Woohoo!

Very proud mama moment! I pulled out one of their training potties today and let all 3 boys take turns sitting on it while we talked about going potty. They love the idea of the potty and seem to understand what they should do on it. Now that they know there's a potty their size in the bathroom they took turns announcing that they had to go all day long. This evening I sat each of them on the potty before I put their pajamas on, and Will actually used the potty!!! It was very likely just a fluke, but man, was I so proud! I'm pretty sure he was pretty proud of himself, too.

2 Years Old!!

Holy cow, we are officially parents to three 2 year olds!

I took this video through tears- it was their last night playing as one year olds. I don't know why it's so hard for me to deal with them growing older. I do just fine on their actual birthday, but the night before I'm such a mess! I spent far longer than normal saying goodnight to my one year olds for the last time. I am excited to see them grow up, but man- is it hard to say goodbye to the baby years!

 It seems very fitting that our outside-loving boys were born on the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. That gives us extra time to spoil them! The boys were greeted in the morning with balloons and streamers at their door (something I remember my parents doing for us when we were kids)- they LOVED the balloons and promptly tore down all the streamers.

We cashed in our free zoo membership that my VUMC colleagues gifted us when I left, and took the boys to the zoo for the first time. Aunt Cari joined us, and we had a lot of fun, despite it being extremely H-O-T outside. We will definitely look forward to going back many times over the coming year, and doing a better job of planning ahead and packing a lunch so we can stay longer!

Cari watched the boys while they napped so Will and I could take advantage of the one nice day we were supposed to have this week and enjoy a celebratory day date. We took our our paddle board and kayak out on the lake for a bit and reminisced about how much our lives have changed in just 2 short years!

After the boys woke up, we hosted an impromptu birthday BBQ in the backyard- hotdogs and cake for our favorite 2 year olds!

Action shot of Griffin touching his hot candle- oops! Fortunately he was OK- nothing a couple presents couldn't fix!

Cooper loves cake, especially the icing!

Griffin isn't a huge fan of sweets- he can take them or leave them

Will devoured his piece and then spent the rest of the time trying to eat his brothers' shares!

We are having Will's family over on Sunday so they can open all their presents, but we did let them open a couple from us last night. Just what any 2 year old boy could want- they got new trucks! They love the Little Blue Truck book series, and were very excited to have plush trucks that they can take to bed with them at night. After cake and presents we gave them baths and then let them stay up a little later so they could play with their new trucks. Overall, I think it was a perfect day in the eyes of our new 2 year old boys!

Their little blue trucks came equipped with horns that beep. We joked that we would hear the "beep beep" on the monitor each morning now and would definitely know when they were awake. Sure enough, this morning we heard "beep beep" on the monitor around 7:45. :)

Goodbye VUMC

My 2nd home for almost 7 years

Today was my last day at VUMC. Wow, I wonder when it will start to feel real. Will and I decided a couple months ago that the time was right for me to join them at home for a bit. Will has done a phenomenal job as stay-at-home dad, but he has been feeling more and more cooped up as the boys grow, and we agreed that they need to be able to get out and about more. In truth, this has always been my goal- I've wanted to be a stay-at-home mom for as long as I can remember. I know the decision we made is the right one for my family at this time. But it sure didn't make saying goodbye to my amazing coworkers any easier.

Instead of trying to explain my feelings, I'll just share the final email that I sent out this afternoon:

Friends,

I am terrible at saying goodbyes. I cry at commercials, anything to do with babies, and all those little Facebook videos about do-gooders in the world, so you can only imagine how bad I am at saying goodbye to a group of people that have come to mean so much to me. Oh wait, if you were at my party yesterday, you DID see how bad I am at it!

What I wasn’t able to eloquently say yesterday, I’ll try to say now. It will probably take a few lines to get this all out- bear with me. :)

Back in 2010 I was new(ish) to Nashville, needed a job, and thought it would be great if I could work at Vanderbilt because it has a reputable name and would look good on my resume. I had never worked in development and literally stumbled into this world as I tried to get my foot into Vanderbilt’s door. I don’t know why, but Rhonda took a liking to me early on and continually pushed to get me in the office (thank you Rhonda!!).  It took 3 tries over several months to find a position for me, but I was matched up with Eric and his grateful patient program, and what a match that proved to be (thank you Eric!!)! I am so proud of the program that Eric has created, and grateful (see what I did there?) that I was able to help play a role in building it up to where it is today.

What I have come to know during my time here is that yes, Vanderbilt is a great name to have on your resume. But more than that, Vanderbilt is great because of the people who work here. I am constantly amazed at just how wonderful this little development team is. We truly do work with some of the most generous, caring, and selfless people I have ever known. It was so difficult to leave my babies when I returned to work in October, 2015. But the blow was softened by the love and support I felt from my colleagues who have become some of my closest friends.

I never expected that my life would look like it does now. I have done some growing up in this office during my 6.75 year tenure! During my time here I became a first-time homeowner, a wife, a 2^nd time homeowner, and a mother (x3). So many of you were part of these milestones in big and small ways, and for that I’ll always be grateful.

Yesterday’s sendoff party was amazing. I felt very loved and still tear up thinking about how much I’ll miss this place, and most importantly, all of you.

While I know in my heart that I am making the best decision for our family, it certainly doesn’t make saying goodbye today any easier. Vanderbilt is forever a part of my family, both personally and professionally. I would love to stay in touch with you all- I’m sure I’ll need some adult interaction from time-to-time! Please don’t be a stranger- we’ll still be (relatively) nearby in Gallatin, and love visitors!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being the best group of colleagues a girl could ever hope for!

Lots of love,

Meaghan

Twinning with Allison

Even the boys spent quite a bit of time at my office!

Returning to work

These decorations stayed up until my very last day in the office. I loved seeing the boys' pictures all around me!

Office visit

Baby Will!

Baby Cooper!

Cindy and Shara

Christy

Beth

Ali (who now has a little one of her own!)

PACE Team (plus baby Mac)

Our boys grew up at the office, too!

Chloe

Nicole

Jan

Lots more twinning

Safta Allison

Laura, Kate, Adele

Audrey

Chloe and Dawn

Preds Pride day at the office

Like family now!

Perspective, part 3

We sold the last infant car seat today. Oh, how that makes me sad! In my head I know we are done having babies, but my heart definitely didn't want to admit it this afternoon as I passed the car seat on to another family!

So now, a final perspective shot of our Griffin Bear in his first car seat:

Griffin- coming home from the NICU at 14 days old:

Cramming my big ol' postpartum self into the back seat on the ride home

Griffin- 19 months old: