Tapestry

It's amazing how quickly you can go from a high in life to a low. One week ago we were celebrating my husband Karl's aunt's wedding. Such a beautiful love story of youthful flirting rekindled in their golden years. He was a best man in her older sister's wedding when she was a teenager. They flirted then and at another wedding. But went their separate ways. Each getting married and living life. Then some fiftyish years later... with just a picture and a name he tracked her down after his first wife passed away. What a sweet wedding, definitely a high in all our lives to see these two become one.

Yet now just a week later a low for that same sweet couple. They were headed out to drive across country and had a horrible car accident. Still don't know the full details. But his aunt is most likely paralyzed and his new uncle may loose his arm. Thankfully both are still alive. But how quickly their lives have changed. On the brink of their married life together only to be stopped in their tracks. Regardless of their final health status they have weeks and months of rehab ahead of them.

During our hospital visit today I tried to give Karl's aunt something beautiful to think about as she lay there. She loves flowers and the first thing I saw when we walked into her ICU room was she had a window with a view of a courtyard filled with flowers. I told her about her window view. I got a smile and a slight hand squeeze. All I hope is that I gave her something to be thankful for when sadness and depression start to set in. Later when we were saying goodbye I told one of the nurses a little bit of their story. Karl's aunt smiled again as I told of their recent first date fifty years delayed.

Having such a high followed by such a devastating low, I can't help but wonder why? We may never understand why God allowed this to happen but I pray we can find little rays of joy despite this situation. I'm already hopeful for the next high in this couple's life. They both are such happy, joyful people. I pray the highs out number the lows and they find many reasons to be thankful in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Years ago these high and lows were described in a church sermon as necessary for weaving the tapestry of our life. You need the dark, shadows to offset the really bright parts. I hope this dark shadow in all our lives only makes the other good parts about to come shine that much brighter.

Mother's Day

For some reason Mother's Day made me feel very emotional this year. I guess having a baby of your own and realizing you're a "mom" now may make one who is prone to being emotional, a little emotional on the said event of celebrating motherhood.

But it was a good day, all in all. And I'm delighted to be a mom to little Gavin.

Who is . . .

happy.
biting.
pulling up to standing.
still not crawling.
getting his 7th tooth.
bellying laughing.
ticklish.
taking swim lessons.
almost 9 months old.

I can hardly believe it's gone so fast! What a ride, what a great, great ride!

elf in training . . .

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Gavin. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day. . .

Gavin, look what Santa left us under the tree. Is that for me?

opening gifts with daddy . . .

Grandpa Dial, what did you get from Santa?

Gavin's own big boy chair - thanks Grandma Dial!

we enjoyed a yummy prime rib dinner.

Great Grandparents - so sweet

nothing better than snuggling with a sleeping baby Gavin. This is what bliss looks like . . .

But next year I've decided that we're not leaving our house . . . you'll have to come to us on Christmas day. :-)

busy bees

Since it has been a little while since my last posting (yes we are still surviving) thought I'd update what's been happening since I returned to work:

Gavin was dedicated on November 23 at Covina First Baptist Church. He did perfectly as he made the congregation laugh by making noise which the pastor took as an Amen! and he spit-up both while on stage. :-) Lots of support and love from friends and family. Also we were blessed by our good friends James and Kim who dedicated their daughter, Sophia, that same morning. These two kids will have the joy of growing up together and this was a perfect pairing for us. We just love them!

Also we had Thanksgiving, lots of yummy food, but I stepped away from the table to nurse Gavin mid-dinner and by the time I got back the table had been cleared. So here's my bone to pick with my family . . . we spend weeks and days preparing for holiday dinners, hours cooking and selecting the right dishes, so why can't we stop for a few minutes and enjoy the meal?!? Just because you have finished your turkey do we really have to start the dishes before it is even settled in your stomach? I want to stay at the table and enjoy the company of family. Have a conversation about what's been going on in our lives, the world, etc. For the life of me I wonder if this is just my family or does this happen in other houses too? So at my house, my tradition will be that dishes stay on the table long past the meal being over and we've enjoyed and relished in the holiday. Now I'm wishing I was having Christmas at my house. Next year for sure! :-)

Other than that we've been busy with work, taking care of household chores (which is much harder now that I'm not at home during the day and we want to spend time playing with Gavin on the weekends), partying with the normal holiday festivities (5 parties in one weekend - sigh!) and watching Gavin grow and chance before our eyes. He has recently found his feet - I love it when he grabs his toes!

We also had our first cold. Both Gavin and I got sick, but we're starting to feel better. Yet I have to say I hate using the nasal aspirator. He just screams and cries after I do it. The first time I did it he cried so hard I ended up crying too! (They never tell you when you become a parent that it really does hurt you more than it hurts them. I thought my mom was lying when she told us that.)

I'll try to be better about finding time to blog more often. I miss it!

Change is in the air . . .

This weekend we were busy, very busy working on the house. My uncle Chuck helped Karl start tiling the kitchen backsplash. I hope it's finished before Christmas! Check out the progress so far.

This is how it looks after two days. Now there is just like a trillion custom cuts that have to happen and then maybe I'll get my stove back in its proper place.

To get any serious home improvement project started right you must include your infant child . . . so Karl dressed Gavin in work clothes, but all the lazy kid did really did was hangout with the ladies. That's okay because he's so cute!

My aunt Sandy (my mom's sister) and cousin Jaci came and played with Gavin, but the real baby lover was Gwen, Chuck's Mom. (Although she may not be directly related, she's like a Grandmother to me in many ways.) I think Gwen has her mother's touch, Gavin calmed right down just being in her arms!

New tile on the walls isn't the only new look around our house. I've followed in the foot steps of many moms before me and today I cut off my long hair after having a baby. I didn't think I'd do it, but there is a reason so many of us do. For me, I was just sick of the pony tail. Everyday, the same old look. Pulled back and boring! Now I just hope to find the extra time to actually do the new 'do. No pictures yet, but maybe tomorrow. Karl has to get home first and see what I've done to myself. Hope he likes it! :-)

40 Years . . . Celebrated

Sunday night we celebrated 40 wonderful years of marriage for Karl's folks. Family and friends gathered at the Pomona Valley Mining Co. in honor of the occasion. I was worried about having a small baby for a nice dinner (OK so he's not so small since he's weighting in at 10 lbs. 12 oz.). But he slept through the whole thing so once again I continue to believe he's almost perfect. :-)

Actually we've been quite adventurous, he's also allowed us to dine at the Cheesecake Factory (slept through that as well), Chipotle (did wake for a feeding here), plus several church attendances followed by lunches with friends. He seems to be doing quite well letting us have somewhat of a "life-after-baby".

Now if we could just sleep through the night . . .