Beach Family Photo Shoot

I had planned on taking photos of the family while we were at the beach and managed to forget my nice camera. I was very disappointed but decided I would still go ahead and give it my "best shot" using my iPhone and I think they turned out ok.

Nathan, Mikayla, Zachary

The Stern Kids

The Stern Family

My Kiddos
Sarah, Ian, Emily

Zach and his girlfriend Brie

Mick & Geneva

Grandma

Mick & Kayla

We Are Family!

4 generations of 21 and 3/4 people, 5 dogs, and a tortuous..... All in one house in Manzanita. And it was fantastic!  We played cards, ate, played on the beach, ate, talked and talked, ate, played crainiam..... Oh and we ate!

Mother's Day

From my youngest.... The "Odored by the family" cracks me up. She meant Adored. :) love that kid!

The Breakfast Club

Our first trip of the year to the Lake Oswego Creamery for breakfast before school. Last year we went several times and for some reason here it is April and this is our first trip. I absolutely love doing this with the kids in the morning!

These two photos of us all together really crack me up. In the top photo we are all smiling and Ian is making a funny face and then we all make funny faces and Ian smiles. Silly boy!

Emily let me take a sip {but only a sip} of her hot chocolate

Weekly Snapshop

Outside my window... The sun is shinning..... in Palm Springs. Im on an unscheduled layover due to a mechanical yesterday.

I am thinking... that I have been gone from home for 5 days and I am READY to get home.

I am thankful for... the Via coffee and vanilla creamers in my bag this morning. Such a treat!

From the kitchen... I have no idea since I am not home at the moment

I am wearing... Jammies because I am still sitting in bed. I don't have to leave for a couple more hours.

I am creating... working on getting my 2011 blog book ready to be printed.

I am going... Home,  home, home! Yea!

I am reading... The Art of Fielding. Our current Book Club book.

I am hoping... that I make it home without another "hitch" this afternoon.

One of my favorite things... my new very light weight computer! It makes traveling with it so much nicer.

A few plans for the rest of the week... to enjoy the next couple of days off and get ready my next 5 days on call

Here is a picture thought I am sharing.

A photo the the girls {Olive too} and I on the drive home from Sunriver

A little family time!

Got a call from Gerri asking if my mom and I wanted to go yo brunch with her and Lou..... Ummmmmm YES!

I picked La Provence and the food was almost as good as the company.

Late Night Musing

I can't sleep and was looking through some Facebook posts and ran across a comment of a friend of mine on a heart baby. She is struggling and after over 4 month of fighting it is looking like she is losing the battle. I spent hours reading her parents blog and Facebook page and getting familiar with Zoe's life and struggle. I spent quite a bit of that time crying. Losses can not be compared and really the only thing we, this other mom and I, have in common is the fact that we both had heart babies and if her cute little baby Zoe loses her battle then we both will have lost our precious babies. 

Can't sleep and was looking through old photos and wanted to share one of my favorites of Matthew. This was the day we took him home after more than a month in the hospital. It's hard to believe it was 15 years ago.

After spending all that time with Zoe I got Matthews photo album out and spent a little time going though his photos and crying a bit more. 

This was one of my very favorite photos of Matthew, him only 1 month old and smiling at me and looking at me so intently. I miss my baby boy who would be 15 this year. At this point most days are better than not but it is sill amazing that after all this time my heart aches for Matthew. I can't help but wonder about all the things he would have been. 

I miss you baby Matthew. Forever & Always. Thank you for gracing our lives even if for such a short time. Love you baby boy. 

To the Moon & Back

love,

mom

Checked in at the Marriott's Kaua'i Lagoon

Holy Moly this place is nice AND they upgraded us to a pool view!

In the front of the lobby they had a pond of Koi fish and a few very personable ducks. We never did wake up and go watch them feed the fish but the fist were always hanging around the edge of this pond.

This place was so beautiful. This was the pool with 5 hot tubs around the edges and just on the other side of the pool was a fantastic beach. 

Our upgraded view!

Aloha Lihue !

Here we are ready to VACATION!

We were up at the crack of dawn to get on a flight to Seattle and then to Lihue. We made it out the door only forgetting Sarah's Kendal but lucky for her Daddy let her use his and he read on his phone. We booked our trip so late that we were not able to pick our seats on the flight to LIH and they were not able to get us moved together although the agent did move us within a few rows of each other.

Ian sat next to a couple and in "Ian" form managed to charm them with his quirky personalty. They loved him!

Emily luckily wasn't sitting too far from me so I could make sure she cooled down after she told me that she felt like she was going to get sick {that darn motion sickness!}. However, it turned out to be a good thing because the  passenger I was setting next to told me to make sure I got motion sickness medicine for the boat trip we were planning on taking and it proved to be a wonderful help!

Happy Birthday Matthew

I miss you so much my forever baby

15 years today I was blessed to be your mommy even for such a short time on earth. xoxox baby boy!

Celebrating Ryan

Such a difficult day today.... saying good-bye to Ryan who's time on earth was so short. It was a sobering day but also a day filled with good friends.

They handed out Irises to us all to put on Baby Ryan's coffin. It was a very sweet tribute to his life

It meant so much to me to be able to get to Fairbanks to be there for my sister Laura. Having gone through it myself it was difficult to see my littler sister going through such a difficult time but I felt like I was able to help even if just a little. She has a long road ahead of her getting through this grief. After the service at the grave side people brought food and gathered at Laura and Katie's house.

A smaller group of their closer friends stayed until past midnight laughing and supporting Laura and Katie. These girls had me laughing at times so hard that my cheeks hurt. At this time of the year it is light all night long so I had no idea that it had gotten so late.

These two cracked us up reenacting a photo taken of Katie when she was little.

A day with the Girlies

Emily was craving Bubble gum ice cream from the Lake Oswego Creamery so we made a plan to go but I had some returns to make so the only way the girls could get the ice cream was if they went shopping with me. First stop was the creamery. Strawberry and Rainbow Sherbert was Sarah's choice and Emily added Chocolate peanutbutter with her bubble gum and I had peppermint.

The girls had a fun time guessing the prices of the shoes and picked out a few favorites and played around with the mirror. 

Baby Ryan

I got such sad news about my new nephew Ryan. My little sister Laura delivered him at 22 weeks and he lived for an hour and she and Katie got to hold him and be with him and take some photographs. I was in total shock to get this very sad news and it has affected me deeply. Having lost my first child, Matthew,  also I would think I would know what to say to her but I find that it is the total opposite. Because of my own loss I know there is nothing to say.
She has shared a beautiful photo of her precious angle but out of respect to her and Katie I will not add it to my post but will keep it to cherish it on my own.
Im so sorry to know of another mother who must join this "club" that no one really wants to join. Those of us who have lost our babies.... She has a tough road ahead of her, all the firsts are difficult to bear but even for me 15 years later there are still those days that are hard to get through.

A Birth Healing Blessing

Blessed sister, beautiful one
with broken wings.
Your journey is a difficult one
that no mother should have to endure.
Your path is steep, rocky and slippery
and your tender heart is in need of gentle healing.

Breathe deeply and know that you are loved.
You are not alone,
though at times, you will feel like a
desolate island of grief
untouchable
distant.
Close your eyes.
Seek the wisdom of women who have walked this well-worn path before you,
before,
and before,
and before you yourself were born.
These beautiful ones
with eyes like yours
have shared your pain, and
weathered the storms of loss.

You are not alone (breathe in)
You will go on (breathe out)
Your wings will mend (breathe in)
You are loved (breathe out)

~ Mary Burgess
Author, Mending Invisible Wings,

Snow Day Fun

The kids all got out of their uniforms and got into their snow clothes to make the most of this unexpected snow day. They attempted to sled down the most awesome sledding hill but the snow is a bit to fluffy and they couldn't get much speed going. We are going to revisit the sledding hill maybe later.

Sarah got to work making her own snowman and spent quite a bit of time out there even after everyone else came in getting it just right.

I lent Ian my boots so I didn't have the right shoes so didn't stay out in the snow except for short moments

I'm not really sure what Ian was building but he was having a good time doing it!

Emily on the other hand was making a dragon

the beginning of the snow man

Olive LOVED playing in the snow. She chased snowballs and ran around in circles and insisted being in the snow as long as the kids were. Emily even spent some time throwing a tennis ball and Olive would leap through the snow to get it. Em even buried it for Olive to play hide and seek. Such a fun day. SO glad I made the decision to NOT go to school today. From what I understand they have no snow in Lake Oswego, only rain.

Em came in and asked for hot chocolate..... her favorite part of playing in the snow. We didn't have any marshmallows BUT we had whipped cream so I think she was quite happy.

Snow day!!!!!

The kids were hoping so much that we would have a snow day today but I got a phone call at six in the morning that said school had a two hour delay but there was still school today. They were super sad and moping around but I still made them get their uniforms aren't eat breakfast and get ready to go. We went to Sparas got our coats on gotten the car backpacks backed out of the garage as I called the school and talk to the school secretary. I told her we had a ton snow at the higher elevation and she said the kids wouldn't miss much today soooooo I made an executive decision and decided the Sedgewick kids were having a snow day today!

To Joey

To Joey,

Thank you for the year you gave our family. You brought us much laughter, love, and sloppy kisses. You were a pillow, a friend and an alarm clock for the kids.

Thank you, we will miss you greatly.

Love,

Your Family

xoxox

It has been an emotional weekend. Our 1-year old black lab, Joey, who has been featured in my photos quite a bit got sick on Thursday. He stared throwing up that morning and I took him to the vet several times over the next few days but truly never expected that we would lose him. I had to be up in Seattle on Monday and didn’t find out until late in the day that he was not going to recover. I drove home that night in a state of shock but now that I am home I keep getting reminded of just how empty the house and our life will be with out him.

I had a love hate relationship with that darn dog. More love really, but I didn’t want to get another dog when we lost our lab Ogee last year. I didn’t want the responsibility but I was overruled and the husband and kids brought him home. Before I knew it Joey got into my heart and now it is breaking. He treated the kids like littermates and I loved to watch him play with them. He will be missed more than I can really put words to.