Roll Credits

Its our one week homecoming anniversary today.  I  hope you'll forgive us being a bit quiet, but there has been a lot to do to really settle in.

Not the least of which was Zelie's first visit to the pediatrician.  All went well.  She charmed him as she has everyone.  Her overall health is perfect.  Her height/weight stats put her at roughly the size of a two month old.  The doctor seemed a little surprised (pleasantly so), but mama wasn't.  Carrying that baby around constantly, she already had a pretty good idea of just how robust our girl is!  Some plans were made for future visits and follow up imaging requested by the surgeon and we were sent on our way.

And that brings us to the close of this first chapter of our Zelie's adventure.  It is certainly not over.  We've just begun to get a peek at all the wonder of the person that our Zelie is and will become.  There will be more entries here as well.  But having reached the end of this first phase, I wanted to pause to say some specific words of thanks.

First, and above all, we are thankful to Our gracious God who saw fit to gift us with another soul to love.  This has all been His doing, one way or another, and we are still awed that He chose us as home and haven for this little one.

To our dear friends who came to our aid in person, keeping J, cooking for us, hauling around laundry, putting up with Mr. K's painful Boston accent imitations and the uselessness of a very pregnant Mrs., thank you does not say enough of what we mean.   We would not have made it without you.

For those of you who came to K's aid while we were gone, treated her to dinner, kept her company and otherwise entertained her.  Thank you.  To one particularly special someone, and you know who you are (Aunt Jenny) who happily took on more than she realized, and who kept it together when the realization hit, for all your time, your sacrifice, your patience and your unflagging kindness, we are forever in your debt.

To those of you who knew Boston first, who made contacts for us, made recommendations for dinner and safe neighborhoods, who opened doors for us literally or figuratively, thank you.  You made what could have been a cold and confusing ordeal accessible to us.  Thank you.

Though they won't read this, I couldn't publish it without saying thank you to the many wonderful doctors and nurses, priests and chaplains who cared for us in Boston.  I could write a long time about them, each by each.  At every turn we were met and cared for by genuinely warm, exceptionally competent persons who welcomed us as we were and applied to our situation all they could.  I hope to be like them and consider them proof of Our Lord's mercy.

There are several of you who contributed out of your wallets.  We have been, frankly, astonished by the generosity of so many.  When we were tempted to worry about all things financial, your largesse helped keep our heads clear and focused.  You helped us shoulder a great burden.  Thank you.  Thank you.

To all of you, for your cards, your phone calls, your endless prayers, for checking in on us here or through friends, I want you to know you made a difference, a tangible difference.

We thank you.  We love you. We are carrying you all in our prayers.

Home Sweet Home!

Home at last!

I forgot we even had cats, who very sweetly greeted us upon our arrival.  The house looked great; it even has a Christmas tree!  Of course it needed my wife's very own magic touch to make it feel like home again.

The van is unloaded, but we are far from unpacked.

We ate some yummy soup and bread that was waiting for us and uncorked a chilled bottle of bubbly.  We have the best of friends looking after us.

We then proceeded to rounds of diaper changing and baths.  I forgot how to turn our bath to hot water (its backwards).  We've been gone such a long time, we've forgotten the little idiosyncrasies of our wonderful little house.

I got a hot shower, determined that we probably need a new towel rack and went straight to sleep without a thought or a prayer.  Who knew we had so many comfy pillows?  I can't overstate the luxury of laying down in my own bed after two months and letting the magic powers of sleeping babies take me with them.

Today, we remembered that our son loves our cats. There is a special giggle reserved just for petting cats.

Zelie slept in this morning, which just means she realizes that she is home too.

Mrs K. is thrilled to be home, but will be even more thrilled when everything is put away.  She's done a remarkable job so far, despite both our children wanting her full attention at any given moment.  Luckily for her, they think daddy is an okay pillow for up to 30 minutes at a time.

No more town lines!

Every place has its quirks. You won't find city limits in new England, but rather town lines. I think it's silly l, but there it is.

Finally this big adventure takes us toward home, but only so far as Pennsylvania. Happy new years eve from our clan.

I'll think of a mermaid lagoon!

All it takes is faith and trust.  Oh! And a little bit of Pixie dust.

Which is to say, we got a very good report from our very good doctor today.  A few measurements, another series of images and some discussion of follow up, and we were sent on our way without reservation.

Which means...  HOME!  Tomorrow we start the trek home.  It will take a few days.  Travel with little ones is not best done at a grueling pace, and we plan to stop on a couple of different days to visit family along the way.  But tomorrow we leave and start heading back. The van is packed and the early alarms are set.  Daddy and I are so excited we are almost cranky about it all.

There will be more entries here as we travel.  There is a bit more to say, but right now I have to go round up some of that Pixie dust.  C'mon everybody!

The Red Lights, They Mean Nothing

So this actually happened a few days ago, but I got honked at for stopping at a red light. Then I was quickly passed by said honker. Honking is quite normal. Now, Boston driving really hasn't been that bad, but there are quite a few odd things that I still don't understand. Red lights are run by taxis and citi buses during the "pedestrian time" if no pedestrians are present. Also random U-turns and three point attempted U-turns are quite common.

J is ready to be home. We're at roughly three melt-downs a day. They start with as little as put that thing down or stop climbing behind the TV. Aside from the toddler stress, he's doing quite well and even got to run around the mall kid area like a maniac yesterday. He even built up enough confidence to go down the 2 foot slide head first a few times.

Momma is doing well. She is also ready to be home. She went ahead and packed up 3 suitcases today and I packed them in the van. I guess I'm ready to go home too.

Now, the lady you've all been waiting for, Ms. Zelie. She is doing great! All cuteness all the time. She makes great faces while napping including smiles, pouts, "oh-my" faces, and kissy faces. She's eating well and sleeping well. She got a belly button for Christmas! It took forever, especially compared to J, but the wait is over and the belly button is super cute. It's an innie. Now the belly button is there she got her first proper oatmeal bath treatment, which she quite enjoyed.

Merry Christmas!

A quick post here to wish each of you every blessing of this sacred season.  As I have said before, we would never have gotten this far if it were not for the gift of so much love and support.  Thank you!

For those of you who have asked, no, we didn't expect to spend Christmas here when we set out.  But yes, we have had a wonderful start to the holiday.  We attended a beautiful vigil Mass last night and had a magnificent dinner in the warm embrace of friends.  There was good cheer in word and glass a'plenty.  Today has been still and peaceful, cuddled up with kids and sweet treats.  Now that the little ones are napping, Daddy and I are happy in the quiet, amazed at the beauty of the life we've been gifted and gleefully planning the trip home.

Merry Christmas, one and all.

C'mon Teddy

...we are busting out of this joint!

Yesterday, after she was released from the postop unit, I came back up with Zelie to her room and got her settled.  She was still sleeping, so I gave her a kiss and headed out for a bit.  When I left her, she was peaceful and alone.  Apparently she looked a little too alone to someone because when I came back this guy had crawled up into bed with her.

We have no idea where he came from, but are glad he was there to keep our girl company.  

Today they discharged us (at last!!!!) and since he didn't have anywhere else to go,we brought him along with us.  

I hope that you are all home and warm tonight with someone sweet to snuggle.  I know we are and we are immensely thankful.