My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

The Christmas season has certainly put a dent in my blogging frequency. At least I have a good excuse: we have been busy traveling to far-off lands – a.k.a. California! We spent a wonderful week with my family there, and now that we’re back home, it feels as if the whole trip was an exquisite dream from which I awoke far too soon.

Much to our delight, the girls traveled like seasoned pros. I know many of you were on the receiving end of my near-frantic requests for prayer prior to the trip. Thankfully, your prayers were mercifully answered, and the girls behaved like angels. It also helped that the Delta gate agents and flight attendants went to great lengths to accomodate our family. On all four legs of the flights (we had a layover each direction), we had at least one spare seat beside us on which to lay a sleeping child or two. I had worried that our fellow passengers would view our presence with a mix of dread and loathing, but my worst fears were avoided. No cheers of relief greeted our departure off each plane – in fact, we had several people congratulate the girls on how well they traveled.

Jim dubbed our time in California more of a "tour" than a vacation – and indeed, at times I did wonder if I had unwittingly given birth to miniature rock stars, given the crowds of adoring fans we received at get-togethers. I was very flattered by the attention paid to our girls (and very thankful for all the folks that were were willing to hold them for a while!). The girls handled the attention as if they had expected as much – they often fell soundly asleep while they were being admired. At least they were quiet!

Another indication that the girls took well to traveling and touring was that their normal eight hours of nightly sleep suddenly leapt into the realm of the too-good-to-be-true: they started sleeping 11-12 hours at night! My mom is convinced that their extended sleep pattern is an unequivocal indicator that the girls are Californians at heart. While I can’t discount that California is in their blood, I tend to think the girls were simply exhausted by the constant socializing. Perhaps they take after their mom – we are all tuckered out by talking so much!

We celebrated an early Christmas with my family, and this will definitely be a holiday to remember. We were blessed that my grandparents from Washington were able to fly down to celebrate with us and meet the girls. It was amazing and wonderful to have four generations under one roof!

My aunt and uncle drove in to spend time with us (and the girls, of course!). This was the first time my Uncle Bruce had seen them, and I think it was a mutual case of love at first sight.

My Gramma also met the girls for the first time. She has been my most devoted blog reader, so it was a thrill to be able to show her the real thing! Gramma brought out a bunch of pictures of me as an infant, and we concluded that although both girls definitely resemble Jim’s side of the family, Rebecca looks quite a bit like my baby pictures. Gramma even found a handmade cat family that my sister and I had played with as children, and I thought it was marvelously apropos that the mommy cat had two baby kittens attached with velcro! (Now if only I could figure out a way to velcro the girls onto my clothes…that would definitely free up my hands!).

The most unintentionally memorable aspect of this Christmas, however, was a project that my dad started. The simple purchase of a flat-screen TV necessitated a place to hang it. Dad decided the perfect spot would be in his "man room," formerly known as our family room (my dad christened it as such once he realized that my mom was consistently nixing his decorating ideas, and he seized one room in our house for his own in an unprecedented coup that created shock waves still reverberating within the Cole family). Of course, the TV was slightly too large to fit in between the stone columns of the fireplace, so dad enlisted the help of my granddad and my husband to alternatingly saw/chisel/pound/excavate the offending stone away. Their construction efforts resulted in massive amounts of dust that soon blanketed the household. Although I’m sure Dad tried to convince Mom that he was simply creating a white Christmas within our walls, it wasn’t exactly what Mom had in mind. However, Dad was determined, and after many hours of amateur masonry work, vacuum wielding, and heavy-object lifting, the TV was finally in place. And to all of our surprise (well, except Dad – he has an eye for these things), it looked great!

We had a very merry early Christmas, and the girls even got their own stockings. My grandmother had knit each of her children and grandchildren a large stocking personalized with their name and year of birth, and after my grandmother passed away, my aunt Christie took it upon herself to find the pattern and knit stockings for the next generation. It’s a wonderful way to honor Grandmother’s memory and continue the tradition. This year, the girls could almost fit inside their stockings!

A grand time was had by all. The girls had a ball with their Aunt Angie – I think Susanna inherited her infectious smile!

My Dad bonded with his granddaughters, and also kept them entertained by wowing them with his new Nintendo Wii.

My mom was able to snuggle and cuddle with the girls to her heart’s content (although I think her heart would have been content with much, much more!).

Saying goodbye was tough, but we’re praying that we will all be together again soon. We’re thankful for airplanes (oh, I can’t even imagine doing the 3,000 mile trip by car!), and especially for girls who travel so well – at least for now!

The girls have now officially worn their first pairs of blue jeans. They looked so old! In fact, I was so impressed with their maturity, I propped them up in their little chairs so they could have a grown-up conversation. Don’t they look like little bald old men? I started humming Simon and Garfunkel’s song…”Old friends, sat on their park bench like book ends…”

I’m happy to think the girls are already old friends. This morning, I had them both propped up on my knees and they started smiling and cooing at one another. Rebecca was so fascinated by Susanna that she reached out and started petting her sister’s face. Susie didn’t mind one bit; she just smiled and blinked when Becky repeatedly poked her in the eye. They had a blast!

Rebecca is in the yellow chair and Susanna is in the purple chair

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that was indeed full of thanks-giving. We had our big meal at Jim’s relative’s house, who happens to live very close to UConn hospital, my home-away-from-home this summer. As Jim and I drove by and saw the hospital on the hill, he pointed out the window to my room. It was an almost surreal experience to be on the outside looking in, with my beautiful, healthy babies sleeping in the backseat. The Lord has always been so good to us, but we are especially thankful to Him this holiday season. He gave us His Son, and now He has given us our daughters.

Here are a few more pictures from our time with family this past week. Our time together was packed with lots of fun, family, friends and (although I don’t think it’s pictured anywhere here) FOOD!

Alli was a huge help with the girls. They already have a special cousin bond!

Jim’s Nana with all her grandchildren.

Rebecca was excited to have so many new people to talk to!

Susanna was thrilled to have so many people to smile at! Maria is the willing recipient of this mile-wide grin.

Rebecca was more interested in little Landon than she was in her storybook.

The whole family, from left to right: Jan (Jim’s mom), little Jonathan (our nephew), Jim (Jim’s dad), Allison (our niece), Julie (Jim’s sister), little Katelyn (our niece), Jon (Julie’s husband), and, of course – Jim, Susanna, Rebecca, and me. What a great family!

I’m starting to understand why many of you advised us to cherish these first few months and years, as they disappear all too quickly. It’s hard to believe that only a little over a month ago, when my mom and sister were visiting, the girls were first starting to smile and coo and have extended periods of eye contact. Now, they would sometimes prefer to smile and coo and bat their eyes rather than eat! Rebecca has started to grab at items she’s interested in, and often appears to intensely study objects and people around her. She also talks a blue streak when she’s in the mood. You can tell she’s getting ready to gab when she locks onto your eyes with laser beam focus, and then half closes her eyes as if she’s assessing your willingness to engage in conversation. Then she starts jibbering and cooing in a sing-songy voice, often waiting for you to respond before she continues her narration. Susanna isn’t as interested in grabbing and gabbing. I think she figures that there’s no need, as long as she gets everything she wants when she flashes her million-dollar smile! Her smile is an adorable combination of: 1) a bashful “Aw, shucks, you shouldn’t have” expression, complete with a crinkled nose; 2) surprised delight as if you just told her you’re taking her to Disneyland, and 3) an excited twinkle of the eyes that tell you she has a scathingly brilliant idea. She’s quite the charmer!