Heading Into Fall...

I haven't updated my sweet little blog in far too long.  Partly that's because I've taken a new and special interest in growing my food blog and seeing where it could lead (and that is taking most of my spare time these days.)  And partly it's because I've been recording most of my surgery updates on a separate (private) blog where I can include photos of my breast reconstruction.  It sorta feels like there's not much left to write about here... even though that's not true.  Elsa definitely deserves more documentation. :)

The surgery stuff has been such a long road compared to what we expected.  The original plan was to have the mastectomy in May and then exchange the tissue expanders for permanent implants in August.  But instead, an unfortunate post-surgery infection delayed all that.  I had my right expander removed prematurely to treat the infection, and I'm only just now getting to have the left expander removed (this coming Friday... 5 months later!)  And on top of all that, there'll be a 4th (and hopefully final) surgery later in December, to correct a few aesthetic issues that resulted from the emergency surgery we had to do on my right side when we found the infection.

So much surgery!  My least favorite part is getting the IV.  I HATE shots.

Surgery stuff aside... life has been sweet.  Elsa is now 14 months old!  She can say a handful of little words... but the most impressive new one is "doggy."  It's her first word with two different syllables.  (Not just one that repeats, like "ma-ma" or "da-da.")  It actually sounds a little more like "Doh-gey" than "Doggy."  SO cute!  She can also say, "Up" when she wants to be picked up.  I love hearing her talk.  She has the sweetest voice in the world.

This weekend, we participated in one of my favorite activities of the year.  Our annual "Cousin Weekend."  It is a tradition that began a few years ago when many of us Dells/Burchams/Caseys were all students at Harding.  We'd gather in nearby Little Rock at our Aunt & Uncles house for a weekend of fellowship, food, games, singing, laughing, and so on.  We've continued the tradition, despite the fact that many cousins have spread out a little farther across the country.  It is just a glorious time!  I seriously see it as a little slice of Heaven.

This year was especially neat since there were so many little baby girls present.  Elsa happens to have quite a few girl cousins within a year of her age!  They were too cute running around in the grass, chasing Betsy's dog Yaddie, stealing each other's toys, and riding along in the hay wagon.

And a favorite memory with Elsa that I definitely want to record was that Chris finally broke down and let me bring Elsa into our bed to sleep with us!  It is so funny because a mere year ago I was so hardcore against co-sleeping.  We didn't want to start a habit that would be hard to break, for one thing.  Safety was another concern.  Quality sleep was yet another.  And I do still see it as beneficial to give baby and mommy and daddy their own space, don't get me wrong.   But it just feels like Elsa is growing up so fast!  And I can't squelch the urge to just want to snuggle with her all the time!  Lately, since she's so active during the day, I always find myself wishing I could bring her to bed with me so I could just hug her close all night.  Well, finally my wish came true at cousin weekend.  She was in the same room as us anyway, so I guess Chris thought, "What the hey?"  And truth be told, neither Chris nor I slept much at ALL.  Elsa was rolling here, there, and everywhere... and sitting up and thwacking us in the face with her arms, etc etc.  But I LOVED IT SO MUCH.  She'd lay there with her cheek rested right on my face and let me hold her in a full-body hug without wriggling away.  How could anyone wish to be sleeping at a time like that?  I sure wasn't missing it.  We're back home now and she's resting peacefully in her own bed, where I'm sure she will remain most nights.  But maybe here and there we can sneak in a few more snuggly nights before she grows up too big.

This is definitely not a comprehensive update.  But those are way too intimidating anyway.  This is just a snapshot!

I'm loving Elsa's 1-year old stage and all the things she's learning to do.  (Although fit-throwing is definitely on that list and is not my favorite.)  It is just fun to see her personality grow.  She loves social situations.  She LOVES dogs.  She's quite fearless and not at all sensitive about new things, places, or people.  And she's just recently switched from favoring Daddy to favoring Mommy.  Can't say I mind too much, but it does get a bit frustrating when I'm trying to cook dinner and she refuses to be even a foot away from me without screaming.  We're definitely cresting the hill of a new phase with her, one where discipline will begin to be part of our roles as parents.  It's a daunting thing.  Having discernment about when to "correct" vs. when to "disclipline" and of course, the issue of "how" to administer discipline.  We are definitely not perfect parents, but we pray for God to guide us every step of the way as the journey unfolds.

So my favorite season is shaping up to be pretty awesome so far!  Now if we could just get my new fake boobs to the point of completion. :)  But even in the craziness of that situation, life is good.  Nothing at all to complain about when you're this blessed.