Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Sadness

I've been kind of avoiding blogging for the last week. I usually like to write about all the wonderful things going on in our lives, and I'm so grateful that it is never hard to think and write about all the things that I'm thankful for in my life. This last week has been one of the hardest of our lives though. We have experienced loss in a way that we hoped we would never have to. Earlier in the month of September I found out I was pregnant. We were so thrilled, and we immediately started planning for the arrival of our little one in May. We were talking about names, letting Camden kiss the baby in Mama's belly, discussing ways to get Camden sleeping through the night and weaned by then, figuring out which rooms each baby would sleep in and what new baby purchases we would need to make. I'm not going to lie, we were a little nervous...Camden and his little brother or sister would have been about 21.5 months apart, but we knew we could do it and we knew that God would give us the strength and energy needed to be good parents. We were so excited about having the baby in May, because Scott would be home with no responsibilities for June, July and August, giving us plenty of time to get used to being a family of four before the school year started up again.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday September 22, I miscarried. It was one of the hardest days of my life...not knowing what was going on with my body, fearing that I might lose the baby, but hoping for the best, all while putting on a happy face to tutor my boys in Learning Skills and take care of Camden. I had just set up my first appointment with the midwives that very morning, and had to call back later in the day and explain what was happening. I've never felt so many different emotions before in my life. I was angry with my body, but also knew I had to trust that my body was doing the right thing. I was so sad, but knew that there are people who go through an entire pregnancy and lose a baby at birth who must feel even deeper sadness. I was (and still am) depressed, exhausted, helpless and emotionally drained, but know that God is in complete control of our lives. He gave us the gift of this child for a short time, and I feel honored that I got to harbor this little life, even though it was for such a brief period.

I have never felt such a deep love for Camden has I have this past week. I just want to continually smother him with hugs and kisses. I am so incredibly thankful that we have a beautiful, healthy child who brings us such unspeakable joy on a daily basis. He truly is the light of our lives and I know that he will make a great big brother some day.

I also feel closer and more loved by Scott with every passing day. He is struggling through his own grief, yet he has been so compassionate, loving and caring over the last week. He loved this unborn child as much as I did, and to know that we will never hear him/her laugh, hold him/her close or tell him/her how much we love him breaks both of our hearts.

We know that God is grieving with us and we are so thankful for his faithfulness in our lives. There are so many verses that have comforted us, but this one is on my mind tonight..."My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." -Lamentations 3:20-23

It's going to take a while to get back on track. People are still asking if I'm feeling better from being "sick" since I took a couple days off last week. Each time, I think...should I tell them the truth or not? Camden is still obsessed with pulling my shirt up and kissing my belly - a reminder of us teaching him about the baby in there. I just received a packet in the mail from my midwifery practice with all sorts of pregnancy information that had been sent prior to my miscarriage. My 8 week appointment has a dark line through it on the calender that I have to look at every day in October. But, I'm starting to feel better and I know God's plan is greater than I can even imagine. This little life was very loved for the five and a half weeks of his/her existence and we will always remember this time in our lives.

Thanks for listening.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Goodbye Summer

After a crazy week of sports camp, classes finally start tomorrow! When September arrives, we always wonder how summer flew by so fast. What in the world did we do for all of June, July and August? Teaching is an incredible profession - we love working with kids, we love impacting their lives, and we LOVE summer vacation! We are so blessed to be able to spend such a significant chunk of time together as a family. And although it feels like we didn't do much, looking back, it's obvious that we had our share of adventures.
Here are some highlights from our vacation...

Hanging out with friends...

Long naps with Mommy...
Hiking Kearsarge as a family...
Lots of Daddy time and two trips to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents!
Spending a rainy week on the lake with family...
Renting a house on Sunapee with the Allenbys...
Lots of time with the Bensons and Allenbys all together!
Swimming in the kiddie pool...
Spending time with good friends...
Celebrating Camden's first birthday!
Spending a week on beautiful Lake George...
Camden's first kayak ride...
Saying goodbye to our first car...

Purchasing a new car!
Hanging out at home!
Jumping off Scott's shoulders in the lake...
Enjoying a family reunion with my mom's side of the family...
Lots of yummy ice cream!


Friends with babies!
Best friends from college...


Celebrating Ami's birthday with her on the Cape...

Loving the ocean...

Dancing in the sunset light...

Exploring the dunes...

Riding on tractors...

Fresh corn on the cob from the local farm...

Playing with cousin clara...


Another summer has come and gone...But we certainly packed as much fun and adventure in as possible! Can't wait for next year!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Hopkinton State Fair

Scott and I had a blast bringing Camden to the Hopkinton State Fair on Friday afternoon! We wandered around, checked out all the animals, ate some delicious fried food, watched part of the sheep dog show and sat on lots of tractors!!! Camden had a blast! He is at such a fun age right now and he started making all sorts of animal noises for the first time while we were looking at the animals! Here are some pictures from our adventure:









Seriously, the biggest pig I've ever seen...this picture doesn't do it justice.







Monday, August 31, 2009

W3N Reunion!!!

In the fall of 2000, I stepped foot onto Gordon College's campus as a nervous freshman. Ironically, I was moving into my dorm room which just happened to be the same exact room that my mom and her roommate Lynn (who I grew up knowing very well) had lived in when they were students at Gordon. I wasn't quite sure if this random connection to my mom's past made me feel comfortable and at home or weirded out, but I didn't have any other option...I was moving into the third floor of Wilson Hall and was facing all the same fears that every other freshman faced - Would I like my roommate? Would I make any friends? Would I make the soccer team? Would I be able to find my classrooms on the first day of classes? Would I ever get to know my teachers or would I just be another face in the crowd?

Needless to say, everything turned out wonderfully! I had an incredible experience at Gordon. I played soccer and basketball and LOVED every second of my involvement in athletics. I found my classrooms on the first day (thanks in part to my dear older sister) and loved my teachers (my two favorites I am still in good touch with thanks to facebook and an occasional visit to the North Shore). And, the best part, I made incredible friends. Friends I will have in my life for the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to have lots of different groups of friends - friends from soccer, basketball, classes and the dorm. What I didn't realize that first day when I was moving into my dorm was that God would bless me with incredible girls on my hall who would make me laugh, challenge me, encourage me and become my lifelong friendship group. We immediately bonded and still send multiple group emails to each other on a daily basis. We were lucky enough to spend last weekend together here at our house in New Hampshire. We used our apartment and also of a few of the dorm rooms so that we could all stay in the same place. We had a blast catching up, staying up late, going to the lake, and trying to keep up with our babies! Out of a group of eight girls, six of us were able to make it and it is definitely something we hope to do again.

Here are Tina, Jen and me my sophomore year in college...


Nina, me and Scott long before Scott and I were an item...


The six of us who were together last weekend at graduation in 2005... Now there are husbands and babies in the mix too!


Here are some pictures from our weekend together...









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