A place for little feet...We have had many awesome, epic tree hunting adventures in years past. But this year there just wasn’t any way to fit in a trip to cut our own. Sometimes simply being flexible is the name of the game. It was drizzling and cold, again, so it was a short lived outing but any outing with cousins is a fun one. Oh how thankful we are to live nearby my sister and her stellar hubby and their beautiful, precious kids!
There is something wonderful and healing for me about going to the same place to do the same thing year after year. I am more aware of this now than ever just because the last couple of years have held a lot of change for us. It’s nice when some things stay the same. Like Bob’s corn…we had a perfect, cold, fall day with my sister and her family.
We hustled our buns this morning to get our morning school work done so we could go for a walk down our favorite trail. The nice, clear, blue sky/cool air days are such a delight. Having a cousin to share them with is even better.
Audrey was a little sad that she didn’t have a stick like her buddy Isaac. But she found one then continued her ‘baby chatter’ with her cousin.
How sweet are they? They are so their own little people already. Audrey throws fits over what shoes to wear. Isaac finds danger at every possible opportunity. Audrey’s face crumples if you look at her sternly. Isaac is so tough that he does remarkably well ‘wrestling’ with his big boy cousins.
We thought it would be fun to have same-gendered cousins since they would be 6 weeks apart in age…but wow, we both feel abundantly blessed to share our lives with these two little people. They are both such perfect gifts to our families!
“Got my pink shoes, my pink kitty, my pink jacket and my favorite lovey-what a lovely walk!”
“Got my stick. What else is there?”
It is possible this one needs a haircut. But man is his straight, soft hair so handsome.
And this one? He was carefully holding his treasure in the lid to my coffee, a super fuzzy caterpillar that he brought home with us today (he also-unknowingly-brought a shoe covered with fresh dog poop into the van, that was fun).
I realized in looking at pictures from our wonderful trip to Anacortes that we had many pictures of the family in the exact same places as last year and we were there in August both years…I thought it would be fun to post them together. So much changes in a year!
Tired Kyler last year
Tired Kyler this year!
Bathing three last year…
Bathing four this year!
Caleb last year…
…and this year at the same beach.
Sweet Rylee last August…
..and this August, minus a few teeth!
Kyler last year…
Kyler this year, more hair and less baby chub!
the baby cousins last year, tiny and new…
…baby cousins this year, into all kinds of mischief together!
Last year, in the kitchen, looking at the baby deer and her mama…
…this year in the kitchen with family visiting from Africa!
This is just a tiny taste of what’s to come-I could not wait to share. We recently, through another friend, found an incredible photographer who we actually new in jr. high/high school. We were all through with mall photos and wanted something unique, something beautiful and something that captured our kids in their natural state instead of in a studio. Alicia resides in Arkansas but has family here so spends a fair bit of time in the Seattle area. My sister and I were both lucky enough to score photo shoots with her this past week.
I had high hopes and I haven’t even seen my own kids pictures yet but if they are close to as amazing as the ones of my nephew and sister and brother-in-law, they will be amazing. Alicia still has time open later this month and I think again in late August/early September if you are in need of some incredible photos.
I shopped around a lot. With some photographers costing nearly $1000 for session and print fees, Alica’s prices were extremely reasonable. And more than that, she takes great photos, which after all is what matters most.
I can hardly wait to see the shots from the nearly two hours she spent with our four children. She was brave. And very, very patient.
If you want to see more, visit here and click on ‘blog’ for Alicia’s top picks. If you want to see the whole gallery of Jorgenson photos, click on ‘website’ instead of ‘blog’, then ‘clients’ then ‘Jorgenson family’.
Seriously? Look at those gorgeous eyes.
Can’t wait to see what those two come up with next-talk about a good gene pool…
Last year on July 3, after nearly 26 hours of labor, my little sister welcomed her first baby into the world. After the delight of getting to be pregnant at the same time as my sister, I had the joy of watching her endure an incredible tough labor that ended in a c-section to deliver her son, my darling nephew Isaac. He was one of those babies who is genuinely cute from birth and still is. Getting to watch as he captured her heart and overnight made her a mama is something I had looked forward to for a long time and it was more amazing than I’d imagined.
I knew she married well and we adore her husband but with Isaac’s arrival it was more clear than ever how well matched her and Todd are. I saw love that day that many people go a lifetime without finding. They were incredible.
This year, we celebrated his birth alongside a multitude of friends and family and I did not get any too great pictures but here are a few.
It was sure fun to have Isaac tonight. Not only did they drop Isaac off before they headed out for some dinner, they also dropped off a fondue set and the makings for some chocolate fondue for our dessert. It was delicious! I was never much of a fan for fondue, but after tonight, I can see how it would be good fun from time to time. One of our favorite restaurants is The Melting Pot, which is all about fondue, but I never really thought about having one at home. After we ate our dinner we made the chocolate concoction and busted out the fondue. Unfortunately, little Kyler did not eat his dinner so he could only look on with a forlorn face for the ages. Thanks for coming over Isaac, we had a blast! And thanks to your folks for the fondue, it was scrumptious!
Hello friends, three cheers for wireless internet at the hospital. Thank you to my sweet hubby for letting me have his laptop here to use. I am feeling pretty disconnected from life at this point and it helps to be able to read comments and emails. As I type, Audrey is in the front pack (the Baby Bjorn) with her IV pole next to my shoulder. We are bouncing on the exercise ball, it has been one of the only things to help calm her hurting little body. If you know me well, I am a baby carrier junkie, and though normally not number 1 on my list, the design of the Bjorn makes it possible for me to wear her and keep her wrapped IV arm safely untangled. So today it is my new favorite.
How blessed am I to read comments in the previous post and know that in those four comments, prayers were being lifted up for Audrey in a town in California, on the Gold Coast of Australia, in music city-Nashville, Tennessee and up north in Bellingham too. Thank you.
Walking through the doors to come into the pediatric floor here on Wednesday brought back a heart full of emotion for me. Almost six years ago, this hospital was our home for almost 5 weeks as our firstborn baby fought for her life. Though only five weeks early, Rylee was extremely sick and spent just about all those 5 weeks in the hospital trying to get well. In a room just down the hall from where I am now I waited and stared and waited some more, six whole days to even hold my baby for the first time. Nearly everything that could have gone wrong seemed to go wrong.
So it is strangely comfortable for me to be here. There are even some nurses here that were here then. This is where we became a family of three almost six years ago and now here we are a family of six. Amazing.
The status for tonight is that up until an hour ago Audrey had consumed about 6 ounces out of the 24 she needs to get down in order to go home. I talked with a nurse and she said realistically it could be a couple more days. I keep asking if there is something else wrong, why is it taking so long for her to be able to eat and get better. The reality is, as my sister astutely observed, she is in pain. When we are in pain we keep up on pain pills and don’t feel like eating. Same for her, only it means we stay at the hospital till she feels better enough to eat.
Tonight, right after pumping milk for her, she was hungry. I wanted to cry because she tried nursing to my delight, but there was nothing left for her. I carefully grabbed the fresh bottle and tried to slip it into her mouth and she drank almost the whole thing. Now she is sleeping. So if we can just do this a few times more, we can go home.
I am missing our other kids so much my heart is hurting. It’s really hard to have to/get to stay here when I wish I could be both places. But I am so thankful for a wonderful husband who is taking very good care of our children. And for all of our friends and family who have brought food here and to our home and sat holding Audrey with me, thank you.
It is hard to watch Audrey try to scoot around with her gimpy, splinted arm. It is hard to try and calm her when there is nothing I can do. It is hard to hear my kids playing on the phone and not be there with them. It was unbearable to watch different nurses try to start her IV, then more nurses try to get blood for her labs, poking and jabbing all over her body. It is frustrating not being able to speed up her healing and get her home on my own terms.
But it is sweet being able to smell my kids hair when they came to visit today. It is peaceful sitting in this quiet room listening to the drip of fluids keeping Audrey hydrated. It is amazing to watch the kindness of others poured out in the most lovely ways. It is a blessing to know that what happens to Audrey is not up to me, that it is up to Someone much more capable than me. So goodnight, I will leave you with my prayer requests:
For Audrey to not get woken up by nurses who want to do her vitals, that they would let me get them when she is awake instead of them upsetting her. She really needs some decent sleep in order to heal.
For my weary, sore, spent self. That I could keep giving and keep making milk for Audrey despite the toll of these days on my body.
For hunger to increase and pain to decrease in Audrey’s body.
Many thanks for your prayers and encouragement. Here are some more pictures taken today while Audrey’s sweet cousin Isaac came to visit. They sure do have a connection. Audrey perked right up when she saw him and they started chatting away immediately.
Rylee had the great privilege of feeding her baby cousin a bottle today while we watched him for a bit.
Holding hands…
Papa doing a ‘weight test’ with the babies-Isaac won!
Sleeping Isaac in his cousin’s arms.
Rylee and Isaac laying on the couch together, he slept there for a half an hour!
This is for you Steph-isn’t he cute?
