Riley is growing like a weed, and we won’t be surprised if she’s up to 8+ lbs by her 1-month appointment. She is definitely getting the Thomson baby chubby cheeks! She's still pretty much up every three hours at night (the definite downside of preemies!), but fortunately, she goes back to sleep pretty quickly. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are yawning their way through the days...
Jacob is still enamored with his little sister. He's not really into holding her, but boy does he run 100 miles per hour to put that paci in if she lets out the tiniest whimper. He's also a big fan of turning her monitor on and off, helping with diapers and wipes, and just generally knowing what she's up to. He did have one or two "sad" days at school before the break so he's definitely in Mommy mode right now. Hopefully, it will be short lived because it makes hormonal mommy's heart break to think of him being so upset, but I know there was bound to be some reaction. The more interesting side effect of Riley's homecoming is that every day for the first two weeks he asked us, "Where does Hayley live?" followed immediately by “Where does Riley live?” Literally, every day, at least once a day. Although he has known the answer about Hayley ("in heaven with Jesus") for ages, I think it was his little mind's way of trying to process why one sister lives here and one doesn't. Confusing stuff, if I do say so myself and definitely bittersweet!
Apparently, I've also been breaking out the camera a tad too much because, as of today, Jacob's decided he needs to carry a camera everywhere with him. He holds one of our old cameras right up to his face and says "cheese" at the top of his lungs. It's hilarious! Tonight he even told me after he took a picture, "That wasn't a very good smile, Mommy." Whoops. Unfortunately, I know exactly where he got that from! I honestly thought with as many pictures as I take that Jacob would be a better poser by now, but he's either looking down in every picture I take and/or staring at the ceiling (a result of me telling him to "look up"). And a picture of two kids together? Forget it! I'm convinced it's darn near impossible. Nevertheless, I posted our best attempts below!
As for Easter, I think we covered it all between church, egg hunts, dying eggs and a visit with the Easter bunny at brunch. It's amazing how much more real Easter is after our experience with Hayley….the recognition of God's incredible sacrifice of his only son, Christ's victory over death, the promise of eternal life and a much-anticipated reunion with Hayley...how we can’t wait for that!
Hope you had a wonderful day of celebration too, and thanks for checking in on us!
PS – Check out our Lauren’s Run site at www.firstgiving.org/hayleysheroes
Two on the playmat!
Hard at work!
Look at this one!
Our pretty girl
The Easter Bunny's not so bad!
Egg hunt...
Camera man!
Giving new meaning to the family picture!
Our Easter sweets!
7 comments:
I love to see pictures of your kids! They are both so cute. Indeed, I can't fathom what we would do without Easter. How do people meet the tragedy of death with no hope for what lies on the other side? I've only lost two close people (two too many!), and I've certainly never faced the grief of losing a child, but yesterday I thought of your family and many more whom I've met on the Internet. Easter has a new meaning for me too because of the great hope you've shared in the midst of the most intense kind of sadness I can imagine. Thank you. And may your Easter joy last all year!
--Kelley in GA
Love this post. Love the pictures. I am so happy that we have the opportunity in our lives to CELEBRATE Easter. I am glad you all had a good celebration. It is definitely great to have Easter and celebrate each year with the reminder that suffering only brings us closer to Christ and back to the loved ones we have lost. Always praying for y'all.
Dayna it is hard to get good pictures... Kids just do what they want to do. You just have to hope they do what you want them to. Jacob will be fine, it's hard for them to understand that they have to share their Mommy and Daddy with another baby. Jacob looked like he was having so much fun hunting eggs and coloring them. Riley is beautiful. I'm glad that you had a good Easter.
Carmen
Thanks for the Easter treats... Pictures of your Easter sweets!
Robin in Suwanee
So, so cute together. My 2 are 28 months apart...LOVE each other sometimes...the other times...let's just say my daughter's first sentence was "No bubba" Enjoy every precious second of these sweet years. My girlie girl just stopped wearing hairbows and has moved on to being a "rockstar" Sniff Sniff
Dayna its been awhile since ive been to you cb site so tonight i was thinking about you and decided to see what you have been up too and wooohooo a baby!!! congrats to you and the family. she is beautiful and Jacob is handsome as ever!!! Looks like you all had a wonderful Easter.
Hi Dayna,
It's Jenny Scott, Allie's mom. I haven't checked on your family since earlier in your pregnancy. It's been such a long time! Congratulations on beautiful Riley.
I am in Memphis right now attending the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Work conference. I've been running Heroes for Children for almost five years in Texas and the conference is very relevant to what we do. Today, AFLAC did a session on their bereavement program and remembrance ceremony. They shared how the ceremony goes and the special things they do for the families to remember the child. Then, one of the social workers read from a mom's Caringbridge page written the day after the ceremony. I knew immediately it was your words she was reading! I remembered that entry and how I cried for Hayley and Allie.
I just wanted you to know that. I have moved my blog to http://charitymom.blogspot.com. Maggie is now three and a half and we are now finally ready to try for another baby to bless us.
Hope you and your family are doing well.
--Jenny
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