Stay Tuned...

On March 11th we will know the gender of our little Limpet...as soon as we know we'll post and let you all know.

Our Faith Restored in Humanity

For those of you who don't know two weeks ago our family, while on vacation in California, was hit by a drunk driver. After a visit to the emergency room our family is all fine, I was checked out the most since I'm pregnant and the impact with the seat belt caused small contractions. Unfortunately our car is not alright...it's totaled.

At first the woman who hit us took off and never stopped, she looked right at us and speed away. We limped our car off the road and sat there scared to death...me in contractions and Jeremiah trying to comfort me and Finn while calling the police. We were in a strange large city feeling like no one cared...boy were we wrong. Two amazing individuals restored our faith in human kindness. One man who witnessed the accident got the woman's plate numbers and pulled in behind us, called an ambulance for us, and stayed all through the event to make sure we were okay. Another man who witnessed the accident followed the drunk driver and pushed her into a parking lot, called the police, and stayed blocking her exit until they arrived.

These days it can often feel like we are all alone and no one cares but in that moment we had two individuals show us that we were not alone. We were able to get a copy of the police report last week and found both of their names and addresses and I plan to send a thank you card to them...they have no idea how their faces made us feel safe and not alone. I can't tell you how grateful we feel...how terrified we were. I haven't been so scared in my life. We sat in an emergency room, me crying, Jeremiah with huge eyes trying to get me seen... wondering if we would lose our baby. Thankfully we have also have an amazing family, Jeremiah's brother and sisters live in the area and took Finn for the evening, and our dogs who were also in the car, and allowed us to go to the hospital without scaring Finn more than she already was.

Hold your family close tonight and be glad for the little things...and know you are not alone in this world...we sure learned that.

A Tough Day Being Parents

Hello all...

Today has been a tough day being a parent...if I could have a glass of wine I would. Finn has been having a terrible 2 day...saying all the things she shouldn't, getting fussy, getting teary, and just having a hard time. By the end of the day Finn couldn't even eat her favorite meal, noodles, without crying and getting frustrated...though she gladly ate all her cauliflower. Finally the evening is coming to a close and mummy escaped outside to take the garbage outside (a mini vacation) and I come in to find Finn bent over crying and throwing up all over the kitchen floor and papa trying to comfort her. Goo and I have had a bad cold and Goo has been gargling with salt water to help a sore throat...well Finn was at the sink watching papa do just that when she took a big drink of her sippy cup and tried to gargle...as you guessed it...it didn't go well. She cried and was very scared...but after a warm bath, lots of hugs, a teary promise to not gargle her water anymore, she's in bed while papa reads her a "libary book" she checked out on valentines day. Oh the joy of being a parent...I don't think there was anything in the parent book about a day like today...I just wish she could always be little and a hot bath, hugs, and papa reading a library book could fix anything.

Rainy deluge and dreams of sunny hikes

It's been raining like the dickens (etymology?) for several days. Most of the local rivers have risen to near or are at flood stage now, especially along the North Coast. Everything's sopping wet. And we love the water...but our whole household is longing for a sunny hiking break. So we figured the next best thing was to go back and look at some of our hiking photos from this past year. And it worked. Except now we're REALLY longing for a sunny break in the weather, and it looks like it's coming this weekend! Nevertheless, we thought we'd share some of our (mostly) sunny outdoor photos from this past year with ya'll.

("Huh! How 'bout that?! I said ya'll. I guess I AM local!") name that movie...

Baby Limpet's first doctor appointment

And there you have it. Limpet's first exposure to modern medicine; the probing ultrasound. But the pics came back and guess what?! Limpet should be pluralized!

No not really! The doc just happened to flip the monitor around for a mirror image of the same thing. But it sure made our hearts skip a beat for a second. Cat had been thinking about the "what if" thing (naturally) but we hadn't really discussed it together this time (we did prior to Finn) so it did cause us to pause and look at each other momentarily. But Amy (the doc) saw our faces and musta read our thoughts/looks and alerted us to what she had done.

Since we are all about the experiential things in life, Finn accompanied us to the appointment and thought the whole ordeal was pretty cool. But her interest started to wane as nap time drew near. We'd been having discussions with her that a new brother or sister is on the way and she sorta gets it. But on our ride to the doc's office, Jeremiah began explaining to Finn how baby Limpet isn't really in mummy's tummy but next to it in the uterus in it's protective shell called the placental sac. Aaaaand that just about sent Cat over the edge, given the slightest things can set her stomach to untold nausea in hundreths of seconds flat. And that little discussion had done it...and thus ended that discussion (for the time being, anyway).

Mummy had a full blood workup and Papa and Finn played with chairs. That's right, there were all kinds of toys around. But Finn wasn't interested. She wanted to organize chairs into rows. And she informed me it was supposed to be "just like a schoolhouse like Laura on Little House on The Prairie". Oooo-kaaaay. Our girl's just may have been born in the wrong centery...


And just as we were about to leave the office, Finn looks up at a gentleman (in his early 60's I'd say), and looks at me and says "Papa, look! It's Great Grammie!" This gentleman is obviously taken with her and smiles and waves back. I say "You mean he looks like Great Grampie Gowey" (Great Grammie's son)? And she says, "No, Great Grammie!" She waves to him, he kindly smiles and says something to the effect of "Seasons Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" or the like, says "She's beautiful" (funny how she gets that all the time) and carries on about his business. Finn again says, in an excited tone, "Papa, it's Great Grammie". As many of you know, her great great grammie Gowey is fast passing into this next world, we had just visited her again a week ago, and she is totally taken with Finn...has been since she was born. As Great Grammie (as we call her) slips in and out of consciousness, I couldn't help but wonder if she paid Finn a visit, through another's persona, in the doctor's office just to see her shiny face and perhaps tell her everything's ok. I was without words...

I love you Great Grammie. J

Our Exciting News

We had some amazing news...we learned this weekend that we are expecting our second child. We are still in the early stages yet so we're a bit nervous. Our first appointment is Christmas week...after that we'll feel a little more secure.

We were going to wait to tell everyone for a bit...but I'm already feeling sick and didn't think we'd be able to hide out for awhile with the holidays coming or convince everyone I have the flu for a month and a half...


Thanks for sharing in our glad news!

Love,
Cat/Jeremiah/Finn

Thanksgiving is around the corner and we wish you all and safe and happy holiday!

We picked several pounds of apples over the past few weeks and finally got them all pressed and made into cider...and soon hard cider. We've put our garden to bed for the year and have enough firewood to last us plenty of cold nights. Jeremiah is working hard in the field and in the office, I'm busy writing for a new project I'm working on, and Finn has successfully conquered potty training...our family's greatest accomplish!

In a few weeks Jeremiah and I are going on a small vacation to a cabin on the McKenzie River, just the two of us, for our Christmas gift to each other. I can't wait...hiking, reading, snow shoeing, napping...I'll make sure I post some nature shots when we get home.