Maggie Lou and her siblings turned 3!! Holy SMOKES I cannot BELIEVE it!! Some days I feel like I'm still waddling around with the 3 of them swimming inside of me, spending days and days inside the SLCH NICU, and other moments I am blown away at my happy, smiley, beautiful toddler! Maggie has grown so so much this past year: she is feeding herself so well, started sitting up, enjoys playing with her sisters, and just last week she started taking steps. We are blown away at her growth- she continues to roar her way through life...
This year her birthday fell on Labor Day weekend which also ended up being a time that Pete's parents were able to visit! I love decorating for special occasions and the idea of Maggie's theme came to me: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Maggie has always loved music, but the past 6 months she has been crazy about Twinkle, Twinkle... She even sings the melody herself- it's incredible. I find it especially beautiful, as she has two twinkling stars watching out for her (yes I'm a nerd like that;)). I thought it would be perfect- so I themed her birthday decor and the memorials for the babies as Twinkling, glittering stars- so fun. I enjoyed being able to share our decorated new home with Pete's parents!! I was SO excited to have them out. We had such a nice time visiting, working on house projects, and celebrating Ms. Maggie.
The first project we knocked out: hemming the curtains in my kitchen. This required Darla being patient enough to give me a crash course on how to use the sewing machine... ha!
Second project: painting the garage- ceiling and all AND building a workbench and shelving! Wow it was an undertaking, but we wouldn't have been able to get it together without their help- THANK YOU!!
Lastly: the puzzle. Bought for Harper to enjoy, that ikea puzzle sucked us in!! If you couldn't find one of the adults or a child, check the dining room and there they were quietly working away at the 555 piece puzzle. Thank goodness we completed it during their visit... we were bound to get nothing accomplished until it was done... HA! Thanks again, Tom & Darla!
{Evelyn sitting up with the big boys at the counter snacking on cheese and crackers;)}
We took a break from the house projects (and puzzle building;)) to spend a morning celebrating Maggie! We went back to one of our favorite parks, Elm Creek, and enjoyed swinging her and walking... it was a beautiful morning.
{Grandma and Grandpa and their grand babies... pretty precious}
Maggie's FAVORITE outdoor activity: riding the round swing. I LOVE that she can enjoy with her sisters. She is totally content and could spend forever, rocking back and forth in the breeze- so sweet!!!
Afterwards, she slept a bit and then woke to a yummy dinner and CAKE!!! What fun we had decorating a bit for her celebration, singing to her, and helping her open presents. She got a swing for the basement- PERFECT, a gymnastics mat, play toys, a play mat, new outfits, and a silver half-dollar engraved just for her. Special girl enjoyed her day....
...and fun getting ready for her siblings celebration as well. I enjoyed making fresh arrangements for their memorial to be mailed to their Arkansas home and Harper made sure to wash up their memorial rock in front of our Minnesota home. I had a bit of a rough time knowing I wouldn't be able to visit them this year on their birthday, but I have an incredible 'fairy godmother' who was more than willing. I wrote Jack and Nora little birthday messages, attached them to the flowers, and mailed them away. Jen and her beautiful family spent some time with them on their birthday weekend, sang to them, made birthday hearts for them, and decorated for us. I'd say those munchkins (and us:)) are pretty lucky....
Thank you, Pate family for being so special to our family. We love you dearly and it means the world that you visit our babies while we are away... thank you.
...and this sweet boy, and his momma, created this special present for Jack. Nothing like sharing your Transformers with our angel baby. Oh man, I'm sure Mr. Jack would be all OVER those Transformers with you, Connor- love it SO MUCH!
Thank you sooooo much Megan and Connor for thinking of our sweet boy on his angel birthday!
Harper's first night of swimming lessons. September 15. Such a bittersweet day for me as it is the day Ms. Nora passed away. Hard to say goodbye to Nora after saying the same to her brother a couple weeks before. Sweet knowing they had each other. Was comforting to me knowing they were together forever...
I saw this beautiful double rainbow as we came out of swimming lessons that night and snapped a picture of it before hopping in the van. On the way home, my neighbor snapped the other picture of our house with the other end of the double rainbow I saw at the gym, going into OUR yard, stating that our house was the pot o'gold at the end of the rainbow. I thought it was a beautiful birthday celebration from my angel babies in Heaven: a sign to say I love you, straight from Heaven to our Minnesota home.
Our neighbor is a professional photographer. She ran back in to snap this beautiful pic as the rainbow faded... LOVE.
Thank you SO much, Jen for the thought and beautiful image. I am SO grateful.
This time of year is always a little rough on Pete and I. We celebrate all the blessings, the miracle of Maggie, and the happiness we have together, but there will always be two pieces of the chaos missing. What we wouldn't give to have Nora and Jack bopping around the house with us. No doubt, those sweet babies have bestowed so much on our family. September is a month of sad moments, but also of celebration of ALL those three were and continue to be...
HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE, JACK, AND NORA!!
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