The beauty of a ledger

Memories are tricky. When I think of memories, I think of personal experiences, stories that are told through generations, stories we tell ourselves, photos, and thanks to Malcom Gladwell, I think of their inherent unreliability. 

When I remembered I used to have a blog this morning, I searched for the website wondering if it would still be up. It took a few tries to remember the name, but the effort certainly paid off after a few searches. And just as an example of how unreliable memories are, I truly thought I had only written 3-5 posts. Looking back through the blog this morning, I saw THREE years worth of memories!

I have a tendency to remember the bad, the hard, the things I wished I had done differently, in and among some of the good. We are made up of what memories we have and stories we tell ourselves, so I have been actively trying to rewrite my narrative. When I found my blog this morning, it was such a beautiful reminder of what our life was like before we moved. It’s a beautiful ledger of our life and today I’m incredible grateful for this record and it’s purpose in helping me rewrite my narrative. 

ER trip

Well, last night was one for the books. While we were shopping last night Amelia found a friend and they started running around in circles, in a large open area. A few minutes later, she ran mouth first into a desk. There was a lot of blood and I totally panicked. I'd love to say that I didn't, but I promised Amelia we'd go see the dr and ran to the car. I had her hold a wipe on her mouth and apply pressure while we drove, and she did! 

The bleeding had stopped by the time we got to the ER, and I was able to look in her mouth. I was very surprised to see a 1" laceration right above her top teeth. 

The dr immediately decided she needed stitches. We had to put her in one of those kid straight jacket things to do the procedure. It was so, so awful to see her gum unattached to her mouth and watch all of the numbing shots and stitches going in. She screamed the entire time, but she let the drs do what they needed to do, and was so brave. I couldn't have been more proud. They gave her stickers and prizes after the stitches, and the first words she said were "this sticker is for me , and I'll give these to Kate." 

She was able to smile last night before the swelling set in. 

She woke up today saying "I'm not hurt anymore!" But her lip begs to differ. She's in great spirits, though! 

Kate and the expert

We went to a friends house for Thanksgiving, and over 15 of their relatives were there. Kate found Grandma Teddy (who is 90!), brought her a book, scooted in front of her and had her pick her up! 

Kate knows how to pick 'em. Grandma Teddy's a pro!

Frozen at Target

It just so happened that Amelia was wearing a princess dress when we went to Target today...and they had a Frozen themed backdrop and free Frozen goodies! 

Kate hated the free paper crown but she was all about the gummies. Duh. 

Sleep eating

Baby Kate fell asleep in the car with a yogurt pretzel in her hand yesterday. 

She looked so peaceful and content, so I snapped a picture at a stoplight. 

The next time I looked back I caught her sleep eating. 

Nothing can stop baby Kate! 

Working hands

Did I tell you that I'm selling wreaths at a holiday market this year? Well, I am. And I need to make a new wreath everyday for the next three weeks....which is why my hands look so lovely these days. 

Faux snow day

We were expecting a huge snow storm to hit Portland last night. It turned out to be freezing rain and no snow. School was still open, but I didn't want to risk it, so we stayed home. 

Thankfully, our sweet neighbors and awesome friends did too.