Bryan, Ashley, Noah, and Gavin were our neighbors in Birmingham, and Ashley and I went through our first two pregnancies at the same time (delivering Pace one month before Noah, and Mary Aplin 2 1/2 months before Gavin). Any woman who has gone through a pregnancy knows what a bonding experience this can be (especially when you add that our other dear friend/neighbor Lauren was also pregnant with Natalie and Georgia at these same times…there was something in the water over there :)). We wrestled through the confusions of motherhood together and started our sweet book club (or “literary society” as we liked to call it :)) in the midst of all. All those times wear a rosey hue for me–such growth and change and happiness–all shared together.
Recently, Ashley and I have shared a third expectancy, but this time in a new way. While I’ve been going through the rigors of the first trimester, she has been going through the end pains of a long adoption process. This past week, our family had the honor of first welcoming Bryan and the boys back from China, and then, a few days later, Ashley and their new little girl–Finley.
Our time with the boys was full of the life you would expect with four fast little friends, eager to soak up every second of their time together.
Mary Aplin could not quite catch hold of the idea that you can't put your hands on the soccer ball.
What a cutey pa-tootey little Gavin is. Although he was wondering why he had been on a plane all night long, and I refused to put him in a bed.
Can you tell Pace had Noah right where she wanted him? 🙂
Sometimes I think Mary Aplin has been watching America's Next Top Model behind my back.
And Pace has been watching The Bachelorette...
Maybe these guys have been watching Grey's Anatomy. Jeremiah chilling in his scrubs, doing boy things on the porch with Bryan.
And John David.
Our time with Ashley and Finley felt a little more like a sacred rite.
As I picked them up from the airport, I realized that I was meeting this little girl only minutes after she had become an American citizen. What an honor??!!
I was grateful for the easy conversation and old home feel that Ashley brought.
But meeting their new little wonder was…a wonder.
It wasn't quite so wondrous to the little girls. They simply loved making their new buddy laugh.
Thank you Bryan, Ashley, Noah, Gavin, and Finley, for being such special friends in our life and for letting us be a small part of this monumental event.
P.S. Bryan is a photographer–like an amazing one. Remember the last time we were home, I told you he took some pictures of the girls? I never showed you the end results that came in the mail…here’s a peek.
The packaging itself was pretty exciting!
I am here this morning with some randomness I feel like I deserve. Posts have been real organized around here lately, and it’s kind of getting on my nerves. I’m tired of pictures that go together and a blog line that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. So buckle your seat belts, I’m gonna try to get random up in here.
This past week I had a moment where I felt like my organization was being taken advantage of. I was storming around the kitchen, venting my rage, when my overly perceptive brother-in-law (who also happens to have almost the exact same personality type that I have and can therefore pin me on things like few others) said, “Do you really think it’s other people’s lack of organization that frustrates you, or the fact that you cannot let go and be unorganized yourself–which makes you resent their ability to let go?” Well, crap! How did he know? I didn’t even know. So, I’m making some strides to not care so much…Enter random blog. Do you like that I have to give you a background story about why this blog is going to be random? Are you still random if you have an intro?
I stole this shot the other night while I was cooking dinner.
It makes me happy.
Konie and my Dad (at least that’s what the card said, but I actually heard my Dad in the background when I called to thank them saying, “Was it really us who sent flowers?”) sent these after we called to tell them we were having a baby.
Aren’t they gorgeous?!!! Those purple flowers are lilacs, and they smelled like a little piece of heaven. Do lilacs grow in the South? I’ve never gotten a bouquet with them before…not that I get so many bouquets of flowers that I should know, but still I would have thought I’d have run across them before now.
The girls also each got their own little arrangement of congratulations. Thanks Konie!!!! and Dad 🙂
On our way back from the Olympic Peninsula we stopped in for a Memorial Day BBQ and horseback ride with a patient that Jeremiah had made friends with at the hospital. Their farm was beautiful, and they raise Peruvian Paso’s where Jeremiah’s family raises Paso Fino’s. If you want an article on the differences of the breeds (I’m sure you’re all chomping at the bit ;)) here’s a good one.
It felt marvelous to be on a horse again…for all of us. And Wally and Trish treated us to some of the finest BBQ and fixin’s I’ve ever tasted. They are from Texas, and they certainly entertained us in wonderful Texas style.
A couple of weeks ago, I took the girls to their first play.
We went with our sweet friends Kacey and Hannah.
Hannah is really adorable, so let me give her a little better shot 🙂
The theatre was gorgeous, and our seats were almost at the very back. It was hard to justify spending a lot of money for good seats on a show that the little ones may or may not sleep through.
I was more than a little nervous about how Mary Aplin was going to behave through all TWO HOURS AND 45 MINUTES of production, but she did really well. She was actually the only one of the three who stayed awake the whole time. The binoculars helped for sure.
You just never know with Mary Aplin. We had Easter lunch with Kacey and Hannah as well.
Hannah and her Mom had worked very hard to create these special desserts for the little girls. An easter egg out of rice krispy treats, with a piece of candy hidden in the hollowed inside–ONE for each of them. There was a lot of fanfare in cracking open the egg…
Mary Aplin, of course, popped her chocolate candy in her mouth immediately. And then, while Hannah was showing Pace how to crack her egg open, Mary Aplin reached over quick as a flash, and popped Hannah’s hidden piece of candy in her mouth as well.
What could I do??!!! Hannah had worked so hard and now her candy was in the mouth of my greedy, inconsiderate child. Mary Aplin just looked at us all as we gasped, unsure what the big deal was. She wanted the candy, so she ate it…so what?
Hannah started to cry, her Mother was trying to reassure her, and I was wondering if I should pry the chocolate ball from Mary Aplin’s mouth and offer it back to Hannah? After only a few seconds of recovery, Hannah forgave Mary Aplin…way more graciously than I would have if it had been my chocolate ball.
She makes us laugh harder and cry harder than I ever thought possible for a child so small.
So there. How random was that?
First of all, thank you for all the excitement and well-wishes on the last blog! We are still on cloud nine, and I am still sick…par for the course I suppose.
I realized this week how behind I am on blogging, considering the fact that my sister, Taylor, and brother-in-law, John David, have been living with us for a MONTH, and I still haven’t even mentioned it on here. I’ve been talking about too many books and too little life, apparently.
John David is in medical school and is doing a rotation out here and two months of research…which totals three months of sharing life together. They will be here until we leave, and it has been such a tremendous blessing to have the added helping hands around the house/with the girls while I’ve been feeling so bad.
This past weekend we all headed out to the Olympic Peninsula.
As I sit here writing, I have a peek of the Olympic Mountain range/peninsula, and it has become something of a writing inspiration for me. I realize this is going to sound strange, but when I get in a writerly way, I look out at those mountains and feel sure that they’re the last great wilderness on earth. I’ve been warring inside all year, dying to set my feet in that wilderness…and hesitant to go and discover that it’s just another National Park.
Well, this weekend we unveiled the mystery at last. Taylor and I found this quaint little cabin, just outside of the park, where we could have much nicer accommodations for the same price as the very (ahem) rustic cabins within the park. I don’t mind roughing it, but I don’t want to pay a high price for it.
The Compass Rose cabin suited us perfectly, right down to the warm cookies and note from the proprietor that were waiting on the counter when we arrived.
Not a bad place to have breakfast.
I’ve talked with y’all before about Jeremiah and my struggle with living in town versus the country. This weekend felt like a peaceful wash of affirmation that we–all four–were made for wide open living.
Seeing my girls run free, while I washed dishes at the window, did something wonderful for my heart.
The first day we arrived, we went on a short hike near Lake Crescent to a lovely waterfall.
We drove to Lake Crescent for some shots of the sun going down over the lake.
I like this shot of Taylor taking a picture.
Then we went back to the cabin to grill pork tenderloin and crash hard for the night.
Country come to the Peninsula.
Great to wind down in the hot tub before putting the chicken wings to bed...too bad preggers here didn't get to partake.
The next morning we drove to Hurricane Ridge.
Finally standing on the mountains I'd been staring at across Puget Sound
It’s the highest point you can drive to in the National Park, and we’d heard that they clear away snow so that you can hike. We had a hard time imagining there would be much snow in the summertime…
But, it was still pretty significant 🙂
Does anybody know how to Photoshop Jeremiah's sunglasses straight on his head? Every picture, he's lopsided.
The snow was removed for about a mile of the trail, but we wanted to go a little farther. So, despite our lack of proper gear (Mary Aplin was actually wearing slingback, breathable Keens), we decided to see how long we could take it.
We were rewarded, without too much effort, with a spectacular view and a table carved out of the snow where we had a private picnic.
And a lovely view of Mary Aplin's crack. Can you see the table on the right?
We had some little visitors that were pretty excited to see free food. We shared our Jalepeno Sun Chips, and they seemed ok with the spice.
So this is not technically at the top of the mountain, but there was no other good place for a wildlife shot. I don't think she would have enjoyed the Sunchips like the chipmunk did.
About the time our lunch was ending, a cloud rolled in.
I was thankful we hadn’t ventured too far off the trail! We made it back safely to civilization.
The sweetness of their relationship is amazing to me. Taylor will attest to the fact that I was never nearly this kind to my little sisters 🙂 They are truly the best of friends.
After Hurricane Ridge we drove two hours in order to reach Ruby Beach. On the drive we meandered through Port Angeles and Forks…Does anybody else read/watch the hormonal teenage rage Twilight, like I do? They were certainly proud of it in Forks.
Ruby Beach with it’s sea stacks rising from turbulent waters, harsh drift wood, and desolate cloud cover, produced that deep writerly longing that I had been waiting to find on the Peninsula.
I told Jeremiah that I was pretty sure that if he left me here in a little cabin, I could write a whole lot of books….However, they may be sad books, and he would probably have to come and retrieve me bodily from the cabin before I dashed myself on the rocks. Why is melancholy and creativity so closely linked in my heart?
Despite my trancelike state, some fun was had on the beach.
It was VERY cold, and the water was even colder. There was a stream separating where we entered the beach from the ocean. We made the boys take their shoes off and brave the cold to carry us across. JD and Taylor made it across easily, but I was too heavy/the rocks were too painful for Jeremiah's feet. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard as he struggled to make it across the water with me on this back. I felt like an ogre trying to ride on a pony's back.
Mary Aplin told Jeremiah she wanted to go swimming...and he said YES. I was yelling as I took this shot, but afraid to come and rescue her for fear the waves would roll up and get ME wet and cold.
As they did a couple of seconds later, bringing Mary Aplin to better senses than her Daddy.
He lost his swimming partner, but went out alone...in his boxer briefs...sometimes I wonder if he left the fraternity house a little too soon in life.
But then John David ran out and joined him, and I decided that perhaps men are just strange.
After a long, bone chilling day we ordered pizza and put the little ladies to bed early at the Compass Rose. We spent our last night on the Olympic Peninsula like this.
The mystery uncovered but leaving me wishing for more.