Cleared for surgery!

We just got word that the cardiologist cleared Oliver for surgery for his g-tube, so we'll all drive up to Portland together on Wednesday for his surgery sometime on Thursday.  We talked to the surgeon last week at OHSU in Portland about the procedure.  Putting a g-tube (feeding tube that goes directly to his stomach, replacing the one in his nose) is a simple surgery and will make his life and our life simpler.  We'll be up there for 3-5 days, so we're taking the girls with us this time. 

I'm also optimistic that we'll be done with his apnea monitor this week finally, so by the time we come home he will may like a normal baby!

Please keep us and our travels and all the doctors in your prayers.

Bath time

Three years ago my mother caught this great shot of Elsa, and it quickly became a family favorite:

We tried to get an equivalent of Nora, but it was a bit challenging. 

These were the best we got:

Because most of the time when she sees a camera now, she says "CHEEEESSZZ" does this: 



How many grandmas...

...does it take to wash a baby?  Oliver takes two - one to hold open the chubby folds and one to clean them.  My grandmparents came for a delightful visit while my mother was here helping us. 

I love it how he's watching them out of the corner of his eye.

Now all clean and worn out from the bath, before we put his feeding tube back in place:

Isn't he handsome?

And finally, all dressed up for a photo with great-grandma "GG":



Mama's hats

I know I post a lot of photos of Elsa all dressed up and making dramatic faces, but that's just what she does all the time!

And I know I post a lot of photos of Nora copying Elsa, but that's just what SHE does all the time!   At least I have more than one hat so they can each dress-up at the same time.

My grandpa had to keep handing Nora her hat because our wild bucking bronco kept making it fall off.

Outside

The girls' favorite way to spend their time is playing in our tiny but lovely backyard.  My favorite game of theirs is when they traipse hand in hand in and out of the trees and all around the yard with Elsa narrating where they are travelling to and what they are seeing and doing along the way.  As much as we're working with them (mostly Elsa) to be patient and kind with each other it is so sweet to catch little moments like this when they are playing so imaginatively together.

And sometimes, it's just sweet to sit pensively alone with your cat.

I hated letting the garden go this year, but everytime I see the dried-up garden beds and the struggling perennials I keep reminding myself that I'm growing children this season instead.  My seedlings are growing fast and need all the tending I can provide. 

So, the most I'm doing for gardening this year are keeping up the few pots I can see from my kitchen window (because that's where I look outside the most!) and maintaining the ponds and fountain. 

One morning I discovered that a little frog had come to play on the water lily pads!

Coiffure: the style or arrangement of hair, from the French 'coiffer'

Elsa has enjoyed doing her own hair for some time now, and recently has been inspired by Fancy Nancy in designing her morning coiffure, to use a word Fancy Nancy would would approve of. 

I think Barnaby is rolling his eyes.

She loves pencils, pens, crayons, markers...