Dare I say that everyone in attendance had a really wonderful time at Houston’s Veggie Tales-theme birthday bash on 6/27. It was a summer lover’s delight, with a huge slip-&-slide, volleyball, paddle ball, bubbles, water guns, a kiddy pool, hot dogs and a lot more.

Houston Lee & his ladies go nuts on the slip-&-slide!

It was pretty stressful to host, and we sure couldn’t have pulled it off without all the help we got from family, friends and neighbors. But Houston (or “Hitt-un,” as he calls himself) definitely had a blast, so it was totally worth the effort.

The birthday boy makes his coolness known on his kickin’ 4-wheeler.

On a non-birthday, but nevertheless thankful note: it was a year ago yesterday that I discovered I had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. It just blows my mind that Gabriel and Zeke not only survived life in my bum placenta, but have also thrived in real life outside of the womb — including, of course, Zeke’s lobectomy to remove his CCAM. Thank heaven for happy, healthy boys!

Somehow Bob the Tomato survives the onslaught of chocolate-cake eaters; unfortunately, Larry the Cucumber was a casualty.

Click the top photo to see the first round of birthday shots and the pic above to view all the rest of the photos.

Despite the look of torment on Zeke’s face in the photo below (which was taken the day after his return home from the hospital), he is finally getting back into the swing of things around the zoo and is holding his own much better now.

“I’m sooooooooooo glad brother’s home,” says Gabriel. “My hospital bed is looking pretty good about now,” thinks Zeke.

We noticed on Monday that Gabriel’s first tooth is popping through his bottom gum. He seems to be teething more dramatically than Zeke, whose drooling, chewing and gnawing is fairly limited in comparison to Gabriel. Soon enough, both boys will be flashing those adorable snaggle-tooth grins that soften even the hardest heart.

Houston & Zeke have fun poking buttons — one of big brother’s favorite pastimes.

Houston is going swimming at Dixie’s house tomorrow. She has a big pool, and I plan to teach him a few techniques that should serve him well at his last swim lesson this coming Saturday. Miss Heather will be watching the twins so I can devote my full attention to helping Houston blow bubbles, hold his breath and put his face in the water.

Click the top photo to see all the June – Part 2 pics and the above photo to see all the Part 3 shots. Birthday party and Tea Party photos coming soon.

Looking back on all the photos of Zeke while at Brenner’s (click the image below to see all the pics) reminds me of the overwhelming feeling I had during my hospital stay: simply put, kids are the best and are way cooler than adults.

Doctors Cooper, Petty & Van der Vaart proudly pose w/ a CCAM-less Zeke.

Every child I saw emanated a powerful will to live that seemed untouched by the negativity and baggage that adults so often create for themselves. Witnessing the pure survival mode and faithful fighting spirit of Zeke and all the other kids there was a magical thing. Let’s hear it for the children, y’all!

Not that I don’t love the twins, but I am so over breastfeeding. Our wild Beast actually feeds better than our oft mild-mannered Zeke, who enjoys ripping my nipple apart to look around, unlatching and latching back on 1,000 times, and doing his famous rocking move while attached at the breast. Not fun.

Heck, I’ve been doing breastfeeding for the better part of two years and I am just looking forward to having my boobs back to myself. I’m not kicking it till Gabriel and Zeke are at least 10 1/2 months; that was the point at which my body stopped producing milk for Houston. It’ll also be nice to get back on my allergy nasal spray and other occasional meds, as well as get my hormones back to as normal a level as possible.

Mommy takes Zeke for a stroll around the hospital on the day of his discharge.

We have implemented a zero-tolerance policy with Houston as far as his disobedience goes. I used to give a few chances before punishing him, but I find that I’m less likely to discipline in anger when I just nip the contrary action in the bud immediately. I tell him that he lives in a dictatorship and that Mommy is the supreme ruler.

Sometimes Gabriel will crawl over to Houston during time out, so we have to make sure that Gabe is restrained when big brother’s being punished. But overall, using a time-out corner is pretty effective since Houston absolutely hates staring at the wall. And with most kids Houston’s age, we’re also concentrating on quelling the incessant whining, improving his listening skills and following instruction, and getting him to start using simple manners. Ah, the joys of toddler-hood!

Amanda, who tended to Zeke during his stay in intermediate care, was one of our favorite nurses.

The twins are doing dandy, although I could hire a full-time assistant just to clean up their puke. Man, do I have some pukey boys. Houston had his last vomit at around 11 months, so I hope Gabriel and Zeke will cease the nasty habit by then … or perhaps even sooner.

We’re heading to the Raleigh Tea Party to celebrate Independence Day. Should be a lot of fun for the whole family. Hope you and yours have a wonderful 4th of July!