3D

With both of our kids, we've had more than the usual number of ultrasounds because of some common abnormalities with their umbilical cords. Lorien had a two-vessel instead of a three-vessel cord and she had marginal cord insertion. Baby boy just has the marginal cord insertion. The extra ultrasounds are just to make sure the cord issues aren't causing problems, which they haven't. 

After receiving the good news that everything looks fine and healthy, we also got a little bonus with this ultrasound: a 3D image.

I think he looks like Lorien!

Big Girl Bed

Shortly after we returned from our Ohio trip, we decided to move Lorien from a crib to a toddler bed. (Actually, it's the same piece of furniture—just with the front switched out to make a daybed.) If all goes well, we'll transition her again to a different toddler bed this fall and reassemble the crib for baby brother. 

She has done very well with the change. No immediate issues with falling out of bed or getting out of bed when we shouldn't. But occasionally, we find her sound asleep like this...

:) 

The Sunglasses are Killin' Me

That's all I have to say about that. 

Love This Place

This is the view from the back of my parents' house.
It is one of my favorites in the world. 

Remembering Grandma

My Grandma Harris passed away more than a year ago. As a long-time nurse, she made the decision to donate her body to medical research, and I thought it was so fitting that she did so. Wright State University school of medicine performed a spinal study on her body and then handled the cremation of her remains. Because of that, we weren't able to arrange for a burial at the time when we held her memorial service last July. So during this visit home, we were able to finally lay her to rest. 

My whole family was present as well as my Uncle Greg and his whole family. It was a simple burial with no service—just a time of quiet after we buried the box with her ashes and then a brief time for those who wished to say something. I didn't say anything. Just cried again for the Grandma who meant so much to me and had such a big part in my growing up. 

I remember this burial too, even though it has been 26 years. 

The date to be added here is May 30, 2010

Yes, it is probably odd that we take family pictures at funerals and burials. 

Afterward, we went to Grandma's house to continue the year-long process of going through her things and getting her house ready to sell. We sorted through her costume jewelry and the little girls had so much fun loading it on themselves. I love this picture of Lorien because I spent many hours playing dress up the same way when I was at Grandma's house. We were able to bring some of these pieces home with us so she can continue the tradition.

Photo Shoots

My sister-in-law Mandi loves photography as much as I do (and is working hard right now to build her professional business). We had fun taking some pictures of our girls. 

I'm pretty sure she gets this face from me. 

The last 2 summers, I have bought matching outfits for Lorien and Kinsey just so I could take pictures of them. I'm afraid I won't be able to do that for much longer, since Carter's if the best place I've found to get the same piece in baby and kid sizes. They only go up to size 7, and Kinsey is fast approaching that. 

O-H-I-O

Normally, we would visit my family in Ohio in May, during the FLI semester break. This time, though, we had a 10-day window in June to see Doug and Chad—the only time this year we could cross paths in the U.S. So we headed east mid-June. 

Lorien LOVES to bounce. (I sing the Tigger song to her all the time because she's "bouncy, pouncy, flouncy trouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun".) While we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, she loved bouncing on the mini-tramp.  

Bocce: Doug, Steve, Tyler and Chad

OK, this is not a fantastic picture of us, but for summer in Ohio, the weather was pretty beautiful, and we got to enjoy being outside quite  bit.  

Family picture: Probably the only time this year we will all be in the same state. 

Lorien and I got to ride with Uncle Mike and Grandpa when they went to tag a new calf. New calves are one of my favorite things about the farm. 

This baby's mama was a little nervous, so Mike didn't hold onto it long enough for Lorien to touch it, but that was OK, because she was a little nervous too. 

Ty playing softball. We all went to his game and then went out to Steak 'N' Shake together. 

Lorien with cousin Kinsey. It always amazes my how differently my kids and my brother's kids are colored. :) 

Visiting with Grandma Beam

Her Father's Daughter

One of the most fascinating things to me about raising Lorien is watching her unique self emerge and develop. The teacher in me is just in awe of how she learns and makes new discoveries about her world. For example, it's already evident that she's an auditory learner, just like her Daddy. I think that one stands out to me because I am so NOT an auditory learner. Very often, Lorien is aware of sounds that I am totally oblivious to. And one of her favorite things to listen for is airplanes, which is also like her Daddy. In fact, she is already learning to differentiate between airplanes and helicopters when she hears them.