Day two of recovery.

These are a couple shots from William's first few hours home yesterday. He just wanted to sit, play Star Wars and... well... uh...

Nothing else. He did kindly offer the seat next to him to his brother -- hm. Interesting. Not that that is unexpected for William but it is unexpected for William's i-don't-feel-good-and-don't-want-to-talk-to-anyone-because-i'm-sick behavior. Things were already looking up.

What was that? Oh! The blood on the nose? Yeah, that just adds to the photo. It means, 'hey guys! someone just cut out my adenoids and Mom cares enough to not try and make me look good for photos but instead let me drip crustiness down my face until she can't stand it anymore' ... pardon the gruesomeness.

At roughly 12:30/1:00pm yesterday afternoon, William stood up from the couch and asked for a sandwich. A SANDWICH. I am not a sandwich person -- they sell you on the goodness of crisp, crunchy and warm and in the end leave you with a soggy, room temperature, wet-lettuce flavor. WHO asks for a sandwich immediately after having someone take out your tonsils?! He was HUNGRY and he would have nothing to do with smoothies, yogurt, applesauce and Gatorade. He was getting a little testy so we gave him a gummy piece of bread with a little butter on top... and it only heightened his awareness of what good food awaited him. He remembered eggs with cheese and a plethora of other wonderful things... he ate oatmeal and scrambled eggs; he ate bread with butter and smoothies to boot. He was a different kid than the last 9 months.

Today is a different day. Will the Thrill is having a more difficult time -- he hurts a little, his belly is feeling upset and he just wants to sleep. I think he liked the effects of the pain meds yesterday once he was able to enjoy them. Today, on the other hand, he is more sore and his body is telling him (begging him!) to just sit and not do anything. Mom needs to remember that too - so I'm trying to figure out my day tomorrow... no errands, just sit and 'be'. Sit and be. Sit and be. Sit and be.

Hm. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Our day today in iPhone photos.

We woke at 5am this morning, took showers to feel super-human, got dressed, woke 'the Thrill' and made our way to the car.

We were at Providence by 6am. Checked in by 6:10am and in the OR prep area by 6:55am.

Kyle is the most amazing Dad. He and William had their inside comments and jokes while we waited for the surgeon -- the nurses stopped by our area to watch and listen. William's laugh is contagious and his spirits were so high considering all that he was dealing with... he was such an joy to be around. He made it fun.

Following surgery I got to sit and snuggle with my little man as he woke from his anesthesia... it was precious to be quite honest.

Leaving the hospital an hour later.

Drinking his second smoothie at 3:00pm this afternoon -- when he asked for a sandwich at 12:30pm I 'came to' and realized that my little man is a rather tough little man -- not much coddling needed and he thinks he's ready for real food! Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Great job today, Thrill Ya - we love you! And thank you to everyone for their prayers.

Emma Nicole... LOVE HER.

My brother, David, and his wife, Lesley, live in Yakima with my adorable niece, Emma - notice I didn't say 'their adorable daughter'? I really enjoy being an Aunt to such an incredible little girl so I say 'niece' WHENEVER I can! Isn't she lovely?! Les, Emma, my Mom and I got to hang out in Eastern WA just recently and how could I not pull out the camera? I even left it in the car thinking that 'no... not right now... I'll focus on other stuff...' only to run sweating in the sweltering heat back to the car to retrieve it.

And I will bet that I will never learn -- even when least expected, a moment will be worth photographing.

Without further ado, here's Emma...

I love you, little lady. I cannot wait for the ocean this year... we will find sand where we least expect it. Actually, to be quite honest, 'where we most expect it' - we've weathered many of these ocean trips to know better than that. And little iBar, oh can you imagine the fun?!

Scouting out a site.

I had the opportunity to visit a local farm. I plan to do a fundraiser/photoshoot there at the end of the summer and cannot wait to finalize the details... what fun this will be!

Day with the Koetjes.

It was a good day. Thank you Katya for having us. JJ and Sasha are absolutely beautiful; your time of prayer and words of encouragement were poignant and equally encouraging; and your grace in dealing with my not-feeling-good-once-again-little-man was much appreciated.

And though the hail and rain kept us indoors, I think we made the most of it.

Hannah-Banana, the Greek Goddess

This most recent weekend I spent time over on the East side of the state -- more specifically, Kennewick, Washington. My youngest sibling, Hannah, was having her Jr/Sr Prom on Saturday night and asked if I would consider doing a photo shoot with she and her date, Joey. Without knowing for sure if the timing would work into my schedule, I didn't allow myself to get too excited... but once I realized that I'd have the opportunity to travel BY MYSELF (sans children) to the Tri-Cities and have intentional time even aside from the photo shoot, I could hardly sleep! It was a wonderful time and she was absolutely stunning. Here are some of the images I have started editing -- enjoy.

Its SUMMER again.

A good ending.

Arriving at the C's home last Saturday, we had a list of things that his Mom and Dad hoped to capture.  One of the unpredictable images was getting a shot of him sucking his thumb -- this is one of the last images I shot that morning.

He was so done with the photo shoot.

What a perfect ending.

You were a champ, little man. Well done.

A wonderful morning.