Some days things happen that are unplanned and wonderful. Yesterday was a beautiful day and we were drawn to the front porch with a few crackers and coloring books. The girls just stretched out on the porch and colored to their hearts content. Julia found her arms and legs to be a great canvas too. At one point Julia was laying on her tummy with her feet up in the air and ankles crossed, but that sweet pose was gone by the time I got the camera and came back. They spent almost two hours on one activity because it was so satisfying in the sunshine. These are some of the things I love!

Julia’s week started out with at trip the hospital to have her tongue clipped. Emily went to play at a friend’s house so Julia had the attention of both her parents. Julia was unsure of everything that she saw, not surprising for one of our cautious girls. She did warm up after she got used to seeing people in hats. They gave her “silly juice” to help her with saying good-bye to Mommy and Daddy and to make her memories foggy of the time. Julia disliked the effects of the silly juice. She kept trying to control things that she couldn’t control. She ended up being pretty upset over it. She refused to wear her gown and kept pulling at it until we just took it off. While she couldn’t control much, at least we could grant her control over the wearing of the gown. When it was her turn she went back with a few tears, but then that was expected too. The procedure was very quick and the doctor felt that she would be feeling back to normal in 2-3 days. She had a few stitches that would need to heal and would have some swelling. When we got to go back to see her after the procedure she was upset. She had woken and not found a face she knew. They had rockers in recovery and we got to rock and cuddle for a while. She only threw up once while we were there, and after she had settled and was back in her jammies, we were released to go home. She fought a nap most of the way home, but gave in and took a great nap. The rest of the day she was a little off because of the medications, but by the next day she was running around like usual.

Then, today we went for Julia’s speech assessment. Julia liked the idea of playing games, but got tired of the ‘performance’ aspect of the assessment. With a little bribery she got thru it, although it took the whole time. The general assessment of her speech is that she is pretty far behind. The therapist said that the fact that she doesn’t say the middle and ending sounds of words is a tough thing for them to learn if they don’t start off saying them. It is like she is missing association of the rest of the sound to the word. She said it will take lots of repetition and practice of making sounds that she doesn’t already make. Although on a good note, she seemed very bright and would be able to learn them. It will take a few weeks for us to get a set therapy schedule, but looking forward to seeing Julia be challenged and grow in this area.

Julia and Mommy went together to the annual Barn Dance and Chili Dinner. Julia was so excited to go! She picked out her boots to wear and wore her hat around all afternoon. When we first got there, it was a new place with lots of people so she was shy again. Once she found her friends and a space to run she was her friendly little self. After running around the dance floor and eating, we went out to check out the farm. She loved sitting on the tractors, and was curious about the pigs, roosters, and hens. The rooster talked to her and Julia found it quite startling, but got used to it. By far her favorite thing to do was run around the dance floor with her friends. When it was time to go home she gave kisses to all the babies, hugs to the bigger kids, and blew kisses to the other mamas. Sweet times!

(4 yrs) Emily is the sleeping nomad at our house. At night she wakes up and moves herself, pillow, stuffed friend, and favorite blanket out to the couch to sleep. The time varies, but it is usually around 3-4 am. She will come to her bedroom door and if she sees light on in the living room she goes back to bed. If it is dark she comes on out and finishes out the night on the couch. Lately, she figured out that she can turn her sleeping music on in her room and hear it through the monitor on the couch. If there is a noise that is bothering her sleep on the couch, she will get her Daddy to fix it for her.

Why she moves is still a mystery to us. We have changed her pillows on her bed to be more like the couch and that didn’t seem to make any difference. There is a chance that she does it just to see her Daddy in the morning as he leaves for work. For whatever reason she does it, it does offer her the ability to see him on his way out the door. Usually, she gets her morning milk and the TV turned on for her by Daddy as he leaves. I can’t imagine that her night sleep is of great quality if she is waking up every night and moving. This might explain why her naps can still be very long when she gets to take them at home.

Our last stop was a “rest” stop on the way home. We stopped and visited with Aunt Janet and Uncle Art for one night. The day we arrived they had just had their annual Easter egg hunt with extended family and friends. Our bonus was that all of Rachelle’s Atlanta cousins were there and stayed for an evening of visiting. It has been years since we have all been together and it was a joy. The girls took a while to warm up, but they were in an unfamiliar place with loads of people. Emily warmed up first and loved playing with the new to her toys. Lily was great to play with Emily too. Eventually even Julia was running around and playing in the cubby under the stairs. The next morning we visited until after lunch and then headed on home to see Daddy. Thanks for the hospitality and the invite for future visits!

Julia was having fun running around playing and acting like her pixie self. At this moment she was supposed to come for a group photo, but had other things in mind.

Emily getting a special front porch hug!

Uncle Art and Aunt Janet with the girls. I wish the girls would pose better for photos, but it was cold and they were just ready to go home and see Daddy!

The majority of our trip away was spent camping at Florida Caverns in Marianna, Florida. Emily and Julia knew who we were going to visit with and they were very excited. Julia had been nursing a cold so she was shy when we got there, but it did not take her long to feel her freedom and play with the other kids. Our campsite was pretty full, but thankfully we had one of the larger sites. We were able to fit three cars, one camper, two tents, a picnic table shelter, and still have plenty of room for the fire, chairs and play area. Jolie had planned it all out very well.

In total, we had four adults and five kids including one infant. Natalie did a great job of playing with the younger kids and Julia tried to keep up as much as she could with the older kids. It was fun to watch Dylan play with his superhero characters right along side of the camper and tent toys. His superhero toys even had their own sleeping bags just like the dolls for the girls. They all loved coloring in books at the table.

For our activities, we spent time in a field kicking a ball around, some short hikes, and a cave tour. Everyone seemed to do really well in the cave and the darkness didn’t seem to bother the kids. We got to see two bats along with puddles, cool formations, and a few seconds of absolute darkness. Our evening entertainment were owls calling to one another. They were some of the most unusual calls I have heard. They were not distracting enough to keep us awake, but fascinating to listen to. I would call camping a success. Despite some rain, it all worked out and we staying dry and warm. The girls seem ready to try it again.

A scene of Florida

Julia playing with the tent, camper, and family of dolls. All the kids enjoyed these toys a lot. I noticed that Julia would gravitate to it when the other girls were busy doing bigger girl things. She enjoys her solitary play a lot. I was explaining to Emily about how Aunt Jolie’s camper closed up, and she described to me how she would do it. She then told me she knew all about it because of the camper toy. I was impressed, but didn’t let Emily actually help take the camper down.

Happy Baby Mikayla! She got her “floor” time in the pack-n-play so that she wouldn’t eat dirt. She was moving around the play yard pretty well and got the idea about crawling as soon as she got home. Maybe she wanted to be able to move around like those big kids.

Mama time for the little one.

Maybe one of my favorite times and definitely my favorite photo. The girls were bouncing along the trail as much as their hair was. Emily was trying to be a big girl just like Natalie and having a blast. They just look lost in conversation as they spend time together.

After kicking the ball around at the field for a while they decided that the hill needed to be conquered. They decided that they would play Jack and Jill (renamed to Jackie and Jill). They would recite the rhyme at the top of the hill and then roll down. It took Emily a few tries to figure out how to roll down the hill.

They must teach rolling down hills at school, because Natalie was an expert at it. She even perfected a dramatic ending to her roll.

Dylan and Natalie had been getting Superhero tattoos and were showing them off to Jolie.

Coloring was another of the activities that got pulled out a lot to do. Here again, Julia took advantage of a quiet moment when she didn’t have to share the crayons with anyone.

Three strong Nobles women! Thanks for inviting us to join you and hope to do this again in the future.