Tears of Joy

This morning I had tears of joy.

We had the girls' last development assessment with the NICU to see how far they have come. And wow, they are exceeding in every area compared to most babies born at their gestation of 31 weeks. They were assessed at 30 months even though they are really 32 months now. They were testing at a 35-42 month age which is unbelievable. Every time the 'assessers' would flip out at how they were doing, I would tear up!!! I'm just sooo proud of them and feel so incredibly blessed. At the end of all of their testing (2 hours long!), we meet with the neonatologist to report all of their findings (they assessed their fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and speech). The Neonatologist that was on today, happened to be the girls' primary neonatologist from when they were in the NICU! It was so neat for him to see them after 2 1/2 years. So often those dr's work so hard to save these little lives and then they never get to see how they really turn out. I just can't believe we are officially DONE with all things "NICU." That road in our lives has ended and what a road it's been! In the evaluation, they rehash all that they went through in the NICU and sometimes, it seems like just yesterday..and then other times it feels like DECADES ago - worrying about how many cc's of milk they kept down, blood in their stools, watching the monitors go off as they would stop breathing every now and then, changing their humungo preemie size diapers on their teeny bodies through the isolettes...and ALLLL of that. I'm just amazed at God's hand in it all...and how He continually watches over Addison, Emily, and Hailey even now. I am once again humbled and completely amazed at how far He has taken them. I can hardly believe it!!! What an honor it is to be able to parent these amazing children of His!

It was particularly interesting to see how similar and different they all are in the testing. Even though they all did exceptionally well, they responded to the tests differently.

Emily continues to be very detailed and happy go lucky.

Hailey continues to talk a lot and pronounce everything so well. She also likes to create reactions in people (like teasing people - even in the testing!). :)

Addy continues to be very observant and follow directions well. She is quieter..but doesn't miss a beat and prides herself in pleasing people. The other day I took her to Sam's Club by herself and she talked to me the ENTIRE time. Seriously - non stop. It was pretty funny and I just LOOOOVVEE and truly cherish when I get to have one on one time with my girls. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, I eat it up - and so do they! :)

So thanks again to EVERYONE who has helped us along the way in this journey of parenting triplets so far....thanks to all those who have ever prayed for us, babysat for us, made meals, donated diapers, invited our 'chaos' over to your house, or kept me company. And thanks to those who somehow STILL read this blog. :) We literally could not have come this far without ALL of you!!! I'm sappy today! Ahh! :)