CATCH-UP

I think I'm about the worst blogger ever. My last blog was in September of 2007. A lot has happened since then and I won't even attempt to fill in the details. I am starting fresh....again.

Big news first: We had another baby girl on April 24th, 2008. Her name is Paisley Faye and she arrived via C-Section at 6:31pm. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and was 20" long. Her middle name is after her Grandma Una Faye Powers who passed away March 4, 2008. Paisley was scheduled to come on April 25th, Grandma's birthday, but she was a little anxious. Grandma wanted so badly to meet this new little baby...she loves them so! We are all obviously very sad about Grandma and we miss her so much. It's hard to lose a mother and it's hard to lose someone who thinks my kids are as great as I do. She adored Gage and Bella and couldn't get enough of them. She was always bragging about them and saying how smart they were. They never did anything wrong in her eyes...even when they were having tantrums. She and Gage were special buddies and he misses her a lot. She would always say to him, "See ya later, alligator!" to which he would always reply, "After while, crocodile!" She loved that and so did he. So now if he hears someone say that he gets excited and reminds me that Grandma used to say that. He knows Grandma is in heaven and he's always asking me questions about it that are hard to answer. I literally don't know the answer to most of his questions, but will try to come up with something to satisfy him. He's always asking me if she can see and hear him and I tell him yes, so I'll catch him talking to her at random times. The most recent time was when he was playing in Bella's room and he said, "Hi, Grandma! I'm just playing with my toys and being nice to my sister. I miss you! I love you!" We told Grandpa this and he cried. She was a wonderful, spirited, positive, encouraging woman who raised a good son. I am grateful to her for so many things and I will miss my friendship with her.

Paisley is a really good baby. She is very happy and smiley. We're holding out hope that she may end up with blue eyes, but you never know. If she doesn't, it's ok too. I think my brown-eyed kids have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Gage and Bella love their new baby sister (who looks so much like Bella did as a baby that I often call her Bella by mistake). They kiss her and hug her, wake her up when she's sleeping, suffocate her when she's nursing, pick her nose for her....the typical sibling activities. Really, she is lucky to have a built-in protector (Gage) and a built-in best friend (Bella). Gage tells everyone who holds her that they can't take her home. For that matter, he tells everyone who even stands close to Bella to get away from his sister. I love it! We just blessed her on Sunday, Father's Day, but I haven't downloaded the pictures yet. One step at a time. When I do, I will post them on a future blog. I took a lot of great ones of the whole family.

My Mom and Dad are preparing to leave for their mission in India. I still can't believe it....India!! Mom and Dad???? Really?? They report to the MTC on July 7th. They will be serving a humanitarian mission, which I think is fantastic. They will be so good at it...the people will love them. I am going to miss them TERRIBLY. I can hardly stand to think about it. Thankfully, we can keep in touch with Skype (webcam) and blogging, etc. All this change..I hate it. First, Rob's mom passes away, then Billy and Alicia move to Montana (that's a whole different story), and now they are leaving for 18 months to India! I keep saying that it's too much for Gage to deal with all in one year, but the truth is that Gage is fine. It's too much for ME to deal with in a lifetime! I have loved having all of us in Arizona for a time and I really didn't want it to change. I love the get-togethers and the little cousins all playing with the big cousins with Grandma holding the babies and Papa plugging his ears. Life goes on, I suppose!

Well, this is just a little update on the goings-on in the Powers Family. I am setting a goal to blog once a week and I intend to achieve it. I have been inspired by Addie LaDuke and my friend Karla Narducci who are both so talented and original in their blogs. Mine will pale in comparison - I still don't quite know how to put all the fancy designs and videos and fun stuff.

Here's to the first of many to come......