Hope and Brian's Best Week Ever!...

Having Aunt Meg here this week made it the best week ever.  Despite any negative events - Aunt Meg's visit trumped it all.  Especially for Brian and Hope!

This photo says it all.

Meg kept encouraging me to go to sleep - or for me and Ed to go out - or for me to take Brian out alone.  But I didn't want any of it!  My sister drove seven hours to get to our house - why would I want to leave her there!  I wanted to soak up every minute I could with her.  And I LOVED watching her with my children.  

 She's so much fun - and so nurturing.

I guess I did take her up on one thing.  One night she made the ultimate sacrifice.  I fed Hope around 9pm - and then she insisted that I hand her off to her.  She kept her downstairs and gave her a bottle for her next feeding so we could go to sleep.  Then she stayed up with her all through the middle of the night until she was due to eat again.  I couldn't believe it when she tapped me to wake me up and it was close to 5am!!  I got so much sleep I didn't know what to do with myself!  I'm sure it's been a long time since she pulled an "all nighter" like that (she said she stayed awake watching T.V. the whole time!) - and I was so grateful.

 Every morning Brian would ask me nervously, "Is Aunt Meg still here?" He was dreading the day she would leave.  They had so much fun together!

It was quite a trip for me watching her read "The Pokey Little Puppy" to Brian and Hope.  It's a book that was saved from my childhood (so it's old!).  It's quite possible that she read that same book to me when I was little!!

Meg is home now - and we miss her a lot.  But now my wheels are turning to take a trip to stay with HER for a week!  

This week Hope had a big "first!"  She played in her baby gym for the first time!!  Brian chose this gym in the store when I was pregnant.  It's Baby Einstein's "Baby Neptune" and has ocean sounds and marine animals.  He chose it because it reminded him of Gavin, of course.  We were shocked when Miss Sara and her parents chose this same gym as a gift for Hope without even knowing.  What are the chances?!?

Hope loves it - and I love to see her have so much alert time.  She's starting to coo, too, which is really adorable.  When I give her a body massage when she's under there - she coos up a storm!

Here's a video of her playing...

This week I also received a painting I had made by an extremely talented artist.  She is a young woman from Minnesota named Kelsey Oseid and she's a Chasing Rainbows reader!  I enjoy sharing things that I love with all of you...

...and I am in LOVE with this painting.

From the face on the little girl... to the Chinese lanterns... to the bits of blue to honor Gavin... to the forest tea party... Kelsey nailed it.  (Note:  please don't stress about seeing the crib bumpers - they will be gone when Hope starts sleeping in her crib... which is many months away!!)

 And it coordinates so well with the other print in her nursery.  That one is called "The Jellybean Tree" and I bought it in the DuPont Hospital gift shop!  

I can see me wanting Kelsey to make new canvas paintings with the same little girl as Hope (and her room) grows and changes.  I already love this print from her website...

If you're interested in a custom piece by Kelsey, you can reach her through her Etsy shop or her website!  She was a dream to work with and we couldn't be happier having a work of art as unique and beautiful as Hope!

Speaking of Hope... she turned SIX WEEKS today!!  Enjoy these pics from her photo shoot!

 My Mom and I picked out this outfit (including the booties) from Hartstrings when I was pregnant.  It was supposed to be her "coming home from the hospital" outfit.  It finally fits her at six weeks!!

We are all so in love with this little girl!  Especially Brian.  You'd think she's been here his whole life.

Happy six weeks, Hope Margaret!!

Sisters...

This week my sister, Meg, is living with us.  Coincidentally, this week is one of the best weeks of my life.

I love my sister.  (I love all of my sisters and brothers and in laws - to be clear)  To know that she left her life and family to come here to spend a week with mine just blows me away.  Would I do that? Would I be so selfless one day to give up my time simply to bless someone?  I'm not sure.  I would hope so.  But that's just how Meg is - selfless.  She's been a consistent voice in my life - with encouragement, positivity, a lecture or two when I needed it and a real shoulder to cry on.  And, since Gavin's death, she has even stepped it up a notch.  She's always made a point to call to check on us. And her husband, my brother in law Greg, made a point to call Ed to check on him - faithfully once a month.

Meg came here with a mission to help me with the baby... 

with things around the house... with Brian... 

and she has.  

Yesterday she helped me take the Christmas decorations down and put them away which is always a big job.  And last night she stayed with Hope so Ed and I could go see a movie on his birthday!  More on that later.  But honestly?  It's the "sister moments" that are making this visit so worthwhile to me.  Laughing at a memory that only we would "get."  Sitting at the kitchen table talking while Brian is at school and Hope is sleeping next to us.  Watching silly TV shows together.  And, honestly?  I soak up all of her motherly and sisterly wisdom.  Meg is very wise.  Probably more than she knows - and definitely more than her humble self would ever give herself credit for!

Brian has been LOVING having his Godmother here and has had a great time playing with her non stop.  I know this week is going to imprint a strong memory in his brain and heart of his Aunt Meg... which makes me so grateful.

And it makes me so happy that Meg has this chance to get to know Hope!  There was an instant bond. When Meg arrived I was holding a fussy Hope.  It took all of one minute before Meg took her from me and... instant calm.  It was like Hope was saying, "Ahhh...finally.  I've been waiting for someone to show up who knows what the heck they're doing!!"  Ha!  

There's truly nothing better than family - not even just sisters, but family.  I am one of the lucky ones that has four older brothers and sisters that I love very much.  And who I know love me.  And I am happy that Brian and Hope will grow up with lots of Aunts, Uncles and cousins around them - just like I did.

I have never left any of my babies at this young of an age - with anyone!!  But last night Ed and I drove five minutes away to see the new Hunger Games movie.  I knew, obviously, that Hope was in excellent hands.  (She'd be in excellent hands with any of my family members - to be clear!  Don't want to ruffle any family feathers! Ha!)  Ed and I were so excited for our first date in a while and I only texted Meg 4 1/2 times!!  (The last 1/2 time I changed my mind and erased it.  Hee hee!)  Wouldn't it figure that our movie kept malfunctioning?  The screen went black for two long periods.  We were so bummed.  But, in our style - we laughed about the whole thing in the end and walked out with two free tickets to another movie!

Over the next few days we'll be making arrangements to head over to the hospital emergency room to see "Gavin's Birthday Project" through to the end.  I will write about it soon - perhaps tomorrow - and how the project that was supposed to help heal our hearts... has, in the end, left me with a broken heart. Nothing went right - and I'm sick about it.  I have some decisions to make - and that involves all of you that donated money so generously to this.  I want your input - so watch for that post.

Thank you, as always, for loving our family - through the ups and the downs.  I feel like we're all on this crazy ride together.