Riley is growing like a weed, and we won’t be surprised if she’s up to 8+ lbs by her 1-month appointment. She is definitely getting the Thomson baby chubby cheeks! She's still pretty much up every three hours at night (the definite downside of preemies!), but fortunately, she goes back to sleep pretty quickly. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are yawning their way through the days...
Jacob is still enamored with his little sister. He's not really into holding her, but boy does he run 100 miles per hour to put that paci in if she lets out the tiniest whimper. He's also a big fan of turning her monitor on and off, helping with diapers and wipes, and just generally knowing what she's up to. He did have one or two "sad" days at school before the break so he's definitely in Mommy mode right now. Hopefully, it will be short lived because it makes hormonal mommy's heart break to think of him being so upset, but I know there was bound to be some reaction. The more interesting side effect of Riley's homecoming is that every day for the first two weeks he asked us, "Where does Hayley live?" followed immediately by “Where does Riley live?” Literally, every day, at least once a day. Although he has known the answer about Hayley ("in heaven with Jesus") for ages, I think it was his little mind's way of trying to process why one sister lives here and one doesn't. Confusing stuff, if I do say so myself and definitely bittersweet!
Apparently, I've also been breaking out the camera a tad too much because, as of today, Jacob's decided he needs to carry a camera everywhere with him. He holds one of our old cameras right up to his face and says "cheese" at the top of his lungs. It's hilarious! Tonight he even told me after he took a picture, "That wasn't a very good smile, Mommy." Whoops. Unfortunately, I know exactly where he got that from! I honestly thought with as many pictures as I take that Jacob would be a better poser by now, but he's either looking down in every picture I take and/or staring at the ceiling (a result of me telling him to "look up"). And a picture of two kids together? Forget it! I'm convinced it's darn near impossible. Nevertheless, I posted our best attempts below!
As for Easter, I think we covered it all between church, egg hunts, dying eggs and a visit with the Easter bunny at brunch. It's amazing how much more real Easter is after our experience with Hayley….the recognition of God's incredible sacrifice of his only son, Christ's victory over death, the promise of eternal life and a much-anticipated reunion with Hayley...how we can’t wait for that!
Hope you had a wonderful day of celebration too, and thanks for checking in on us!
PS – Check out our Lauren’s Run site at www.firstgiving.org/hayleysheroes
Two on the playmat!
Hard at work!
Look at this one!
Our pretty girl
The Easter Bunny's not so bad!
Egg hunt...
Camera man!
Giving new meaning to the family picture!
Our Easter sweets!
