Hello blog, I've missed you...

Wishing I could find a way to write down all the posts I've written in my head in the last month or so. The lack of posting is my life crying out, "Uncle!" in protest to an overly-busy schedule...simply too much to do. I'm never at a loss for words...just time to write them down. May I never be so busy that I stop taking pictures. Here are some that make me smile.

He's just not a hat guy...

I tried. Owen only likes the kind of hats his daddy wears--baseball
caps. But he sure makes a cute little elf anyway. ;)

My Little Squaw Emma

Emma has been learning all month about the first Thanksgiving. I get a new little tidbit from her every day. One day she told me about how the Native Americans used a certain animal for so many things...I could kick myself for not writing down exactly what she said. It was something like "humpalo" or another Emma creation equally adorable. I gently said, "Ems, are you sure it wasn't a buffalo?" She thought a moment and said, "Mom, it was a buffalo." She is such a sponge right now, so full of the love of learning. I am so thankful for Mrs. Kugler, all the special area teachers, and all the other dedicated adults at our school who make it such a wonderful place for Emma to learn in spite of the growing pains we are going through this year as Trinity is bursting at its seams. I passed my little squaw and all her friends on their way to lunch yesterday...they were oh-so cute. Emma told me last night that she was sad there wasn't going to be school today. Why??? Because it's ice cream day in the cafeteria, of course, and she'd miss it! Such simple joys still exist. And I'm thankful.

How we all love this boy!

Emma looked at Owen's shirt and "read" what she knew it said..."Daddy's little rocker." She said to him, "You're Emma's little rocker too, buddy." She truly loves her brother. Sophie does too. She asked to have him after his bath tonight when he was all warm and cuddly in his towel. She scooped him up and whisked him away. I am so thankful that he has brought so much joy to not only Jeff and me, but the girls too.

Bye-bye baby curls (maybe...)

Yes, Owen had his first haircut today. A couple of weeks ago one of our little jaunts about town trying to get him to fall asleep, I noticed that the darling little brick building I've always loved on the corner across from the historic Thompson's Station Train Depot was now a hair salon called The Hair Depot. In my dreams I've always thought that little building would make a wonderful artist's studio. Big windows to let in lots of light, and definitely a wonderful vibe about it. Today was the first time I stepped inside, because Owen's little curls had become unruly and it was time for that first trim. Things had not grown evenly. You could definitely tell which part had taken off first and which was still, um, growth-challenged. But why here for the historic event? Because of the sign in the window: "Mini-Cooper Styling Chair for Kids". That was calling my wheel-lovin' boy's name, for sure. (Oh, all right...it was calling scrapbooking, picture-taking Mom's name! Sheesh!)

Here's how it went down. We walked in and he knew something was up. The lady who would be cutting his hair approached us and he started to whimper a little...this couldn't be good, he must have thought. We talked about the cut she'd be doing, and headed to the styling area. She discussed whether I would hold him in my lap or in the Mini-Cooper. Once he saw the car, the choice was made--he was intrigued. The pictures tell the rest of the story. Our stylist was wonderful with him, even when the clippers came out. The suckers sealed the deal (um, literally). We hope the Hair Depot will be around for a good long while. We'll definitely be going back!

I have a BOY.

All is pretty quiet on my blog since I started back to work. I think mobile posting may be the way to go for me right now (which really cracks me up because that means "from my bed" where Ican prop up my feet).

I love this photo. A better quality version exists on my computer but then I would have to get up, ergo, no posting. Have I mentioned how much I love my iPhone??? Owen loves it too. I have learned to let Jeff download all the good apps so the kids are always after his phone. I like things uncluttered. Is there an app for that?

Anyway, this photo. My pretty mixing bowls that I broke down and purchased after 20 years with the same wedding gift mixing bowls...and lo and behold, nestled down amongst them is a little Tonka truck on its side! Guess who loves to yank this drawer open every day when Mom is in the kitchen and scatter the contents everywhere??? He leaves a trademark calling card. I love this car and truck loving, all boy-boy.

So I've been a little busy lately...

Back to work. I will have to say simply that it's easier to NOT work. I sure do enjoy the company and environment I work in, the job I do--I just knew it would be exhausting getting back in the classroom, and I was right. It won't always be this intense, but I'm basically having my August/September right now. Adjustments on all fronts. Tiring.

Owen is doing GREAT. He adjusted much easier than I did. He loves playing with the other children, and scrambles to get down and play in the morning when Jeff takes him. I fly out of Trinity as fast as I can after school but since I'm an elementary teacher I still get there later than most of the high school teacher-moms, and he has a bit of a hard time when the other babies in his group have gone. The girl who is there in the afternoon with him is SO sweet to distract him and give him extra attention/TLC so he doesn't fret too much in those few minutes until I can get there.

At the end of my first week back, I was exhausted and sitting out in the driveway with Emma and Owen playing. We'd had 50's Day at school and Emma still had her black 'n white polka dots on...I shot this snippet of video on my iPhone and it is just so priceless! It perfectly captures her personality at 5, happy, playful, expressive--I love all the eyebrow movement and nose-scrunching. Just yummy.

"Mommy, I miss Lineker..."

Those were the words out of my 5 year-old daughter Emma's mouth after a few hours in the air on our way home from China this past summer. We were bringing home our son, her baby brother Owen. Full of joy, and utterly exhausted after our two-weeks of travel. I smiled because this did comment did not surprise me. Prior to our trip, I'd asked Emma what she most looked forward to seeing in China, and she said, "All those Chinese people." I was amazed at how our Emma, who usually needs a warm-up period with people, took so quickly to our wonderful guides. Sherry and Lineker in Beijing, Dimple in Changsha, and then Amy and Lineker again in Guangzhou. I realized something that our daughter was missing in her life...adult Chinese role models. Through our wonderful church, she's become acquainted with families who have adopted internationally and she's got a special friend there who was adopted from the same province as her--another "Jiangxi Jewel". She also has a friend in her kindergarten class now from China...but no adults. Our guides were funny, wise, efficient, articulate--she watched them switch back and forth between English (Sherry joked about her "Chinglish") and Chinese and lead our groups as we all depended on them and laughed at their jokes...our girl is very perceptive and I think she was blessed to see these wonderful people who looked like her in these leadership roles. I know she also enjoyed seeing the ladies in their stylish outfits each day...Emma is a girl who enjoys getting up each day and picking out her clothes...she loves "being a girl". Each one of the guides took time to get to know not just Emma but all of the children in our group.

So, because of this realization, Emma is taking a Chinese class! For one hour each Monday evening, she sits in class with 5 or 6 other girls who, I realized last night, are hard to tell apart from the back when you snap a picture. She doesn't stand out because she looks so different, and that alone has got to be a good thing for her...to sit with other lovely little girls who look like her. And the class is taught by Ms. Salina, a dear woman from Taiwan whom I had the pleasure to meet the year we adopted Emma because her son was in my third grade class. Salina's daughter Frances comes to class and helps. Frances is a senior in high school...stylish, smart, talented, and very good with young children. Emma was very nervous about this class at first, but after she got her feet wet, she is loving it and looks forward to going. She's learned colors, and we are working on counting, some names of family members, basic phrases, animals, and some little songs. A bonus--I put the CD on in the car and when the Chinese came on, Owen lit up like I'd put it on just for him! So we'll see how it goes. It's a long haul for us and I know when I start back to work it will seem longer, but I am glad we are doing it. We have two China blessings. I want to be sure they have a sense of the awesome place they are from.

He's been scrapped now.

Yes, Owen's officially been scrapbooked by his mom now. We've taken oh-so many pictures of this boy. Jeff, since he got his iPhone a little over a year ago, has become a picture-taking crazy man, whipping that baby out left and right, and now with the new one that has video, my head is spinning and I am primping more than I should be at home. ;0 But to date, I had not scrapbooked a single picture of this boy until yesterday. I always have a hard time getting my mojo back after not doing any scrapbooking for a while. I take comfort in remembering a letter I read from Claude Monet that he had written to someone after he hadn't painted for a lengthy period of time...something like 4 or 5 months. He said something like, "I know I shall have to ruin a few canvases before I paint anything worthwhile." Sheesh! What hope do the rest of us have when we grab that cherished moment of free time and hope to be productive? We can't flush those minutes down the toilet, Claude! It may also have been him who said that there is some point during which every painting he did looked terrible but it is working past that point to find the beauty. Keep working past "crappy", essentially. Hmm. OK. Wish I remembered for sure who said that nugget of wisdom (not the Ann translation) because I think that is so true and I would like to share it with students who are so quick to become discouraged. I am sure I have shared it, in fact, but sources are always good to note. I AM sure the first quote is Monet. So mojo or not, it felt really nice to get back into all my stuff and finally do a page with sweet Owen! Hung it up on the wall in my scrapbook room to inspire me to keep at it. :) The kids are all doing and saying things daily that I want to remember. I will not remember a perfectly clean and organized house, per se, but these things, I will treasure. I already do.

Favorite Quotes

Yes, they continue to amaze us, these kids of ours. Here are our favorites from the last month or so:

As Sophie was heading out the door to school, I hollered, "Do you want your iPod?"

She replied, "No, I have a book. I only need my iPod if I don't have a book."

Now there's a child after her parents' hearts! Lost without a book at that age, and still, both of us. How wonderful that she's discovered this lifeline of learning and entertainment. She's to the age that Jeff is finding books for her that he's read about...and she and I are reading some of the same series. Very fun at a time when we may sometimes struggle to connect.

Now Emma. They have this little beehive in her classroom. If you behave, your bee stays in the hive, and you color in a green honeypot on your calendar that goes home each night. Bees with behavioral challenges ;0 may have to move out of the hive to yellow, orange, or even red honey pots. After three nights of green honey pots, Emma heaved a sigh of satisfaction while looking at her green honeypots and told me, "Mommy, I know I'm always going to have green honeypots. I'm always going to listen. That's just the way God made me." Such a sweetheart...and with only two days left in September, so far she is right.

On to Owen. Since he got the tubes put in his ears, he has begun to hear so much better, and guess what--speak! Just little things, but more than his former repertoire of "Mama" and "Uh-oh". He now says "apple" (aaa-ooo), and "hot" (aahht), "light" (sounds just like hot but I know the difference!) can imitate the dogs barking, and understands little phrases. For example, when I say, "Do you want to take a nap?" he starts to cry, or if I say, "Are you hungry?" he'll say "Mmm!" SO cute! My favorite Owen quote? We walked by the stove and there was a boiling pot of water on it. He saw it and said, unsolicited, "Aaahht!" By the way, he is also walking! Today is his 18 month birthday. I'll be sure to get a snippet of video to post of him walking.

Now for a photo. I've discovered the best way to get kids interested in a long-forgotten toy or anything is to put it by the front door to be loaded in the van for its journey to GoodWill. Here's a case in point. The little couch was a birthday present for Emma on her 2nd or 3rd birthday but we find ourselves tripping over it more than anything these days...until they all had to squeeze on it. How I love these kids!

And the yummiest thing we found at Whole Foods was...

Solid Food:Owen::Chocolate:Ann

Yeah!!! My boy can eat something besides a liquid diet! Here he is, almost frantically consuming the little Gerber-type "puffs", on deck is some macaroni and cheese, and under the chair are Shadow and Abby waiting for morsels to fall from the tray. We saw Dr. Kelly today and he said Owen is healing beautifully, so we don't go back for 6 months. (I just LOVE that little dimple that flashes as he chews. And notice the little "smack"? He could not do that without a palate in place, bless his heart. A new sound we noticed. He's getting used to the wonderful feeling of a mouth repaired the way it should be...so amazing!) After next Thursday, three weeks from our surgery day, Owen is cleared to eat anything. All is just about right in the universe! Now it is time to focus on developing his speech. We are SO thankful for Dr. Kelly and the wonderful professionals at Vanderbilt. And for mac 'n cheese. Enjoy, sweet boy.

My little imitator

Emma used to imitate us so much we called her "the Emma-tator". Owen seems to be the same way. When it was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, I passed by the TV holding him as they were showing President Kennedy emphatically saying those famous words, "We choose to go to the moon..." I put the words in italics because if you watch the footage, he is gesturing with his hands very forcefully, almost pleadingly. I looked down at my little 15 month old, and his eyes are glued to the TV, and his little arms are doing the same movements! Then, a month later, we are at Emma's kindergarten check-up with our pediatrician, which happens to be not too long before Owen has his surgery. He's on the albuterol nebulizer treatments and we are holding our breath hoping he'll be well enough for surgery in about 10 days or so. Dr. Meneely runs through the standard checklist of things 5 year-olds should be able to do: hop on one foot, hold your arms out like this, move your hands like this, etc. He looks over at Owen on my lap, and he's watching Emma and doing the same thing with his hands! Dr. Meneely was quite amused. :) He said, "OK, Owen, watch Emma...see how she's breathing? Now breathe like Emma!" But this morning takes the cake for me. We are out front in the cul-de-sac, Owen on his little car, and Shadow's running around with us. It's a beautiful morning and we're taking advantage of the fact that there's not much happening out there, letting Shaddy-boy run free. He's so good about not running off. Mommy's his GPS, so says Jeff anyway, and he doesn't like to get off my radar (although he will follow Abby, who is a free spirit, so poor baby has to stay inside). So out comes our neighbor, gets ready to go in his truck. I start hollering for Shadow, the neighborhood Welcome Wagon, to come back over. I snap my fingers. Then I hear Owen holler for Shadow: "Ahh ooo AHH AHHH!!!" OOOH ahhAHHH!" The best part is, those tiny 17 month-old fingers are trying to snap. Yep, he's looking down at them, little thumb and pointer finger, flicking them together, not sure why he's not achieving the same effect as Mommy, but he's going for it just the same. We gather up Shadow and I can't stop laughing. I love this little guy so much!

A week out of the hospital...

and Owen is doing better than we had hoped, overall. He resisted napping most of last week which was exhausting for me--can't help but wonder if he was a little traumatized by all that happened in the hospital. He also was not so happy with the lack of solid food once he got home. Seems high chair = solid food. Hey, I get that. Sort of like being on a diet...always eating but never satisfied.

I hunted around in storage until I found this little walker that was Sophie's. We have video and pictures of her "walking" behind it when she couldn't really walk. He has been having a blast ever since we got it out. At first he let it get away from him, but he's really learned to balance and keep himself upright. He'll be walking by himself in no time. Technically he's already walking...takes about 3 steps at a time. Then he gets so excited he plops down. He's been standing alone for a long time so we thought he'd be walking before now, but I'm glad that at least this surgery doesn't seem to be setting him back any. This little clip was taken the first day he was playing with it. Since then he's learned to go the loop downstairs, back up when he gets stuck, swing it around and go the other direction...pretty cute. Our happy little guy. Happier when he can eat some Teddy Grahams. :)

This little guy doesn't know it yet...

...but he's going home today!!! Yahoooo!!!!

My beautiful son...

In the recovery room, right after surgery. All I can say when I look at this photo is how thankful I am that we were moved to consider AWAA's special needs program, because I get to be the mother of this precious, priceless, beautiful little angel. I got to scoop him up from that bed, and am watching him as he heals a little more each day. He calls ME "ma- ma". He has his little arm on my leg right now as we are sitting on a blanket on the floor and watching "The Best of Elmo" for the umpteenth time of our stay at Vandy. (Note to self: need more videos!). So thankful for my beautiful son. That is MY boy laying there. Thank you seems so inadequate, God, but thank you. Thank you.

We got wheels today!

Owen's IV was disconnected so they gave us a red wagon and we were outa there! Fed the fish in the garden and soaked up some sunshine, saw the awesome model train downstairs, and will probably do it all again when Daddy comes. Still, there's no place like home. Maybe tomorrow...

Owen's hospital stay...the "nickel version" so far...

Our little guy made it through his surgery just fine! We were amazed at how fast it was over! There was no need to do a hypospadias repair, just close the opening a little. Whew! And the palate repair went very well, and has progressed as it should. His IV should come out tonight. The ear tubes went in without incident, as well. Everything went better than we could have hoped, thank God. The first night was rough, as Dr. Kelly told us to expect, but the last 2 nights he has slept well and we may get to go home as early as tomorrow. I am so relieved to have this behind us. I need to close because Owen's trying to help. :) I found out how to post some photos from my phone (like the one below) so they'll show up as separate posts, but worth it. Thank you for all the prayers...we are so blessed.

Just BEFORE we found out his IV had to be redone...

One Sunday Evening...

One Sunday evening, I stood in the cul-de-sac, watching Jeff mow the lawn, Owen practice his newly-acquired skills of going in both forward and reverse on his little race car, Sophie flew by on her bike followed by Emma who will soon lose the training wheels, my comments were obliterated by the sounds of at least two mowers and a weed-whacker, an unseasonably cool breeze was blowing, and I realized not for the first time recently just how blessed I am. It pays to look around on a Sunday evening.

So...an update on Owen. We went to see Dr. Meneely this morning, and he said Owen's lungs sounded "perfect"! That's a major turn-around from 6 days ago! So surgery is on for this Thursday and we are very thankful that we can keep this schedule. Lots of prayers, Augmentin, and entertainment from Emma while Owen, Jeff, and I did the nebulizer routine. :) I will do my best to keep the blog updated with his progress.

He Moves Mountains!

I have been going about my business today with little Georgia Mei on my mind, praying that she will come through her surgery for God's glory...a testament to His greatness and the fulfillment of all Shannon and Doug have gone through to bring this darling little girl home. I just read the latest post on her blog: "Every Prayer Answered!!!" so I wanted to provide that link here so you can see the whole story: http://pandalily.com/miller. Keeping them in my prayers as they have a long road ahead still, but the surgeon said it should be "straight forward" from here. Last night as I held Owen on my lap and we were flipping through iTunes with Jeff and Emma, I felt so heavy-hearted knowing what might lie ahead for Shannon and Doug and how I could walk where they were possibly headed, how they could be so strong, (only God, of course) and wishing I lived closer so our kids could be friends. I just happened to look in my iPhoto pictures (most of our first China trip pictures are not on this computer but disks...) but look what I found in the photos that I have on this computer...moments before they were placed in our arms--the Millers' daughter Ravenna and our Emma. So, sending our love to you guys--you are braver than anyone I know and we are so happy that Georgia will soon be dancing with Parker and Ravenna.

"I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13.

Time for some healing

So here's our little guy. We have miraculously gotten three surgeons lined up for his surgery next Thursday, August 27th. Already we are so thankful to our plastic surgeon who is working on our behalf to get it all coordinated...we have heard wonderful things about Dr. Kelly at Vanderbilt, and we feel so blessed that he is taking Owen's case. Our little guy has three procedures, all lined up for that day, the idea being to get it all done with only one anesthesia necessary, and hey, when you're down, you're down, get it over with.

1) Repair cleft palate--Owen's is "pretty wide, but we do it all the time", in Dr. Kelly's words. God bless this man!

2) Circumcision (I'm really sorry, sweet boy) plus possible mild hypospadias repair. Won't know the extent until they "get in there". Dr. Brock will do this; met with him last month...he was very nice and felt it wasn't anything major, but did need to be done now.

3) Tubes inserted in Owen's ears--meeting with Dr. Wooten for the first time this Thursday. Our pediatrician feels this is going to be essential to keep Owen's ears clear; he's been fighting infections off and on since we got home, and we were told to expect this with a cleft palate baby even before accepting his referral.

SO, here's the situation. Owen has had a cold for several weeks...just finished a round of antibiotics...he's developed a very wheezy chest condition (too soon to call it asthma, but could be) and we've been to the doctor 3 times in the last week. Today he's got a new antibiotic, something new for the nebulizer which we purchased last week (Mr. Obama, I like my health insurance and WANT TO KEEP IT), and if he doesn't get well, he won't be able to have his surgery next week. We would appreciate your prayers for our sweet boy...he needs to have this done...the surgeries (with the exception of #3) are not really urgent in terms of having to reschedule, but I have taken off the first 9 weeks of school and this is the time we need to do this. In "the bigger picture" this is just such a small blip on the radar screen of life, and God knows all of these details...it's all under control, just not MY control. I sure do hope we can do this as planned, or work it all out somehow!

Now to something much more urgent. Friends and family, I urge you to go to my Blog List on the sidebar and click on the link to Georgia Mei. This sweet baby girl does not have the luxury of time and a mama with silly little things like wanting to just stick to her schedule. She needs to be covered in prayer for upcoming heart surgery this Friday. On August 14th, Georgia Mei became a US citizen when her mom, Shannon Miller and Georgia's two grandmas landed in America after bringing her home from China (those few words encompass an amazing story). Shannon and her husband Doug's story will amaze and inspire you. The way we know the Millers is through traveling with them in the same America World travel group to China in 2005 to bring home our beautiful daughters from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China. We literally received our girls back to back, juggling cameras as we tried to capture each others' "gotcha" moments. We have been in touch over the last four years, much more so since we both began pursuing our special needs adoptions early this year. Please lift them up in prayer this week as they are exhausted beyond belief, and have a different kind of exhaustion coming up as Georgia goes through open heart surgery. She's a beautiful little girl brought home to an amazing, loving family, and you will be blessed just looking at her sweet face and reading this inspiring story.

Doink!

I'm putting this on here because I have to GET RID of it but it is too funny not to record for posterity (supposing posterity might even know what this is, as fast as technology is moving). I click open my Firefox expecting to open to Google, as usual, and my homepage is pbskids.org. You know, "da da da da-DOINK-p-b-s-KIDS!" I just got doinked even though I tried really fast to navigate to my blog before it happened. That's it, just a DOINK! I vowed it was the LAST time. So here it is, my desktop:

One more...

I love this photo. Emma looking out the window...and yes, that's the top of Shadow's head right beside her. He is the shadow of all of our lives. The constant witness to life inside the walls of the Trubey home. I will bet all the money in my bank (a safe bet given we just went to China, bought a van, and I'm taking off the next 9 weeks to be home with Owen) that he's behind the chair I'm sitting in right now, semi-passed out...but would roll over if I hinted at a tummy rub. Let's see...yep, he's there. I love her sweet profile in this photo, and the shape of his head. They're both looking out the window that looks out to the little bridge and the road going by the side of the house...where Shadow can see the schoolbus bring Sophie home, and then the rest of us following shortly after on a normal school day. Where he keeps us safe by barking at the Weed Man and Garbage Men, and kids who skateboard and hang out by the bridge. He has a purpose in life, not the least of which is hanging out with lovely Emma. :) She just may have a snack, after all.

Laaa-la-la-la-life goes on...

Got this chair for Sophie's room. She doesn't like it. The queen of comfort finds it's not comfortable enough--something about the neck area not being just right (yeah, yeah, yeah...), so it's in my scrapbook room (aw, shucks!) She DOES like to plop in it and talk to me there in the scrapbook room. Emma likes it too. She is growing up almost painfully fast...so lovely, so mature for just five. Wow.


Our little race car driver. Who cares if he can only go in reverse so far? This is his first time outside, because he's just a little wobbly still on it. He was pushing with his feet...and had the saddest face because Mama was getting farther away with each push. :(


Gentlemen, start your engines!


The melting of my heart...Owen can't use a spoon yet to feed himself, but he hangs on to my hand when I feed him. Sighhh...no rush on the spoon thing so far, not on my part. :) Looks like he may be a lefty; grabs all his finger food with his left hand.


Sophie warming up Owen at the Cherry Grove pool...he loves the water!


Our lovely Sophie, now in 7th grade...so happy to be back in school.

Daddy...my hero. How I love when you walk in the door!

Aww, you love me, you really love me.

Those Tiny Hands

When all I had to look at were two pictures of Owen, sometimes I would be amazed at his tiny little hands, especially in the picture where he was sitting up. I remember doing this with Emma's referral picture, too. Memorizing every detail. Recently I'd had a rotten day and was just feeling overwhelmed before bed. Couldn't settle down peacefully. So I went and looked at Owen sleeping. He had managed to do what I could not. And those hands...so perfect and beautiful. And still so tiny, compared to the rest of him, even. I've commented that he has his daddy's hands, because Jeff's hands are small...really about the same size as mine. Talented, artistic hands--hands that can type a mile a minute, play multiple instruments sensitively, and are carefully coordinated with his eyes--will Owen's be the same way? And so I started taking pictures. And I found peace and joy.

aaAAAaaaaAAAaaaAAAHHHhh!!! (Translation...Here I Come!)

Here's our little guy at a birthday party for Emma's sweet friend Elizabeth at the Sweet Dreams Cookie Company today. He really enjoyed all the action! He's been crawling really well for a while now...absolutely darling to watch and hear the pitter-patter of little hands and knees and his little sounds he makes. Listen to the little Tarzan sound he makes as he rounds the corner--we have a little private joke between us...not sure what it is, but when I make that sound back to Owen, he breaks into a big grin.

Hello, Babes in Bend (Kinda...)

For the last two summers, I've gotten to enjoy the sheer creative bliss of spending a few blessed days out in Bend, Oregon sitting alongside my sista...(well, technically she's Jeff's sister Lisa) but she calls me sis' which is so special to me, because I don't have a sister...anyway, ending the sentence--scrapbooking. Yes, just waking up, grabbing breakfast, and hanging with a bunch of like-minded ladies who've become sweet friends over the past two summers, bound together with a common passion for creatively preserving memories. We head into Bend to a store called Scrap-a-Doodle, owned by Debi, a wonderful lady who trusted us all and let us take over her scrap area and stay as long as our creative juices flowed, keep a running tab of anything we purchased, and just have a blast. These girls have been doing this for over ten years but I just got in on the last 2 years...would have been there this week except Owen needs Mommy more right now, and honestly the thought of living out of a suitcase one more week this summer might put me over the edge. But for this, I'd be scrapping away. Sadly, Scrap-a-Doodle went the way of so many great stores over the last couple of years and closed, but the scrapping continues this week out in Auburn, Washington, so Babes in Pseudo-Bend, I just had to post this, one of my favorite layouts. It's Emma's referral picture...I did it a while ago. Thinking about doing a boyish one for Owen...maybe, "You had me at Ni Hao." :) Have a blast and I'll be eating lots of m & m's here and try to do a little scrapbooking here to at least feel a part of things!

Love,

Ann

Somebody pass me a spoon...

...because I'm about to gobble this little guy up! I absolutely LOVE HIM! I dressed him up to run some errands and plopped this hat on his head...he kept looking up to try to see it and all he could see was the brim. It's the only hat he will leave on his head for longer than 2 seconds. He has the sweetest little grins that just steal my heart, the gentlest but most insistent cries when he's just really fed up, and most content little sighs when he gets what he wants. He's absolutely put me in the most vulnerable place, I told Jeff the other night. But then Jeff reminded me, that's the only way to really live.