Blessed.

This week marks both Xavier's sixth week and Lissie's seventeenth month since their birth dates.

And, yes, I've said it before, but boy, am I blessed.

I'm blessed with two healthy and beautiful (so what if I'm biased?) children. I'm blessed with a husband who loves all of us and does everything he can to provide and care for us. I'm blessed with parents who live nearby and can dote on their grandchildren and help me adjust to my new life with two little ones.

And I'm blessed with dear, dear friends. Friends who made meals for us while we go back and forth to the NICU. Friends who scheduled playdates with Lissie so that she can still feel a sense of normalcy and so I can spend some time with Xavier without worrying if I'm running out of snacks. Friends who call to cheer me up or just check in to make sure we're doing okay.

Yes, indeed, I am blessed.

An update on Xavier: We're onto his sixth week in the NICU, and what would have been his 35th week of gestation. He is now a whopping five pounds, five ounces. He has outgrown some of his preemie clothes. While he needed a second blood transfusion last week, his red blood count is now back to normal, and he is doing great. He is working really hard to master the sucking reflex so he can take his bottles.

He takes about every other meal with a bottle, while the rest are still tube feedings. It takes him a while to get his bottles down, as he sometimes forgets to breathe and swallow, but he's definitely learning and progressing. Once he gets this skill down, coming home will be right around the corner!

And a Lissie update: Let me just say, I love this age. Lissie is such a silly goofball.

She observes every little thing we do and then mimics it. She has her own "chef's kit" so she can "cook" while I'm cooking.

But my favorite is when she found a bottle of shampoo and was pretending it was lotion:

Lissie is also quite the bookworm. She loves to read in the car.

She loves to check out books at the library.

She loves to take EVERY single book out of her book bin and climb into my lap for a story.

She is also starting to get used to this brother of hers. Her favorite things to do when she visits (aside from eat her snacks and play tag and peekaboo with the wonderful doctors and nurses) are giving her brother kisses and pokes.