Babies and Family History = Perfection

I have so many baby photos and videos to share! That little Jack is just SO CUTE!! He is growing wonderfully and eating contentedly, so what more can we ask for?

Monday: Jack went in to get a certain little procedure done (we will just whisper here that it was a circumcision). It can be traumatic for both baby and parents, but since the hospital staff takes care of it while the parents wait in another room, it allows for the concerned parents to swoop in and comfort their baby after it's all done.

Jacob sent us this picture after it was all done and they were ready to bring Jack home. As I looked at his sweet face, I could see remnants of tears in his eyes from crying. Poor baby. But we know it's all for a good reason. But still. Poor baby. :)

As for me, I went a-digging through my Rawles family history storage bin downstairs for much of the afternoon. I was inventorying and trying to find a couple of things. It's always fun to re-discover things that I forgot I even had. Like this heirloom needlework that my great grandmother, Kate Lee Orr Rawles, made. She would have made it around 1900-1910. I'm not sure why I don't have it in a frame and hanging somewhere in the house . . . I think I'll work on that very soon.

And it was really fun to look through my great-aunt Naynee's book of poems from the 1930's roughly. Her name was June Carol Rawles, but somehow she became Aunt Naynee. I think it was because the younger children couldn't pronounce her name and so it turned into this instead.

She was celebrating her 17th birthday in 1930 so her family and friends each wrote her a little poem in her small booklet.

This is what her mother, Kate Lee Orr Rawles (my great grandmother) wrote.

This is what her father, Eugene Carlton "Bob" Rawles, wrote.

Her 14 year old brother, Jesse Rawles, wrote this entertaining gem. :)

Her 8 year old sister, Mary Katherine Rawles, wrote this as best as she could. "I love you little. I love you big. I love [you] like a giant big pig."

Her 10 year old brother, Gene Rawles, wrote this one. (I really love this one!)

And surprisingly, her grandmother, Louisa Jane Tarwater Rawles, even wrote something! While she didn't write a verse of any kind, she did sign her name! So that's pretty awesome! Louisa was born in 1849 and died in 1935. She is my 2nd great grandmother.

After spending a chunk of the afternoon digging through boxes, Scott and I decided to take the girls on a walk before dinner. The wind was blowing from the arctic north that day, and we didn't make it very far before it was just too cold to continue. While Scott and Gwen trudged on, even jogging to get a bit more warmed up, Abby and I turned back at her request. We decided to find a cozy spot on a curb in the full sun to still be outside and just talk for a bit before heading the rest of the way home.

I took this photo of our dinner (pork chops in a creamy mushroom sauce) because Jacob is regularly sending us photos of what he's making and is always curious what the rest of us are cooking up. Our dinner turned out to be extremely tasty and Scott kept saying, "I just love this restaurant! Let's eat here more often!"

Tuesday: I started the day by doing a 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I went in fasting, had to slug down a syrupy lemon-lime drink (that appeared to be twice the volume that I remembered choking down several years ago), and then sat in a cozy chair and waited out my sentence while getting my blood drawn every 30 minutes. I have a theory that something has changed with my insulin resistance and pre-diabetes in the last 4 months. I'm waiting to confirm that.

At least I got to watch HGTV while I waited. :) I'm still waiting to hear the results from my provider, even though I have the actual numbers of each 30 minute blood draw. I just don't know what it all means.

I got to talk to Kylie that day, too. She is just so darn cute! Sometimes I take screenshots while I'm talking to her, just because I love her cute face so much! (I hope she doesn't mind)

Her cat, Maybelle, found the perfect perching spot on her shoulders while we chatted.

She is counting down the days until Benson returns from Greece and they can be together again. Her pregnancy is going well, especially since she is on some good medication to help combat the nausea and vomiting tendencies. She loves to read to pass the time, and when Benson gets back they are going to start on an exercise regimen together.

I bought my airline tickets to go to Italy this fall! I hope all is well with the borders being open by then, and hopefully my vaccine will give me some sway as well. I will fly over on September 24th and return home to the U.S. on November 14th. We are going to have so much fun!!

Last Sunday, when the Primary children sang happy birthday to Abby and Scott (actually to me, since he was off doing army drill that day), they gave the birthday recipients a cute note, a crazy straw, and a packet of Kool-Aid. The primary leaders told me that they would love to see a picture of Scott drinking out of the crazy straw, just for fun. So we staged this to share with the leaders.

Later in the afternoon, I made some chocolate dipped strawberries for our young women's activity that evening. We had a Spa Night and it was really fun for the girls. They wanted to do face masks, paint their nails with gel polish, and eat chocolate dipped strawberries. We also watched a movie, "Once I Was a Beehive", a cute movie that I had never seen before. It's on Amazon Prime.

I also dipped some Ruffles potato chips. They turned out quite tasty! Truth be told, they only need a tiny bit of chocolate. I might have overdone it . . . But then chocolate is our friend. So no amount of chocolate is too much really . . . :)

We masked

We painted

We watched

And at the end of the night, we got our daily photo of Jack. :)

Wednesday: I made some cupcakes to deliver to the young women and a handful of other people in the ward and neighborhood. I had originally intended to prepare them before Easter, but then had to wait because I got sick. So now they are just cupcakes that are decorated to celebrate spring time! :)

Jacob also shared this in our family group text: "A little salute"

Click here to see the full entertaining video: (7 seconds)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RQb2cgGXhHWHJGA98

Also, in going through the Rawles family history bin downstairs, I found this hand crocheted doily that my great grandmother, Kate Lee Orr Rawles made (roughly 100 years ago, maybe more).

Thursday: The many faces of Jack. :)

Those screenshots came from this video clip: (26 seconds) SOUND ON

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fso3W3mqWoyS7DCH6

Jacob and Hannah report that Jack's most dynamic times of the day are when they are trying to wake him up to eat. That's why most of the pictures show him half-dressed or less, ha ha.

Later in the afternoon, I took the girls with me on a walk (maybe 1/4 mile) to deliver a cupcake to a girl that wasn't home the night before. It was fine on the way over, but it started to hail on us as we walked home, so we had to hurry a bit faster!

They were good sports about it.

Friday: Date night for Scott and me. I helped Amber with some packing and organizing throughout the day, and then Scott and I went out to dinner and a short walk in the early evening.

It was much colder than we anticipated, so we just ate our dinner in the car. We stopped at a Mexican food truck across town, trying them out for the first time. It was delicious! Scott got a sweet pork burrito and I got something I had never heard of before: a Huarache. (pronounced war-otchay) They put al pastor (pork) on a good sized corn tortilla, with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cotija cheese and some freshly squeezed lime. It was super fun and yummy!

Then it was selfie time, ha ha

Saturday: I finished up a couple of baby blankets for a friend of the family, Tristyn Williams Fullmer. She was Benson's best friend for a long time in high school, and is now a close friend of both Kylie and Benson both. Tristyn is due to have her first baby with her husband in a couple weeks. I always loved when she would come over to hang out at our house. She, like so many others, calls me Mama Harmon.

I made her two receiving blankets, along with a matching "snuggly". I call it a snuggly because it's just a small square of flannel (well, it's really two pieces that are sewn together) that you can snuggle up to the baby's neck or cheek when they're in their car seat, or let them fiddle with the lace around the edges in church, etc.

I had the girls help me pick out a couple of cute outfits on behalf of Benson and Kylie, who obviously couldn't be here in person. The outfit on the right is actually a one-piece baby swimsuit! It zips up for convenience. :) (Found at Target in case you're wondering)

Abby came with me to the baby shower, her first that she's ever attended. She had a great time!

And Tristyn loved all of the gifts! She is going to make such a wonderful mom! She is so fun and has a great sense of humor, qualities that will be so helpful in any situation.

While Abby and I were at the baby shower, Amber paused in her packing endeavors in order to paint a dresser. With Gwen's help, it is coming right along! The primer is on now, as well as a couple of coats of a mossy green shade. She intends to add a few creative touches to the drawer fronts before they move.