First Family Vacation

We spent a wonderful week in Indian Rocks Beach, FL (near Tampa) mid-August. We rented a 2 bedroom penthouse condo on the ocean and since Kayla is still so little, we didn't make plans to do more than sleep, eat and swim.

It was really fun to expose her to the waves, pelicans and sand. She wasn't crawling just yet, so mostly she sat on a beach towel and tried to eat the sand. It was more fun for her when we went to the pool and let her float in her "baby float". On her first try she was a little retisent, but the next day she was excited to kick her chubby little legs in the water and play with mommy & daddy.

We ate in half the time-which is fun for Ryan since he loves to cook and for the other meals we ventured out and had fun trying new restaraunts. Ryan especially loved the seafood and the other diners seemed to have fun watching Kayla and telling us how cute she is! :)

Crawling Kayla

She's been scooting for a few days, but we're gonna say official crawling began on Saturday Aug 24.

Thinking of crawling!

Happy Birthday Nana - Bouncing Kayla

Kayla loves her jumparoo! I thought that for Nana's birthday we might try to share a little video of her youngest grandchild living it up (and down and up and down) ;)

Kayla Photos (mostly) from March to May

Grieving Mother's Day

I began thinking this week about Mother's Day in light of the fact that both my parents and my father-in-law lost their moms this past year.
How strange to be without your mom and for my dads...without either parent now.
Being a new mom, I'm more aware of the special love between a mother and child. Kayla is my baby and she depends on me (and Ryan) for everything. Of course that will (or at least should) change in the coming years, but for better or worse, I will be one of the most important and influential people in this little person's life.
I can't imagine how strange it must be after 50-60 years of honoring your mom on Mother's Day, to suddenly not have that special person to honor. My heart goes out to them.
My heart also goes out to my friends who have been moms to little babies that did not make it in this world, but were taken early in their little lives. They will meet their babies in Heaven and finally know the

peace and joy of knowing them. I hurt for their loss that is often unacknowledged.

Finally, my heart goes out to my aunt and Jeff's parents as this Mother's Day is undoubtedly a reminder that their little boys are no longer with them. OK-Jeff was probably never very "little" :) BUT he was their son and I know that loss is poignant even 6 years after his home-going.
I have found comfort in this passage from Ecclesiastes. I hope it is comforting to you as well.

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

Life as a new mom

more to come...