Life as a Leach

As you well know, "We Choose Joy" is sort of a family slogan for us.  It's been something we've been striving to do long before Abby was born, and it's a continual choice.  Some days are easier than others! Since this phrase is so important to our family, it was only natural that we wear tshirts saying it to Abby's birthday party! Abby and Caleb's were special orders from a store called no other than We Choose Joy!   I'm really pleased with how theirs turned out.  I just made Matt and mine on Vista Print.  Nothing fancy, but the message was there!

I love this boy!

My crazy-talented sister-in-law made Abby a beautiful sweater for her birthday.  It made for the perfect addition to her dress on a chilly day!  I should probably also mention that she originally learned to knit from a YouTube video.  I should probably also mention that I can barely sew a button on and my sister did my cross stitch project in middle school home economics because the airplane I did looked like a whale.  Good thing Abby has Aunt S to make beautiful things like this for her! Thanks so much, Aunt S!  It's beautiful, soft, warm, AND purple!!

A year ago, Abby had her first "photo shoot" in the NICU.  Many of you may remember seeing the pictures on our blog and in her 1 year slideshow.  I want to tell you a little more about the organization that took those pictures.  When Abby's future was uncertain and it did not appear that she would be with us for much longer, our wonderful social worker brought up the subject of bringing in a photographer from the group Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.   I had heard about this organization from several friends who had lost their babies at birth and they had said how wonderful and caring the photographers were.  But at that point, I felt like saying yes to NILMDTS was giving up on Abby.  I vehemently said NO and wouldn't discuss it further.  The next day, as things continued to look grim, Matt and I talked about it again and decided that we would really like to have pictures of all of us together.  I wasn't sure how Caleb would be if we got them take...

How can I choose  a favorite when they're all so darn cute?!

I think I can officially call her a "clapper" now!