Mount Calvary Cemetery

Joel's mom and dad came to visit over Memorial Day weekend, and while I have lots of pictures to show you of the two of them soaking up lots of Lucy time and fun little trips to Eugene sites, I thought I'd start with the most memorable one: visiting Christian's memorial. 

Christian is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery, a beautiful cemetery in the south hills of Eugene, owned by the archdiocese of Portland. We went to Riverbend Hospital the night we lost our baby, which is a catholic hospital that values the lives of all children, even those who are considered "not-yet-children" by most of our nation. Because we went to Riverbend, they took our lovely boy and buried him in this beautiful place with no cost to us. I will forever be grateful to the staff of that hospital who poured out on us so much compassion and showed us the love of Christ as we went through this trial. 

Mount Calvary Cemetery has a special memorial dedicated to unborn children.

The central plaque lists the names of the children who are buried there.

I couldn't have put it better myself. Here for a brief moment in our lives, forever in our hearts. 

Baking Bliss

I post about baking a good bit because, well,  I love to bake. And in the last few months my love of baking has really increased because of one little person:

Lucy is finally at the age where she can really "help" me bake, and so now I hardly need an excuse to whip up some muffins or cookies or scones. There's nothing quite like listening to giggles of glee from a small child as the flour mixes in with the egg, or watching her brow furrow in concentration as she dumps a teaspoon of salt into the bowl. 

And of course it's messy. Which is half the glory. 

Whiskey

Yesterday we had to put our little cat Whiskey down.

I think what has been the hardest about this is how sudden it was. She was her usual spunky, happy cat-self the day before. But she stayed out that night, and while the vet says we'll never know what happened, it's likely she ingested poison which caused her liver to fail. Last night after a day of watching her get steadily worse, we took her in to the vet a second time to have her put to sleep. Even if we had opted for surgery (which would have been easily over a thousand dollars), the vet said it wasn't likely she'd pull through.

It's amazing how much such a small animal can make an impact on your life. Joel and I got Whiskey a few months after we were married, and she has been a constant presence in our life ever since. Through several house moves, job changes, a baby, and a move to another state, we always had her with us. During the year and a half when we were unable to get pregnant, she was my special little friend. And then Lucy was born and she stepped out of the limelight. And while I may have complained more about the amount of hair I had to roll off of our couches, I still loved that cat. Most nights after Lucy went to bed she'd end up on my lap, stretched out luxuriously while I read or watched a movie.

Lucy absolutely adored her, and we're especially sad that she's lost her little playmate. It was so fun to see her interact with Whiskey: learning how to give her "gentle pat-pats", helping me give her food and water, and watching with delight as Whiskey stalked birds and bugs outside.

Anyway, it is time once again for us to adjust to the new normal. Which is that when I open a can of tuna I won't suddenly be showered with affectionate leg rubs and loud purrs. That I can now turn on the vacuum and know that I'm not sending one member of our household into a catatonic state. That Lucy and I will walk in the door and she'll shriek "cat-kitty!" to an empty house.

It's little things like that that make me sad now, but we've already learned this year that God eases whatever burden we might be carrying, however big or small. With God's help, we are keeping our eyes on the goal, the boundless joy that will be ours when we have run our race. Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.

We'll miss you, Whiskey. You were a great cat. And I like to think that there's another member of our family who gets to give you pat-pats now.

Hello!

Lucy's favorite past-time is talking to people on the phone (that aren't really there). Here she talks to nana and papa, until a surprise new guest comes in (and yes, we actually bought that piece of furniture at a yard sale because that's just how much we love our child).

A day in the life: hair edition

Here is my pathetic attempt at a self-portrait to capture my new haircut. She actually cut and styled it to be a sleek and straight bob, which I think looks adorable. But the truth of the matter is, with a million house remodeling projects, a busy 1 and a half-year-old, and a garden to tend to, it most often looks like this.

This is my hair when I let it air-dry, and while it may not be as cute as a sleek bob, I think it still looks quite nice and I'm thrilled to have a cut that I can wear out in public having done nothing to it and not feel deeply ashamed of myself. 

I should add that the curtains you can see a glimpse of to my left (your left? my right?) are from Target and have transformed our bedroom. I love them! I stare adoringly at them each night before I fall asleep. 

I took many shots of myself because, for some reason, angling the camera to focus on my face while aimed at a mirror is perplexing to me. I leave such deep mathematical matters to my husband. This shot in particular cracked me up though:

Lucy was playing "night night" with the kitten while I indulged in my narcissistic moment, and it's just a perfect example of the type of chaos that I love about my life right now: bed unmade, child romping around attempting to get bedtime kisses from the cat who just devoured half a mouse and left the other half on our doorstep for later. It stands to reason I should have a hairstyle to match!