Tomady

A Poem

2012-01-19T16:45:00.000-06:00

I stumbled on this blog earlier and it brought tears. The first thought I had when I read about the difficulties this little boy and his mommy faced was, "why again?" I'm connected to a world of angel babies and every single time that I read an angel's story my heart aches for them and a little for me and my Cali too. But then the author of that blog shared this poem and I remembered what a true miracle it is to experience suffering, compassion, charity, true love and how all children, healthy and otherwise, have the ability to "unlock" your heart and make you feel more love than you ever thought possible. I hope this poem helps you to love more, to remember the great blessings that God has blessed you with, and to stop and thank Him for the many miracles, and tender mercies in your life, because we all have them. Among the challenges, hard times and difficulties in life, we all still have them, we just have to recognize them.

The Brave Little Soul

By: John Alessi

Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world. He especially enjoyed the love he saw there and often expressed this joy with God. One day however the little soul was sad, for on this day he saw suffering in the world. He approached God and sadly asked, "Why do bad things happen; why is there suffering in the world?"

God paused for a moment and replied, "Little soul, do not be sad, for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in people's hearts." The little soul was confused. "What do you mean," he asked. God replied, "Have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences and show their love and compassion for those who suffer. All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone."

The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, "The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and the rain unlock the flower within the seed. I created everyone with endless love in their heart, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone. They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt. But a suffering soul unlocks that love. I tell you this - it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer - to unlock this love - to create this miracle for the good of all humanity."

Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain himself. With his wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied. "I am brave; let me go! I would like to go into the world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle!"

God smiled and said, "You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request. But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone. I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey. Those souls will help you create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering. Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others. They have already chosen a name for you". God and the brave soul shared a smile, and then embraced.

In parting, God said, "Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always. Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so through my strength. And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed." Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through his suffering and God's strength, he unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts. For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love.

Priorities became properly aligned.

People gave from their hearts.

Those that were always too busy found time.

Many began new spiritual journeys, some regained lost faith - many came back to God.

Parents hugged their children tighter.

Friends and family grew closer.

Old friends got together and new friendships were made.

Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together.

Everyone prayed.

Peace and love reigned.

Lives changed forever.

It was good.

The world was a better place.

The miracle had happened.

God was pleased.

I may just be...

2011-09-29T09:01:00.020-05:00

The luckiest ever!

Such a character!

Wearing muma's apron!

Her first paining (more or less on her own!) What a face, eh?

The sweetest one year old there ever was!

Cali's story! I did it!

2011-09-08T00:32:00.002-05:00

I made a goal earlier this year to finish writing up Cali's story by her 2nd birthday and I did it! It was very draining and took so much out of me. The days I worked on it that's all I could do. Of course there are happy moments in her story, but knowing that each day I wrote I was getting closer to the hard stuff took it's toll on me. Now that it is finished I feel like a weight has been lifted. I am so happy that I did it. I knew that I owed it to myself and to her to get all the details down. I began with the pregnancy, diagnosis, then skipped to being admitted to the hospital and wrote until she passed away.

Now I have always been very open about Cali, and I still am. I will tell anyone who wants to talk about her the whole story. But I am hesitant to just put it out there. Something about casting pearls before swine. I feel like her story is just too much of me, too much emotion to be shared with someone less than interested. So I've decided to keep it off the blog. If you would like to read it (all 29 pages of it!) comment or email and I would love to send it your way! I have always wanted to share Cali's story openly. I feel like the more people who know her story the more real her life was. It's something that I can't explain, but I truly love when someone tells me they read back on the blog, or they looked at pictures of Cali, or any of that. It warms my heart to know that Cali lives on through these little ways. So please if you'd like to read it let me know! The only clause it that if you read it I want to hear back from you, to know how you responded to it.

Thomas and I are reading it 1 day at a time this week to make sure all the details are there. I will email it when we're done with that on the 12th.

Birthday birthday!

2011-09-01T08:47:00.004-05:00

We had a great time celebrating Summer's birthday this past weekend! On Saturday we went to a petting zoo with some friends! It was so fun to see their little faces light up seeing the little animals and riding the pony! Thanks for joining us Jensens and McCartys! :)

Playing with bubbles!

Tempie with a baby goat!

Thomas & Summer petting a big goat!

I missed getting a picture of all 3 girls! :( But here's Summer & Aubrey!

Summer loved the pony. It's a quick clip but you can see her waving and then she even blows a kiss! What a natural! ;)

Summer's shirt says, "Cutest Birthday Girl Ever" and I must agree!

On Sunday we had her family party and even though our closest family is over 1,000 miles away Summer celebrated with all her grandparents, 1 great grand, and 9 aunts and uncles thanks to google+ hangout!

This is a screen shot my sister Dana took of the event. You can see all the little videos at the bottom of all our family who joined us! We had 4 groups in Utah, 1 in Michigan and 1 in Canada. Thank you to everyone who joined with us! It made us feel a little less far away! :)

Summer LOVED her birthday cake! When I gave her a cupcake she scooped it right into her hands, brought it right up to her mouth and never once lowered her hands again, until it was all gone! It was hilarious! Like she was devouring it!

What a great weekend! Thanks to all those who celebrated with us!

Older and Wiser! Summer is 1!

2011-08-28T16:44:00.000-05:00

When I think about my life in years nothing compares to this last year of my life. I have never experienced as much love, growth and utter joy as I have this last year being Summer's mom. She has brought into my life more meaning, joy and satisfaction than any other single thing. Being her mom, being home with her, watching her learn, grow and change has been the absolute highlight in my life. I have experienced huge growth in my general feeling of love. It amazes me still our human ability to continually grow in love. My dad has often shared a short verse on what love is. I can't remember all of it, but essentially it goes through life stages- finding love and marrying, and then having a child, and having grandchildren etc. and at each stage the author remarks, "And I thought I knew what love was" but love is ever growing and as we add more people in our lives and in our hearts our depth, understanding of, and ability to love increases. That has been my experience this last year. Watching Summer grow the way that I had wanted to watch Cali grow has touched my heart and has given me such love and gratitude for this little girl's presence in my life. I will forever be grateful for Heavenly Father's timing on sending us sweet Summer Lynn. Happy birthday little Miss! :D

Summer walks!

2011-08-13T15:53:00.002-05:00

Oh boy what happened to my baby?! And who is this toddler? It's absolutely amazing to me the changes that 1 year makes for a baby! I guess before I had Summer I didn't really know just how quickly she would hit milestones! But here we are just a couple of weeks before she turns one and she is not my little baby anymore! She is amazing! Everyday I get to spend with her is one of the best in my life. She brings such joy to our family! Life is better than it ever was before! Enough rambling. I said Summer walks and here is the proof :)

Summer took her first unassisted step on Thomas' birthday, July 16th. So one month later she can take about 10 or so steps on her own and is constantly getting up on her feet to try again. Of course she is still much faster at crawling so she still does that a fair amount, but all day long she is up and down! It's so much fun to see her face so proud! I love it!

yeh, I'm that kind of mom :)

2011-07-11T09:14:00.000-05:00

You know those moms who take a picture of their child doing something they shouldn't be doing?

I've always wondered about them...

I would think, "Seriously? You're just gonna snap away and watch this happen? Aren't you going to clean it up, have them stop or anything?"

Well, now I guess I'm one of those moms. And I happen to love it :)

One morning last week Summer pulled my watermelon off the table (I still don't know how she really did it!) Anyways, she loves watermelon so she sat and ate out of it for a good few minutes before I realized what I had missed! My first instinct was to take it away and clean her up. But she was so pleased and enjoying it so much. So I let her enjoy it. I mean it's watermelon after all not a bucket of ice cream! She had a blast! At one point she had her whole face right in it trying to drink up the juice! When she was slowing down with the chowing down I stripped off the sticky jammies and stuck her in the sink to spray her off! It was a fun morning and a great way to start the day! I love this little miss! She makes my world so happy! PS Don't you love her bedhead?!

Happy Father's Day Daddy O!

2011-06-22T23:12:00.001-05:00

This is the card I made Thomas.

I realize it's kinda blury, if you click on it it's clearer.
Anyways, it reads,
"Until then please know all those
dirty diapers are filled with love" :)

I can't take credit for any of it! It was a template. But I thought it was too funny and the picture of Summer matched perfectly!

So here's my shout out to my baby daddy :)

We've been through a lot together but the experience that has made me love him more than any other has been watching him become a dad. He loves his girls so much. He is so sweet with Summer. He provides so well for us (he just got his first promotion at work!!) and he is my best friend! I couldn't have picked a better man to be the father of my babies :)

3 outfits

2011-06-20T15:54:00.000-05:00

I was organizing Summer's closet today (edit: I wrote this last week, and am just now posting!). That girl has a lot of clothes! She has a beautiful room with pictures of her on the walls. She has toys she loves to chew on and play with. She has a whole house that is hers, that holds her little life.

Cali has a pink bin. In the top of Summer's closet. She has 3 outfits in that pink bin.

A flower layette

Her cherry outfit she wore in
this video

"50% mommy 50% daddy 100% cute"
Her last outfit

I saw the bin sitting there. I see it all the time. I can see it from the rocker in Summer's room. But for some reason today I decided I wanted to go through it. I got it down and one by one unfolded and held each of her outfits. Each one has so much feeling associated with it- the flower one she wore when she opened her eyes for us! The cherry one was the first one she wore- the first time we got to dress her and of course it's the one she's wearing in our Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep pictures. The last one was given to us by the hospital to put her in after we bathed her for the last time. Sometimes I just wonder what she'd be like. She'd be turning 2 this year! TWO! My little girl! She'd be walking, probably talking and if she's anything like Summer wouldn't be letting me sit at the computer to type this! I wish I could have seen her smile. A real smile. I wish I could have felt the kind of joy I feel with Summer every day. The days I had with Cali were so scary, so hard that I didn't have the chance to love her freely. Without feeling fear close behind.

I miss this little girl. I do. I miss her like crazy some days. And other days I feel a sweet peaceful love for her. A love for the time I did get with her. A great appreciation for all that her short life has taught me. Cali has increased my gratitude and love. And everyday I know that I am a better mom to Summer because of my experience with Cali.

So I folded up her 3 little outfits and placed them back in her bin. I grabbed Summer and hugged her and danced with her and told her how much I love her and how much I love her big sister! I wiped the tears away (which I need to do again now! lol!) and thanked Heavenly Father for the all the memories that fit in that tiny pink bin!

Lately...

2011-05-18T14:40:00.001-05:00

Oh boy! Has it really been 3 months since I last posted? What can I say? Life's been moving along quite nicely and I fell out of the routine of keeping up on here! Anyways, Summer and I just came back from a visit to Michigan and Toronto! We had a great time! See for yourself below! As for Summer, she's a blast! She has been crawling for over a month now and has started taking little steps when holding on to furniture or someone's hands. She loves exploring and will occupy herself with balls, blocks, or baby beads for a long time! We are absolutely loving seeing her personality shine thu! Everywhere we go I get stopped by someone telling me what a good or cute baby she is and I must say I agree! Life is pretty good these days :) On to the pictures...

Don't you love Summer's face?

Summer LOVES to clap!

Just had her fist cookie...an arrow root! She LOVED it! Thanks Gracie ;)

Summer loves sitting up to the table with the rest of us!

my mom, Summer and I on Mother's Day

Papa and Grandma

Taking steps with Papa

Summer with her great Grandma Twaites!

Summer spotted a little bird in the tree above

4 generations! My grandma Twaites is my only grandparent still with us! I was so happy that she and Summer got to spend time together!

Enjoying the lovely weather together in Grandma's backyard!

Early Expressions Piano Camp

2011-02-21T14:36:00.000-06:00

Hey SA friends, do you have a child between the ages of 3 and 5? If so you should check out my friend Nichole's Preschool piano camp! They have a session coming up during spring break. Their website is http://earlyexpressionspiano.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-15T13:03:00.000-06:00

We used this one for Thomas' Valentine :)

Sometimes I just can't believe how big she's getting!

Pay it forward, a chance to help a family in need

2011-02-06T16:24:00.000-06:00

Baby Zeke is 7 weeks old and was recently life flighted from Provo up to Primary Children's Medical Center. He's the child of a friend of a friend. When I first saw the picture above and read his story here my heart sank as I know too well the fears and emotions that these young parents are facing. It is not an easy thing to see your child with all hooked up the way he is right now. Along with the worry over their son's condition this couple owns a small business and are in need financially to make it through this challenge. They have set up a way to donate online or if you live in the Provo area Monday at Sub Zero ice cream in the Provo Towne Centre Mall is "Save baby Zeke Day" go buy and ice cream and all proceeds will go to this family.

I don't personally know this family, but I know their thoughts, worries, fears, prayers, and needs. And I know that your prayers for this little baby and his family can help them. Please do what you can, donate a little, buy an ice cream, or just say a prayer.

5 months!

2011-02-03T14:44:00.000-06:00

Oh man it's just crazy how time flies! Little Miss is 5 months old! We had a blast with her 5 month photo shoot! I'm so terrible about taking pictures that this is the only for sure time each month that I'll snap a few. I'm happy that I started this tradition! Summer is at a really fun age, she's really starting to interact a lot more and loves to smile and play and she's a champion sleeper too! So all of that combined make me one happy momma! :)
Summer at 5 months:

-sleeps mostly on her tummy

-still has zero teeth!

-sleeps awesome at home in her crib, but has a terrible time sleeping anywhere else

-loves to roll, but has difficulty rolling from stomach to back (sometitmes I have to help her a long)

-is really starting to pay attention to Ellie

-is very easily distracted during feedings

- recognizes her name
-is close to sitting on her own
-weighs about 15 lbs
-loves to talk!

It's that time of year again! CHD Awareness Week Feb 7-14, 2011

2011-01-30T10:34:00.001-06:00

Somewhere...someplace... today...

A family is waiting to hear...

Is something wrong with their baby?

The answers aren't quite clear...

This family has entered an unwanted world...

And they just don't know what to expect...

Somewhere...someplace... today

They first heard the words: heart defect.

And how they hoped this was not true...

And thought... this cannot be...

I too... know just how this feels...

For one day...this was me.

Somewhere...someplace...today...

A man and a woman embrace...

Their baby is in surgery...

They long to see her face...

They haven't got to hold her yet...

Without...a cord or line...

They pace the room awaiting news...

And hope she'll be just fine.

Prayers fill this busy waiting room...

And mom and dad are scared...

Somewhere...someplace..today...

The tiniest hearts are repaired.

Somewhere...someplace...today...

A child's growing fast...

Smiling,laughing,thriving...

His mom thinks...can this last?

It's almost easy...to forget...

That anything is wrong...

Somewhere...someplace..today...

Her child seems so strong.

Somewhere...someplace... today...

A little boy fights...just to live

A father holds his tiny hand...

His love...all he can give...

The doctor's are all baffled...

They fear that he might die...

Somewhere...someplace...today...

A family says goodbye...

Somewhere...someplace...each year..

More than 40,000 families will see...

What it means...when something's wrong...

They'll face a CHD.

Today...for just a moment...

Stop...remember...reflect...

Make time to tell someone you know...

"I've been changed by a heart defect".

Author - Stephanie Husted

My life has forever been changed by a heart defect. Something that I knew nothing about until we received Cali's diagnosis at 20 weeks along in pregnancy. CHDs effect 1 in 100 babies each year, that works out to be roughly 40,000 annually! CHDs are the # 1 birth defect and nearly twice as many children die from CHDs n the US each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined! And yet it seems like no one knows about them! So that's what this upcoming awareness week is about- to help people learn and hopefully by learning about it we can also begin to support research to help our little heart babies!

Here's a list that I've complied of little things we can do to help raise awareness and in doing so remember our dear little Cali!

Change your Facebook profile picture to one of the CHD Awareness Stock Photos
Use your Facebook/ Twitter Status to talk about CHD Awareness
Become friends with CHD Awareness 2011 (Official) on Facebook
Wear red for CHD week and tell others why you're wearing it
If you have a blog, FB or Twitter talk about CHDs (see this fact sheet) or if you'd like to link to our blog or a link to Cali's story talk to me :) and I can make that happen!
Talk to friends, neighbours about your experience with CHD
Give blood (Cali received many blood transfusions)
Volunteer at a local Children's Hospital
Donate financially to one of the many worthy organizations:http://intermountainhealinghearts.org/donations/
Buy a CHD Awareness Week Pin for $5 at http://tchin.org/pins/ & wear it!
If you participated in a Heart Walk, you could wear your Tshirt!

We love all of you so much and truly appreciate all the love and support that we have received! This is the first "cause" that I have truly felt passionate about. I have learned (and continue to learn) a lot from losing Cali and one of those great things is the absolute goodness and strength of people. I now appreciate other's causes so much more because I can understand how important it is to them and I truly hope that I give the kind of support to you in your causes that you've given to us.

If you would again either comment or email me to let me know what you've done to be a part of this awareness that'd be awesome. I kept a log last year and I'll add to it again this year. We love you all! <3

so tell me, what works for you?

2011-01-25T10:00:00.001-06:00

So here I am, about 5 months post baby and I am still carrying around some extra weight that I don't normally have and I want to get rid of it! I have a closet full of clothes that are just waiting for me to fit into! Now, I must say that I haven't been the best at exercising ever really. For the most part I've been about the same size my whole adult life and I was pretty happy with it, so beyond being active doing things I enjoy I haven't really had much of an exercise routine in my life.

Now that's gotta change. I'm looking to shed the extra 5 or so lbs that haven't come off on their own so I can get back into my normal size. That's my goal! And I need some help! Here's what's going on for me. If you have any ideas of what may help please share!

Yesterday I tried going to the gym for a water aerobics class at 9 am.
Problem: Timing. Summer has put herself on a fantastic schedule including a marathon morning nap (usually between 2-3 hours, and it usually starts right around 9). Yesterday I took her to the kid club and the ladies told me she didn't sleep at all. So I take her home, feed her and she's off to sleep. She slept well for that nap and then the rest of the day was way off- crying, wouldn't sleep, generally not her usual happy self- I'm used to her happy self and would like to keep her that way!
Side Note: Summer's schedule is something like this- wake up at 7:30/8- eat and awake time, 9/9:30 nap til 11:30/12, then up and eat, then back to sleep around 1/1:30pm up and eat around 3:30/4pm then awake time til bed at about 6:30. That leaves 2 short awake time intervals during the day and a longer one in the late afternoon (when I usually get dinner going etc.) Oh and she's decided that she really doesn't like sleeping anywhere besides her crib.

I feel like there's little awake time for her during the day for me to get to the gym, work out, and get her home all during that time. And then the class I like is at 9 meaning if I go at a different time I'd have to work out on my own.

So my question is, what do you do? Do videos at home? Run with a stroller? Go in the evenings when hubby can stay with baby? What works for you? Also, how do you stay motivated? I know that I want to be able to wear my closet full of clothes again, but I think I get bored with the work outs I've done. Looking at my schedule I feel like the best option for me would be to work out at home while she's sleeping, because I've got a lot of that time I can use. But then I often don't feel like actually doing it. That's where I need help on motivation I guess. Well, thanks for any of your answers. I appreciate them! Happy working out to you!

Yum Yum...or something like that!

2011-01-22T16:30:00.000-06:00

"oooh what's this? I like that it's pink but I don't know... "

"Am I supposed to actually DO something here or just let it dribble out? Hmmm"

"Yeh, I still don't really get why they're doing this. But, I'll keep going along!"

"Oops. I knocked it all over! Maybe now they'll stop with all this!?"

Summer had her first taste of cereal today. She didn't do too bad either, at least according to the cues I read online... meaning she opened her mouth and didn't turn away! So we'll keep trying a little here and there and let her go at her own pace! But boy some of the looks she gave today were just priceless!! It's so fun having Summer in our lives. Each of these little steps in her life is a step in mine too and I am just so grateful for all the steps we get to take together! Now I gotta go clean up the mess :)

What did you do Friday night?

2011-01-15T09:48:00.001-06:00

This is what I did...

Thanks to a couple of wonderful girls at my church I now have 12 cupcake recipes to try this year! This one is chocolate peppermint with peppermint cream cheese icing. Yum!

After cupcakes we kicked back and watched a movie. May not be an exciting night in some eyes, but it sure was nice to me! :)

4 Months!

2011-01-09T21:42:00.001-06:00

Didn't I just post about Summer being 2 months? And now I'm already 3 weeks late on the 4 month old post! Amazing how time flies! Well little miss Summer is just getting sweeter by the weeks! She is one good little baby and we have just loved seeing her little personality start to shine! At 4 months Summer:
-Is about 26" long and 14 lbs (We haven't had her check up yet this was just done at home!:)

-Loves to play on her mat

-Reaches for anything within arms length and immediately puts it in her mouth!
-Smiles easily and frequently
-Loves to cuddle and be held
-Loves to kick her legs wildly causing her body to rock (she does this and ends up on the other end of the crib!)
-Love to dangle her legs and arms out of the crib (we're working on fixing this!)
-Is sleeping in her own room now!
-Sleeps from about 7pm to 7am waking once around 9 or 10pm to eat (This is HUGE! We tried to help Summer learn to sleep better but it just wasn't in me to let her "cry it out" and lo and behold with some time she learned to sleep on her own without any crying or fighting! Amazing!)
-Has discovered her thumb and LOVES it! She now refuses a soother (which actually helps with the whole sleep thing as she can easily find her thumb and can put herself back to sleep!)
-Now sleeps with arms and legs spread out- no more swaddle

Before the discovery of her thumb and still swaddled- but such a cute pic!

-Prefers to sleep on her side with her head cocked back (I'll try to get a pic of this soon!)
-Has officially met all her aunts and uncles

-Drools like crazy but has yet to sprout any teeth

A few more pics from her 4 month photo shoot w/ Champ:

She is the light in our lives right now! Her sweetness is so strong- we just love to be around her! And yet with her new sleeping habits we are enjoying being "just a couple" again with our nights free to spend time together sans baby. As Summer grows so do our hearts. There is nothing in the world I'd rather do than take care of her. One of my favourite things is feeding her in the rocker at night and then having her cuddle up to me and fall asleep in my arms before putting her back in bed. In these sweet moments I hold her and never want to let her go. I hold her and think about what she has brought into my life- love, peace, hope, joy, many emotions that fill my heart and I just think that this is what life is about- love, peace, hope and joy. And I thank my Father in Heaven for such a sweet gift. My little Summer, forever my gift from God.

Meet Chi Chi

2010-12-09T14:49:00.000-06:00

Chi Chi's my new little pet, just like those ones we played with in like grade 5 only REAL!

Happy Chi Chi with her arms up!

I can TALK to Chi Chi and she hears me! I can SEE her every move! (like the time I put her down vertical and she ended up horizontal! ) If she needs a little help going to sleep I can play MUSIC for her and if she gets scared of the dark I can even turn on the LIGHT for her all with the push of a button! The goal of the little pet game- see how long you can get Chi Chi to sleep in her crib! :P

In all seriousness I love this new video monitor that Thomas got for Summer/ all of us for an early Christmas present! It is so great to be able to see her when she's in her crib to know exactly what's going on without having to worry about disturbing her! One of my favourite things is to talk to her over the monitor. It's so funny because as soon as she hears my voice she looks around to find me! I love my little Chi Chi and the lovely monitor that lets me "play" :)

Little miss is 3 months!

2010-11-30T04:22:00.000-06:00

My baby is 3 months old! It's hard to believe how time goes. This little miss is getting cuter by the day!

At 3 months Summer is...

holding her head up really well

can do a baby push up- holding her head and shoulders off the ground

talking like crazy! Her favorite is "ah goo"

loves to give smiles

smiling at papa!

reaches for toys, grasps toys (fingers, or hair!)

is about 13 lbs

is regularly sleeping in 6-7 hour chunks, sometimes longer!

is starting to grow more hair on the sides of her head giving her a fuzzy look

loves it when I sing and tries to sing along!

is probably the cutest thing ever!

The last 3 months have been the best ever- way hard some days but overall so happy and so sweet. I love the days that we stay home and spend all day together without a care in the world. I love holding her and snuggling her when she's sleepy. I love watching her learn and play on her activity mat. I love the conversations we have. She is such a light in my world. I love her more than I ever could have imagined!

Our Christmas Tree

2010-11-29T23:19:00.001-06:00

So most years I try to make our tree look something like this

I thought a Christmas tree should be coordinated, with a beautiful color scheme, matching ornaments, and maybe even a little tulle and flower picks. This year this is what our tree looks like

There isn't 1 of our matching or coordinating ornaments on our tree this year and that is because of Cali. Yesterday when I was unpacking all the ornaments to get ready to trim the tree I carefully unwrapped each of the "unique" ornaments in our collection- the ones that have been given to us or we purchased to remember special events. And as I did my heart ached. I opened several butterflies and angels that were given to us anonymously through the Angels for Hope organization- each one again touched my heart and made me again so grateful for the sweet kindness of others.

I opened many that came from family members, many from Thomas' sister Alaina, who for our first Christmas together wrote a beautiful poem and gave us many ornaments to get our collection started. I opened the family ornament from last year, and remembered picking it out in the store and wanting so badly to be a normal family of 3 with our child still with us.

I opened the angel I had made.

The handmade ornaments from my niece and nephew,

and when I was done opening these I decided that our tree was full enough with these "unique" ornaments. And I thought about how our lives should be more like our tree this year- filled with the best, most important things in life- family, memories, hope, love, faith. Maybe next year we'll use the coordinating ones again, but this year my heart needs this tree. A tree that symbolizes love. Love for my sweet angel Cali, love for my family who has reached out and supported us so well this last year, love for the goodness of others, and an ever growing love and appreciation for God- for His giving to me that sweet moment last night to again realize the meaning of this season- love, and family- the Savior's mission. I am so looking forward to Christmas this year with little Summer. Her presence in my life has been so healing- she truly is a gift from God. She fills my heart with such joy, love and appreciation. I look forward to all the many steps she will take in life that I get to be a part of and all the many memories that we will make with her. May your Christmas be merry and bright! I'm sure ours will be with this little one to warm our hearts :)

Cali's tree. This tree is all flowers, ribbons, bows, butterflies. etc. I made it last year to take up to her, but with the snow and extreme weather we decided to take her a store bought tree and keep this one for us. I was so excited to get it out this year as I really think it's just so sweet and all the little details make me think of Cali

We made this ornament. On this side it says, "In our arms for a moment, in our hearts forever"

On this side it says, "Cali Koryn 09.05.09"

Visiting daddy at work!

2010-10-11T12:27:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official! As of today I am a stay at home mom! I gave my notice to work 2 weeks ago and Friday was my last day "on the books!" I am so excited to be able to stay at home with my little Summer! As promised I have pictures to post since it's so easy now :) Here's Summer in her "I brighten daddy's world" outfit visiting her daddy for lunch one day last week!

We sure love daddy and appreciate all he does for our little family!

Little Miss Summer turns 1 month!

2010-10-07T09:27:00.000-05:00

Summer 1 month old

Little Miss Summer turned 1 month last Monday and what a month it's been! Summer was 8lb 4oz 20.25 inches long when she was born. At her check up on Monday she weighed 9lb 3oz and was 22.5 inches long putting her in the 49th percentile for weight and the 92nd percentile for height! Upon this discovery our nurse promptly said to Thomas and I while looking at Thomas "I wonder where she got that from!" Well, clearly it's not from me! ;)

Miss long body! :) 1 month pic

Summer just 1 week old

Well, some may wonder, "What's life with Summer like?" I should respond with something like "think of a beautiful warm day, a light breeze, relaxing under the shade of a tree, maybe a nice dip in the pool..." But then I'd be lying! :) Life with a newborn is hard work! Boy do I love this little girl but let me tell you, one day I think I have it all together and the very next day just proves me wrong! One day we'll be in total sync together, nursing goes smoothly, naps are golden and she may even sleep for a whole 5 hour chunk! Then the next day it's all out the window and it's like we're starting from scratch! :) But I am so grateful for her! I love her! I love that I get to hold her anytime I want without having to worry about cords or monitors or nurses needing access to her. I love that I get to be her mom. I get to see her grow and develop. I love that she is sharing herself with me. I love how she looks at me. How she smiles at me. I love the many things I get to experience with her that I didn't get to experience with her sister. Cali's life was so brief, there are many things that I have loved experiencing with Summer that I just wonder how it'd be different with Cali. Loving Summer has changed me. Just as loving Cali has. She has given me the world. The world of motherhood that I had only glimpsed with Cali. My heart grows with love for both my girls daily!

So what's life like with Summer? It is a beautiful sometimes stormy day. But, after all it's after the storm that we get the rainbow, and we all know it's worth every drop of rain to get the rainbow.

Summer stating to smile!

PS now that blogger is more user friendly I may actually post more pics! Yay!

Canadian Gives Birth to Texan! Exclusive Details Inside.

2010-08-29T07:20:00.007-05:00

Please welcome Miss Summer Lynn.

She's here! Our newest addition Miss Summer Lynn was born at 1:02pm on Friday August 27th! Her labor and delivery went so smooth!

Just the night before her arrival...

We were settled into our room by 7 and a mere 6 hours later we had her in our arms! Mom took this pic of us when she arrived at the hospital around 11am. I had just had my epidural and was dilated to a 7! We were pumped and ready to go!

For anyone who knows Cali's birth story I can tell you that that epidural did not take one bit! This was Heaven! I was able to feel enough pressure to know when/how/where to push and within 5 pushes she was here! It was amazing! Within seconds of her birth she was on my chest where our nurse helped clean her up and then she stayed there for about 45 minutes, until I finally agreed to let dad get his hands on her!

First Family pic!

We are in love yet again.

Last week I was struggling with knowing how to love this baby and still maintain a (huge) place for Cali in my life and heart. Thomas wisely likened my love to "love buckets." "Cali has her own love bucket" he told me "And you're not taking from her love bucket to fill Summer's, they're separate with no limit to either." I find that so beautiful and touching. Oh how different the love and experiences are with our 2 babies, but they are separate and unique and my heart has more than enough room for the 2 of them ( and all the others to come!)

PS. Hi, Thomas here. You know, the other half of this blog. Well I had to change the title of this blog, I just couldn't resist.