Taking A Break

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth, in case anyone was wondering. Life has just been extremely busy, and difficult for the past couple of weeks. My Mother ended up having brain surgery week before last and is currently recovering in an excellent acute rehab facility. The surgery went well, however my family was dealt some painful news post surgery regarding my Mom's prognosis. Mom has an aggressive type of brain cancer and things don't look good. I'm not sure that I've really come to terms with the reality of this situation. My emotions are like a swinging pendulum right now...the joy of Georgea on one side and the painful thought of what is happening with my beloved Mother on the other. So, I'm taking a little break from the blog for now. I'm not sure for how long. Could be a few more weeks, could be months. I just don't feel up to it at the moment, with so many other things tugging at me.

I do have some sweet photos from our trip back to Maryland, when we traveled for my Mother's surgery. Friends, family members and my parents neighbors rallied around us in support and what a huge blessing that was, and still is. Georgea, in her sweet innocence, brought smiles to our faces when we just didn't think we had it in us. I'm thankful for my baby girl in a new way during this walk through the valley.

Georgea with her cousin Jordy

At the hospital with my Aunt Lillian, Mom's sister. It was so good to see her. Totally off her schedule, Georgea hung in there like a trooper & napped on Mama's chest in the Ergo carrier.

My rock. So thankful James could be there...I needed him and so did Georgea.

Carla, my lifelong friend. We've been friends for going on 35 years. Mom and I both melted into a pool of tears when Carla showed up. My family loves Carla & Mom still refers to her as her "other daughter." Mom was still asking for Carla the next day after her visit.

Happy girl, reminded us to smile.

My joy.

My beautiful friend Heidi brought a meal to us at my parents house. Heidi is just as beautiful inside as she is out......love her!

Clappity-clap, in a borrowed high chair. My sister & some friends pulled together lots of baby items for Georgea to help make our stay comfortable. We found out about my Mom's surgery & caught a flight the same day, so there wasn't much time to prepare.

James stayed at my parents house and hung with Georgea a couple of days so that she didn't have to go to the hospital every day. We learned that a hospital is not an ideal place for a baby due to all the germs floating around.

Three of the 5 Chiavacci kids...Lindsay, Luca & Georgi. They came by with their Mom (my good friend Kelly) 2 different days to help entertain Georgea while I was with my Mom at the hospital. This was a major gift.

Kelly is an awesome photographer & all of the photos from their visit are Kelly's handiwork. I'm so happy to have these sweet shots of my girl.

Georgea with her new friends.

Georgea & Luca.

Georgea with Kelly. Sweet snuggles.

And smiles.....

Georgea's first experience with bubbles. A mother of 5 clearly knows how to entertain!

She loved the bubbles.

A walk in the stroller that another of my sister's friends handed over on loan. Amazing how people cared for us in such a big way. I'm still in awe.

Sweet dreams my little angel.

Florida Sunshine

In the midst of a crazy week including me heading back to work and my Mom going into the hospital....I received the gift of some Florida SUNSHINE!! My three nieces, Caitlynn, Allison & Meghann are here! My brother-in-law, sister-in-law and our nieces are visiting us and touring Arizona this week. What a huge blessing! Diving back into work & having the girls here have both been amazing and much needed distractions from the worry of what is going on with my Mom right now.

Georgea loved her cousins immediately. They make her smile and giggle as the photos show quite clearly. What a gift to have this time with them!

Caitlynn, Meghann, Alli and John surrounding baby girl, who's being held by Daddy.

Georgea takes a close look at her cousin Cait

Let the giggles begin!

More giggles! Georgea's Uncle John was cracking her up.

Four beauties

Change

I'm not the most flexible person by nature. Those who know me well are probably laughing, as this may actually be an understatement. I have however learned over the years that flexibility is not only important but necessary. Necessary to function well at work, in relationships, necessary...period. And, I've become much more flexible with a lot of concerted effort toward this cause. Becoming a parent has forced the issue for me. This is another on the long list of ways that Georgea has had a positive impact on my life.

This week we are facing a lot of change in our household. I go back to work tomorrow, after a wonderful maternity leave, bonding with my baby girl. I am anxious & excited to get back to work. I do struggle though, as most working Moms do I suppose, with "leaving" my baby while I go off to enjoy my career. My Mom stayed at home and was such a wonderful Mother, and role model for me. I'm sure this is where some of my struggle comes in. How do you "do it all", "have it all?" What does that even mean? I know balancing this new life of ours will be a learning experience for all of us.

In addition to my return to work, we are faced with a family struggle that is not so positive. My Mom went into the hospital on Friday. She was having some unusual memory loss and ultimately my Dad ended up taking her to the ER. After some testing the Dr.'s discovered that my Mom has a mass on her brain. That's all we know right now. There will be additional tests run early this week and we are all so anxious to better understand the details of my Mother's condition and what is next. My Mom is one of the great loves of my life. This news...oh it just makes my heart so heavy. And living so far from "home" makes it really tough. Your prayers for my Mom's health and for my entire family are very much appreciated.

It's been such a busy time preparing to go back to work & then dealing with the news regarding my Mom's hospitalization that photo ops have been pushed to the side. James did manage to snap a few shots of our girl glaming it up in her white sunglasses yesterday afternoon though.

Our baby girl is changing too, right before our eyes. Georgea is growing taller, her beautiful hair is growing and actually lightening from spending time in the Arizona sun. She's smiling and "talking" more often, and filling our hearts to overflowing with frequent hugs, pats and sweet raspy laughter. Change is good.

First Family Trip

James had a business trip last week that was going to take him out of town for several days. After thinking long and hard we decided that going with him, as opposed to Georgea being away from Daddy, was the better choice. I was excited as this trip was taking us back to our old "stomping grounds." But as the time to depart grew near I began to worry about how the travel & time away from home would affect our baby girl who has settled so nicely thus far.

Thankfully we had a great trip & a very smooth return home (we've been back for almost 4 days). Georgea handled the flight out & back beautifully and put on her game face for the 3 hour time change and lots of friends and family dropping in to meet her for the first time.

Our dear friends the Shepherds opened their home to us which made our stay much more comfortable than staying in a hotel. Georgea's sleep pattern was not as consistent while we were gone....she ended up in bed with us several nights, but all in all she did great.

It was really fun to see friends and family and to share our baby girl. Everyone was so wonderfully respectful of & sensitive to the "asks" we made (short visits & no holding). I can't say thank you enough to those we were blessed to see, for the amazing support of our continued bonding with Georgea. I know it seems foreign to many these "odd" boundaries we've set. We have spent much time studying, reading, praying and receiving cousel from experts and we thank our friends, family and loved ones a million times over for trusting the decisions we have made and for supporting us ongoing through this journey.

Georgea made the trip home smoothly, clapped her hands and her feet and giggled most of the drive home from the airport (no doubt, she knew she was home). And, she has resumed her normal 12 hour sleep pattern starting the first night home. Life is good!

With Matthew and Amanda....oh I love these kids! We stayed at their house & Georgea loved hanging out & playing with them.

We kept on our routine of lots of floor time to work on crawling.

Cheering Georgea on as she works herself into the crawl position. Progress!

Georgea loves babies! Tyler is our friends Ivy & Tim's little one. Tyler and Georgea have birthdays that are just days apart.

I love this shot. Sweet baby girl.

The lean of love! Georgea thought Mariela was pretty cool.

Matthew & Georgea. She was quite smitten with him. She'd follow Matthew with her eyes every time he left the room. Pretty sweet.

The Tipton girls! James & I were there when Lauren and Alyssa were born. They were so sweet to come & visit with their Mom & Dad, Mike & Trish, our long time friends. You can see by Georgea's giggling that she enjoyed their company.

With Olivia and Peyton Andry, and Amanda. Getting 3 little ones to "pose" is impossible & this is the best we could come up with! :-)

Much better this go around, with just the 2 girlies.

Our family in Indiana drove over to see Georgea. This is Georgea's second cousin Jackson, our nephew Isaiah's baby boy.....adorable!

With cousin Annalee, Uncle Dave & Jackson (oh, and poodle "Toodles!")

Georgea was really into Jackson. She is in heaven when a baby is around.

Ahhhh, Aunt Sherry. James' sister Sherry was the only person who held Georgea on this trip. Sherry was so sweet and open to going home without a hold, but Georgea needed to get into her Aunt Sherry's arms. I love the sweetness of this photo.