The Apple of Our Eye

Our parenting experience with Sophie is WAY different than it was at this point with Claire!  In fact, Sophie is now the exact age that Claire was when Sophie was born!  And let me tell you, Claire wasn't into climbing onto everything and generally creating mayhem.  Sophie may be more of a handful, but the pictures are worth it.  Love you, Soph!

 

Danny and I had walked out of the kitchen for just a moment, but that

was all Sophie needed!  Apparently, she was still hungry after dinner.  This 

is how we found her...

 
 

At first, she thought she was in trouble.  But Danny and I couldn't keep 

a straight face, so Sophie knew she was off the hook!

 
 

Claire still, even after 16 months, has a hard time sharing the spotlight. :)

It only slightly annoys Sophie...

 
 

That's my girl!  It's times like this that make me think all the throwing

up just may be worth it in the end! 

From Too Much, To Not Enough!

As was evidenced by my massive post summarizing the events of last month, December was full of things to blog about!  Honestly, the same can't be said for January. :)  But, I really want to be a better "blogger", so I'm going to do my best to make this post about our month of January interesting...

Honestly, most of my month has been spent on the couch or next to the toilet.  This morning sickness thing is really the dumps!  I still haven't seen a doctor yet for a due date, so I'm not quite sure how far along I am.  My first appointment is February 4th, so hopefully I'll get an answer then.  If our guestimation is correct, I should be 12 weeks tomorrow (the last week of my first trimester!)  I don't know if it's just me, but I would swear this baby has been harder than the last two.  I'm anxious to leave this part behind me!

The girls have been coping well with an ineffectual mother and yucky weather outside.  It rained for a week straight!  Poor things have been stuck inside, but they've been making the best of it!

Danny's month has been more exciting.  He was recently told that he was being transferred at work, from the 416th Squadron (which handles the F-16) to a squadron that works on the F-22!  Now, for those of you who don't speak the vernacular, to put it simply: he was transferred from a way cool jet to a way way WAY cooler jet!  He's pretty stoked to say the least.  He'll have to wait about a month or so until he can actually move over, as they have to increase his security clearance from a "secret" clearance to a "top secret" clearance.  Cool, huh? :)  He seriously LOVES his job!

 

  The jet in the front is the F-22, the two in the back are 

F-16s.

We got some more exciting news last night from Robbie, Danny's younger brother.  Looks like we'll be headed back home to Utah in April for another wedding!  That's right!  We're excited to welcome Kristina (Kris) Taylor to the family!  April 8th is the big day...I'm sure there will be more posts in the future concerning the newest Call couple!   

   

                                                                                         

Other than that, there's not much to report!  Overall, life is still wonderful.  Even with feeling so awful, I do recognize the blessing it is to be able to bear my children.  I know too many good women who would gladly switch places with me.  I am truly blessed.                                               

December 2009-The Month of Many Moons

There has been so much to update on this blog, it's been nothing short of overwhelming!  I procrastinated for a while, telling myself that I couldn't post about Christmas or anything else until I gave a shout-out to Rachel.  Well, I got that done! (Thank you all so much for your loving comments!  They've been a great comfort to me.)  Since I finished my last post, I've been trying to figure out how to manage all that happened in December.  Should I do one massive, photo-intensive post?  Or break it down into individual segments?  As you can see by the title, I'm going with the massive photo-intensive post.  I figured that was the only way it was all going to get done!  Enjoy!  :)

Let's go in something of a chronological order, from the beginning of the month to the end.  As you all know, we started out the month losing Rachel.  That's already been covered.  But when even the most tragic things happen, the Lord still provides joy in our lives.  After all, that is why we are here!  On December 1st, Rachel went home to her Heavenly Father to start her mission in the spirit world.  On December 2nd, Nick came home from his full-time mission in the Lima (North), Peru mission.  I can't begin to describe the gamut of emotions we felt, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Even with the circumstances that Nick came home to, or perhaps because of them, we were all so overjoyed to see him again!  Danny and I weren't going to be able to be at the airport when he first got home, so we felt fortunate to get to share in that unique experience.  He had an amazing mission, and we loved hearing a small part of his many adventures during the time we were all together.

And we spent a lot of time together!  Rachel's funeral brought us all together for more time than I think we've ever spent together as an entire family!  We were even blessed to have all of my Mom's siblings and her Dad spend some time with us.  Again, there were a lot of tears during this first week of December, but I'm not ashamed to say there was at least, if not more, laughing.  Family really is what it's all about!

From left to right: Grandpa Aldrich, Danny, Nick, and Jeff.  Nick just got his

MacBook, and the tech frenzy was well under way.

 

It was an exhausting week for all of us!  This is my brother-in-law Matt, and

my six week old nephew, Elijah.  He was such a trooper during all of this! 

For Rachel's birthday on the 22nd, we charged my sister Jessie with putting

together a flower arrangement that we could put on Rachel's grave.  Like 

everything else, it turned into a family affair!  Pictured here from left to

right: Baron, Jessie, Roman, Isabelle, Devin.

 

From left to right: Claire, Roman, Isabelle.  Roman was REALLY into

the whole flower-arranging thing! :)

I mean REALLY into it!  He's too cute if you ask me...

 

From left to right (I think) : Baron, Isabelle, and Roman.  This is so classic

for the twins, and shows just how identical they look!  Sorry if I messed up

on their names... 

 

The middle of December was a bit hectic for me, personally.  Danny had to return to our home in California to work before our scheduled vacation for the holidays began.  I felt strongly, however, that the girls and I should stay with Grandma Candy.  We were separated for 2 1/2 weeks, which was...interesting!  Before this, Danny and I hadn't been apart for more than a couple days and a night!  But we persevered, and we were strengthened when it got difficult.  The girls missed their Dad like crazy, and I have NO desire to be a single mom!  During Danny's departure, I started to feel a bit queasy, and as the days passed and the nausea didn't, I became more and more convinced that we were pregnant.  It wasn't easy to manage the girls and feel sick, but thanks to my Mom and in-laws, I had plenty of help!  I think the biggest help of all, however, were all the cousins around to entertain Claire and Sophie!  Here is a little photo journal of their good times...

We got plenty of snow while in Utah, and the kids were sick of being couped up

in the house, so we bought them all snow clothes and sent them out to play! Left to right:

Roman, Baron, and Claire

 

Turns out that plastic saucers and a couple stairs provide a great deal of cheap entertainment!

Claire isn't really much for excitement, so eating snow was about as crazy as it got!

The boys, however, had a much different idea of fun!  That's Baron going down

the stairs 'o fun, with Roman setting up right behind him!

 

I got Claire to try it one time.  She enjoyed it, right up until

she started going down! :)

 

This was Sophie's first time in the snow.  She was so loaded down with snow gear 

that she couldn't stand up very well.  She mostly just scooted around on her belly,

licking the snow on the way.

 

She did it!  After a significant struggle, she managed to be a biped once again.

 

This pretty much sums up the cousin-time...hanging out at Grandma Candy's, 

eating chocolate!  Left to right: Sophie, Claire, Isabelle, Baron, Roman (I think, it's 

kinda hard to tell!) :) 

So, that brings us to Christmas.  This is probably the longest post ever, and if I haven't lost you by now, I'm impressed!  By the time Christmas rolled around, we all felt like we have lived at least a few months in a few weeks worth of time.  Hence the title of this post!  If you haven't heard or gathered by now, we confirmed on Christmas Eve morning that I am indeed pregnant with our third!  Merry Christmas, Danny! :)  We started Christmas morning out at Grandma Candy's house, with Aunt Heather and the twins and Uncle Nick who got to be Santa this year and hand out the presents.  After the opening of presents, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Call's for Christmas morning Take Two.  Here is the photo evidence...

This was the initial entrance to see what Santa brought.  The girls haven't quite

caught on to the excitement yet...

In my family, we always start out with stockings before "Santa" distributes the real presents.

Sophie's starting to get into things now.

The boys look like they're having exactly the same amount of fun!

How much more identical can you get?  Twins are so cute!

 

Claire was SO excited about her Play-Doh.  Thank you, Sophie!

Sophie is our little stacker, so Claire knew just what to get Sophie for

Christmas!  Sophie is stupefied with utter glee...

I think this was the pinnacle of Claire's morning...it's at least tied with the Play-Doh.

An actual Princess Aurora dress-up dress!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

 

Here was are with our second Christmas Morning!  Santa thought the girls had been

extra good this year, and brought presents to BOTH grandparent's houses!  Lucky girls!

Notice what Claire is still wearing...

 

This is one of many outfits that Grandma Call got Sophie.  I don't think she had

any fun at all shopping. :)

 

Like Sophie, Grandma did plenty of shopping for Claire!  Too bad she never

intends to wear anything but her Princess Aurora dress for as long as she lives!

The joys of Christmas: picking your first thing to play with among a sea of wrapping paper.

Sophie may not have quite grasped the whole Christmas thing, but she figured it waa

safe to follow in Claire's footsteps.

 

Uncle Kenny got Claire 24 more Play-Dohs, not knowing that Sophie had already gotten

her like 8!  This was the best part of the morning for the girls.  Left to right: Danny, Sophie, Claire, 

and Uncle Kenny.

So at long last we finished the month with a wonderful New Year's Eve party at the Call's, with more food than ANYONE should eat no matter the occasion!  I'm sure a lot happened that would have you all at the edge of your seats, but a girl can only blog so much!  I'll try to be more consistent now that life is getting back to normal, and I don't spend quite so much time vomiting.  Did I mention how excited I am to be pregnant again? ;)  Really, I am.  All in all, it was the craziest month any of us have ever lived through, but one that will live in our fondest memories forever. 

A Friend in Life...A Sister Forever

Rachel Marguerite Vigil

Dec. 22, 1992-Dec. 1, 2009

Admittedly, I've been avoiding writing this post.  What can anyone say?  Writing down what has happened to my family makes it feel more real, and I'm preferring the denial.  But, more than I prefer the denial, I want all my friends to know who my sister is, what her life was like, how she died, and how her death has affected my life.

Rachel was born just a few days before Christmas.  She is the youngest of the seven of us, and she came early.  Most of my Mom's babies were around two weeks late, so when Rachel came about two weeks early, we weren't prepared!  She was my Mom's easiest delivery, her easiest child, and her easiest teenager.

"Rachel-babes", as she came to be known, was the most "real" person I think I've ever known.  If her smile was infectious, her laugh was pandemic.  Rachel was incredibly intelligent, probably even smarter than me. :)  She excelled in her school work, passing her AP classes to earn college credit as well as becoming a budding artist.  She was a hard worker.  She started busing tables at a local Chinese restaurant when she was 13, convincing them to pay her under the table!  Last summer, while Danny and I were living at home, she worked two jobs.  Rachel was passionately interested in Europe, particularly France, and was earning money towards a trip there during the next summer.  Despite her rigorous study schedule and busy work obligations, Rachel always found time to just hang out with the family.  

It was such a special experience for my family to live with Rachel and my Mom last summer, while we were waiting to move here to California.  I didn't realize it at the time, but it was such a tender gift from our Heavenly Father to get to spend so much time with Rachel.  Danny and I both developed such a personal friendship with her.  Because we were ten years apart, I wasn't living at home for much of Rachel's life.  I treasure my memories of watching The Food Network with her late at night, and of course our Hip Hop Abs early in the morning. 

                                                                                                              
Rachel died in a car accident on December 1, 2009 at approximately 5:30 pm.  She died instantly, and we are confident that she not only was spared any pain, but any fear as well.  I got my phone call, informing me of the accident and of Rachel's passing, at about 6:40 pm California time.  I have deeply feared such a phone call for my entire life.  I'll admit, I didn't handle the news very well.  But with the support and love of my dear husband, and of neighbors who have become family to us, I was soon able to find my way through the shock.  I realized that my loving Savior was with my family...all of us... during that difficult time.  That He was still my foundation, and one I could rely on through this most awful time.  

Danny, the girls, and I drove all night to get to Utah before my brother returned home from his mission in Lima, Peru.  This was, in a way, one of the most difficult aspects of this tragedy.  Rachel died not even 24 hours before our only brother was to be home.  We just missed the chance to be together again as a family here in mortality.  I anticipated, while we drove, that if I thought the last few hours had been hard, that the events I would be experiencing once I got home would be turmoil.  While I can say unabashedly that they were VERY difficult, I can say with utter certainty that they got easier with each passing day.  Every event that I thought would be too much to bear, from the candlelight vigil that the high school had for Rachel, to her funeral and interment, was not only bearable, but increasingly comforting.  More and more miracles, tender mercies, and witnesses of the divine Plan of Salvation accompanied every day, culminating in a feeling of actual joy.

I miss Rachel every day.  Most days, it feels like nothing happened.  I know she's gone from this mortal life, but I'm numb to that fact at the same time.  And then, at odd and unpredictable times, my heart literally breaks again as I mourn the most real loss I've ever experienced.  It is at these most solemn moments that I remember how blessed and privileged I am to be a child of covenant.  I know that the family I was born into is sealed for eternity.  Rachel is my sister as much now as she was when she was alive, and will continue to be for all eternity.  How grateful I am that I know, because of this experience with Rachel, that our lives continue past this mortal life.  And the almost debilitating fear I once had, the fear that losing someone I loved would be more than my testimony or I could bear, has gone.  I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is in charge of these things.  And I know that He not only comforts the one going home, but more importantly comforts and provides for those of us that are still here.  

I love this Gospel with all my heart!  I love the family that I was born into.  My mother is the strongest woman I have ever known, and an example to me of faith in every footstep.  Words cannot express the deep love I have for my husband.  I couldn't do anything or be a portion of who I am without him.  And my sweet girls give me more joy and laughter (and frustration!) than I deserve.  Thank you, Rachel, for teaching me so much with your life and with your death.  I will miss you only until we are together again.  I love you!