Birthdays are for suckers...

But since I'm getting so damn old I thought I'd share some of my amazing wisdom.

1. If you ever buy llamas, make sure to ask if there's a chance that any of them are pregnant... (chances are they ALL will be).

2. Don't invite that creepy lady into your house... she could possibly be a vampire after all.

3. If you choose to live way out in the sticks don't be ashamed when your directions include things like " Turn left at the old Scott farm... watch out for the moose that sleeps on that road... if you end up in a farmers field you haven't gone far enough..."

4. If you see crazy things hanging out of a llamas ass RELAX... its just a baby.

5. If you're outside when the snow plow dude comes by HIDE or you'll be stuck for half an hour talking about the weather and the price of animal feed.

Now, I realize that my wisdom lately revolves around rural living and llamas so you may not understand how you can apply it to your own life. All I can say is... try harder. It applies.

Now, in my elderly state I have some things to admit (or just share).

1. I hate potatoes and U2. I know, I know... you're gasping because I'm Irish and you can't believe my bravery in admitting this, but I'm ready to come out of the potato closet.

2. I have no plans to dress more conventionally... and yes, I'm going to dress my kids funny too. (At least until they're old enough to protest).

3. I plan to keep sneaking animals onto the farm when I find some that need homes. YES I KNOW we're going to have to move them all when we move... I'm not retarded.
(for interested parties... chickens and horses will be making an appearance this spring).

4. Gatorade makes me barf.

5. I hate reality TV with the fire of a thousand suns.
Why the hell would a crowd of women want to go on TV to vie for the affections of one man that they know nothing about??? I just don't get it.
Don't get me started on American/Canadian idol... that Kaylan Porter (sp?) kid makes me want to rip my eyeballs out and shove them in my ears. I want to shave his head so I can point and laugh.

6. Even though I'm supposed to be old and wise I'll still always take a dare.

7. I LOVE practical jokes. Sometimes I need someone to be my voice of reason or else I go too far. (Sorry Maria... I was too young to listen to voices of reason in college... you paid the price).
I pulled so many pranks on Maria, and I've never seen anyone react so well. She always saw the humor and even had the gumption to prank back. Good on ya Maria ;)

8. I have great friends and I miss them all like crazy.

9. I love my mother in law.

10. I think its disgusting that parents let their young girls dress like hookers. Come on people, show your kids what self respect is.

I could go on, but I'll stop there. I have many more things to admit but I'll save them for my next birthday. I'm going to rock 31... even if I'll stay 22 in my head forever.

Starting at the beginning

I talked about doing a beginning to present post, but didn't realize how difficult it would be for me to do. I still want to share because Maren is truly amazing, and I want to show how far she's come.

This is the hardest picture for me to see. This is how she looked when I first entered the NICU at Children's Hospital the day after she was born. Soon after they shaved a spot on her head to put in an IV. Remembering this makes my stomach hurt.

I'm so thankful to the nurses there who are used to comforting hysterical parents. They assured me that the first week was pure hell, but that it would in fact get better.
And it did get better...
A very special nurse took this picture for me. I didn't think I'd want to remember those days, (and I still don't), but I'm grateful because I can look back at how far Maren has come.
I don't have many pictures. Darryl's mom has some on her camera, so when I get copies I'll share some.

There's so much I'd like to say about my time there, but I don't know if I'd ever be able to stop, so I think its best if I don't start.

On a happier note, Nyla has been doing great. She's so freaking funny and still as stubborn as ever. If Maren starts to cry she'll run over and say "Awwwww, its ok Maren" and pat her back. She loves to hold Maren (with help of course) and is happy to sit beside us on the couch and hold her hand. She tells us that Maren is her best friend (how cute is that???).

She's really into hats right now. She has a dorky hat that she calls her 'hunting hat'. She even wears it to bed (or tries to). This bucket is her 'party hat'. She purposely puts it on like that when she feels like having a party.
Maren loves getting her hair washed. She's not so fond of the rest of the tubby experience.

I love moments where you look around you and realize how much you love the people surrounding you. I feel like we've been through hell, but because of that have been drawn so much closer as a family. Darryl is my hero. I can't begin to tell you how amazing he is and how much more I've grown to respect him. He was my rock when nothing else seemed steady. Seeing him care for our kids, even simple things like making peanut butter toast, or doing goofy dances to make Nyla laugh, or singing softly to Maren while he feeds her, or tucking both of them into their beds at night shows me what a great man he is.

We are happy, we are healthy and we are blessed.

WE'RE HOOOOOOOME!

Introducing Maren Perry!!! Here are a few pics. I'm going to do a big beginning - now post next week.

The two most beautiful girls on the planet.
hee heee heeeee
cute little baby bum (I know I'm not exactly at my best in this pic, but I wanted to show how big she is now).



So, Maren made lots of progress in the last week. She did end up rocking her carseat challenge so here we are!
That was probably the longest trip from PG home in history, (it usually takes 4 hours but this time it took 9 1/2). Maren can only be in a carseat for an hour at a time because her muscles aren't developed enough to be able to breathe in that position for long. So we'd go for an hour and stop for an hour... it was LOOOOONG but definitely worth it to get her home.

Its a little bit scary being away from the safety of the hospital, but I know everything will be great. We have a team here set in place to make sure she grows and develops properly... it really does take a village to raise this child :) Its nice to know we aren't completely alone.
We found out before we left that her sight and hearing are normal wooooo hooooo! Mentally she's going to be completely fine, we just need to work on her motor skills so that she's hitting her milestones when she should be (corrected age and all that confusing stuff).

I'm going to do a big post with pictures from beginning to end in the next week or so. Some of the pictures from the beginning are hard for me to see and harder for me to share, but I think its important to see how far she's come. She's been a fighter from day 1. I'm already proud to know her.

Wow, its soooo great to be home!

PS: if you ever need some great happy music you should listen to Scissor Sisters, they're a great mood lifter. I only have Ta Dah, but I'm sure their other stuff is great too.