Suddenly Six

 I remember when the doctor told me that I was having twins and I thought he was joking and so I dismissed it and went ahead with the appointment like nothing had happened. I think he was a bit confused by this and so a little while later he back tracked just to make sure I knew he was actually quite serious about the fact that there were two babies growing inside me. I sobbed hysterically, the loud kind, surprising both the doctor and Brendan with my reaction. I wasn't sad though, I was worried. We were there, at a special appointment~ you know the kind you make when something is wrong, because I had been bleeding and was terrified that I was losing the baby. I didn't cry because I was sad about having twins, nope, I did all that ugly face open mouth sobbing because I wanted them. I instantly loved them both and wanted them safe in my arms. Love is a crazy thing that way and such a powerful gift.

We let them each open up one gift before school, it's hard to wait when you're six. Plus, I knew that Nuala would love to wear her new cowgirl boots on the spot and that Oscar would get a kick out of his new pocket telescope and enjoy carrying it with him all day.

Then I made us late for school by requesting some porch pictures, and as you might imagine they were absolutely thrilled by this idea....

I thought I'd give you a quick behind the scenes look at the editing I did. Below is the original shot as it looks straight off the camera.....RAW and untouched aside from a quick retouch stroke to blur out our address. I love seeing/sharing edited pictures, but it's fun sometimes to see "before" pics too.

Next up was a school celebration where we got to sing a song, share some memories of them from when they were little and pass out a birthday treat of homemade pumpkin bread.

Then later in the day I picked them up early and we played hooky so that we could sneak in a little birthday lunch. They ordered mini hamburgers with fruit salad and stole my fries as we sat in our booth joking and telling stories. They are always fascinated with their birth story and how I had to have surgery in order to have them. Nuala gets extra horrified about it and swears up and down that she will never ever have kids. They are still very intent on letting everyone know that Nuala was born first and is a whole minute older than Oscar. So at 12:59pm we made sure to make a big deal about how she was officially turning six right that very moment and then did the same for Oscar a minute later. Of course if I'm going to be completely honest, I actually forgot to watch the clock and missed their exact birth times by over a half an hour, but hey they didn't know it was already 1:32pm when we sat tucked in our corner booth and celebrated their special sixty second birth moments. Soooooo......no harm done, right?

Dear Oscar,

I have been thinking about you a lot lately. You have so many gifts, but this year you have really come out of your shell more. It is nice to watch you unfold and relax a little bit since you are usually very serious. You changed schools this year and have been adjusting to the routine of a full day in the classroom. It's a big change from last year and I know it was tough at first but you handled it with grace and dignity and I love that about you.You are reading Redwall on your own right now and seem to enjoy it a lot. Up until this year all of your reading has been mainly non-fiction and so transitioning into chapter books has been a great step for you. It's pretty safe to say that you also enjoy your comics immensely, there is always a well worn Calvin and Hobbs laying around the house somewhere close by. This year has also seen you blossom as an artist, which is an area that you never really expressed too much interest in before. The drawings you come up with now are incredible and it's obvious that you take great pride and care with your work. I can barely keep enough paper in the house because you have so many ideas and love to spend time crafting new pieces. This was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise and I think you really impressed yourself as well. You still love to play dinosaurs with Finn and of course you are very close with both Nuala and Saoirse, but you and Micah have become buddies this year as well. You are very sad when he is at his dad's house for two days every week and keep constant tabs on him, letting me know when he is coming back and just how happy you'll be when he finally does. You are really growing up. I still think of you as my baby but the truth of the matter is that you are no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, hardly even a little kid anymore! No, you are turning into a big kid now and even though there's a place in my heart where you will always be my baby boy, I'm so happy to spend time with the big boy you are becoming. I hope you always know how much I love you and how lucky I feel to be your mom. I still remember the moment we first met and the way my heart practically ached because it was bursting with such incredible joy. Happy sixth birthday my little otter!

Love, mom

Dear Nuala,

Oh my darling girl you are just too much for words sometimes. I don't even know where to begin. I love your determination and your independence. If there is something you want you go for it full steam ahead and figure out how to do it, how to make it, how to write it, how to spell it, how to play it, how to dream it. Whatever it is, you find a way and I truly admire you for this. You have always had a very silly sense of humor and a carefree attitude but this year you have also been so emotional, so compassionate and empathetic towards others. I see this show through not only at home but also at school where you are adjusting very well. You have a love of learning still that I want to help nourish so that it can continue to grow and lead you to great places. Your reading has really taken off this year and it has been a great boost to your confidence, which is so wonderful. You are such a social butterfly and really like to include everyone, which can be a lot in a large family like ours, but it doesn't slow you down. If you're making a card for someone it usually leads to nine more so that everyone gets a treat from you. You're really into games this year too, and so there is a lot of Go Fish and Checkers happening around these parts, but it doesn't matter too much which game it is so long as you can get others to join in the fun. And on top of all these wonderful changes this last year, you also decided to grow a foot, chop all your hair off and get your ears pierced, so it's been an intense year of transformation across the board. I love you so much sweetie, and I hope you always know that the Universe gave me one of the greatest gifts of all time when it lead us to each other and it's a gift that will be treasured always. Noodle, my Noodle, you are loved.

Love, mom

So yeah, now they're six which is WAY too close to 10 as far as I'm concerned but I'm working on living in the moment so we're just going to try and embrace and enjoy six for all that it's worth. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be fabulous.