Family visits

We had a fun past few days with family visiting from the Seattle area, and on Friday we'll drive to the central coast to spend time with more family. It's a little sad living far away from everyone and having to make a whole trip out of every visit. It'd be great to somehow live right next to both sides of the family and see everyone all the time. But I'm grateful for the time we do get to spend together, and I hope it will be more frequent sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Back to it

I know I always do this. I say I'm going to blog consistently and then life gets in the way and I stop writing...and then I wander back months later and have this awkward feeling like I need to explain myself and why I've been gone so long and how this time will be different and I'll actually keep writing, blah, blah, blah. Well, I don't really know if it will be different, but I'm back for now. The thing is, I'm a storyteller at heart. So, even though I may let months go by between posts, I always come back...and I think I always will. So, if you're here and want to hear my stories for as long as I stick around, cool -- I'm glad to have you here, and thanks for reading. :)

Baby steps

Carys took her first few baby steps this evening, and boy was she proud of herself. She had the biggest grin spread across her face and she kept giggling as she stepped toward me. I was super proud of her too! :)

Seeing the excitement, Ashlinn insisted on showing off her own walking skills by walking to Daddy several times. Silly girl... ;) We made sure to tell her that we were proud of her too but that she could do a lot more than just walk -- run, jump, climb, etc.

Ashlinn has also recently been learning to go potty in the big girl potty, and for THAT I'm really proud of her. We've been having M&M parties every time she goes, and I have a bit of a tummy ache this evening that might have come from all the M&Ms I ate throughout the day!

A difficult time

On Friday morning, my mother-in-law went home to be with Jesus. She'd had surgery the previous Monday to fix a tear in her aorta, and it had gone well. We talked to her on Tuesday night via webcam, and she looked and sounded great. That night, they moved her from the ICU to another recovery room, and they were going to release her on Friday or Saturday. But Friday morning, her aorta ruptured and they weren't able to save her.

It feels so surreal even writing this. Both of my grandmothers are still alive, and yet my daughters have already lost one of theirs. It seems so unfair. I'm sad that my daughters will never really know their nana and probably won't remember her on their own, although we will definitely surround them with pictures of her and stories about her. I'm sad for my husband who will miss her so much. I'm sad for my father-in-law who was married to her for 29 years and loved her more than most husbands love their wives. I'm sad for my two sisters-in-law who no longer have their mom around to share in their lives. And I'm sad that I have no more time left to grow closer to her. We were just starting to truly enjoy each other's company over the last couple years, and I'm really grateful for that, but I wish so much that we'd had the time to grow even closer.

We spent some time up with the family during the past few days and will go back again for the memorial service next week. It was easier being there. We were strong for the others and helped where we could. We looked at pictures and laughed over the funny stories. We were surrounded with family and love. But it's harder at home for some reason.... I feel sad, and I know my husband feels that much more sad. We know she's in heaven with Jesus, we know we'll see her again some day, and we know she had a great impact in a lot of people's lives here. But we miss her and mourn all the moments she will not be part of here on earth....

So proud of herself

Carys learned how to clap yesterday. She tentatively put her hands together, grinned, and then tried again. She was so proud of herself, and she kept practicing her new trick all day long. Yay for Carys!

You know you don't get out much alone when...

...you catch yourself singing "Five green and speckled frogs" in the car by yourself.

Watch out for that sister monster

Ashlinn is currently hiding in a Costco-sized diaper box "so that sister doesn't get me." You've got to watch out for little sisters!