Left to their own devices, here's what they did.

A couple nights ago, we'd all just gotten home for the evening and were talking, playing, cooking dinner, etc. The kids were having a good time playing the family room area and Ger and I started having a conversation, I can't even remember now about what. I remember, as we were talking, watching the kids head into Piper's room. This is not unusual at all these days, as they often spend a good bit of time in either of their rooms together playing with toys. So Ger and I kept talking. And then we heard the distinct sound of water being splashed and at the same time we said, "What was that?", as we headed to Piper's room. Where did we find our two little munchkins, you may be asking?

Well they had made their way into their bathroom, where Piper was scooping water, by the handful, from the toilet and using it to wet her hair. She had already succeeded in wetting the top front half of her hair and had started moving on to the back. Boone was standing beside her, catching the splashes of water his sister was making, on his face, so he had droplets all over his face, with larger concentrations dripping from his eyes and chin. He had a wad of toilet paper in his hand and he was very methodically tearing off pieces from it and dropping them into the toilet bowl. Neither one was speaking at all, they just were periodically looking at each other and smiling and laughing. When they noticed we were standing in the doorway, they stopped, looked at us, and then went right back to what they were doing. Neither Ger, nor I, said much for awhile, as we were too busy laughing. In the end, we just continued the waterfest and everyone had an early bath that night...seemed like a logical progression, from playing in a small tub to bathing in a big tub. If I hadn't been so busy laughing, I'd have remembered to get the camera, it was a classic moment, one that I hope will be forever etched in my memory.

A real live little boy

Guess who got his first haircut? Well, a 3/4 haircut. He couldn't quite sit still long enough for a full haircut, but the majority of it got cut. I guess we'll save those few stragglers around his ears and on top for next time. What a change, I can't believe how much older he looks.

Sweet-tooth and the best part about baking

It's no secret that I'm quite the list maker. I make lists for everything, otherwise I just don't seem to remember. Piper is starting mimic this and quite often gets paper out and a pen and starts making a list. Her most recent list was a list of letters. Once finished, she folded it up, taped it closed and told me to put it in my purse because it was a list of letters and items she wanted me to pick up at the grocery store. When I asked her what was on her list she replied, "white donuts, chocolate donuts and garbage". I happily obliged on the first two items on her list during my next Saturday run to the store and decided to pass on the third item. Funny, she didn't even seem to notice.

Piper continues to love to help me bake or with whatever she can when I'm cooking. And, she's also good at patiently waiting to get the the best part about baking.

Concentration

Snow!!

This little guy...

...is so thrilled with walking and his new found freedom. It seems he went from walking straight to climbing and is quickly becomming quite resourceful in his attempts to gain new heights. And over the weekend, he discovered that the stool in the bathroom that Piper uses to reach the potty is lightweight and he now carries it around the house to gain access to things that, previously, we just a bit too high. I've snapped a few pictures of his explorations and there's been plenty more that, instead of grabbing the camera, I just try to squelch the lump in my throat and think of a way to get to him before he does a header! He's also currently trying to perfect his run, hasn't quite gotten it down yet, but he's working in it.

3!

Piper celebrated her 3rd birthday the end of January. The shots above are the morning of her birthday. She was so excited, the days and weeks leading up to her birthday she could hardly stand her excitement. She brought cupcakes to school to celebrate at snack time and then had a "Tinkerbell bounce around party". She enjoyed herself thoroughly. Aunt Ria got some good shots here and here from the party. It was extra special because we had lots of family in town as well, so she got to celebrate with family and friends.

Here's a shot of her on the way home. I don't even think we'd left the parking lot yet when I got this one.

Singing happy birthday to her at her party almost brought a tear to my eye. She was so excited and it was obvious she felt so special, it was priceless.

It's been 4 weeks, but who's counting

4 weeks since the last blog post, give or take a day or two.

4 weeks since my hip surgery to the day.

4 weeks on crutches and not being able to bend at the waist more than 90 degrees. I never realized the multiple ways this would effect basically everything I do or couldn't do as a result, and my family as well, given my temporary gimp status. Sure gave me a renewed perspective on life and how to appreciate everything, even the littlest of things everyday.

It's been quite an adventure, to say the least. But thankfully, we had lots of help along the way. We've so lucky to have great family and friends who call to check on us, come help us, cook for us, offer to brave an epic snowstorm to get to us, and suffer through a nasty stomach bug contracted while at our house helping us. I am on the mend, and hopefully have thwarted a total hip replacement down the road and will be able to return to exercising without pain in just a few more months.

I'm back at work for the first day today. It feels good. And as I think back on the last 4 weeks, there are a few morsels that are worth a blog post. So here goes.

• Piper refers to my crutches as "crushes" and has repeatedly asked me over the last several weeks where I'm going to "park them" or, in some cases, has shared her ideas for where I can park them when not in use.
• One of Boone's first words will forever be, "cushes". I guess he heard it enough that he decided to give it a try himself.
• The first two weeks I was home, Piper would ask me daily to check my boo-boo and it's progress. Incedentially, she also started putting a bandaid on her same hip each day and informed me she'd let me know when "it felt mush better".
• In the early days following my surgery, when laying flat was easist, she many times joined me in bed to keep me company. She would haul her blanket ('multi'), her little Dora doll (that she calls Diego) and her favorite zebra stuffed animal (she calls "horsey-zebra") into bed and me, her and her favorite stuffed friends would all lay there and talk, laugh, snuggle and read books. It's one of my favorite parts of recovery.
• Things were a little tougher for Boone, as one of his favorite things is to be picked up and snuggled and walked all through the house. Since I could neither bend down to pick him up or walk around with him, he laid in wait for his time to come. And patient that sweet little fella was. Two days ago I walked him around the house for the first time and he laughed and clapped his hands. It was awesome.
• While Piper and Ger were outside over the weekend, she informed him that she's going to marry him, nearly brough a tear to his eye. This morning before school, she decided today was the day. There were no formalities to the ceremony, just a declaration of marriage to make it official. Now that's what I call efficient.
• My husband has been referring to me as, "Grandma Hip...I mean Hitch" for a about 3 1/2 weeks now, and every time he says it, it's still just as funny to him as the first time it came out of his mouth.
• And finally, it truly sometimes is just MUCH easier to pee in the shower! I mean it.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get us all caught back up on the ole blog soon. I've missed doing it and I think my camera is about to burst if I don't get some of the photos off the memory card soon!