Happy 2nd Birthday Babies!

Mary and I have traded laptops for the day so I do not have access to some of the photos I wanted for this post, so I'll save it for tomorrow.

So...my babies turned 2 today. Yep. All three of them. Despite my incessant begging to remain small and helpless, they have defied me once again and are growing into real live human people who have personalities, (funny ones), do what they're asked, and get smarter each day. Sigh...I love that they're growing up. I do. I love it because I still think they're here despite so many odds. Odds I think about almost daily....

Frankly, it was a bit of a miracle that I finally even got pregnant...

It was an even bigger miracle that I finally got pregnant with TRIPLETS....

It is an even bigger blessing that we did not "reduce our pregnancy to twins"

It is a miracle that at 5'2", 100 lbs. I was able to carry triplets, to 33 weeks, without a SINGLE PROBLEM or even a minute on bedrest.

It is the best miracle of all that I gave birth to 3 healthy babies who changed life as I know it.

I love that 2 years later, I still remember every minute of their birthday, from the moment I woke up and headed to UMC, to how much lighter my body felt at 11:41 than it did at 11:40 and how much lighter yet it felt at 11:42. I remember the moment I finally held each of them, hours after they were born.

But to be honest, I don't have a great memory. I fear that one day, the older they get, I won't remember the details anymore. The little things. They're important, you know. They're what make the memory.

But alas, I remember them today.

So on their 2nd birthday, I greeted them in their room in the morning and one by one, I took them out of their cribs and sang "Happy Birthday" to each. And yes, I'll admit that each one of them looked at me like I was crazy. But that's okay. I might be. :)

And then I gave my kids the best gift of all. A bath. Trust me, it was a much needed gift. We needed to be clean before we headed off to Peter Piper Pizza to meet some friends. Thank you Mary, Dawn, Shorty, Kelly and kids...we enjoyed our celebration with you! Especially the cupcakes. Thanks Kelly!

And on their second birthday, I had a moment as we parked and prepared to go in. I was supposed to have called Mary when I arrived so that she could come meet me in the parking lot and help me bring them in. But I happened to be on the phone as we arrived, so I just figured I'd wing it.

I got Ethan and Hunter out on the driver's side of the car. Together, we walked around to the passenger side to get Colton. Now here's where I feared that I might be herding cats. One me. Three of them. Parking lot, cars, you get the idea.

But very calmly I grabbed Ethan's hand in my left hand and said, "Hunter, can you please hold Ethan's hand?"

And she did. (Always very obedient.)

Then, (and I'll admit that I figured this to be a long shot), I said "Colton, can you please hold Hunter's hand?"

And son of a gun, he did it.

And just like that, me and my little ducklings walked, hand-in hand-in hand-in hand all the way across the parking lot and all the way into Peter Piper Pizza.

I swear to you, I had tears in my eyes I was so proud. And wouldn't you know it? No one was there to take a picture....

So I took the liberty of doing a re-creation for you. :)

It's a pretty accurate likeness, you know. We have no faces because you are looking at our backs. You see, we are walking INTO PPP. Also, Hunter's left arm isn't really that long in real life, and Ethan actually does have feet. And that blob on the right, that's my Suburban, not a 15 passenger van. Aside from that, it's almost an exact likeness. :)

So yeah...happy birthday to Colton Samuel, Hunter Olivia and Ethan Bradley. You are the littlest lights of my life. 2 years ago at 11:40, 11:41 and 11:42 a.m. my world was made better by you.

I love you...