My Trip Home-Part 6...Julia

The last and awesome part of my visit home...and the main reason I stayed there for a whole month...was so that I could see Julia!  She arrived in the middle of the chaos of people flying in and driving in to be there for Grandma Honey's funeral.  She took it like a champ and fit right in with the flow of everyone there.  Some of my cousins who haven't seen us for awhile probably thought they just forgot which cousin she was and were wondering why she had a German accent!

Julia is so smart that her school funded her to come over to America to do an internship/job shadow for a month.  She observed at a pediatrician's office.  While she was here we had a lot to do.  We couldn't believe it had really been 7 years since she was our foreign exchange student.

Katelyn liked her a lot and gave Luke a break sometimes when she was around and would ask "Dia" to play and sneak her chocolate, and go out to see the puppies.  We headed out to the pool a couple times and played some tennis with her too. 

Hello Belly!

This is a stalker photo for sure...I was on the opposite side of the pool creeping!  At least she had a good dive!

We introduced her to a fair and rodeo too.  Rodeo's are a little crazy and silly when you think about them...It is a different sort of talent that was tricky to explain the "why" behind the sport.

After hanging out for a week or so there, I headed home to my poor lonely husband.  David came to Washington for the wedding for a week, but I was in Washington for over a month, so he sort of missed his girls!  When I got home, he did mention I looked a little rounder and bigger, which I was not offended by entirely because I was 35 weeks pregnant and he hadn't seen my belly in three weeks.  But I told him he was lucky I was pregnant for such a comment!  He is always so so so honest...which is great and not so great sometimes :)

So I was home and we were having withdrawals from having people to entertain us and to share the cooking and cleaning duties.  Then three weeks later, Julia "stopped by" on her way back to Germany ...for a week!  Yay!

We showed her Baltimore and David played tennis with her.  We played some Settler's and Ticket to Ride and we made sure that David or I would win JUST before Julia could win because she doesn't like to win...right Julia?!  It didn't drive her crazy or anything :)

We spent a day checking out Lancaster, PA and an Amish house and farm.  We checked in on the bonnets and realized that they are not meant for us still!

We learned about the Amish families and culture and were fascinated with how many ties they have to Germany in their history.  That made it more interesting for Julia and I.

I wanted to take her there because when she first heard that she was being placed in a Mormon home for her foreign exchange program, 7 years ago, her family joked that she wasn't going to have electricity and would have to ride around in a horse and buggy, thinking that the Mormon's lived that way.  She was a little nervous but soon found out that it was Amish, not Mormon's and she fit right in with us!

She didn't want me to do much so that I wouldn't have the baby while David was out of town and would grab bags, Katelyn, or take over any task that looked semi-intense.  It is always a funny thing when you are pregnant, because all the help is nice, but it is almost all do-able while pregnant, but sometimes I just had to let people be nice.  Julia was extra cautious and I had to tell her "no" sometimes...except when she started doing the dishes!  She is one of those people that cleans everything up right after the mess is made and it was so nice!  I love having things cleaned, but I usually do the bare minimum and get the spoil-able food put away and save the rest for when I feel like it.  Having her keep up with the dishes each meal was wonderful!  I never said no to that!

It was great to just sit around and chat for hours and get entirely caught up with her life and have some good debates, with David of course, on education and health issues.  I am excited for her and all that she does and it is fun to keep in touch with her...which reminds me that we are due for a skype session! Katelyn loved having her around too and she was willing to do whatever Katelyn wanted, probably because Julia stole her bed :)

We promised to go to her wedding, so no pressure, but the sooner she decides on a guy, the sooner she gets to see us!  I could use another trip to Germany...I wouldn't mind a bit!  We love Julia!  See you soon, right? :)

My Trip Home-Part 7...Grandma Honey

This was quite a while ago, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and can't let it go un-blogged.  It was part of my trip home to Washington this summer.

After my brother's wedding and everyone headed home after a few days of playing , the house was REALLY quiet.  We had some many people all over the house and then within two days, everyone was on their way home on planes and in cars.  I planned on staying for an extra couple of weeks and knew everyone else wasn't, but all the fun chaos ended too soon!  My parents and Luke even headed out to Wyoming for the reception at Chelsea's hometown.  So I literally had the monster house that had 30 or more people buzzing through it the last week all to myself.  Weird.

Sunday night came and we had news that Grandma Honey, my mom's mom, wasn't doing so well.  This was big news, but for all of us that had seen her in the last week, we could all tell that this might be the last time to see her.  She passed away the next morning,  August 13th.  Grandpa Bob came to visit her and said good morning with a kiss and then she passed away peacefully. 

As much as all of her kids and grand-kids knew this was coming, there were plenty of tears.  As the news spread and the plans for the funeral were made, it was overwhelming and so wonderful to see so many of her posterity dropping their lives and driving and flying out.  It was nice that I hadn't left and was able to be there still. Grandpa Bob was brought to tears, which rarely happens, as he heard of how not only were his kids and spouses going to be there, but the majority of his grand kids too.  My sister, Tracie, tried so hard to be able to come, even though she had just arrived home in Germany less than a week before.  There were over 20 of the grand kids there and it wasn't easy for everyone to come. 

The plans and preparations were made for the funeral.  As everyone came into town, our house was once again overflowing with family.  This time was different though.  There was a somber reverence through the house.  We all knew why were there and as we all reflected on the life of Grandma Honey and the wife, mother and grandmother that she was, we all had so much respect for her.  We all stayed busy gathering pictures from her life and enjoying seeing her through her years as we put together a presentation.  Picking songs that we all knew she would love to dance around the house and get moving to was fun too. 

It was great to reconnect with aunts and uncles and cousins too.  Some of them we haven't seen in 10 years!  We spent hours in the backyard chatting away and we even got in a boys vs. girls game of Encore.  Those Longman boys will always have the craziest stories...always!

We went down to the river and enjoyed a BBQ and wading in the cold river.  I could have promised you that it used to be warmer when I was little, but the crazy kid in me must not have cared one bit.  I loved all the time just sitting around with the extended family just chatting away.  It had been way too long and we already have plans to get together in two summers.  It will be such a good reunion! 

The kids of us cousins (2nd cousins?) had a good time playing too.  Katelyn thought it was so neat to tag along with Sammy and Jaelyn.  They picked green unripe apples and peaches off the tree and chowed down on them while jumping on the trampoline in the blazing heat just laughing and giggling away as little girls do.  They would all pile onto the piano bench and make "lovely" music together.  Towards the end of the week, Katelyn and Jaelyn had a love/hate relationship and when they would get tired, they weren't so good of friends...whoops!

Saturday we had the funeral.  With songs picked that we know Grandma Honey loved we all started off with tears ready to flow.  Aunt Karen told the beutiful story of her life that had us all laughing and crying.  She captured the spunk that Grandma Honey had and also the wonderful heart full of love that she had and shared too. 

Then it was time to sing...we thought it would be special to have the grand kids sing How Great Thou Art .  Our practice went great, but our performance was missing a lot of our voices as we were trying to hold off the tears to sing.  I think there were a few unexpected solos that resulted from all of us cry babies!  And those high notes were pretty quiet too!  Any time that I was singing, I wasn't able to hit the higher notes.  I don't really know how it sounded, but I am sure that Kaylee played the piano wonderfully with a few voices to back her up!

Then Uncle Jeff shared a beautiful talk about God's plan for all of us.  I loved what he said in reference to Grandpa Bob's career of nuclear engineering when he said, "Dad had a job to start each day with something, and by the end of the day turn it into nothing but energy.  Mom had the job to start each day with 6 children with nothing but energy and turn us into something."  He also had us laughing and crying.  He shared of how Grandma Honey searched out who God is and gained a testimony.  It was so neat to hear. 

The whole time we all couldn't help but be sad she was gone.  She was a huge part of my childhood as we would go visit every summer and those memories are so fun.  Growing older isn't always fun and the fact that we can't relive those summer days and get to be greeted with her hugs where I could smell her "grandma perfume" and pretend to run away from her kisses.  Tillamook won't ever be the same without her.   But we were also happy for her that she could be herself again.  She no longer has the frustrations and that age and diseases limited her with.  One of the greatest parts is that she has been reunited with her daughter that passed away when she was 10 of leukemia.  We all often talked about how joyous that reunion must have been and how I wished I could have seen it.  Those two have so much to talk about!

I constantly think about Grandpa Bob.  How is he doing?  How was he handling all of this?  Even though he knew it was coming, it was still his sweetheart and his beautiful wife.  It makes me sad to think of the loneliness and the sorrow that comes from losing a loved one, especially your spouse.   Elder Bowen talked in conference about losing his child and I kept thinking about Grandma Honey through his talk especially when he said, "Sometimes people will ask, “How long did it take you to get over it?” The truth is, you will never completely get over it until you are together once again with your departed loved ones. I will never have a fulness of joy until we are reunited in the morning of the First Resurrection."  He went on to say that we must go on and "be of good cheer."  I don't know exactly how he is doing, but I do know that I admire him so much.  As he took such good care of her, especially in the last few years when she didn't remember who he was most of the time, he had such compassion and love for her.  He would visit often when living with her wasn't a stable option.  He did all that he could with her, all that her health allowed.  He was so sweet with her and would cater so much to her needs and put his desires aside to do whatever was needed to help her feel comfortable and safe.  I have often told David that he better take notes, because that is what I want if the time ever comes.  Grandpa Bob was a true gentleman and a wonderful spouse.  He tried to make getting old as easy as he could on her and showed how deeply he loved and cared for her.

I am so amazed with her and her life.  I feel honored to be named after her.  I am pretty sure she changed her name from Lucretia to Lorry when she was a teenager or young adult, and went by Lorry for most of her life (except for us grand kids calling her Grandma Honey)  She was someone that I look up to and she always wanted her kids and grand kids to know what is right and to do what is right.  I can't wait to see her vibrant self when I get to meet her again in heaven.  I will never forget her unique laugh that she laughed so much because us rascally kids were always doing something goofy. 

 She always came to help my mom out when the new babies arrived.  When Abby was born, she took Matt and I, the youngest two other than the new baby, to her house for a week or so so my mom didn't have to worry about us (like she had anything to worry about :)!) 

 The 4th of July will never be as good as it was at Rockaway Beach.  The big firework show, the campfire, digging out our sand couches and the fun races that we made money off of when we won!  It doesn't get much better than Rockaway!  Even with the foggy smoky years!

 We spent a lot of time digging and searching the tide pools for critters of all sorts...and it never mattered if we did our hair in the morning apparently!

 Here's Matt and I doing the wheelbarrow race and we won first place one year!  Our family always had a few winners who got some good money.  I won the mile race one year and got 50 bucks!  That's a lot of money to a teenager...and it was painful running in the soft sand!  I was in pretty good shape from summer sports, but my legs were not used to sand!  Ouch!  It was good money though!

 Multnomah Falls was always a favorite pitstop along the way.  Ice cream cones and a pretty view and sometimes a good hike if rocks weren't in the way!

 We loved numbing our bodies up in the freezing ocean!

 More fireworks!

  These sand dunes were always part of the visit too! 

 I will miss staying at her house when we head to the Oregon coast...the raccoons will definitely miss her too!

Showing off my sweet baby Katelyn! 

 We love you Grandma Honey and we all miss your cute silly self.  But no matter how much we miss you, I can promise you that Grandpa Bob misses you more than all of us combined.  We will always have sweet memories to share of you!

One Month Old

Davy has been such an awesome baby!  He is one month old now and it isn't fair that time goes so quick once the baby is here.  That last month of pregnancy felt like an eternity...again!

This little guy eats and sleeps like a champ.  From the beginning he has let us put him down to sleep and he doesn't need to be held all the time...unlike Katelyn.  She demanded our attention from the start, and I said many prayers that I would be able to manage having two kids and having a good sleeper must have been that answer to my prayers.  I am a little nervous that some day I am going to forget him somewhere because he is so quiet and the whole idea that I have two kids now hasn't entirely sunk in.  

His eating has been going great too...YAY!  Nursing did hurt for the first week between the nursing induced cramping in my belly, to the ready-to-burst feeling of the arrival of the milk, to the tenderness that comes from not nursing anyone for a year or so, but it all only lasted for about a week! 

He is growing bigger and bigger and I don't doubt that he might pass up his cute itty bitty cousin, Mikilah who is about 6 months older.  Christine and I were joking about it yesterday, and then I got his stats today at his appointment and I wouldn't be surprised.  He is average/tall for his age at 22 1/2 inches now (75th%) but a heavyweight.

His weight as a newborn: 9 pounds 10 ounces...leaving the hospital 9 pounds 6 ounces
His weight at 2 1/2 weeks: 10 pounds 6 ounces
His weight at one month: 11 pounds 8 ounces

Mikilah at almost 7 months: 13 pounds 12 ounces

Eat up Mikilah!  This little guy might get bigger than you so if you don't learn to crawl fast or run before we see you next, he might pin you down! :)

This sweet boy will search for food if he is awake.  If anything touches his cheeks, he thinks it is food and he goes wild for it.  Katelyn thinks it is pretty funny and it cracks her up. 

We took some pictures this weekend of our new family of four and we love them.  You also get a sneak preview of my headboard that I made and painted.  I love it, and David thinks it is unnecessary, but he likes it...I think he likes it because I like it and reused wood and paint we already had so it didn't cost him anything.  I bet if we ever needed firewood, it would be the first to go!

I had some ideas before I started taking these pictures, but my baby is too big for most of the ideas...but we love him anyways because I still got some good pictures of him.  We also did not do any naked shots because he gets too excited when his diaper comes off and has peed and pooed WAY too many times for me to let him on my bed.  He got me three times in one day...boys!  You can see his grandpa-ish hair line.  A little balder on top than on the sides.  He wears it well!

 

 I love the peaceful aspect that a newborn brings into the home.  He is so cozy and easy to snuggle up with being so squishy and soft.  We love him and I am loving the sleep that he lets me have.  I am much happier and sane when I get my sleep and I appreciate it so much!  We can't complain about this little boy of ours!  We are keeping him!

Big Sister

Katelyn spent the night at her friend's house and then David went to go pick her up the next morning.  I was excited for her to see her baby brother.  We talked about him every day when I was pregnant and she would talk about him too, but I don't really know if she understood that there was a real baby in  my belly.  We wondered if she would like him mostly.

She came into my room and wasn't sure who I was holding.  When I said it was her baby brother, she looked confused.  She took a close look, and then I asked if she wanted to hold him.  She said no and just continued to watch him.  He was sleeping, so he wasn't doing anything, but she just watched him.  

We got out a new gift that she got...kind of a special present for the big sister just to make her feel important and give her something to do that was new and fun while I fed or held Davy.  She loves puzzles and these ones didn't disappoint. 

After about 30 minutes of watching her brother and playing with her new puzzles, she asked to hold him.  I was glad that she wanted to!  I helped her hold him and she inspected the little guy. 

 His face was first.  She said he was "cute an' seeping"

 She was fascinated in him and especially that he was wearing a diaper, just like her.

 Arms look good...

 Fingers look good...

 Mom's bed looks good....Dad's not so good!  Those wonderful pull out chairs and flat pillows are not so wonderful afterall.

 Katelyn and I often give eskimo kisses and rub our noses.  She gave Davy some...

 And she thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world. 

 Katelyn gives him lots of hugs and kisses of all sorts all the time. 

 I would say, she likes him!  The first impression went well and she warmed up to the idea of being a big sister and now takes the role very seriously.

 She still likes her puzzles though!  They are a close contender for her favorite toys. 

 David likes holding his little guy. There have been plenty of snuggles that turn into naps for these two.  Davy doesn't understand that only Mom has the milk and will search and search anyone until he finds it. 

 Katelyn has tried to feed her animals and babies and will burp them when they are through.  She has insisted on feeding her brother and so one time I let him get a good suction just on her belly and it kind of scared Katelyn with how weird it felt.  She asks here and there to feed him, but will back down pretty easy most of the time.  She loves to burp him though and is actually really good at it....the one time that we allow her to beat up on her little brother :)

 This picture makes me laugh...she likes to make sure that Davy is looking at the camera, so she helps him.  Her morning hair is pretty good too!

 When I do her hair in the mornings, her naps always do amazing things to her hair and it always makes me laugh when she comes out of her room.

 

She didn't like that some things are JUST for Davy...like the crib, his car seat, his clothes, and sometimes me.  She competes for my attention and needs me and only me when she gets tired.  She got really sad one time when David went to grab a blanket to put on Davy and one of Katelyn's was nearby so he used it.  Katelyn was not ready to share her blanket and was so sad about it.  She is now interested in pacifiers.  She didn't take them when she was a baby but she now likes to sometimes act like a baby and needs to be swaddled and held and needs a paci...silly girl.  She likes to show her brother big kid things like her toys and how to get dressed.  She likes to read to Davy and gets a little frustrated when he doesn't pay attention. 

Katelyn is a good big sister and asks to hold Davy multiple times a day.  She likes holding him until she hears him poop, then she tells me she is done and I need to change his diaper.  She doesn't like it when he is sad and will try to put his paci in or tell me to hold him.  She likes to do more and more on her own and is growing up faster, it seems, since Davy has been around.  She seems so heavy and her arms and legs dangle out all over the place.  We realized how big she was once Davy was here.  And to brag about our little girl...she is learning so much and is starting to really read now!  She has some of her sight words memorized and can read them in books.  We can ask her about 15 different words and she can find them somewhere in all of her books.  Now if we could only figure out which number is which!

We've had fun watching Katelyn transform into the big sister and it will be interesting to see how it all goes as they both grow up!