siblings

When I was pregnant with Jewel I remember wondering what it would be like to have another baby to love. Silas was my world, how could we both learn to share? The one thing that gave me hope for the new relationships was knowing what a precious gift I have in my siblings. I longed for Silas and our next baby to have the same opportunity.

I was anxious when she first came, wondering if he would be jealous. Although the transition was rocky at times, he never directed his misunderstandings toward her. As she got bigger and began flashing smiles every time he was near, he became more fascinated with her. Then she started sitting up. It was fun for all of us to see her from a new angle, and for her to have a new perspective on her little world. But I knew that soon sitting would lead to crawling and she would start to invade his space. I feared for intricate train tracks and treasured toys to cause frustration and bitterness. Just a few weeks before she started crawling, Silas transitioned his main interest from trains to airplanes. Thank you God for knowing the perfect timing for these things. Trains are a ground toy, airplanes are naturally airborne (or landing on a couch or table). And, God gave Silas a sweet and gracious heart. Not only is he rarely upset by her intrusion on his activity, but he is quickly learning that if she does take something he doesn't want her to have, simply offering her something else generally solves the problem. In fact, he actually shares with her. I am not kidding. It blows me away. If he is playing with airplanes and she crawls into his area, he starts by getting upset. If I say to him "It's OK Silas, she just wants to play with you, can you pick a plane to give her?" he generally complies happily. He sometimes complains that he knows she will eat it, which she will try to do, but he still picks one for her to have and then lets her sit by him to play.
The above was the scene I found yesterday afternoon. Jewel was waking up from her nap and Silas asked if he could go get her. I was emptying the dishwasher so I told him he could go turn the light on for her and I would be right up. Usually this means he goes in, flips on the light, greets her with his regular "Hi, Jewely, Jewely, Jewely!" and then he moves on to play with something in the room while she watches from her crib. Well, over the monitor I heard the greeting, but then it was awfully quiet. By the time I got up there to see what was going on, he had climbed into her crib, reached the shelf above the crib, gotten the Russian stacking dolls off the shelf, and he was instructing her not to eat the little pieces. She was in HEAVEN!
Our most recent purchase was this bike trailer. I was initially a little wary of putting the two of them in there together since neither Jordan nor I would be able to see exactly what was going on. I mean, he loves her, but he is a three year old boy. He wonders how eye balls work and what fits in ears and thrives on action + response learning. Once again I have been pleasantly surprised. He feeds her snacks, gives her toys, finds her "pie", covers her with the blanket, and talks and laughs with her all the way down the road.
They look the same size in the above picture, and really, it's not far from reality. She is nearly 25 pounds and off the charts for height as well. Thankfully this makes her durable for tackling, rolling over, wrestling, and tug of war. She deals with a lot and mostly views his roughness for exactly what it is, an expression of his love for her. He pinches her cheeks, blows in her face, squeezes her legs, and bear hugs her.
As you can see, his affection is genuine, whether that is the way she is looking to feel loved or not. But, this picture brings tears to my eyes. Not just because these are my precious kids, or because of the display of affection, but because I know exactly how Jewel feels. There is nothing like a big brother. There is nothing better than being the object of his affection. Maybe the expression is rough or tough or it may come at an inopportune time...but, us little sisters, we don't really care. I know because that is how I love my big brothers. When I am loved on by my brothers, no matter what the venue or motivation, it just fills me up. Thank you Lord, for giving me my own big brother and little sister kids. I am so blessed.

Grammy and Pops

I have some catching up to do...I know.

In May Grammy and Pops came out to stay with us for a few days. We were spoiled to have them; delicious food, fun family trips, help around the house...and just some good entertainment :)

One afternoon when the sun peeked out we headed to the Oregon Zoo. The animals at the zoo are fun to see, but just the landscape of the park itself is worth the trip. It is settled on the west hills of Portland, tucked back into the trees. It is a for sure work out chasing a three year old while pushing a stroller, down one hill and up another, dashing from animal to animal. This specific trip was special since we got to take the zoo train. And, we all know how Silas feels about the train.
From the beginning he was determined to find the train using the map. Pops is directing Silas with his hand since he would not take his eyes off the page. We had never taken the train before, so this was serious business.

Well, not too serious if these guys were the ones in charge of directions.

But, lo and behold, we found it! One very happy little boy with his Dad and Pops. Grammy and Jewel were happy too, but I think they were more happy with each other than being on the train.
Later on their visit we took them to one of our favorite parks. Silas led everyone on an adventure, including insisting that we walk down toward the river at which point Pops nearly slipped on the slick mud about 14 times and we almost had a hiking casualty. Grammy and I clinched our teeth and held out breath as Silas marched straight through the mud puddles and Pops did a very cartoon like slip and slide all around them. Thankfully we all survived.And this is why we can endure the rain in Oregon. Yes, even rain into June. OK, it July 1st and it rained this morning. BUT, check out these vibrant green trees at our park.The visit with Grammy and Pops was so much fun. Silas played "Secrets" (otherwise known as the game "Sequence") with Pops about 100 times. Grammy had to stay close by to make sure that Pops was letting Silas have a few games here and there. These competitive Bury boys don't let up for anyone. It was common to hear Pops saying "Ah! I blocked you!", which Silas has of course picked up and now frequently says while we are playing. One night the Bury girls had to put those Bury boys back in their place. So, the grown ups (I use this term loosely about Jordan and his dad in respect to game playing) played a game of "Cranium". Needless to say, in a game about brain diversity, the girls kicked some booty. The best part of the game is the rolling laughter. It is so fun to share these moments with the family. We are blessed, big time.