You Know You Are a Good Parent When . . .

. . . you can smile at this.

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Perpetual Motion

This is my life. It's too bad you can't see the swinging legs!

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Updated: Our Little Gift

Today we visited Clair and discovered that a wild rose had been placed over her. It was such a sweet gesture that completely made our days!

We placed a fresh rose on today!

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Mount Vernon Spring Wine Festival

Perhaps I haven't mentioned this before, but I'm somewhat obsessed with Mt. Vernon. The estate is beautiful! It's expansive    houses many and varying animals  and hosts a variety of events for thousands of visitors year round. It's far enough from DC to be on a hill (no swampland on the property) and offers great sunset and sunrise views over the Potomac river.

This year, Heidi reserved tickets for their spring wine festival. We enjoyed a fantastic evening out. Rich was kind enough to watch Isaac and feed, change, and put him to bed. He is so good to me!

We tasted a variety of Virginia wines between glasses of water, walks, and overpriced -- but tasty -- Italian sausage. I really enjoyed spending time with the girls!!

Mollie and Heidi

Expansive grounds.

The bride-to-be and yours truly.

Apparently the photographer was a little tipsy!

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Daddy's Boy

Someone has been watching much kettlebelling and stretching, Comrads.

And now he also likes the weight lifting belt.

And food. We are working on the manners. ;)

 "Let me put your feet up, Dad."

Pinning the dog.

Have I mentioned that Isaac is completely, 100% BOY?

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A Few of My Favorite Things

1. Books

2. The Creep-Crawl

3. Mom

(Or possibly the camera cord mom is holding)



"Must get the camera cord!"



4. Buttons

5. Two buttons

6. Standing while holding two buttons

7. Fingers three and four

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A Few Crawling "Steps"

He is almost naked because he decided to poop out of his previous diaper. When I went to get a change of clothes he started crawling. He is now fully clothed. :)

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Mom's Day Photo Shoot!

Apparently Isaac got the royal treatment at his cousins' on Sunday. Special thanks to my sister for the photos!

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Mother's Day Extravaganza

WARNING: Do not read if hearing about blood makes you queasy.

My weekend was mostly full of blessings. I did a lot of things that I normally don't do but really enjoy, like eating at nice restaurants with friends. My sister, Theresa, and friend, Holly, and I have been getting together quarterly for ladies' nights at different places around town. Last night we tried Vermilion in Old Town Alexandria. Their food was very good, locally grown, and freshly made. I tried the seasonal fish, which was a grouper. It was outstanding!

Coincidentally, the day before my friend, Beth, and our kids and I went to the Chart House on the waterfront in Alexandria for lunch. I had previously read poor reviews on them, so never was interested in going. Beth mentioned that they have great views (on the water) and that it was very clean and enjoyable. I was surprise to find this outstanding chicken entree for $13! It was very good.

Since I was feeling so good about my $13 lunch at such a fancy place, I decided to also get a cosmopolitan. Beth and I had a great time; and the kids were in rare form. We stayed and chatted for over an hour without any meltdowns or unpleasantness. I had a really productive week, so it felt right to spend some of my "fun bucks" this way on Friday.

On Saturday, I also saw my friend, Christine. We took a long walk in Arlington and caught up. It's always so edifying to see her! We  tackled Tyson's Corner Mall together because we were each looking for one item. It's so crowded on Saturdays that it helps to bring a shopping mate. She found the right size shoes. I found a casual slate summer skirt.

Afterward, Isaac and I went to our neighbor's birthday party. She turned one. Isaac loved the helium balloons and carrots.

Theresa, Holly, and I we went for a nice stroll along King Street after dinner. The weather was absolutely perfect! We also discovered an amazing, little gelateria. It was just as good as real Italian gelato! The back patio offered white Christmas lights overhead and reclining chairs. We really enjoyed ourselves. It's so nice to be able to do these things from time to time. I felt quite refreshed.

After we walked Holly to her car, Theresa and I went to ours. The second we arrived my water broke and I just knew that I was going to miscarry before my scheduled D and C on Wednesday. Theresa drove me home and helped Rich and I get reoriented. As providence would have it, I passed the baby almost immediately. She was intact. I say "she" because it was a girl! We have decided to name her Clair. We cleaned her off and respectfully put her in repose until our church calls back with a burial time. They offer a really nice burial service for miscarried babies free of charge. Seeing her perfect body has helped with closure. I was really worried that she'd accidentally get flushed and I would be heartbroken. But, God is so gentle sometimes. (Thank you, friends, for your prayers! Some were specifically praying for this!!)

Anyway, unfortunately, I could not stop bleeding. Having never had a miscarriage before, I had no "normal blood loss" gauge. After my fifth middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom, I felt extremely woozy. I got really scared because Rich was sleeping and couldn't hear me. I decided to just wash my hands and go back to the bedroom. When I stood up, I passed out. Thankfully, the bump on my head was hard enough to wake me back up but gentle enough not to cause any real damage. I made it back to our bedroom and fell on the bed. (Mind you, I'm not the fainting type. This is the only time I've ever fainted.) Rich woke up, turned on the light, and realized that there was something really wrong. I've never felt like that in my life. I wouldn't be surprise if I lost a gallon of blood or more ... it's really hard to gauge how much was lost. Rich called 911 just to be safe. The ambulance arrived here within five minutes of calling. About seven response men came up and saw me in all of my glory (and massive amounts of blood everywhere). I apologized for the blood and thought it must be kind of gross. Most men I know get more grossed out by blood that anything. But, it was good for my humility. And I'm so grateful that I witnessed how competent these first responders were. They were so helpful, kind, and notably calm.

Rich loaded Isaac in his car seat and followed the ambulance to the hospital. Mind you, Isaac was as happy as a clam. I guess that's the good thing about believing that the universe revolves around you!! ;)

My sister was kind enough to come back and take Isaac with her while we worked with the doctors to get me to stop bleeding. It took about five hours, blood draws, several IV bags, a sonogram, and a quick pelvic extraction by the OB to fix things. The second after the OB was done, I was better. It's amazing how competent these doctors are. It probably helped that my problem was relatively common. A very small piece of the "afterbirth" was still attached. So, my body was still sending blood to it. A whole lot of blood. It really highlighted for me exactly why women get so exhausted when they are pregnant, especially in the first trimester. Their bodies are doing a lot of work! In hindsight, Rich and I realized that we should have gone to the doctor immediately. I was way beyond the "if you bleed this much go to the doctor immediately" point. But, when all was said and done, they fixed me without having to use anesthesia or perform the D and C surgery! So, in a way, I may be better off. We decided that next time (please God, there is no next time!), we will be pushier about getting the D and C scheduled ASAP.

One thing I'm grateful for more than anything through this all is that I married Rich. He works so well under pressure! He had our family taken care of at every point. He fed Isaac in the hospital at 4:00 AM and used his daddy's touch to get him to fall back asleep! He got me nurses to help with my comfort and to go to the bathroom. He drove home to grab me a change of clothes when we ended up just throwing everything I had on in the hazardous waste basket. He drove me home, got me a coffee, picked up Isaac, and watched him all day while I rested. He also cleaned up the mess I left at home (and he's not into blood, trust me!). It was not pretty. But now our home is sparkling clean again. (Ironically, I had just finished a solid bleach-down on Friday.) I'm getting my energy back. And our family (and extended families) had the opportunity to come together again. It's these moments of crisis that remind me of the number one reason I chose Rich: He really loves the people he loves and goes to great lengths to make sure they are well, especially in the moments that require complete self-sacrifice with nothing available in return. We love him so much!

P.S. He also found time to get me a card (from Isaac and Clair) and a Starbuck's gift card. What a guy!

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Baby Is Crawling!

Here we go! Pictures to follow.

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Motivated to Get the Blue Nalgene...

Isaac pulled himself up into a stand using the drawer handles and the top of the table. This is the first time he's done that all by himself! I missed the original shot but here he is trying again:

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We Opened Our Door This Afternoon and...

This beautiful package was waiting to be unwrapped. Thank you, Grandpa Richard and Grandma Helen! We are loving the chocolate! And Isaac loves the packaging.

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Blueberry

This weekend, we were hoping to let everyone know that we were expecting again. Unfortunately, when we went to our ten week sonogram on Friday, the baby measured nine weeks. The doctor couldn't find a heartbeat. I'm really glad that we got to see him. He was a perfectly-formed, nine-week fetus, but for some inexplicable reason, he stopped growing then. We saw his little arms, legs, spine, and head. Everything was formed well up to nine weeks. We even saw his face. I noticed that he had Isaac's nose and otherwise looked a bit like Isaac. Of course, we don't know if it was a boy or girl. He was only an inch long -- about the size of a grape.

It's helpful for us to think and write about him because he was (and is) a real person -- our baby. It's amazing how a child has his own unique DNA immediately; and at this stage he had all of the essential human body parts. He is a part of our family. We know that the Lord allowed us to get pregnant for a reason -- quite unlikely at just six month postpartum, too. So, perhaps the Lord wanted another little soul in heaven with Him. We are calling him Blueberry, a name we donned when he was that size. We are both sad about this; but also grateful that we had him for a little while. There is something so beautiful about the frail innocence of new little human lives. One really gets a sense of that while watching the sonogram screen.

So, this is what we've been up to lately. I haven't had much energy for a couple of months. We want to honor the little one and allow ourselves time to process before we set too many other expectations. We have a renewed appreciation for the fragility of life -- and the miracle that it is. I hope and pray that our whole culture turns in the direction of appreciating life -- at all of its stages -- as we move ahead.

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Walker?

I don't know at which point the AAP decided that walkers are no longer a good idea, but I remember reading that shortly after Isaac was born. They emphasized human interaction and books as opposed to many alleged brain-stimulating toys. (Although I love the Baby Einstein products,) it's interesting to me how much Isaac seems to like normal things that didn't cost us anything extra. He particularly likes to play with boxes. This one, for example, he uses as a walker. He gets just enough traction with bare feet on the hardwood; and the box has the right glaze to offer the perfect amount of resistance to his hands and the floor. Isaac was showing off here after he realized I was watching him. I love how creative he is!

(He also really likes pictures of other babies like the one he's touching here.)

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New Hills to Climb

Isaac seems particularly interested in climbing all over us. He really enjoys this type of interaction. I have to keep a burp cloth nearby and be ready to remove those fingers when they start toward my mouth. As you can see, Rich is much tougher than I:

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