Six ...

Six years ago today we said hello and goodbye to our 3rd son, the journey to that point and the journey since has been filled with many bittersweet moments.  On this day every year we struggle a bit to figure out how to celebrate Owen's life.  One would think that we would have this figured out seeing May 30th comes every year.  But, we don't.  I wonder if my struggle with this is because it's such a contrast to how we celebrate the other kiddos?  I suppose the consistency is in the fact that we do celebrate ... this year with an ice cream cake at the request of the boys, easy to oblige ...  



Another consistency is where we find our Hope ...

Pomp and Circumstance

Well, hello blog!  It's been a busy week - baseball games, practices, middle school performances, sports therapy appointments, speech therapy, physical therapy, work ... and preschool graduation.  Miss Lydia graduated from our beloved preschool program this week.  This mama was left wondering how this could be ...

 

 

To celebrate we took our girl to the bakery for a treat ...

 

 

 

Thumbs up to being a preschool graduate!

'O Christmas Tree

In 2006 we started a tradition of saving our Christmas tree and taking it to a nearby state park in the spring to be used for a family campfire / hot dog roast. 

I wrote a bit more about it here.  Well, the past few years we have cheated a bit - we have still used our tree for campfires, but we've done it in our backyard in a portable fire pit.

We found ourselves reinstating our original tradition this year (last weekend), and we all had a blast.  It is getting more and more challenging to find family activities and outings that a 2 year old up to a 12 year old can embrace.  Burning the Christmas tree, making dinner over a fire, taking a hike, and even stopping at the park's playground was a hit with everyone.

 

Yes, we may have let Samuel try using the axe ... oh dear ...

 

 

 Thankful for these days!

Funny Faces with ... Nora!

So, now that we've {mostly} grown past Lydia's funny face photos, Nora has taken to a rather silly smile ... kind of seems like she is growling in fact.

Evidence galore ...

 

Oh yeah I did, I just sassed my way through the above the photos ... never, not ever a dull moment with this Little Miss!

Sevenly

Every week Sevenly teams up with charities to raise funds and awareness for "weekly cause campaigns."  A portion of every item sold on Sevenly goes to the charity of the week.  The week's charity is one that is quite personal for us, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS). 

NILMDTS and a local photographer blessed us beyond measure when Owen was born (the photo at the top of my blog page is still one of my favorite family photos, Jason and I with our boys - Jack, Samuel and Owen on May 30th, 2008).

Part of Owen's story will always be how a sweet friend introduced us to a local photographer who became the first photographer in our area to become a part of NILMDTS so that she could capture the arrival of Owen, so thankful for Leslie Faye and how she laid aside her fears to bless us ... and now others. 

And, thankful for organizations such as Sevenly that advocate for causes such as this.

Because there is no foot too small ...

Easter 2014

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Revelation 5:13

Ha - of course, an Easter selfie!

 

And, some "posed" LilyKid photos ...

 

 

 

And, me and my guy ...

Goings on around here ...

It's been fairly quiet here (on the blog that is ... not here ... because we really don't have many "quiet" moments here ... a few months ago I heard that noise is the heartbeat of the home ... our heartbeat is strong and steady ... and, while there are days that a little "peace and quiet" would be nice I know that one day we will miss it).

A lot of the noise comes from these pint-sized girls (although the boys add more than their fair share as well).

For journaling purposes, here's what we've been up to ...

Jack's baseball team has been practicing for about a month now.  He's excited to be playing!  Samuel's team will start in a few months.  So far most practices have been indoor as the fields are just not ready yet.  We are all looking forward to being at the ballpark!  Speaking of the ballpark, Jack is at the ballpark today with a buddy's family, cheering on our Milwaukee Brewers (go Brewers!).  Our family really does love us some baseball!

Samuel has been "practicing" for his school's upcoming spring concert.  It's sure to be entertaining and will capture the audience as only an elementary school spring singing concert can.

Lydia has a few weeks of preschool left at the Arts Center.  She recently had her screening for the school district and will be going to Jr. Kindergarten four half days a week starting in the fall.  Can't. Be. Possible.

Nora also has another upcoming screening coming up so that we can determine if she will just do speech in the fall at school or if she will be in their "preschool / early learning" program (likely the latter).  She "graduates" from speech with the birth to three program in July (when she turns three).  Unfortunately, Nora's current pathologist is only going to be with the program for a few more weeks so Nora will get another pathologist for the couple of months before her third birthday.  We are truly going to miss Miss Christina, the influence and relationship she has built with Nora and us has been such a blessing.

We don't do a spring break, mainly because it's hard for me to get away this time of year so we've been having fun planning a late summer road trip (nestled between the boys' baseball, camps and the start of football!).  Like Olaf would say, "let's bring back summer."  It seems we cannot go a day here without a conversation that is largely quotes / songs from Frozen ... that movie has us hooked!!

Go Wisconsin!

Sporting our Badger gear today ... much like we did when we celebrated Jack's birthday in the Fall!

Randomness ...

Saturday randomness ...

 

Practicing my non-braiding skills (my SIL is a pro at fancy braids ... I'm learning) ... Nice look for Lyds - baby in the carrier and her beloved Superman shirt ... 

Supporting my sweet Texas friend with this fun tee as they make their way to China (hopefully soon) to bring home their daughter ...

A recent round of selfies ...

{Non}Sleeping Beauty

There are two questions that we often get asked regarding Nora's adjustment and development:

1.  Is she sleeping any better?
2.  How is her speech coming along?

In all honesty, I cringe at both of these questions as I can feel myself getting defensive, protecting my daughter and her insecurities and challenges.  Let's start with speech, this is an easy one - click over to Ashley's blog and see her post from yesterday ... I can relate to every single word, Ashley's words beautifully and honestly describe where we are also at with Nora and her speech. 

Now, let's talk sleep or lack thereof.  This is where I feel more protective as a common response we get from others, typically those a bit more removed from our family, is "she's still not sleeping through the night?"  And, then there's the dreaded, "but you haven't sleep trained her?"  It only it were that simple, I have to remind myself not to question our parenting of Nora.  We will never have intimate details of her first 15 months of life and how this plays into her nighttime fears and insecurities.  So for now, we will prayerfully, intentionally and unconditionally love this girl, and we will choose to rejoice over Nora's beautiful adjustment into our family, celebrating the adoption "hurdles" that we have overcome.

Photo taken early one morning this week after Nora was up for a two hour middle of the night stint ... rosy cheeks and all smiles ... thankful ...