Happy Birthday Charlie and Griffin (wow, I'm late...)

Well, only 2 months late, but I have a real excuse...my computer is full, and I can't get any more photos off my camera, unless they are taken on my phone, which takes horrible pictures. So, one day very soon I will have some more pictures up. I know you are thinking, but your husband is a computer genius? Well, if you worked on a computer all day would you want to come home and fix all your family and friend's computers? (Nor do I want to lose him to the computer abyss for a whole night, so....the blog has suffered bc of this).

Birthday at home when the Irbys returned.

(More pictures from their birthday party to come soon).

A little about each of the birthday boys' personalities. Below is a picture of each from their birthday morning. I had them by myself on their actual birthday while Irby and Irby were in Alabama. It was such a treat to get to be with them and just reflect on the past year; what a fun, exhausting, and surprising year it has been!

When I was pregnant with C&G, the perinatologist told me Charlie (baby A) would be the feisty one because his umbilical cord was deteriorating and he was in the more 'difficult' position (bottom); therefore, he was used to fighting for nourishment from the placenta, and so he would be the 'fighter' outside the womb too. I kind of thought, "whatever Doc." Coincidence or not, Charlie rules the roost. Always the first to come play with me when I come in the room, screams his head off when he wakes up, usually does things a few days before his brother. Most nights wakes up around 3-4 each morning acting like he hasn't eaten in days. If Irby goes in

to calm him down, he acts like it is the biggest insult in the world, and screams even louder. Lucky me, huh? At least I know I'm loved, right? Actually, he has gone back down for Irby a few times in the past few weeks, that's a start! If we read a book, he is eating it, sitting on it, or trying to rip out the pages. Charlie will tear across the room like he is a man with a mission and then start playing with whatever toy he is after like it's his job, total focus on the plastic animal at hand. If Charlie sees something he wants, he takes it, no matter who is playing with it(including big brother). He is almost always the instigator of he and Griff's little 'tiffs.' (First fight, Charlie bit Griff, Griff pulled Charlie's hair....Charlie's been biting, any tips on how to stop that?) Charlie will eat most things, but his favorite food is any meat, carb, bread or Cheerios, oh and raspberries and avocado. I think one day when they can have cheese, he will love it. For now, with no milk, eggs, or nuts, they pretty much just eat every fruit, veggie, and bean under the sun, and Cheerios. If anyone has suggestions of food ideas that are high in fat (like milk and cheese) and protein I'd love to hear about them (but nothing with milk, eggs or nuts).

Griff is my more chill child. He is my only one of the three who has ever actually sat still enough to snuggle with me, and I absolutely love it, even though it never lasts more than about 30 seconds unless he is asleep. "Late to the party" is one of his nicknames, I guess that's more like a nick-phrase...it sometimes takes him a little longer to catch on to what everyone else is doing. He will actually play in his bed when he wakes up, sometimes doesn't realize I'm even in the room for a few minutes before he sees me and then will come over to play, but once he does realize I'm there, he wants up in my arms; he loves to be held. He will sit in my lap while I read, and I won't say there is no eating/sitting on/ripping of books, but there is much less with Griff. He's also my climber. This week I have discovered him in the basket under the coffee table, on top of the train table, in the pocket/holder underneath the stroller, on the sofa, and trying to crawl over the back of the sofa (as encouraged and demonstrated by big brother, Irby). Griffin also bares his teeth (all 8 of them) when he is upset, or when Charlie takes a toy from him. As the youngest, he's a momma's boy, happy when he's held. I'm loving the attention the babies give me, because I know soon, they will follow in the footsteps of their older brother and love their Daddy more for his tremendous wrestling skills. Oh, and Griffin will eat anything and sleep anywhere for long periods of time, wish that would rub off on Charlie!

This year has absolutely been the craziest of my 30 years to date, but it has also been the happiest. A few weeks ago, I was blessed with a weekend of just the babies for 5 days, and it was such a treat! I was kind of sad about it at first, a weekend without both Irbys, what were we going to do? It was such a sweet time, and really felt like vacation only having the babies (who would have ever thought I would say having the twins alone for 5 days would feel like vacation!) I have loved getting to have some one on one time with them and have really gotten to reflect on the past year and see through the blur and insanity of it all how good and merciful God has been to us. I had several moments where I was just totally overwhelmed with joy over them, wanting to freeze their little blonde heads playing together forever. Over that weekend a friend wrote a wonderful blog post about the kind of moment I was having, so read her post on Ab's Gab. I sure am glad she explained it so eloquently because it is the exact type of moment I was having, and she is an incredible writer. Her post is about those transcendent and timeless moments of joy you experience that are a teeny, tiny glimpse of what Eternity with the Father will be like, except on earth, those moments don't last and are even kind of haunted by the knowledge that they won't last forever. In this case kids grow up, but there will be no end to this joy and sense of home we will experience in Heaven.

I told Irby the other day, if you had asked me 10 years ago what my ideal life would have looked like when I was 30, it would not have looked like this, but I couldn't have dreamed up something that brings me as much joy. It is such a blessing to be living life with my 4 sweet boys. I am so thankful for each of them!

More pictures soon, I promise!