So Long, Summer!

Just like that, we're heading into Labor Day weekend, into football season.

All smiles at the pool - 8/26/17

The weeks are flying by, and we are all a little overstimulated. We had Chris's birthday, Elizabeth traveling for work, Elizabeth's birthday, a big house party, meeting lots of neighbors, and a quick weekend trip to SoCal. Not to mention that both of us have pretty intense work obligations this time of year.

Oh yeah, and we got lice!

Whenever we think we'll have some down time, it just doesn't happen. We haven't had time to sit down and settle on a name for Bitty. We haven't put closet doors in our bedroom yet. We haven't been hiking in months.

All that said, it's been an enjoyable summer. Everett enjoys things like cake and presents this year, and he participates in video chats which brightens up work trips (or working late).

Playing at playgrounds and in the back yard - August, 2017

We took the time to walk around and meet the neighbors. It was very nice to introduce ourselves to the people who live on our street. We invited them to our open house party and quite a few took us up on the offer. Of course, inviting them into our home meant opening up to questions about Oberon. Chris was more vocal about it than Elizabeth, but it was good to get our story out there. We don't want to hide him, but it's still difficult to talk about in small talk situations.

The open house was a wonderful day. It actually felt relaxing and enjoyable to spend time with the people we share our life with here. So much so, that we didn't take a single picture! There were kids playing in our yard and adults having happy conversation. It felt...good. If you'd asked us a year or two ago, we wouldn't have been able to say for sure whether we'd ever have a day like that again. Whether we'd ever feel comfortable in a group social situation like that again. We're not sure whether it's that many people already knew about Obie, or that we were in "our space" where Obie is everywhere, or simply that more time has passed. It's never going to feel normal to have a child that isn't alive. But it's also our reality, every day, and has been for coming up on three years.

Hanging in Obie Corner - 8/2/2017

The visit to SoCal was a little hard on our hearts. Seeing our nieces interact with Everett is so joyful, so wonderful, that we can't help but wish Oberon was growing up with the cousins too. We miss him. And we feel guilty when life takes up so much space that we don't give him the attention he deserves.

 Mom: Did you just eat sand? Evie: No...yes. 8/26/2017

29 weeks with Bitty - 8/29/2017