Friends Make Everything Better!

Last week was an inexplicably crazy week! I was looking back trying to figure out what it was and it was mainly errands and planning with a little annoying doctor paperwork mixup annoyances on the side. I did get some fun stuff done, check it out at my other blog when you're done here, if you want: clickie!

Wednesday we said goodbye to Matt and Jamie who are our community group leaders going to live in Amsterdam. How cool is that? Matt requested the Chicago-style deep dish pizza that Mike apparently talked up pretty highly when they were out to eat once as his going away meal. It was my first big meal since before I went to the hospital and I had a great time doing it. I made the sauce Tuesday, set up all the dough ingredients Wednesday morning, and made the pizza crusts Wednesday night. I just wish I had gotten some photos!

Friday started out really rough. On the plus side, I got to schedule my hernia surgery (next Tuesday!) and on the not so plus side, my ob's office cannot figure out who has the paperwork with the second opinion on whether or not Mike and I can have any more biological kids. Blah. On a happy note, here's Autumn at the store after I picked her up from Lainey and Papa D. She walked around wrapped up like this with people actually stopping dead in the their tracks to be all, "OMG CUTE!"


Later, I had a night that was the polar opposite of my morning. Penny, Tamara and Cathy came over for a Twilight viewing! Penny gets to come with us to the latest movie in November since she's now working weekdays instead of weekends. Since she hasn't seen the movies, we decided to have once a month girls' nights to watch the three that are out and make fun of them mercilessly! We each brought snacks and had a fun little meal together. I think Autumn had the most fun, as you will see shortly. Although Matt, who had stopped by to pick up the Fruits Basket dvd set from me, probably had almost as much fun sharing some snacks with us and listen to us chatter on. :D I dunno, though, it's hard to beat this kind of thing:


Penny brought sushi and I had heated up some pizza for Autumn and Mike before I realized she was bringing a feast. So, of course, we helped Autumn eat her pizza with chopsticks!


Here she is looking like she totally knows what she's doing.


Although we had such a great time together that I was still feeling awesome on Saturday morning, I really do think Autumn might have had the best time of all. She and Mike had Papa and Monkey time...in a tent!


She had a nice stash in there, blankets, books, crayons, a guitar, a light up lady bug...


And a papa!


(I took all the tent pictures on auto because I haven't learn how to change my settings for darkness, haha!)

So, yeah. I think that Awesome Friend Time (both Wednesday and Friday!) and Fun in a Tent Time definitely outweighed the busy, crazy times!

The Adventures of Little Princess

Once upon a time, there was a Little Princess who wanted to buy a littler princess. She saved her dollars for a very long time. Since Christmas! That's a long time to a Little Princess.


The Little Princess counted alllll her dollars with her mama's help. There were a lot of dollars and she really hoped that there would be enough to buy her littler princess. She was so happy because not only did she have enough dollars for her littler princess, but the Little Princess also set aside dollars to save for a rainy day and to give to her church "to help the lots of peoples."


Although she was very afraid that she would not be at the store, the Little Princess found her littler princess and named her Big Belle.


The Little Princess was sad to give up her dollars. But that day she learned that all the subjects of the kingdom have to trade their dollars for the toys they buy at the store! And the Little Princess said she can't wait to get more dollars for her birthday and Christmas and maybe by doing a little bit of princess-y work.


The End.

A blast from the past...remember this?

Just a note, I started a new blog last week: click here if you're interested in checking it out! Coming up next week: projects.

(Mis)Adventures in Photography

Want to see something funny? Well. I thought it was funny. Click through this slideshow and keep your eyes to the right side of the photographs.


I've been brave with my camera this week! I mentioned last Sunday that Elizabeth came over to help me out with my camera. She got me started with some baby steps and, boy, am I glad because this first trial was pretty ugly. Blurry pictures, crazy white balance issues, and editing like I have never had to edit before, haha. And I'm pretty sure even my edited pictures look a little wonky still. But I'm okay with some not-ideal photographs for a while! Trial and error, right?

I probably could have started out with something a little easier than the tea party to say goodbye to my friend Christy and her daughters. They are moving to Texas. Here is our motley little crew.


Charlie was a trooper and a sweetheart being the only boy at the tea party. He dressed up and was a perfect gentleman, drinking tea out of his teacup and cheering on the girls as they did ballet. Here's his sister Julia, in one of the photos I think I edited a little strangely. Trying to get yellow out seems to have turned everything green...


Here's the first photo I took. You can tell I did it with great concentration because it's not blurry and the colors are correct, hahaha. This is from the bush that Kurt planted for Garrett while I was in the hospital. It's really lovely and every time I see the flowers, I smile.


Here's Julia, Lydia, and Ella-Maria.


And Allie, Autumn, Charlie, and Julia.


We're really going to miss Christy, Allie and Lydia. Christy was my first good friend at Fellowship. Through her, I met Maria, Annalise, and several other great ladies. And Annalise is the one who invited us to her community group where we met a whole other set of incredible people. Actually, I don't think I've ever linked this here but in May, Mike and I wrote an article for our church bulletin. You can imagine that we could write another article just like it but times a million: click here!

Oh, and please, everyone, keep Autumn in your thoughts. Today, we began the Great Thumb Project. She and I had manicure time today. The top coat on her thumbs (at her request as well as the dentist's) is this bitter tasting polish. She's done a great job today! I think she only got the icky stuff in her mouth once. Good luck, little ma'am!

A Weekend of Remembrance

Part of this week was pretty normal. Autumn actually napped at school on Tuesday. Seriously, this is something she hasn't done in...well...possibly ever? So we celebrated by going to Jerry's to get a snow cone. Terrible idea. About 50 other people had the same idea--including a daycare! Fortunately the daycare had phoned in their order. Anyway, Autumn was all "I want a rainbow!" So we waited in line in the blazing sun and then ate our snow cones in the air conditioned car. It felt vaguely wrong.


My mom came over Wednesday. Autumn got a pedicure. She's pretty stylish right now because mom put this crackle nail polish on her toes. When Autumn first saw the polish breaking up she said, "you messed up!"


Thursday I got to spend some time with Elizabeth Wiggs and we talked about everything from adoption to photography. I haven't had a chance to play much with what she showed me but hopefully next blog post I'll have some fun pictures.

Friday was Garrett's due date. I expected the day to be really hard but I'd had such a good day with Elizabeth and had a great day planned Friday that it really wasn't that bad. In the morning Autumn and I ran errands and visited with Stephan and his family. And that night, Penny and Cathy and I went out and just had a really great time. It was so nice to catch up with them, talk a little about Garrett, and just celebrate his little life. Really, I have some of the best friends ever. Oh, and this week I ordered a few birth announcements for Garrett just to give to our parents and to put it in the memory box I am making. I made it because I couldn't find a non-picture announcement that I liked and didn't cost entirely too much.


Saturday, Mike and I went to the cemetery to visit Garrett's grave. It was really, really sad because we got there right as a funeral had ended...a little girl was buried next to Garrett. We walked around a bit, looking at the gravestones, talking about why things happen the way they do, and we put together a pinwheel for Garrett.


The last thing we did this weekend to remember Garrett was take some treats and a thank you note up to the hospital for the nurses who took care of me while I was in the hospital. They were so great and I'm glad we finally got around to taking care of that.

So that's our week. I think Mike might do a post later this week so I'll leave it there. I was going to end this one with a verse we saw on one of the other stones at the cemetery. It was pretty awesome but Mike and I can't remember enough of it to find it online. Next time I'll take a picture or write it down. So, I'll end with some lyrics from Twila Paris. My friend Matt's mom brought over the cd. I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to the song yet but I did read the lyrics...

Visitor From Heaven
A visitor from Heaven
If only for a while
A gift of love to be returned
We think of you and smile

A visitor from Heaven
Accompanied by grace
Reminding of a better love
And of a better place

With aching hearts and empty arms
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we're so glad you came
We're so glad you came

A visitor from Heaven
If only for a day
We thank Him for the time He gave
And now it's time to say
We trust you to the Father's love
And to His tender care
Held in the everlasting arms
And we're so glad you're there
We're so glad you're there

With breaking hearts and open hands
We send you with a name
It hurts so much to let you go
But we're so glad you came
We're so glad you came


Thank you all for your prayers, emails, and texts this week. We couldn't do this without you.

A Very Summery Week

The Goal:


The Progress: Today I pushed the cart at Costco. Then I rested on the couch for half an hour to recover.

:P In all seriousness, though, that really is progress. It was kind of funny/weird, by the end of the cart pushing, my legs were so tired. But I guess I can't complain! This past week I seem to have improved quite a bit. No pain pills at all and I can walk farther and do more than one errand at a time. Not too shabby!

It worked out really well that I felt pretty decent this week. Autumn's Mother's Day Out was closed for the week so I planned some things to keep us occupied. We went back to the sprinkler park with a few friends. Autumn had fun playing in the sprinklers but she seemed to most enjoy filling and emptying her bucket. For like half an hour.


Oh, and Monday Nanny and Boppa came over to have dinner with us. While dinner was in the oven (an awesome lasagna that Lainey made us before she went to the beach--thank you!), we played Autumn's Super Why ABC game. Boppa won.


And then after dinner, we skyped with Tyler and the rest of the family who went to Florida. Nanny and Boppa had never skyped before so it was kind of fun to be there for their first time.


We got together with my mom on Saturday. She got Autumn a small pool. At first all Autumn wanted was her watering can so she could return to filling and emptying.


But then she got tired of that and requested some additional toys. I thought she was pretty funny chilling in her ring. After she was done swimming (or, splashing around, really), she carried buckets of water to different plants in the back yard. Yay for chores that seem like playing!


We've been slowly getting back into our old routines. To an extent, at least. Autumn and I went to the dojo Saturday to see whoever showed up for Aikido. It was so nice to see everyone and to be in the dojo, if a little (like everything tends to be lately) bittersweet since I'm not sure when I can train again.

We also went back to church today. Penny came with us and it was so nice to have her there. The sermon series that is starting is wildly appropriate for us: The God of Rest and it is about fear and anxiety. I think I'm going to pick up a copy of the book that they recommended reading as part of this series, Running Scared by Edward Welch.

Well, today before she went to bed, Autumn sat down next to me where I was reading on the couch and said she was going to read me a story. This was her story:

"Today, I am going to tell you a true story about God's love. God loves you. And God loves me. And it's a true story in the Bible. The End."

:) She went on to tell about 6 more stories but that one was the most coherent. I think her sunday school teacher and the storyteller at church would be very pleased that Autumn is paying at least some attention. Such a funny girl.


Hopefully next week I'll have a couple short videos to share with you guys!

Milestones and water time

Today is a momentous day. I made green beans and (instant!) mashed potatoes to go with one of the frozen meals a friend brought over this week. Give me a week or two and I might be making some real meals! See, it's the little things, haha. The doctor also told me my blood is doing a great job recovering and she gave me clearance to stop taking the blood pressure meds I was on. Now the trick is to not regress by trying to do too much...and I very much appreciate Mike who is doing waaay more than he ought to be doing!

Oh, and I hope everyone has had a great Fourth of July weekend. We've mostly been taking it easy and doing stuff like relearning how to play our characters in Warcraft...one of those things that can be a little bittersweet because it's nice to be playing together again (we had taken a break because we were really busy) but it's one of those things that we wouldn't be doing for another couple of months if life had gone according to plan. I did take a break from being a complete nerd yesterday to take Autumn over to Penny's mom's to swim. They showered her with fun and prizes, including her new princess swimming ring which has also made an appearance in the tub and as a doll corral since we brought it home. :)


She and Penny played telephone with a noodle, too.


Penny and Ms. Scarlett even fed us lunch. Autumn had a great time although she was a little weird when she got tired. And later she told Mike, "I had fun but I didn't talk to Penny's mama because I was shy." Before she got really weird, I snapped this one.


Earlier this week, we did some more water playing. A few of us (including Aunt Lindsay) went early Wednesday morning which is when they have an under 6 years old time.


This is a terrible picture of Autumn but you have to see Roxie's face. She really, really wanted a granola bar but she doesn't have, well, molars. So it wasn't happening and she could only gaze longingly at the granola bar.


She had a blast running through the various sprinklers and sprays but by about 11am Autumn was done. The first clue was when she decided to sit on the blanket away from everyone with her back to all of us. :)


Funny girl.

Summer Days

Whew, what a week so far! Last week was Mike's week to dive back into the world and this week is mine. I can drive again and I have the energy to do maybe one big thing a day or a couple big things but sooometimes I miscalculate and overdo a bit. Big shocker, huh? Anyway, Autumn and I have been having a good time together the last couple weeks. I've been trying to make sure that the stuff I do is fun for her, too, so we've been doing things like weeding. I can sit and do it for a half hour or so when it's cool in the morning while she rides her tricycle in the driveway and on the bricks.


:D She usually has her helmet on so I'm not sure why she didn't have it on in this picture...safety first! And then after weeding, we have a popsicle. By the way, the annoying thing about this house? By the time I get around the whole house, I'll have to start over again because the weeds will be back. Sigh.


On the not so fun spectrum, my mom came over last week and gave Autumn a haircut. This is the least angry photo I have of that session.


And this one is just funny. (Don't worry, they did end up having a good time together once Autumn recovered from the trauma of a haircut.)


Some of our friends have been visiting over the last couple of weeks that we've been homebound. Christy brought her girls over and they had a super fun time romping around both inside and outside. I completely forgot to take pictures of that. I did get a couple of photos of Autumn and her friend Ella. They were princesses, had tea time, and attended to the dolls. Autumn is currently going through a Belle phase which is funny considering the movie absolutely terrified her. :P


I'm not sure when she started doing this, but Autumn has been camping in her closet, calling it her "quiet place." How funny is that? She drags all her blankets into the closet and just...sits. Or plays with her ponies.


And, of course, Mike can't not get in on the fun...


One funny thing is that Autumn has started doing the Jaws "da-dum" thing and pretending to be a spider or a monster. Mike says it's because he's been doing it to her when he hunts her down. :) They are cute.

So, this past week has been a really good mix of happy hours and sad moments...makes it easier to deal with the sad times. And even the sad times have mostly been with people who love us but it's the first time we've seen them since we lost Garrett or, in two cases (once for Mike and once for me), friends who hadn't heard yet. Dude. Those are the hardest. But we've survived our first forays into the world. Oh, and I have a nice verse to share. Someone sent me a little charm of a handprint that's for moms who have lost children. I have no idea who it was but if it was anyone who reads here, thank you! This verse was on the card that came in the box:
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:16

Such a comforting thought, isn't it?