Before we move forward, a tale of how our kids duped us! (Although to be honest, it doesn't take much to dupe me!)

It was late December 2023. My older son called -- a rarity since he usually texts -- asking if he and his wife could stop over. He said they had purchased something techie for us for Christmas, and she wanted to set it up for us. (She's really good at that stuff.)

"Of course," I said. "Come on over whenever you want. We're home."

It wasn't long before they arrived, box in hand. As they unpacked, it was clear it was one of those digital frames. How cool! I thought. 

Once setup was complete, images began to rotate through. As we looked at pictures of the dog, the cats, my son and his wife, I was trying to stay focused. Then an unmistakable image of white blobs on a gray background...an ultrasound! Of a pregnancy!

My husband and I jumped up, laughing, crying, hopping, hugging. The parents-to-be jumped up, laughing, crying, hugging. Finally we settled back down, and my DIL (daughter-in-law), said, "Did you see the caption?"

Caption? I looked at the image: WE will see you in August! I nodded.

"Did you notice it said 'WE will see you in August?'"

I nodded again, still clueless. By now she was looking at me like my brain was addled. 'WE will see you in August? ... WE???!!!"

I blinked a few times until my brain recalibrated. "You mean...there's more than one?"

"Yes! Twins!"

I looked at the image again. Two distinct blob areas, one larger than the other. "I wondered what the two blobs meant!" (How embarrassed should I be that I had read the "we" as the royal we? Like we, as a family, will see you in August! ... Don't answer that!)

Turns out the images were front and back, which is why one was larger. The one in the front was labeled Baby A (Lilah), and the one in the back Baby B (Alicia_. Since there were two sacs, they were fraternal, not identical. Thank goodness for that! (I still recall the anxiety of trying to differentiate between twins Krissy and Kathy in elementary school!)

The wait for them to be born felt like forever, but time did pass, and our girls are now healthy, happy toddlers who have developed distinct preferences in food, clothing and more. 

Now step foward in time, to April 2025.

My husband and I were visiting our younger son and his wife where they live in southerns New Jersey. Her parents and brother were joining us to celebrate my DIL's birthday.

"Before we do anything," she said, "we want everyone to have a seat."

After we complied, she handed out a wrapped package to each of us. "Now everyone open at once."

I opened my page to find a pretty blue, long-sleeved T-shirt with "Grandma Leah" printed on the front. My husband had a baseball cap with his grandpa name embroidered on the front.

"Oh, how nice!" I said, holding up my shirt. How thoughtful of them to honor my love of the twins, I thought. I briefly wondered what they were giving her parents, since they hadn't yet been blessed with grandchildren. (See? Clueless.)

After we'd opened our gifts, me ignoring her parents' gifts, my DIL moved in front of us and held up a sheet of paper. It was divided into three sections, all pretty much identical...all revealing (you guessed it) an ultrasound image ... another baby!

More jumping and hugging. More texting family and friends. More joy over this wonderful news. 

Again the waiting was interminable, but Lacey was born healthy and perfect...with so much hair! She is now almost four months old and has the most expressive face! I miss her more every day.