Happy Birthday Gwen...

Six years ago my Thanksgiving week was the hardest week of my life.  Our Gwen was born silently on November 21st, 2005 and Thanksgiving arrived just three days later.  I wasn't in a very thankful place, but instead one of the deepest grief I could imagine. 

Six years, or two thousand and ninety days later, I find myself approaching Thanksgiving week FULL of thanks for all our gifts.  I am grateful to have the memory of our Gwen to always remind me of the miracles we are given on this journey called life.  This year our family has our newest little miracle, Holden, to snuggle and love.  Six years ago I ached for the opportunity to snuggle and love our Gwen.  It wasn't to be.  Honestly, I know that I would be such a different mother to Hazel, Henley and Holden had I not been given the gift of Gwen.  I appreciate them and their unique personalities, their likes, DISLIKES, and their amazing ability to grow and change and learn. 

Today, as Hazel and I sat and looked through my memory book of Gwen, she noticed the little things.  Gwen's tiny footprints, how small she was in her daddy's arms, and how tiny my writing was to capture all my deepest thoughts.  However, looking through this special book with my daughter was nothing small.  The moment was huge for me, as it means that our Gwen's legacy is not ever going to fade, as my daughter (and eventually my sons) will learn about her and grow up knowing she came first. 

                                                   

Hazel shared with me that she believes baby Gwen is up in heaven wrestling with Great Grandpa! Thanks Hazel for the silly but very sweet sentiment. 

I got the kids all together this morning for some pictures.  Hazel hadn't had an opportunity to give Holden a bottle, so I thought it would be a special treat.  She LOVED playing little mommy and was so very sweet.  Henley joined in on the fun a little, but the pull of the Lego bin was rather strong!

A few times today, I found myself getting frustrated by the little things, as I too often do these days.  Six years ago I would have done ANYTHING to have frustrating mommy times with Gwen.  So, today when my kids...

say "NO"
       I step on another wayward Lego
            juice is spilled
                  clothing stained
                       another time-out is needed...

I will take a deep breath, and be grateful for the OPPORTUNITY to be frustrated by my children!   

Of course I also ADORE the moments of hearing....

  "love you mommy"
          watching Hazel and Henley play school
                  or wedding 
                       Holden's smiles
                            Henley needing one more "high 5"
                                  and one more cuddle
                                         oh and watching Hazel teach her brother to dance. 

I adore being a mother and I give thanks for my children.

I will finish this post with just a few more pictures of Gwen's siblings.  I do wonder how she would have melded into the zoo that is our home these days...

Fabulous Fall Visit with Joanne!

Joanne came for a visit this past weekend.  It was such a treat for the kids to spend time with "Joyann" as Henley called her.  Hazel ADORED watching Joanne get ready with makeup and hairstyling.  Henley loved having a new buddy to watch him do all sorts of fabulous Henley things.  "Look me Joyann!"  And Holden met Joanne for the first time and was rather fond as well.  I completely enjoyed reconnecting with my friend.  Here are some pictures from our time with Joanne, showing her that Oregon in the fall may be cold, but it also is beautiful!



 Some walk for exercise, we walk for an excuse to eat a donut!

 Having Joanne visit gave me the perfect excuse to try out a new path in our area - Clearwater Park Path.  It was beautiful.

 Joanne joked Henley looked like he was a Baby Gap model.  He was just happy to stretch his legs!

 Cutie Hazel-bug.  This was after she was in tears that her legs hurt so bad.  (10 minutes into the walk.)  She obviously started feeling better, as by the end of our walk she was RUNNING as fast as she could.

 Henley insisted on walking along each of the middle lines.  They were here and there, and he found them all!

 A few days later, we all took a walk to the lake by our house.

Love the fall colors.

 My silly crew.

 Had to get a close-up of Holden as he was dwarfed by the stroller.  Sweet boy.

 Hazel still has the "Hazel face" to flash for a photo.

 You can't hide from me little boy, I see you!

 Hazel practiced some dance moves.

 Two sillies.

 Sticking out the tongue helps with the pose, certainly all prima ballerinas do this?

Now for a handful of sibling pics.  They were just too silly and sweet sitting on the blue curb...

 Mr. Brown Eyes.  Hard to resist these eyes of Henley...oh, and he knows it.  TROUBLE, of the best kind.

One final photo.  Thanks for a great visit Joanne.  Hazel's tears after dropping Joanne at the airport were so genuine and sweet.  She seriously thought we had the option of keeping Joanne.  I think a certain Kris, Chloe and Lexi would mind.  :)



Results!!

I will stop waiting for Beau to take the quiz...he was too worried he wouldn't do well.  I told him that is the point I was making...these three do look quite a lot alike. 

Now for the reveal...

 HENLEY

 HOLDEN

 HAZEL

 HENLEY

 HOLDEN

 HAZEL

 HAZEL

HENLEY

No one got them all right!  But we do have a winner...

NANA.  She only missed one.  I doubt I would have done that well had I not taken all the pictures!

Thanks to all who played.  :)



Holden is 2 months old!

The little guy in our zoo is growing and changing so fast.  We sure do love our Holden.  (Still "Hogan" if you ask Henley.)  We had his two month check-up on Monday, and though he has a slight cold, he received all positive reviews from the doctor.  He didn't care for the immunizations (nor his big sister who hid behind the door), but recovered quickly. 

His big boy stats:

Weight - 12 lbs 6 oz!!  (64th percentile)

Height - 23" (50th percentile)

Here are some recent pictures of our growing baby boy...

How do you get a smile from Holden?

1) smile at him

2) make silly faces at him

3) make funny sounds at him - he really likes raspberries

4) give his sweet baby cheek a smooch

Holy Cow!

For the past few weeks, one of Henley's favorite phrases is, "Holy Cow!"  Not sure where he got it from...but make us laugh...it has!  While shopping today, I went by the card aisle.  Henley spied a card with a "COW!"  I pulled it out and couldn't resist getting a picture of my Holy Cow boy with the Holy Cow card.  :)  What a silly boy.

Guess WHO...

I find it fascinating how our three kiddos resemble each other.  I constantly see the likeness and thought I would have a little fun. 

If you would like to play, please make a guess as to which H (Hazel, Henley or Holden) is in the following photos (leave your answer in comments).  Oh, and don't cheat by watching their "watch H grow" photos on the sidebar!!  :)

Photo A: 

Photo B:

Photo C:

Photo D:

Photo E:

Photo F:

Photo G:

Photo H:

Good luck!  The winner will get a special edition autographed photo of Hazel.  :)