LOTS going on...

So not much time to write about any of it!! More will come soon. Nicole's getting married this weekend, soon I will have a new step-brother-in-law!! We've been enjoying spending time with family (dad & MaryAnna are down) and showing off Aria. She's been great! Opa and Nana (and her aunties) all love taking care of her, which I'm enjoying!

As well, I'm back working at the church more significantly, so that's requiring some interesting scheduling as well. It's good to get my brain working again, but it means my computer time is spent at the church rather than at home (thus, less time for blogging). I will do better, I promise!

Thinking about Stretch.

You know, some people ask me from time to time about Stretch. I still think about him / her (the "stretch" marks remind me for one thing). It's tough, if Stretch was around, Aria wouldn't be, but that doesn't make me miss my other little one any less. I think of Stretch as a him (perhaps because I wanted a boy first, Brad's the one who wanted a girl), and I think about the fact that my mom has a grandchild to play with up in heaven - she loves hugging grandchildren, so it's good my little stretch is up there so she has someone to read stories to.

Every time I hear about someone else losing a baby, it just breaks my heart again, to become part of this club isn't something I'd wish on anyone - but I feel blessed to be able to talk to people about it, nonetheless.

Something interesting to mention is that the time when we started telling people we were expecting Aria was right on Stretch's due date (which made that day a little easier to handle), and the day after Aria's birth was the day we started the miscarriage - so Aria's a sweetheart for taking care of her mommy even before she knew she was doing it (ok, so GOD also had a big part to play, and I'm glad he did).

I want all my friends & family to know that I don't forget their little loved ones, and that I DO love them all, even though I never got to meet them. For Laverne, Stretch, Acorn & Blip, and a few others whose names I didn't know, I cry for you all from time to time, and I look forward to meeting you and hugging you in heaven, where you're all playing together and where you can show me around.

In memory of...

In Ontario...

It's been great to be in Ontario visiting with family & friends. Aria has been absolutely amazing! We're both just so proud of her. Her grandpa put her to bed in her crib tonight (she's got her own room with a crib & change table, as well as having a stroller at Grandma & Grandpa's - what a blessing!!) and she went to sleep pretty quick - and I could hang out in the basement with Brad (which means sleep now a days).

There are so many stories to tell that I can't think of any of them right now. Aria was amazing on the plane - slept all night, even through a change of planes at 4am. Other than the three poopy diapers she was a rock star(minus the drug trips and womanizing...manizing??)!! We celebrated mom & dad's anniversary on Sunday and saw Aria's great-great aunt Ruth today. Aria's been making great sounds, many that sounds like words, a few are something that sounds like hello, mom and hi. Today Aunt Ruth said "hi" and she said "Hi" right back! How funny!

She's just about giggling right now - mom SAYS she heard her giggle - cascading tiers of giggles followed by catching her breath and doing it again. Of course no one heard her but mom...so I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not it's true. She hasn't done it since...

On Friday I'll be visiting with Dad & the B* family and showing Aria her Oma's special spot. I get teary just thinking about it, but it's the reality of what our family lives with, and I look forward to telling her about her Oma as she gets older, just like dad used to tell us stories about my Opa.

She's such a joy, and sharing her with all the family out here has been such a joy. Thanks, mom & dad J for the opportunity!

More stories as I think of them!

We Are Cousins, Hear Us Squawk!

Aria is on the left, Silas in on the right. Not seen (but certainly heard!) are three parents doing all manner of ridiculous things in the (mostly) vain hope to attract their child's attention.

The Latest

I'm working on some new lighting techniques. This requires a lot of practice, and thinking it through too. The hardest part about this is trying to make the light look subtle, and work with the background. I'm not totally happy with this yet (though Aria and Deb did their parts). One problem was that by the time we got set up, daylight was all but gone. But I'm getting there. This was all achieved with two flashes and the fading ambient sunlight.