course.

All by herself. Children are amazing. Did I do crazy things like this when I was little? Did Walt? If so, when did we stop doing things like this? Remind me to not suppress their creativity because this is greatness!

Bathing Ponies

Warm days mean baths for the ponies! The girls were a little unsure at first, but soon jumped right in to help out.

Watching Noni bath Whinny

Posing with Pika

Love this picture! So sweet! Kristin and Pika.

Giving Foxie an apple...it is half eaten on the ground below her.

Loving the curry comb.

Cam pat patting Foxie

Time for Romeo's bath!

Two girls working hard

Time to clean the hair off of the curry combs

This might appear dangerous...but Foxie is pretty much crippled and moves VERY slowly...

Foxie sticking out her tongue

Silly horsie!

Testing out Their Green Thumbs

It appears that the girls might just have more of a green thumb than their momma. I regularly kill plants - I forget to water them, I water them too much, I put them in the sun for too long, or not long enough. You get the picture.

Well I thought it would be a fun activity for the girls to plant some seeds and watch them grow. So off to Target we went to check out the Dollar Spot - they usually have small pots/seeds, so we decided to try our luck. As luck would have it they had tiny pots with pretty pink flower seeds. Perfect for little girls to plant.

Kristin getting her dirt pellet ready - just add water and it expands!

Ready to pour the seeds into the dirt


Camryn fluffing her dirt

Kristin and Camryn with their freshly planted seeds - so proud!

Flash forward about a 1 1/2 weeks - it was hard to get the girls to leave the dirt in the pots alone. They don't quite get the concept of having to wait several days for something, so I told them stories about how the seeds were sleeping and that they would wake up soon.

They're here!

We have tiny itty-bitty plants!

More Hair Fixin'

Kristin in the hot seat

Camryn's turn!

Noni's Ponies

The girls love going to my parents' house to brush the ponies (and recently have decided that my mom's dog, Sage, is okay too). It makes me so happy to see them enjoy something that I love so much too. Horses are great! I'm pretty sure they kept me out of TONS of trouble as I was growing up. I was so busy taking care of my horse that I didn't get into much trouble. Great - just what we need...one more thing to start saving for now.

Sage - a.k.a. "nice puppy"

Pikachu and Whinny

Romeo

So much hair on the brush! (They call any hair "puppies"..as in puppy hair...the ponies are shedding like crazy so their brushes were always covered in hair. So they kept saying, "Whoa puppies!" every time they looked at their brushes) (K left, C right)

Kristin left, Camryn right - combing

So manly - french braids for Romeo. His mane is SO thick that he got 2 braids instead of the usual one.

Camryn with Romeo

Getting Whinny harnessed up

Getting the cart ready - Kristin left, Camryn right

Safety first! Pink and purple helmets in Size: Tiny.

Kristin was a little scared at first, so she volunteered Camryn to go first. Camryn was grinning the entire time. I'm pretty sure she loved her first cart ride.

Noni and Cam

Two girls and Noni (Cam in pink, Kristin in purple)

Helping hold the reins

Now we're the ponies! Just kidding, this thing is heavy!

NICU Reunion 2010

2010 marked our 3rd year to trek back to the hospital where it all began. Being in the NICU is not the ideal situation for anyone, but looking back on the 26 days that the girls spent there, I have almost exclusively fond memories. We learned so much about taking care of our babies - how to adjust feeding methods to make sure they ate enough, how to rub their back just right to get a great burp, how to hold a slippery tiny baby while bathing. Once we were home I didn't worry if the girls were still breathing because they had been hooked up to monitors 24-7 for the first month of their life and had never stopped breathing. As hard as that first month of their life was, I can't help but be so thankful to all the sweet nurses who made our stay in the NICU bearable - and even taught us a thing or two (or fifty) about taking care of our new babies.

So here is a big thank you to all the NICU nurses who helped us out along the way.

Walt and Camryn

Me and Kristin

Plucking ducks from the water

Getting ready to go bowling

Aim for the pins, then roll the ball!

Checking out the fountain on the way out

Love these girls!

Kristin

Camryn

Pouty Face

Kristin is a professional -

But mom...

Come on...

Pleeeeeease...

All be-nny (all better!)