Welcome to the Family, David

I've been too busy enjoying newborn snuggles {and fighting sleep deprivation!} to have updated my space here. It's far past time to introduce the newest love of our lives:

David Robert Perry
Born March 31, 2016
9:38 am
8 lbs 8 oz
20.5 inches

David, born at 39 weeks and 4 days

David came out in an awful hurry, and thankfully I delivered him in the natural birthing center in our hospital, but only just! That will be my next post, to share David's birth story.

Besides David's grand entrance to the world, the week of his arrival contained its fair share of drama. After keeping our family healthy all winter long, Makenna became sick with a fever on Tuesday {David was born on Thursday}. I also came down with a scratchy throat and cough on Tuesday evening. Makenna was diagnosed with croup and on Wednesday morning, Matt took Makenna to the ER for a breathing treatment since her breathing had become too labored. Matt explained to the doctors they saw about Makenna's illness coinciding with the impending arrival of our second born, and they all stressed the importance of Makenna staying away from her newborn brother until her symptoms subsided. I was extremely stressed by what was occuring! When I was at my weekly OB appointment on Tuesday, my membranes had been stripped in an effort to bring on labor, so I was very worried about the timing of all of this.

We basically needed Makenna out of our house. for the safety of our baby about to arrive. So, my mom was our hero and drove over four hours to our house Wednesday afternoon, picked up Makenna, and turned around and drove our sweet girl another four hours back to her home in Indianapolis.

The timing was perfect for Makenna to be taken away, as David was born about 18 hours after Makenna left with my mom. And by God's grace, my own symptoms were not getting worse--I mostly felt as if I had a mild cold.

In retrospect, we can see God's hand in how the week played out, with Makenna's sickness requiring her to be taken away. We had originally planned that Matt's dad would drive over to stay with Makenna once I went into labor. Matt's parents live just under 2 hours away, so we of course had local friends who were on stand-by as backup. However, with the way my labor played out, especially how quickly it went, we realized Matt's dad would not have made it in time to watch Makenna for us, and our local friends were also occupied those morning hours. Thus, we've concluded that because Matt would have needed to stay with Makenna, and David came out so quickly, that its highly likely Matt would have missed David's birth before someone arrived to watch Makenna for us. God works in mysterious ways! He was certainly watching out for us and we are so thankful.

David is such a special little guy! At 8 lbs 8 oz, David weighed almost 2.5 more than Makenna did at birth {6 lbs 2 oz}. He is stocky and super strong! Even his forearms have rolls, which makes him look a bit like Popeye. He has the best chubby cheeks that are oh-so-kissable. He LOVES to eat and in his first month of life gained nearly three pounds!

David is named after Matt's dad, Dave, and after my dad, Bob. It was a joy for me to give him the middle name Robert, especially since both my brother and sister have had sons whom they have also given the middle names Robert after my dad. So I was privileged to be given a son to complete this circle!

Makenna was well enough to meet David when he was three days old. And now, we are all adjusting really well to becoming a family of four! David has been a relatively easy-going baby and that is a huge part of it. Makenna also adores being a big sister. She just loves David and thinks he is the cutest thing ever. {We'll see how long that lasts, once he becomes mobile and starts touching all of her things!} But for now, she loves helping take care of him, kissing him, reading to him, and snuggling him. Be still my heart!

It truly feels as though David has helped to complete our little family. He has already filled our lives and hearts with more joy than we ever could have imagined! He's seven weeks old as of today and we can't believe how much he's grown and changed in these few weeks. He's mostly wearing 3 month clothing and we are about ready to move him up to size 2 diapers. He's started smiling now and is very responsive to interaction, giving us lots of coos and gurgles. We just can't get enough of this little man!

I'm so excited to watch his little personality develop. He's already such a sweetie pie and my mother's heart is just beaming with pride. Thank you, Jesus, for our incredible blessing!

Stop the Clock

I'd like to devote today's post to the love of our lives, our little Makenna Rose:

We are enjoying her more and more everyday as her personality blossoms and especially as she says new, funny things on a daily basis.

To be honest, I see many qualities in Makenna that remind me of myself. She can be exceptionally sweet and affectionate yet can also be very stubborn. She is a girly-girl who loves to play dress up and play "tea party", but when we go outside or to the park, she's down in the dirt and sand, digging and getting very dirty. I will freely admit that I've tried {and succeeded!} to get her to fall in love with some of my favorite Disney films or favorite musicals: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music.

Makenna loves to perform. She sings and dances every day, so I'd say there's a good chance that dance class will be a hit with her when she's a little older. Even though dance is one of my greatest loves, I won't force it on her if she really doesn't care for it!

Makenna loves books, whether we are reading them to her or she is sitting alone, looking at the pictures. I have fantasies of reading some classics aloud to her as she gets older. I really hope she retains this love of books, or "sories" {stories}, as she calls them.

And it appears she may have even inherited my love of organizing?!?! She's certainly in that toddler phase of dumping toys onto the floor, but we regularly catch her arranging toys or items very precisely to her own liking.

Her own arrangement of treasures

This morning, the two of us went to the park. We enjoyed the swings, slides, sand, and play structures for well over an hour. The sun was out, warming our skin. As I sat on the swing next to Makenna {because she told me, "Mommy, sit. Swing."}, I thought about the sweetness of these precious days together. The days when we can have adventures together all day, just the two of us, before she gets bigger and has to start school. It was such a good reminder to savor these moments, because they go so quickly, and I know all too soon I'll look back and long for this time with Makenna again.

I so often wonder how it is that Matt and I were blessed with such a wonderful little girl. She makes us feel like the luckiest parents in the world. We never could have dreamed of the love, joy, and fun she'd bring into our lives.

Makenna Turns Two

We can scarcely believe it, but our little Makenna Rose turned the big *TWO* this month. Wasn't it just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital?

We decided to forgo a big party this year and have a small, intimate celebration with family. Our home is teeny-tiny, anyhow; eight adults, one toddler, and a small dog make it feel plenty crowded enough!

Both sets of grandparents were present, as well as "Uncle Aaron" and "Aunt Hunter." Temperatures were bitterly cold outside, but we stayed warm and toasty as we celebrated this special little lady of ours.

Like last year, I decided to make a homemade birthday cake for Makenna. Randomly enough, I took a Wilton Cake Decorating course at age fourteen. It was me and about eight other middle-aged women. I loved it! I've kept all my specialty cake-decorating tools since then but sadly have seldom utilized them. I figured if there's any good excuse to put my mediocre skills to use, it's for the birthday of our own child!

In case you're wondering, that's Peppa Pig on her cake, from Makenna's favorite TV program. {It's really rather adorable because it's a British show, so all the little characters have British accents!} I'm pleased enough with how the cake turned out given that I began the process of decorating it at 9:00 p.m. the evening prior to our celebration. However, it's made me itch to put in even more time and effort into future cake/cupcake decorating endeavors.

I utilized the banner I made for Makenna's birthday last year and simply replaced the "1st" with "2nd."

As the party got underway, Makenna was relishing being the center of attention!

It was such a fun-filled, happy event. Makenna loved every moment, as did we! A special thank you to all our families for putting in so much effort to make our little girl feel loved, even if you weren't there to celebrate with us in person!

A Letter to Gramma

As I sit here in the quiet, sipping tea from the bone china teacup and saucer passed down to me from my Grandma, I find myself at a loss for words.

It has been a little over one month now since my Grandma Dorsey passed away. This is the third grandparent I have lost in less than three years' time. But I have to admit I'm processing the loss of my "Gramma" much differently than when I lost my Grandpa's.

I suppose it is quite natural that typically, a granddaughter should feel closer to her grandmother and a grandson to his grandfather, with being of the same gender. It is no exception with me. I will freely admit I feel closer to both of my grandma's than I did to my grandpa's, simply because we have bonded over so many female-things, similar interests, and shared personality traits. As a girl, I spent much more time in the company of my grandmas than my grandpas. My love for all four of my grandparents is equal, but yes, I share a special closeness with my Grandmas that I didn't share with my Grandpas.

Now I have lost one of my Grandmas. My sweet, beloved Gramma, Ethel Dorsey, passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve. It was perfectly fitting--Christmas Eve was her favorite day of the year, the day when her entire family of kids and grandkids came together to celebrate Christmas.

I had the distinct privilege of reading my Gramma's life story at her funeral service. I was nervous because I am quite an emotional person and when I get emotional and try to speak at the same time, the result is less than pretty. Thankfully I made it through, with some emotional shakiness to my voice near the end. I added in a few personal words about my Gramma. I sincerely would have loved to say so much more but I knew I lacked the strength to say all I wanted to say without completely breaking into sobs.

Since the day of my Gramma's funeral, I have wanted to write something here to commemorate her life and my deep love for her. Yet I have found so much rolling around within my mind and so many emotions in my heart that I truly didn't know where to begin. I have laid awake many nights, staring at the sky through our sunroof, trying to carefully piece through all I want to say about my Gramma. I knew I needed to write about her and as writing is a form of therapy for me, my need to write has grown with each passing day.

Finally, it came to me that I can best process the loss of my Gramma by writing to her. So, I shall.

At the Oregon Coast, March 2009

Dear Gramma,

I am sure you knew that as your granddaughter, I loved you very, very much. Yet I'm not sure you ever really knew just how deeply I loved you and sincerely adored you. Even now as an adult, I feel a great sense of awe and reverence for you. I respect you, and I want to be like you in many ways.

Reflecting back over the years, I am overwhelmed by the warm, happy, and loving memories we share together. I can remember how wonderful it was to be wrapped in your big "hello" hug and I can still remember your sweet smell. I close my eyes and I hear your voice. Then I am there in yours and Grampa's house, sharing a meal at the kitchen table or playing cards and board games for hours. I hear your chuckle and as we chat you say, "Oh, is that right?" as your most frequent exclamation. I hear the tick, tick, tick in the stairwell as I climb the stairs to the bathroom with the red velvet-striped walls. I hop on the stepping stones in your beloved garden and dip my finger in the stone bird bath. I admire all of your lovely collectibles you've brought home from your many travels abroad. I sit on the smooth stone in front of the living room fireplace as you and Grandpa sit in your blue chairs in front of the big picture window, trying your hardest not to doze off {sometimes unsuccessfully}. I felt so safe, so warm, so happy in your home--it was a real second home to me, filled with delightful memories.

You never ceased to amaze me at how many details you remembered about my life, my friends, and my hobbies, despite the fact that I was your tenth grandchild, one who lived on the other side of the US. You always made me feel so incredibly special. I was yours, your one and only precious Deanne. You doted on me and I knew just how much you loved me.

This past Thanksgiving, a few weeks before you passed away, I shared a very special and sacred moment with my mom and Erin. For the very first time ever, we took out your wedding dress. You had never taken it out of the box it was preserved in, even to show it to my mom.

A hushed silence came over the three of us as we took in the beauty and significance of this satin gown. It was exquisite. We were in awe, and suddenly, I felt your presence there in the room with us.

And then, a monumental moment in my life: I tried on your wedding dress. I stepped out of the changing room and instantly my mom's eyes flowed with tears. We embraced for a long time. We admired every detail of your dress: the point at the cuff of the sleeves, the long, silky train, the very slight puff of the sleeves at the shoulder, the gathering of the fabric at the waist, the delicate trail of buttons all the way down the back, and the lovely veil. It was so simple but so unbelievably elegant. I had seen your wedding photos but seeing your dress in person took my breath away. It was one of the loveliest things I have ever seen.

As I stood in front of the mirror, wearing your dress and admiring it, a very profound thought came into my mind: I would not exist if it weren't for this dress. 

Because you put on that dress and pledged your heart to Grandpa on your wedding day, I exist. You gave my mom life, and therefore you gave me life. It's all a rather simple premise, yet in that moment I was overwhelmed by your contribution to my life. It was one my top life-moments, and I became acutely aware of how you and I belong to one another; how I truly came from you.

Mom, Erin, and I also shuffled through all of the other mementos you saved along with the dress. Most of it consisted of ticket stubs from your honeymoon to the seaside, the receipts of the purchase of your gown, veil, and Grandpa's wedding suit, and records scribbled in your handwriting of various other wedding or honeymoon-related expenses. In that moment, I realized how very much I am like you in that way--keeping mementos from special occasions and events.

And then I suddenly remembered a very specific memory from my early childhood and realized that it was you who taught me to keep scrapbooks. I must have been about six, and you were visiting our home in Spokane, Washington. I vividly remember sitting at the dining room table with you. You presented me with a brown leather book with the words "Scrapbook" in gold on the front. It was the kind were you peeled back the cellophane from each page and stuck things down onto the sticky page. We sat for a long time, you and I, as you helped me leaf through lots of magazines to find pictures I liked to cut out and add to the scrapbook. We added lots of other things like postcards, stickers, and the front of greeting cards. We had filled the scrapbook together and it was something I treasured throughout my childhood. 

Now I have scrapbooks filled with all sorts of important little things. I save movie ticket stubs {and note who I saw the movie with}, old photos, newspaper clippings, wedding or baby shower invites from family or close friends, museum tickets, old driver's licenses or photo ID cards from high school and college...the list goes on. I've realized my affinity for the saving and scrapbooking of these sorts of things came from you. I really love these scrapbooks and I continue to create them to this day. I wish I could show them to you.

I have to tell you how excruciatingly difficult it was to watch you struggle with dementia over these past many years. You were you, yet you weren't, and with time more of you slipped away, little by little. My heart was so sad as I watched you struggle with forgetfulness, confusion, and sadness. It was cruel to watch, but more cruel to experience, I am quite sure. You told us many times you were ready to "go home" to heaven and as your family, none of us wanted to see you struggle with this awful illness any longer, lest it worsen. Now, we praise the Lord, not only because you are home with our Heavenly Father, but because you are finally free.

As I've observed your mind slip away over the past years, I found myself feeling more drawn to you, longing for a connection. I wanted to feel you here with me, despite all the thousands of miles between us physically and all the growing fuzziness of your mind. So I have found ways in which I keep you with me and I cling to these things all the more now that you are physically gone.

Do you remember when you gave me the gold heart locket, the one with the delicate engraving on the front? It has two pictures inside: one of you when you were four years old, and a picture of my mom when she was four years old. You mailed it to me without explanation in high school. I began wearing it frequently over the past ten years or so. In fact, I consider it one of my very most treasured belongings. I wore it on the day of your funeral, and I will wear it for the rest of my life, feeling a wonderful connectedness to you as it hangs near my heart.

I am also proud to possess the beautiful oil painting of the sun setting over the ocean shore, done by your sister, Pinky. Because it hung on the wall opposite the bed of your guest room, I grew up gazing at that painting each time I stayed in your home. I loved the painting so much that I even used to go up to the bedroom just to "nap," which was really an excuse to lay on the bed, listen to my portable CD player, and gaze at the painting. I loved doing that as my little way to "recharge" in my own introverted manner. Now the painting proudly hangs in our beach-themed guest room. I have other mementos from the Oregon coast in that room which always remind me of you and Grampa, yet it is this painting alone that evokes such strong memories of our happy visits to your home.

In all of these little ways, Gramma, I carry you with me each day. Yet I hope that I can best honor you and your life by the way I live mine. So many of the things that were most important to you are also the things that Matt and I value and practice within our own home. Most namely: the love of family and the love of Christ. We cherish and adore our family, both immediate and extended, just as you and Grampa did. And we strive to center our daily lives around Christ and honoring Him, just as you and Grampa did. In practicing our faith and raising our children to come to know and love Jesus is the most important and meaningful way I believe we can honor your life and Grampa's life.

I always knew how proud you were of me and I hope I can continue to make you proud. You may be physically gone from this earth, but I hold onto your love and memory in my heart. I will never be able to thank you enough for all the memories, the love, the life you have given to me. I praise God for knowing that I can thank you again one day in person when we reunite in heaven. I will once again be wrapped in your wonderful, loving arms, and I will never let you go.

In loving memory of one of the loveliest women I've ever known.

Recounting Fall, part one: The Family Wedding and Our Tiny Flower Girl

The very last of autumn's leaves have faded and nearly all have fallen to the earth. The brisk and pleasant temperatures have disappeared all too quickly and we have suddenly found ourselves in the midst of what appears to be the onset of winter.

Now here it is, mid-way through November, and I haven't written on my blog for almost two months. But I simply must rewind a bit and share because the past weeks have been absolutely marvelous with the wonderful things filling them. In fact, October itself was downright epic.

I will not begin by backtracking in chronological order, but instead regale you with the single event that helped make October so spectacular: Matt's youngest brother got married! His bride and our newest family member is named Hunter and she is as sweet and lovely as they come.

The wedding was such a fun-filled, loving, and gorgeous event. Hunter especially poured so much of herself into making the details reflect her own lovely style.

I took lots of photos of the details:

Two different flavors of tea bags were inside:

I felt utterly honored and blessed that Hunter asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. {No surprise: I was the oldest one--yikes!} Back in 2008 I was asked to be a bridesmaid to my other sister-in-law, Jennie. How very sweet that both of my sister-in-laws asked me to stand with them on their wedding days!

Me and my lovely mother-in-law, pre-ceremony:

Here is the stunning Hunter, taking a final pre-ceremony once-over of herself. Isn't her dress just exquisite?

A quick photo op:

Not only were Matt and I both in the wedding party, but Makenna was one of the two flower girls. The other flower girl was our darling niece, Cora. If you recall, Cora is only 8 weeks younger than Makenna and having them as flower girls together was absolutely priceless.

We were all holding our breath to see how the girls behaved during their part of the ceremony. After all, this can be a precarious age with boundless energy and the inability to understand the importance of the occasion. We planned to have Hunter's youngest sister pull the girls down the aisle in a wagon. We didn't expect them to drop petals, just sit and look pretty.

The best photos we have currently are blurry iPhone pics, but still cute nonetheless.

{Makenna is munching on puffs as they wait their turn to go down the aisle. We'd sprinkled those in the wagon to help keep them preoccupied!}

{Thanks to our friend, Jalene, for capturing these photos!}

I am happy to report that both girls behaved during their part, and that they just loved being the center of attention! Cora blurted out "Dada!" when she spotted her dad up front and both girls smiled and waved at the guests. Then, when they reached the end of the aisle, Makenna decided to be a real ham and lay down in the wagon and thrust her feet and arms into the air. Of course this got lots of laughs and she loved that. She sat back up as they were being wheeled back out of the sanctuary and Makenna was laughing loudly and covering her mouth with her hands. I know the wedding photographer got a few shots of Makenna's comedic moment and hopefully I'll be able to share those photos soon!

The reception was a blast, as well. The girls loved socializing and dancing. They were both exhausted at the end of it all. {As were we!}

{I heart this photo!}

It was a really lovely, very memorable day!

The entire Perry family is thrilled that Aaron found such a beautiful woman, both inside and out, to join our clan and cherish as our own for the rest of our lives. Congratulations, Aaron and Hunter!

Happy 18 Month Birthday, Makenna!

Makenna has now officially reached a year and a half. She is so full of life, energy, giggles, silliness, and sweetness!

Here's a little update about what Makenna's like at this age:

• As most toddlers, she hardly ever sits still. She's a runner, jumper, and climber.
• This girl loves to dance. She dances on command, spins in circles, and walks on her tip-toes--clearly she'll end up in dance class!
• She still loves any and all strangers, which is very sweet, but also means we'll have to be more and more careful with her.
• She's adding new words on almost a daily basis. So far, we've got: Mama, Dada, Hi, Bye-Bye, Done, More, Up, Duck, Hot Dog {thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse}, Doggie, and Amen. Then she jabbers in her own language all the time. Once she really starts talking, I have a feeling we won't be able to get her to stop.
• If you ask her about these animals, she'll tell you what they "say": Cow, Duck, Monkey, or Lion. Oh, and dinosaur, too.
• She is still a fantastic sleeper and a good eater on most days, though she has her picky toddler moments.
• She is still mostly wearing 12-month clothing. Her 18-month wellness check isn't until next week, but six weeks ago, she weighed in at 20 pounds and 3 ounces. I'm guessing she's somewhere in the 21 pound-range now.
• Makenna adores books and brings us book, after book, after book to read. I have many books of hers memorized word for word, cover to cover.
• She also loves to "sing" and sometimes when she's singing along, she will throw her hands in the air during the dramatic parts.
• She has upwards of twelve teeth now, including many molars.
• She has become more attached to the little bunny she sleeps with and her paci {actually, we call her paci the Hungarian word for it, which sounds like "Sue-mee", just because we like it!}. We want to wean her from the paci soon, but also want to make sure we don't do it in the middle of a teething episode.

And now, I would like to devote a moment to talk about her hair. 

I do love Makenna's hair and naturally, as her mother, I think it's gorgeous. Now that it's longer it has all these natural waves, too. But I also have a bit of a love/hate relationship with her hair. Most 18 month-olds do not have long hair like this. It is constantly getting messy from food and teething drool. She's too young to be patient enough to sit still for me to do her hair nicely so I always feel like it looks disheveled. Plus, although she has lots of hair, it's super-fine, which means it slides out of elastics easily. After any nap, I have to re-do the elastics in her hair because they have slid out. It's like her hair is an entity of its own. Still, I do love how unique it makes her! I am loving the blonde streaks that are appearing this summer; it almost looks like she's gotten highlights.

I might as well take this time to add in a few things I haven't mentioned before related to Makenna, though these are very belated thoughts.

• People have asked where we came up with Makenna's name and middle name. I had been holding onto the name Makenna as a favorite girl name possibility since high school. I first thought of it when watching one of my favorite movies, Somewhere In Time. {This film was incidentally filmed on Mackinac Island}. The main character in the movie is so lovely and elegant, and her name is Elise McKenna. That's when I first decided that McKenna would make a beautiful first name.
• Matt and I had differing opinions on how we should spell Makenna's name. He wanted the way that we spell it now {Makenna} and I liked McKenna. He didn't like the "Mc" because it literally means "son of." And his opinion is that the "Mc" should be for last names only. Makenna was my 2nd choice of name-spelling, and since the name Makenna was my suggestion in the first place, I agreed that we should go along with his preferred spelling and make sure he felt really good about it.
• We had the aforementioned discussion about the spelling of Makenna's name at various points during the pregnancy, but we finalized our decision in the car, on the way to the hospital in the middle of the night, after my water had broken.
• We chose "Rose" for several reasons. First of all, it's my favorite flower. We've both always liked the name "Rose" in general, but I felt especially drawn to it. We also felt that a shorter middle name sounded better with "Makenna."
• Since I was a teenager, I had also held the name "Katie" in my mind as one of my top choices for a girl's name. Then, not too long after we got married, a certain pop star made her way into the mainstream music world. {If you don't recall, our last name is Perry.} I was really hoping that her debut smash hit called "I Kissed A Girl" would be a one-hit-wonder and then she'd fade into oblivion. No such luck. She took the name I had wanted, and her real last name isn't even "Perry"!
• I never got a picture of my pregnant belly at 39 weeks. With our apartment-to-first-house move occupying so much of our time at 36 weeks pregnant, that was the last time we took a "bump" photo. It was on my "to do" list to get one last "bump" pic before Makenna's due date, but since she came early, it never happened. And honestly it just didn't cross my mind to do it at the hospital!

Makenna makes us smile and laugh constantly. What a joy she is to us! We can hardly remember life before her and we treasure her little life beyond all compare. Thank you, Jesus, for our darling little girl!