Elder Josh

It's a little bit after the fact, but Josh came home about two weeks ago. It was great to see him. He was the same old chill, quirky (weird) guy, but with a great Portuguese accent. It was the first time all four of us siblings have been together since my wedding. Though Ben would step in here and say that it's the five of us, and he wasn't there, so we weren't "all" together. Either way, I'm proud of Josh, and I'm happy to have him home.

Missouri and Nauvoo

The most recent part of our summer has not gone according to plan. The day after we returned from Traverse City, my brother Geoff asked if he could come visit us before he moved from St. Louis, where he's been working this summer, back to Provo.

He stayed with us for a few days and then I decided to drive back with him to Missouri to spend some time at my parents' house. We've known for some time that my next youngest brother, Josh, has been having knee problems. He is on a mission in Brazil and warned us that he could get sent home early for surgery (he was originally scheduled to finish his mission at the end of October). When his return became more imminent, I decided to come down here so I could be here when he returned. We expected him to come back last week, but he is set to fly in tomorrow. This means a lot of time away from Ben.

Luckily, we had planned a trip to Nauvoo with my parents, so I was able to see Ben briefly this weekend. I love visiting the place where we were married. It was the best decision I ever made, to be married to such a wonderful man in such a wonderful place.

Cherries and whatnot

I'm a bit behind. We've been very busy. I have a lot to catch up on, so I'll start with July.

For the Fourth of July, we went to Greenfield Village for fireworks and a concert. 

We also did sparklers in our yard, which Henry loved. He called them "dancing with Mom and Dad."

For my birthday weekend, we took a trip to Traverse City.

We climbed the famous Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Henry ran up and rolled down then climbed up then slid back down over and over, all while giggling.

We also visited North Bar Beach, a wonderful, shallow stretch of beach connecting Lake Michigan and a smaller, warmer lake. 

Not that water temperature mattered much. Henry preferred to stand on the sand and throw things in the lake.

We stayed with a couple who volunteered to watch Henry one night so Ben and I could go out. We chose an Italian restaurant nominated for a James Beard award and famous for its farm-to-table cooking. In other words, it was delicious.

We also went to an ice cream shop set right on the farm where they keep their dairy cows. Henry enjoyed licking his ice cream while watching the "moos"

Traverse City is quite famous for their cherries. While we were there, we had them in burgers, bruschetta, and a few other things I never would have thought to put cherries on. We also went cherry picking. Soooo tasty. And I'm always just kind of apathetic toward cherries.

Across the street from the cherry orchard was a raspberry farm. Henry ate faster than we could pick. This trip has reaffirmed my desire to own an orchard. Who knew I was such a country girl?

Florida

We spent a week in Florida a little while back. Ben had a conference down there, so he took all of us with him. It was Nora's first time flying and Henry's hundredth (give or take). He was excited for the flight, but the turbulence made him nervous. He kept telling the plane to "be careful." When we'd land, he'd say, "Thank you plane, see you later," and then tell me he didn't want to "go up in the air again."

We flew into Miami and spent a day down there (eating in Little Havana is a must. I had no idea how amazing rice and beans could be--not to mention the slabs of fried cheese. Mmm). We did some late night swimming on the roof top pool and saw as much of Miami as we could see in such little time. My only regret is that we didn't get to spend enough time at the beach. We basically stopped by just say we'd seen it, and then we ran out of time.

The rest of the week was spent in Orlando. We stayed at a great resort where the conference was being held. There were koi ponds, live alligators and even a real boat inside the resort.

It rained a lot of the time we were there, but whenever there was sun, we took advantage and went straight to the pool. Our first day there, Ben even let me spend an hour by myself in the adults-only pool.

Henry and Nora both had a lot of fun in the pool as well, though the one time we got Henry to go down a slide, he just walked down.

 

Most of the time, we wandered around the hotel. There was a tasty buffet where all of the waiters marveled at how much Henry ate (and I swelled with pride).

Luckily it was a huge, gorgeous resort, so it was not hard to entertain ourselves during the day.

 

We took the kids to Disney World on Wednesday. We were going to do multiple days, but I'm glad we didn't. Disney with kids is exhausting.

But we had a really good time. And since it rained on and off that day, the lines were really short.

The firework show that night was pretty amazing too. It scared Henry, but he manage to still sing along to Let it Go.

Neither one of our flights went as planned. Our flight down to Miami was delayed and then rerouted through Atlanta (apparently it's possible for a plane to not be able to fly through clouds?), so we got in six hours late.

Then we missed our flight back and had some issues going through security (Orlando airport is the WORST) so we got home really late. Luckily our kids are amazing.

For real though, we kept them out so late every night and they were great. Having a newborn and a 2 year old isn't always fun, so it's nice to have moments like these to remind me how great they are.

Geoff's visit to ruined Detroit

Geoff visited us when Nora was born. So we went exploring. I've never seen some of the ruined areas of Detroit, but I took some pictures. Plus, I discovered the Panoramic thing on my iPhone. This is a version of Detroit that haunts me.

Newborn Photo Shoot

A friend of mine is building up her photography skills and asked if she could use Nora as a subject for newborn photos. Being the good friend that I am, I agreed to let her take beautiful pictures of my baby. Kensi did an amazing job. If she goes professional, I am recommending her to everyone I know. 

Henry wasn't exactly cooperative, and he refused to smile, so shots with him are minimal. But the pictures I got are so beautiful, I had to show some of them off. 

Our Nora Jane

She finally came! And it was an absolute miracle. My doctor and I agreed on my due date that since I wasn't progressing, we would schedule a c-section for Monday April 21. If she came on her own before then, great. If not, surgery.

So Monday morning we were packing to go to the hospital and I started having some pretty uncomfortable contractions. I ignored them though, because I figured it was just because I was dehydrated (I had to start fasting at midnight) and running all over the house.  Plus I didn't want to get my hopes up. By the time we got to the hospital at 10, I was having trouble walking when the contractions hit. So I mentioned to the nurses what was happening and they said they'd have my doctor check me. Sure enough, I was in labor! My doctor asked if I wanted to give it a try and Ben and I both said YES. 

12 hours later, I gave birth to Eleanor Jane Fisher, all on my own! It was the most amazing thing, to be so involved in the process instead of motionless in an operating room.

It was so different this time; Ben got to cut the cord and I got to hold the baby right away. It was exactly what we wanted. And my epidural was awesome. It saved me so much pain and made it easier for me to be mentally present and aware.

Eleanor was so tiny--only 8 lbs 2 oz.  All the nurses commented on what a big baby she was, and I kept thinking, are you kidding me, she's so tiny! Almost 2 1/2 pounds smaller than her brother. I still feel like I might break her. She's so wonderful, and I can't believe she came the way she did. She's such a sweet little person.

Henry is fascinated by Nora. He likes to watch her and tickle her feet and share his food with her and rock her when she is in her car seat. It's pretty sweet. Henry seems so big and advanced now.

It's definitely going to be an adjustment, having two kids. Thank goodness my mom is here to help with the house and the kids. And I just love saying that--my kids. The plurality feels so grown up.