On Angels' Wings

The little Angel, Nora Jane, our beloved niece and Goddaughter, walked into her Father's arms on Sunday, August 29th, her 14 month birthday. She was surrounded by her Mommy, Daddy, Sister Evie, and Gramma and Poppops. What a blessing to be surrounded by the people who love you the most. And what a blessing that she was so peaceful.

Though this is so sad a such a tragedy to have lost a child, she no longer suffers. She now dances and claps her hands and is at PEACE. How can you not be joyful?

Saturday was the hardest. We found out she did not have much time left. So we just had to wait. And come to grips with saying goodbye. My heart was so torn to be waiting for my beautiful niece to leave us, and not knowing when that will be, but also having this excitement and anticipation for my own little one's life. It is still a struggle to have emotions about a baby's death while waiting for another's life. But as Gramma says, they high-fived each other as Nora went to be with the Father. Though our little one will never meet Nora in person, he/she will hear plenty of stories about her antics, her smiles, her singing, her struggles, her love, and her ability to melt the heart of anyone that met her.

Oh Nora Jane we miss you so much, and will always miss you, but you are with Jesus now, and we couldn't ask for anything more beautiful. We love you, Baby Girl.
Nora Jane, pray for us!

In case you are interesting in reading about her story, and/or would like information on the services this Wednesday and Thursday, please take a look at her Caring Bridge site:
Nora Jane

Please pray for Molly, Aaron, and Evie as they mourn the loss of their special little girl.

Love ya, mean it.
Be here now.

Smiles at 2 months

Cousin Lachlan loves giving kisses to Nora Jane! AKA 'Owa'

The Mammas and the Babies!


Laughing with Auntie Lala.

Saying 'Mamma'

A Picnic with Airplanes

Lachlan LOVES spotting and watching airplanes in the sky. He will hear it, look for it, and then go, 'Ohhhhh!' and sometimes even wave and say 'buh bye' to the plane. (Now I even look up when I hear a plane). Auntie Emi knew of a park across the river from the airport where the planes come pretty close. So we packed a picnic and The Weez, and the 4 of us went to picnic with the airplanes. Lachlan pointed out every one.

I think he was so excited, he wanted to down his food-a ham & cheese sandwich in a hot dog bun-perfect picnic lunch, huh?

Then it was time for some strawberries. I have never given him a whole one before, but since they were not pre-cut, I just gave him one. Well he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth, including the greens. We were waiting for him to realize the weird texture and spit out the greens, but he just ate them up! Extra fiber???

Then it was play time! The weather was so beautiful and there was barely anyone at this park, we were able to roam around and had so much fun! And Auntie Emi got some exercise.

Lachlan was real into playing on his own with the stroller. He is now big enough to push the stroller, then climb up the stroller, then flip the cover over, then repeat. At least he is amused!

Weezer and Lachlan had SUCH a fun time playing with the ball! Lachlan would throw it, then look at Weezer, and they would race to see who could get there first. Little did Lachlan know, Weezer could only go as fast as the Baby Mamma could go since I was holding him on the leash...but sometimes we would beat him! I am glad I was able to get closer to my 10,000 steps that day...

My 'Baby' and me. And I think one of my favorite pictures of us.

My other Baby and me. (Auntie Emi took a close up of BC II--still growing inside!)

On a pregnancy note:
Baby is due in 5 days, and my goal of making it to Saturday, the 28th has almost been accomplished! I have 2 weddings--crazy, I know. One I am singing at, and then my cousin's is in the evening. This Baby knows he/she has to wait at least until 3:30 tomorrow to start coming, and I appreciate that BC II is already listening to his/her mother. : ) After tomorrow night, sure, I will walk a mile a day, drink a bunch of caffeine, lift heavy objects, but not until tomorrow night! I have not had any strangers touch my belly with either of my pregnancies. Today was way better than that...I was waiting with my bro-in-law, and this guy walks by and looks at my belly and says, 'Well I know what you have been up to!' Awkward! I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not, so instead I just laughed after he left. Interesting people in this world! I still get a kick out of it...
Here is a self portrait on that beautiful day that we picnic-ed with the airplanes.

Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.

Adam Family Glamping

Glamping v. glamorous camping The Adam Family went glamping in August.

This vacation will surely be remembered forever! The ten of us (plus one in utero) went to Wild River Campgrounds for some quality time together. We arrived on a Tuesday, and it was the hottest week of the summer! We started setting up the sites, and as it started raining, we decided to meet the parents who were on their way still in North Branch for some dinner. Well it not only rained, but it stormed! We were driving about 30 mph to be safe and witnessed the most amazing lightning storm we have ever seen. We enjoyed our pizzas, celebrated Mary's farewell to college (a tradition we have) and were even able to see some of the Twin's game. Luke was totes excited! When we returned, our campsite was drenched, including one of the tents, and there were more storms to come. We decided to hang out at a hotel in WI instead....

That night we played cards and had a good ol' time! The next morning after taking advantage of their breakfast, we went swimming, then packed up and headed back for the campgrounds.

Lachlan had a great time and was such a trooper even though it was HOT AS! And he didn't mind getting too dirty.

Some of us were in great spirits in this incredibly muggy weather.

Some of us just needed to take a break every once and a while....I don't blame her--it was so hot.

Even BC II needed a breather...

Wednesday after setting up the rest of the 2 sites, we made lunch and went on a hike to find the 'beach'. First, they told us there was a beach, then the lady in the office said it was more of a sandbar. Well, we get there (after going down about 75 rugged outdoor steps) and find a tiny 'sand bar' that is covered with two huge logs. Totes mucky and definitely not swimmable, esp for a 6 yr old, a 16 month old, and an 8 month prego Mamma. So after we realized there is not place to swim, we hiked back up the 75 rugged out door steps, then Luke took me to town to take a break in the AC car.

That night was a wonderful night around the fire singing and catching up on life. This was only to be ruined by the sound of something behind us--raccoons! They were fearless. Even after shining the light on them, they wouldn't scamper away until we made some loud crazy noise. So we moved to the screen tent, only to have 2 come back...and come back again....and come back again! We ended up just inviting them into the screen tent and shared our snacks with them....

That night I heard them at our site and they were nasty creatures all growling and fighting over specks of food. I am glad we woke up the next morning without a third companion in our bed!

Thursday we decided to beat the heat and go to Wild Mountain which was just minutes from our campground, only to get there and realize, this is NOT worth the money all we would have to pay to be admitted. Plan B-a beach! It was so nice to be in the water and actually enjoy the sunshine instead of run from it. Though we all did get attacked by algae. Gross!

We beat the heat some more and went to Taylors Falls (more time in the AC car!) and enjoyed some delicious ice cream and the ending of The Sandlot which was playing in the restaurant.

Back at the campsite, we got dinner ready. Daddy and Lachlan enjoyed chillin with each other.

Then we broke out the glowsticks! Even though we only really got to use them in the dusk, we had a lot of fun with them! They make for a fun family picture, especially when BC II gets one too!

Family fun with glowsticks!

Our fun with the glowsticks came to an end when the ranger came around and said there was a thunderstorm warning and we need to go to the Visitor's Center to seek shelter. Wonderful! We haven't even eaten yet! We quickly water proof our site and my sister is feeding me green beans as we pack cuz this Mamma was hungry! So we pile in the car and head toward the center, and it starts POURING rain. We have to run--including prego Mamma--in the POURING rain to the center which is about 1/4 mile away from where we had to park. Serouslt, I thought I was going to have the baby that night. We get settled inside, wring out our clothes, and in comes the other car of Adams with our dinner! Mom had grabbed all the hobo dinners that were cooking in the fire right before we left. Oh how yummy it was! There was a family with 5 kids and one on the way who also had not eaten, so we shared some of our dinner with them. It felt good to feed the hungry!

After the heart of the storm was passed, we went back to the site, which was a LAKE. And the screen tent that was over the picnic table, was now in the woods. Since there was more rain on the way, we decided to take what we needed and head back to my parents house, 45 mins away. We slept SO well that night! Luke and Dad went back the next morning to find the 2 tents we left there with lakes inside, and everything else was just so wet and muddy--we were glad we glamped it! So it was surely an adventure and kind of crazy to sleep only one of the three nights at the camp site. And Luke--who wasn't too keen on camping in the first place--will not go again for about 5 years...we will see! : )

Whew! World's longest blog. But the adventure was so good, it had to be shared!

Love ya, mean it

Be here now.

Classic Lachlanisms

One of his super cute things is to say "ooooo" when he sees an owee. However, he now knows we think its cute and saying it "the authentic way" is getting harder to come by because it has become a game. Oh well :)

Nickalodeon Universe

Well the days are numbered until BC II (Baby Cahill II) comes--at least the due date of BC II. So we are getting as much Lachlan time in as we can, because as it does with any new child, our life will change drastically...

We thought it would be fun to splurge a bit and check out Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA. Since Lachlan needs chaparones, we got to ride for free!

First on the list, The Big Rigs ride.

As you can see, a very intense ride--they are going so fast, I almost missed them!

Both Daddy and 'Baby'(though he's really not a baby anymore) had a good time in the front!

Right across the alleyway was the Blues Clues ride. This was Lachlan's favorite (though you wouldn't be able to guess looking at this picture). He even waved at Mama one time while they were up in the air!

As Daddy was trying to be smarter than the seat belt, Lachlan was loving the buttons to make the puppy fly! Perhaps he will be an aviator pilot someday...

The last ride was The Balloon Race, and this is Mama's favorite! When you look at the information of each ride, they have recommendations of who should not ride the ride, and of course they recommend that pregnant women should not ride ANY of the rides--even Big Rigs??? Really??? Well, it was just a recommendation, so I went on The Balloon Race with Lachlan! Of course it is protocol that the ride operator needs to tell me, the 8 month pregnant lady (there is no way of hiding it), that it is not recommended for me to ride the ride...but I am glad I did because it was so much fun!

Lachlan was making himself at home.


Admiring the balloons

After these three rides, we were spent! So we will use the rest of our points for another time--perhaps when I can actually ride one of the roller coasters! So we went and ate at the food court, and with full tummies, a chocolate blizzard fix satisfied, and lovin on an adorable boy, it was time to head home. Good times with the fam!

Love ya, mean it
Be here now.

Fun with Uncle James!

Last weekend Uncle James got to come and play with Lachlan. These two little monkeys had so much fun with each other! Friday we picked James up and went to the MN zoo. We had fun at the splash pad--Auntie Emi did Lachlan's hair. Cool Dude!

Uncle James showed off his big guns as he climbed the rocks--although I am not sure he is supposed to be up there...

One of Lachlan's favorite places in the zoo is the coral reef on the Tropics Trail. He will stand there and talk to the fish, bang on the glass, and point all the pretty fish out.

The zoo was a blast! We had some tired boys at the end of that adventure!

Saturday we went to Heart of the City for a picnic and some water fun.

Lachlan wanted to show off his cool jam face...

And his killer wet suit. Lookin good, Stud!

They had fun playing by themselves...

And they had fun playing together!

When we got home, Emily and James made some cookies while Lachlan slept and I had the honor of hanging out with my niece, Nora, at the hospital. The surgery went well, but of course nothing can go smoothly with this little one. But she is the strongest little 13 month old I know! She is on the road to recovery from the surgery. Praise the Lord!

That night we made a cup o' dirt with James.

He ate the dirt! EWWW!!!

Sunday was the Feast of St James, so Luke James, Lachlan James, James Paul, Weezer and I went to Lake Harriet to celebrate with some ice cream! (Weezer and I felt a little out of place--especially me since I was surrounded by all these males!)

Luke and Weezer enjoyed the people watching.

The Weez...

Loved being outside at the park!

James had some Sponge Bob issues...

After the ice cream we went to the playground near by where Weezer was the center of attention--everybody kept coming up and was giving this dog some lovin! We had a wonderful time celebrate the Feast of St. James. St. James, Pray for us!

After a busy weekend, the boys were able to relax in the tubby--although they definitely did more playing than relaxing!

We had a lot of fun! And we all slept VERY well Sunday night!

Love ya, mean it!
Be here now.