My Nephew is here !!

Welcome nephew!

Kathy, Emily & Sawyer :)

Sawyer Charles

born: July 22 at 4:40 am

7 pounds 20-1/2 inches

He's here!! I'm an auntie!! And he's healthy :)

I won't go into details about how he was concieved, it's not my place to tell (plus I didn't *ask* first). But I'm positive my sister would graciously enlighten you about the miracle that took place.

The handsome Sawyer arrived early, but with a very lenghthy entrnace. Born to my sister Kathy and her girlfriend Emily, he certainly took his time.

My sister was in labor for 4 days of active labor, dialating and then retreating, she was severely frustrated. It was almost a C-section, but her doula convinced everyone otherwise.

I talked to her on the phone, still in the hospital recovering, on Tuesday. She really sounded in great spirits and I could hear little Sawyer in the background crying. "Did you have a baby pig??", I asked her jokingly. (His little baby cries sounded like baby pig sqeals!) "No, but he is a sqealer, isn't he?", she said, laughing.

We compared war wounds and similarities, but his birth was much more intense than Cole's was. I can't even imagine - I thought I had it bad with 22 hours of active labor, but 4 days?!?

They're all home now and were even able to forward some photos. He's darling, isn't he?? I mean, really, he's my nephew and all, but he's just precious! I can't wait to meet him in person. Minnesota is too far away.......

~Congratulations to Kathy & Emily~

Welcome baby Sawyer

BIG Love to you all

All Moved In

W h e w.

No. More. Boxes.

It's done. Well, almost. We moved the majority of my stuff out and brought some of Shawn's stuff in and we're done. Good Lord, I had a lot of crap. OK, not so much crap, but stuff that I didn't need, didn't use, didn't know was still there, etc., etc.

We took 3 truckloads (out of my house alone) to Goodwill and I have to say...... it felt gooooooood! I empty my closets every now and then but never had to deep clean like this before. And it's different than just doing it yourself. With someone there helping you, you're more accountable for what you hold onto. "Do I really need this?" "Am I really going to use this?" I got rid of a ton of stuff that was still useable and decent, but didn't really know *why* I had it.

Moving Day itself went surprisingly well, other than the muggy heat. But with half our belongings out on the lawn, it beats the rain. And by the time we all settled at 9 or 10 pm, we couldn't get those fans going fast enough.

We're still going thru things in the house still. I think once you get in the 'purging' mode, you just want to keep going! Even Cole got in on it - we promised him the old TV for video games and he was all gung-ho about giving toys away! (of course there was Mom, right behind him, "You can't get rid of that!" - oh well)

Now starts the organizing and adjusting. Wish us luck.

(and hey, I was automatically upgraded to a 52" Flat Screen - not too shabby ;)

Lucky

(McGyver Cole)

I'm extremely lucky. Fortunate. Blessed.

This I know all too well. Sometimes it's the damn media that has to (graciously) remind me.

Watching 'The Office' last night and to hear, "Breaking news in Tacoma: the body of 12 year old Zina Lennik was found this evening around 6pm"....... I just crumbled. Cole was already asleep, but I went in to his room, crying and kissed him.

Zina lived just 5 blocks away from Shawn.

I drove by her house numerous times and didn't know this beautiful young girl or what her future would hold. I'm so saddened for her family and their unspeakable loss.

How ironic that I just finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. The fictional story of a young girl who is murdered. Told in first person, she talks about her family, her killer and her Heaven. Highly recommended.

Then checking email at work today and I read a small blurb on AOL about a 4 year old who drowned in the wave pool at Great America. Four. I assume he was like Cole at 4 - lively and fun and full of life. His parent(s) take him to the water park for a day of fun in the sun and things take a drastic turn.

I am extremely grateful for the 6+ years I have had with Cole, I only pray to have a lifetime. Our incident at Target a few months ago was enough for me. Losing him for 2 minutes was longer than I ever want to experience again. I know most people might not think as morbidly as I do, but being a parent, it's on my mind more than I'd like to think. I don't let it consume me but the "what ifs" are always there.

I'm thankful.

As I heard my friend Dannie once say, "go and hug your babies"

The bungalow will soon have THREE occupants

Yay!

More good news..... Great news..... FANTASTIC news!!

Shawn will be moving in this month!!

He had some minor drama go down at his place and decided it was time to leave. He talked about staying with a friend (closer to work) for awhile before we made the big move in together. But we got to talking one night and decided we could save a helluva lot more money this way. (plus, we would get to see each other more often :)

For those of you who have seen my "bungalow", the cute term I like to use for 'super-small', you know that it's only about 900 square feet - max! And full of 10 years of stuff. Ken and I moved into this place 2 months before we got married, so it's collected its share of memorabelia and I have been purging like crazy!! I'm a self-admitted pack-rat, but you'd be proud at the stuff I've let go...... too many memories.

I'm super excited for this new step in our lives. And with his schedule being more 'normal' it's a double YAY!! Let's just hope we can all survive in the small quarters - thank God it's SUMMERTIME!!


PS: Yay!!