March 22nd marked ten years - a decade! unbelievable - since our beloved twin boys were born. As many, if not all of you know, Robby (seen, above, at three days old, so close to the end) died, so we have a little angel baby in heaven waiting for us.
And here is our little Peanut, Jack River, along with Chloë, Rob and me, on April 22nd, when Jack finally came out of the NICU after a month's stay - which is great, since they were 31-week preemies. He was expected to stay a month longer. And he's been a little scrapper like that ever since!
A week ago was their birthday. We celebrated Jack with a small party at Stephanie and Tim's house, along with their boys Luke & Vinnie.
Can I just take a moment to say how great Stim were to us during our last few weeks in Virginia? They had us over to eat two or three times, offered to let us spend the night when our house was cold, dark and all boxed up with nowhere for us to sleep (we would have taken them up on it, too, but they both had headaches and we felt it was just too much to ask), watched the kids several times while we were with the movers, and... I can't remember what else, but I know there is more. Thank you, guys! We are so grateful for all the help.
Steph took some pictures on my iPhone while I served Jack's cake:
(Hey, check it - my hair is growing back!)
We all sang to Jack, of course, and I had to remind him to stop and make a wish before he blew out his ten candles. It's a secret, of course, but I'm guessing it involves LEGOs! The boy is obsessed.
Making his wish - and IMHO, Rob looks so cute in this picture! I love him with longer hair and a beard. Ahh, the retired life!
Blow!
We all had our ice cream cake - even me, which was not a good move, but hey - it's my faaaaave. I got so sick afterward. Was it worth it? Hells, yeah!
I played with Luke after cake - and omg, I look so much like my dad here, it's ridick! Ugh!
I'd given Jacky several presents, including his beloved LEGO City sets, during the month of March, but I hadn't saved anything from the packers to give to him on his actual birthday. D'oh!! Mamacita to the rescue - she sent books that arrived just in time for his special day. All three kids enjoyed reading them on the way down to Florida!
As for Robby, this year, in honor of the 10th anniversary of his passing, we've decided to shake things up a bit. We're doing Random Acts of Kindness in his memory. I got this idea from one of the many pamphlets left on my hospital bed after he died. I read through them for the sole purpose of finding something to do for his birthday, and I'm glad I did! I love this idea so much. We haven't decided whether to do these acts for a week, a month, or the whole year, but I love the idea of doing them in his name. We started right away, and it's been grand.
Happy birthday, boys. We love you both. ♥
Fin.
P.S. I'm going to knit for Vinnie now, which I've been doing for a few weeks since he's allergic to many things including most fibers. I'll be back tonight or tomorrow with more pictures and posts - and hopefully some kind of good news - about our move and house-hunting. Cheers!
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