Last Minute Trip Home

Three weeks ago, we packed up the kids, dog, (and most of the house) in my small car & headed home for a quick 3 day weekend. The downside to a new job, no vacation until July. So I thought we better take advantage of my last Friday off for awhile. It was fun to see some of our family but as usual not nearly long enough. It's only been 3 weeks since these pics were taken, but I can't believe how much the girls have changed since.A rare family of 4 picture
Granny's idea of calming 2 fussy babies...putting them both in the recliner, kneeling in front of the recliner, & rocking it. I never would have thought of that!
What can I say, Lexa loves the camera
Geneva playing with our cousin, Chris, a daddy-t0-be
Geneva with our cousin (in-law), Lauren, a beautiful mommy-to-be
Lexa loving Pop's lap
Mommy stealing a kiss from Geneva while I can
Lexa being silly with Oma

Lexa always happy when Aunt Amy spoils her with presents
Geneva with Uncle Eric

A Day of Firsts

Today was my first day at my new job, the first day Lexa officially crawled on all fours, and the first time Lexa stood up by herself. Just another day in the Smith household.A nice surprise from my wonderful sister-in-law, brother, & nephew to congratulate me on my new job. They are always so thoughtful.
Lexa pulling on her swing to stand up
Geneva happy to be sitting up but she does get easily frustrated when she sees her sister crawling & standing on her own.
Look at those blue eyes.
Cheesing it up for the camera.
Not very happy about being locked out of the guest bedroom.
Plotting her next move, about to take off.
Lexa is very proud of herself & her new talents.

Spring Break Snow

Are you sure this is March 21st? We are buried in snow, and my first day at my new job is tomorrow!

Good-bye Party at Work

Friday was my last day at work. It was very emotional. I didn't realize how much of my identity my job really comprises until the last couple of weeks. Not to toot my own horn, but I was very good at my job & it allowed me to get paid for something I loved, meeting, talking, & helping those that truly needed me. It wasn't until the past few months that my job really felt like a job--stress, & disagreements with company policy. I felt like I had no choice but to part ways after nearly six years. I am on to hopefully bigger & better things, but I am going to miss my patients SO much. I promise to visit often. I was honored with a surprise going away party Friday. I can literally just remember 2 parties of this kind in the 6 years I've worked there & those were both Director of Nurses, so this was quite an honor. The CNAs had brought the residents into the dining room along with most of the staff when they called me in. The residents sang to me & Carol read her poem. One of the highlights was being able to feed one of my patients (who just got off her feeding tube) a piece of cake. She is nonverbal due to her stroke, but cried when I told her what the party was for (she didn't know I was leaving yet). I have some wonderful pics, but due to privacy issues I didn't feel like I could post them. So here are a few...My good-bye/good luck cake
Me with Carol, the author of the touching good-bye poem I talked about in my last post.
Me with Belinda, a great friend. I am SO proud of her! She was a CNA for years & recently fulfilled her life-long dream of going back to school (at 30 something) & getting her nursing degree. She just found out Thursday she passed her boards!! I will miss her so much, but we will stay in touch.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

When your wardrobe consists of 10 shades of pink...green is hard to come by, especially since one baby is in 6 months clothes & one in 12 mo! We did the best we could to honor daddy's holiday. (Side Note: Yes, their noses are orange...daddy fed them tonight while mommy cooked dinner for Hilary's family & forgot to wipe the sweet potatoes off their faces!)

Goodbye Poem

I have started my last week at work... started packing up my office today. It is a sad but happy moment in my life as it has been almost 6 years at the nursing home, my first real job. I have had the honor to work with hundreds of patients, many of whom are in their last phase of life. I have learned more things than I can even articulate. It is a shame most in my generation ignore the "greatest generation" of WWII. I am leaving this chapter in my career to begin my dream job at the hospital where the girls were born. It will mean more prestige, more respect, more advancement, great benefits, but the drawback of not getting to really know my patients as most I will only know a couple of days instead of years.

One of my dear patients (who is published poet) wrote me a poem today, part of my beautiful good-bye card.

"Our years of friendship now number six,

You were already here when I moved in the nursing home.

I wasn't the happiest camper to be in this place.

You sensed this somehow early on in our relationship.

Through the years I came to you with my joys and disappointments.

You helped me dry my tears and understand my situations better.

I helped you with your problems and became your sounding board.

Our friendship grew deeper as the years seemed to fly by us.

And now you tell me you're leaving to take another job.

What in the world will I do without your wise counsel?

I am really exited about your new occupational endeavor.

We'll stay in touch and I know we will always be close in our hearts.

Rainbows and sunshine to you my friend.

Love always, C.W."

Bath Time

What's cuter than a baby in the bathtub? TWO!!! Twice the cuteness & twice the mess. Thursday night was their first real bath. Now that the girls can sit up by themselves, I thought we would try a big girl bath with bubbles. No more infant tub! And what a time saver for mom & dad. Get both over at once. Lexa loved splashing & filling the cup up with water over & over again. Geneva preferred to play with the duckie & look at Lexa puzzled.
We were visiting Granny & Granddad's last weekend & literally could not fit the infant bathtub in the car (it was PACKED) so we resorted to our first bath in the kitchen sink (Geneva wasn't quite steady enough at that point to try the regular bathtub).



Monday was their 9-month check-up. They did great! They flirted the entire time with the doctor & nurse, babbling & clapping their hands, pulling at the stethoscope, patting the doctor's face, you name it. They had to get their heals pricked for their iron/anemia test (which turned out normal, no more iron drops). When Geneva got her blood drawn (and it's quite a bit) she clapped the entire time. Her bandaid stayed on all of 1 minute until it ended up in her mouth. Here are their stats:

Geneva: 18 lbs., 1 oz. (30th percentile); Height 26.93 inches (25th percentile)

Lexa: 21 lbs., 11 oz. (90th percentile); Height 27.64 inches (50th percentile).

The doctor (and mommy) are very proud of the girls. You never would know they were preemies! They are such big girls, both sitting up, making crawling motions, and this week have started to pull up.