And anybody who says “or what” gets smacked! Emmett and Grace moved to our local hospital a few weeks ago and, shortly thereafter, began sharing Gracie’s isolette. The word from Mama Westi is that Grace breathes much better when her brother is snuggled close by. Could it be, in this 2 month birthday photo, that Emmett isn’t wearing a feeding tube anymore? Soon, brother and sister may be briefly parted again because it is almost time for Emmett to go home!! As awesome as that is, it will be hard to have the babies in two different places. But…dare I hope… that Grandma and Grandpa will get to babysit Emmett while Momma and Daddy tend to Gracie at the hospital? Oh, the trade-offs in life!

Things either seem too mundane to report or too huge to capture in words. And so, the website sits neglected. That said… I’ll try. First, the big stuff. Babies. Not that they’re big… but they ARE growing! Emmett tops 3 pounds now and a couple of days ago, Gracie weighed in at 2 pounds, 4 ounces. Both were taken off ventilators right after we arrived (Gracie first!) but breathing proved to be a bit too much work for Grace so she once again wears a CPAP mask on her face. She hates it! More worriesome is that she is having trouble eating. Hopefully, they’ll figure out why soon and, in the meantime, she’s getting bigger anyway. She even has a double chin! Emmett has moved to intermediate care and so could transfer to Santa Cruz now. However, he is calmly, quietly waiting for his sister to catch up (while eating 100% mama milk!) If only his grandparents were as patient!

Steve and I, and the fur kids, are settled back into life at the beach. We’ve been treated to INCREDIBLE weather! The area needs rain but it is hard to complain about temperatures in the 70’s and sunshine, especially in January. As much as we didn’t want to leave Texas, it was great coming back. Folks seem genuinely pleased to see us, and the whole camp host experience has been much more welcoming the second time around. We are so grateful!