Month: May 2014

New addition to the pack

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
While we were in Chattanooga J and I received simultaneous texts at about 10 p.m. from Debbie saying that she was on her way to the hospital because she was in labor.  What the what?  She wasn’t due for another five and a half weeks.  But, as is the case with these kiddos, the baby did what he needed to do regardless for plans and schedules (and aunties and uncles out of town).  We received text message updates all night saying things like “getting checked into the hospital” and “getting epidural now” and finally “10 and 10 at 2” – meaning 10 fingers and 10 toes on a baby born at 2 a.m.  Sweet little Frederic Michael Dion joined the family on May 3.  He was absolutely perfect and precious, just a little early. 

Little Frederic spent about a week in the NICU, coming home on Mother’s Day.  JP, Debbie and Maddy were so strong during his stay in the NICU.  The nurses were, of course, great and he received excellent care.  He came home ready to eat, sleep, poop and GROW. 

 
And the precious little guy is growing!  He’s gained a pound in the last week, bringing him up to a whooping 7.5 pounds.  We spent the last weekend with him and spent lots of time snuggling him and exclaiming over his precious little feet, long and graceful fingers, long brown hair with frosted tips, and perfect little nose.  Sammy was particularly enamored with him – asking us every day “where is Baby Frederic?”  Any time the baby was around Sammy was right next to him, touching him gently and talking about his “tiny tongue” and “bitty head.”  
 

 Yup, he’s pretty great.
 

Chattanooga

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com

After our visit in Gatlinburg we said farewell to Papa and Oma and headed South to Chattanooga.  This was the part of the trip that Clare has been talking about for months.  Not visiting Chattanooga, but seeing her beloved cousin Hannah.  The two girls hit it off once again and were pretty much inseparable for two straight days.  I teased Hannah that she was a mama duck with two little ducklings following her.  Wherever Hannah went Clare was close by, followed shortly by Sam.  Yes, our Sammy joined the Hannah Fan Club – thought the #1 member is still Clare.

Of course we also saw Brenda, Hannah’s mom, and Aunt Donna the Great.  We all stayed in a fun house together and walked our way over Chattanooga.  What a fun little city that is!  There’s a great river walk park area, an amazing aquarium, fun restaurants, great parks and cool little tourist things like Rock City and Lookout Mountain.  

 

Sammy particularly loved the aquarium, though we all thought it was pretty cool.

 
Chattanooga, we love you almost as much as Brenda, Donna and Hannah.

The Great Smokey Mountains

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
 
Wayne and Darlene suggested that we visit Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the Smokey Mountains National Park while we were in Tennessee.  It was a brilliant idea!  We had so much fun.  We rented a house on the top of a mountain (seriously, the view was from the back deck).  We explored Gatlinburg, which is kind of a funky half touristy and half artist community nestled into some gorgeous mountains.   
We relaxed.  We sat on the front porch and played on the climber.  We hiked in the mountains.  We threw rocks in the river.  We ate treats and window shopped.   It was good.
 

 We went on what we thought would be a short 3/4 mile hike in the Park.  The guide didn’t mention it was practically straight up the whole 3/4 mile.  Sammy hiked the whole thing, stopping at every stream and puddle to throw rocks in, picking up every stick and pointing to every bird. 

 Clare found some boulders to hop on, since she is part mountain goat.  She climbed trees, rocks and whatever else stood still before we dragged her out of the park for some BBQ. 

 
I think we all miss this precious place.

Tennessee Pilgrimage

Posted on by heather.e.d.mcpherson@gmail.com
 
 The Oregon branch of the Mac Family packed up our kit and kaboodle (that’s them in the picture above) for our annual pilgrimage to visit the Tennessee branch of the family.  We always enjoy it, but the last couple of visits I’ve thought to myself “that was our best trip yet!”  This year was no exception.  Maybe it’s because the kids are more independent and are such good travelers, maybe we’re figuring out the right balance of travel times/busy days vs. chill days/visiting vs. playing, maybe it’s because our relationships are deeper with the family there, or maybe it’s that we just always have a good time – regardless, we all had a great time! 

Our trip this year was a little bit different, because we decided to travel a bit while we were there.  I joked that we were crossing the Great State of Tennessee, and we pretty much did.  We arrived in Nashville, spent a couple of days visiting with family, and then went to Gatlinburg with Papa and Oma.  After a few days in the Smokey Mountains with them we drove our way down to Chattanooga to visit with Donna, Brenda and Hannah.  Then it was back up to Nashville for a few days.  Yep, if you look at a map you’ll see that we criss-crossed the state.  I have a ton of pictures and a ton of stories, so I’ve broken up up the trip into a couple of different posts.

We arrived in a thunderstorm (after a three-hour delay in Kansas City).  We caught right up with Papa and Oma and introduced the kids to their menagerie.  Yes, the kids loved seeing their grandparents, and their great-grandma Nanny, but I think their favorite part of our time in Nashville was the animals at Papa and Oma’s farm.  It may be their favorite part of the entire trip – since Sam and Clare still talk daily about Rosie the Pig, Blackie the Rooster, Gabby and Zeus (and Papi and Utah) the dogs, and Blackjack and Ransom the horses.  
Sammy particularly loved Rosie the Pig.  At one point he took me to show me the pig and he just couldn’t stop staring at her.  He didn’t have the vocabulary to fully express himself so he said “It’s a pig!  Her name is Rosie!  She’s a pig!  She has… a face!”
   
It was nice to circle back after our traveling adventures back to Papa and Oma’s farm.  We saw the animals again, relaxed with Papa and Oma and has a picnic in their backyard.  It was a wonderful, mellow way to begin and end the excitement of the trip.

I’ll wrap up with a few more pictures of traveling.  The kids did sooo well.  At home we keep a pretty tight ship with a fairly structured schedule and regular meals.  On the road it was much more relaxed – naps were caught as the kids sat still (usually in the car), meals were early/late or eaten in the car, bedtimes were late and wake ups were early.  The kids rolled with it.  Flight delays, no problem.  Head lice, no sweat.  Stomach flu, doesn’t slow us down.  

 


 

Bless their hearts.