Guess it's been awhile

Nov 3, 2021

Turns out life goes on...we survived a never ending quarantine, had a baby during a pandemic, and are managing the reality of caring for a child diagnosed with hydrocephalus.  

Eloise Joy Becher was born 10 weeks early and rocked her 50 day NICU journey.  She had grade three intraventricular hemorrhaging and weekly ultrasounds showed as the hemorrhaging cleared it still left her with swollen ventricles.  She was officially diagnosed with hydrocephalus on December 16th and was admitted on December 18th for the placement of her first VP shunt.  After three months of complications, in March 2021 she was wheeled away for her second brain surgery and first of hopefully few revision surgeries.  

2021 was a year full of many ups and downs, a family wide COVID diagnosis, and numerous MRI related checks up, here we are...Eloise turned one, we have a 1st, 3rd and 6th grader and life is so so full.   







Kindergarten...

Jul 27, 2020

I can't believe this boy will be starting Kindergarten in three short weeks.  I think I would feel the weight of this realization more if I knew this was my last one...but with the November addition of miracle baby number four, I have one more chance to savor all the last moments. 

Granted, I will miss his sweet face every day, our special mommy and me dates, and the innocence that often chips away as kids enter a world much bigger than the four walls of the home. 

 

Finding ways to spice up our quarantine...

Jul 22, 2020

With the start of quarantine came a lot of changes for our family...including the anticipated arrival of another Becher baby in November, homeschooling for 2 months, working from home, and trying to survive the dreaded first trimester nausea that pretty much glues me to the bathroom floor.  

Now that we have officially made it to mid summer, I finally have a little space to update this family journal with a giant photo dump of our previous 5 month journey through quarantine.  There have been a lot of mundane days but every once in a while, in an effort to maintain our sanity, we do like to spice it up.   

LOTS of pool days with new toys:

Exploring local ways to beat the heat:

Taking in orphaned rodents: 

Visiting Grandparents in AZ: 
Days at the beach: 

Supper club number 4...

Mar 10, 2020

We finally set a date to host our final supper club of the season.  Since our dinner fell on the day before Chris's birthday we went for an unbirthday celebration theme and created a course that celebrated every one of our guests.  A mini birthday party for everyone in attendance, with a dish that reminded us of each person and a toast to celebrate their very merry unbirthday. 

Bubbles and fun dip...

Feb 27, 2020

Fun dip...Max's mind was officially blown. I let him lick pure sugar off a stick of sugar until it was all gone.