Monday, October 15, 2012

Aunt Leanne and the week of playful pandemonium

*Note: Phase three of the Chicago trip is being postponed for a future blog post. Thanks for understanding.
 
Please accept our sincere apologies for our absence from the blogosphere.  The past week was an absolute blur!  We were so busy that there was very little time leftover for sleeping, let alone blogging.  However, time is always made for photography.  So many pictures were taken last week that collages seem like the most efficient means of sharing.
 
As always, Leanne was an enormous help.  She really makes the day-to-day process of feeding, clothing, and entertaining the girls a lot easier and much more fun!
They even started a little band.  We've got ourselves a music lovin' family here!
Skills and abilities alert: Standing and singing!!!
 Of course Aunt Leanne also got a hearty dose of the chaotic reality of wrangling two little ones.  One morning it took her nearly a half hour to dress Merryn because every time Leanne would get the shirt over that child's head, Merryn would promptly tear it off and run away.  I couldn't help but laugh - especially when Leanne emerged victorious with a fully-clothed baby - her onesie was snapped OVER her pants, but we'll still give that round to Leanne.
Even though bedtime is the wind-down time of day, Leanne's nieces still have enough residual energy left to keep things interesting.  I love the look on Leanne's face in these photos - especially the one in the middle where the other two look like they're having a blast and Leanne looks like a deer in the headlights.  It's a wonder she maintains her composure!
 Our week with Leanne ended with a little road trip to deliver her back home to Mama Hop, who missed her dearly.  Mama Hop has been wanting us to bring the grand kids to visit for awhile but I warned her that as hard as it is to manage two little ones in our own environment, it's nearly impossible to do it in someone else's home - especially one that isn't set up for small children.  She assured me that she didn't mind having two little ones around and that she'd minimized all the opportunities for them to cause trouble.  I think she underestimated Merryn.  Our little cherub managed to break a picture frame, pull the phone off the hook, invade and scatter my mom's financial files, and break a potted plant that was a gift from my late grandma - all in less than 24 hours!  Oh the joy of grandchildren!  Somehow Mama Hop didn't seem to mind.
We truly enjoyed our week with Aunt Leanne and we hope we can do it again sometime - and hopefully at a slower pace with more opportunities to blog.  There were a couple of fun things that happened that will be disclosed on a later date so watch for those...
 
In the meantime, we hope to return to our regularly scheduled Down Syndrome Awareness programming soon!

2 comments:

  1. What a great week, glad you enjoyed it! Love all the pics!

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  2. I think Leanne looks a little perturbed that her reading of the book is being thwarted by the 2 munchkins!

    WTG JoJo on the standing and dancing!!

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