Plus One, Plus Two

On July 7th, my dear friend Jen added one to her family with the delivery of her second son/ third child. It was such a blessing to be here for his arrival! Because her last son was a emergency c-section baby, and her daughter before that was almost, this delivery was a scheduled c-section. Jakob Simon arrived healthy and strong at a whoppin' 6 pounds even around 10am. I was able to wait in Jen's recovery room during the c-section so I could greet Jen and Jakob as soon as they returned from the OR.

Jakob is so darling and SO tiny! He was born a full three pounds smaller than my Tommy. It's amazing how big the difference three pounds makes! As Adam says, that's 50% of his weight, so I guess it makes sense that Tommy would seem like a giant comparatively! When he was swaddled up he looked like a tiny ball of blankets. Understandably, Jen was pretty nervous beforehand, but everything went very well and as far as hospital stays and births go for her, Jakob was by far her easiest and least complicated.

I felt so honored to be there to meet little Jakob within hours of his birth. Jen is such a treasured friend to me, and I love her children so very much. What a miracle life is, and what a gift we have from God to feel such a deep love and a strong desire to nurture from the very first instant a baby enters our lives.Adam and I had the opportunity to add two to our family while Jen and Dave were at the hospital for Jen's recovery from her c-section by watching their other two children, Hannah, who is just six months younger than Ben, and Max who is 18 months. It sure was a busy three days! I don't think I sat down at all during the day unless I was feeding Tommy, and sometimes not even then. :) But Hannah and Max are such great kids, and we loved spending the time with them and helping out our friends.
When Jakob came home it was paparazzi time all over again. He is just so dang cute and amazingly tiny. Hannah was so proud to be a big sister all over again and just loves to hold Jakob any chance she gets. Max is pretty oblivious to Jakob, he comes over to him occasionally when he's crying and pokes at him, but that's about it. He's just glad to have mommy and daddy home again, even if this new, strange thing that makes weird little sounds came along with them. My boys thought Jakob was as cute as can be. Josh in particular loves babies so much; sometimes when Jen is around and Josh is not too busy playing, I catch him just gazing over at Jakob.

Welcome Baby Jakob! You chose a very special family to join, and we are so glad to have you here!Jen's family is Jewish and today we celebrated Jakob's eighth day of life with his Bris. This is the ceremony to circumcise a Jewish baby boy. It was a very special day and I am so glad I could be here to witness this honored, ancient tradition of their faith. The prayers and words of blessing are so beautiful. I was also happy to be here to support Jen, who has a very hard time with the Bris. Jakob came through like a champ...and so did Jen. :)

Just Another Day For You And Me In Paradise

One of the things I love about the cabin is the picturesque scenery. The distant mountains hug the valley like midnight blue and deep purple arms. With the cooler weather this summer in Western Washington there are still kisses of snow on the highest peaks. And then the greens, all shades, ranging from deep and dark like algae in a grimy pond to so light that they verge on yellow. There are wild flowers in bloom too. Homes and trailers dot the area sparsely, tucked in behind overgrown foliage so they kind of surprise you as you pass them. And there are the oddest small farms in the area: llamas, deer and even a buffalo or two. But it's the old, run-down barns that are my favorite scenes, they are like glimpses of dreams come and gone, lives lived and the mystery of the people who lived them. I love them! I was sad to see this year that one of my favorites finally fell in, all that is left standing is one wall surrounded by old, rotting piles of wood rubble. But I think I found a new favorite. It's not quite as dilapidated as I usually like them, but it's pretty glorious in the delights of its red exterior.I saw it on the way to the hike we took on Monday. Isn't it perfect? {sigh} OK, sorry. Now to get on with the rest of the day....

Adam's brother Ryan took us on a hike to a nearby waterfall after a relaxing morning. He said, "Don't be too excited, it's just kind of a creek." But he was playing us for fools...it was stunning! And before we even got to the falls, the walk in held some pretty amazing sights of it's own! The moss growing on the trees was awesome. It was a rich, beautiful woods and we enjoyed spending an afternoon hiking through them. Now, days later, with the current temperatures in the upper 80's to 90's, thoughts of that cool, damp hike are still refreshing me as I sit and type.

Ryan's friend Teagan, whose family owns the little Lake Roesiger Store, and one of her darling daughters, Finley, joined us for the hike. It was fun to spend the day with them! Teagan quickly won the hearts of the boys by bringing everyone a red Tootsie Pop (you know you are a mother of multiple children when you think ahead to avoiding fighting by bringing only one color of lolly). It was a fantastic hike, no complaining, no whining and lovely, lovely, lovely.

It was a couple of miles in when we reached the falls, and then there is a short but undefined trail to get to the base of them. It was slick, but fun to get so close. And truly a sight to behold. It's one of those places where your eyes can hardly drink it all in fast enough because they are so thirsty for the beauty of it, and your nose is full to the brim of the smell of rich, damp earth, and you just thank God for the beauty he created and feel so grateful that you've been given the chance to peek into one of the little corners of the earth where not many people have tread. Thanks Ryan, for bringing us there! It was a gift.
We were all pretty wiped from the busy days before and the hike, so we took the afternoon to just relax and watch a little movie. We also gave the littles a nice bath. Boy did those kiddos like to splash in that tub! Cami and the boys were so cute. The big boys loved to watch over her like her protectors, making her laugh whenever they could. Luke would talk to her in his little high pitched "motherese" voice, too funny! And she adored Tommy! Sometimes a little too much! Once I heard him grunting a little, I thought he was, you know, working on a poop, but when I looked over, Cami was on his back, making him fold in half in a big smashy hug. I wish we were all were closer so the cousins could be together more often.

The evening on the lake was quiet, with most of the holiday visitors back to their jobs and suburb homes. We watched the fishermen fishing on a peaceful lake in the twilight, took the kayaks out for a sunset paddle and munched on more s'mores cooked over the bonfire.

Yep. Paradise.