Seattle Children's Hospital

One of the biggest blessings through the adventure of repairing Phoebe's cleft lip was being able to work with Seattle Children's Hospital. I cannot say enough good about them. They have the friendliest receptionists--both over the phone and in person--that I have ever worked with and their medical personnel is top notch. I felt like people actually listened to me when I expressed questions and concerns and that they actually wanted to help me and my daughter. Above all, I can see in the eyes of the nurses and doctors that work there that they are passionate about their work not just because they enjoy the job, but because they care about the patients they work with. 

In a nutshell--this hospital is just full of genuinely good and caring people. Their goodness, paired with the goodness of their line of work, makes it a place where the veil between this world and the next is thin. Phoebe is a lucky girl to have been taken care of at such a special place.

Here's some snapshots of the people we worked with (click on their names):

Our Plastic Surgeon: Raymond W. Tse, MD

Our Pediatrician at Seattle Children's: Emily R. Gallagher, MD, MP

Family Photos

A friend of ours took some family photos for us before Phoebe had her surgery and we're so happy with how they turned out! Now I just have to take the initiative to make sure they end up on our walls...

"You-Isms"

I've said it before--we are more than a little torn that Phoebe will be losing her cleft lip this Tuesday. Yes, come school time it won't be exactly "cool" to be walking around with a cleft, but we've grown very fond of it over the past eight months and part of us is sad to see it go. Things like seeing her projectile food out of that gap in her lip line are rather enduring.

I think that Heavenly Father feels the same way about us and our quirks and imperfections. While His ultimate goal is to help us become perfect, I think that in the meantime, these imperfections make Him smile. I'm not talking about our sins--God is sorrowful when we choose to break His commandments. What I'm talking about are those little tendencies and trademarks that make all of us each a you. Those little "you-isms"--those things make Him smile.

Things like having a cow lick on the front edge of your hairline or talking too fast when you get nervous. Things like being so clumsy you've considered walking around wearing bubble tape or being so tone deaf that you sound worse than nails on a chalkboard. Things like being such a bad cook, you can't even get rice down, or that the Pintrest projects you attempt look more fitted for a kindergarten classroom than a Martha Stewart magazine--all of these things, all of these innocent little imperfections, make Him smile.

So while we hope that these things which make us less than perfect will go away someday, let us not be too hard on ourselves while we live with them in mortality. Just like Phoebe's little cleft lip makes Jon and me smile, each of our "you-isms" make God smile, and with how things in the world are going, He needs something to smile about.

February 2018

Here's a bit of what we were up to in February...

First Row:

• We got together twice with our friend, Cassy, for lunch.
• We hiked Tiger Mountain with my friend, Erika. Phoebe did great the first 5 miles, but protested the last two...
• Jon and I went mountain biking at Swan Creek. It was the first time I've gone in a year and a half and I LOVED it! Plus, the bike Jon got me for my birthday is awesome!

Second Row:

• The family went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the BYU v. Gonzaga basketball game. BYU lost unfortunately, but the food was good and Phoebe loved it (all those TVs and noise, you know?)
• Jon took a day off work and my family came to watch Phoebe so that he and I could go skiing. I learned that I appreciate skiing more than snowboarding, though I still pretty much fell down the mountain the whole way.
• While my parents and Kate were in town to watch Phoebe, Kate got creative and invented the "Swami." #mysisteriscoolerthanyours

Third Row:

• While in town, my dad helped us do a lot around the house. For example, he hung this beautiful shelf he made me for Christmas. He also helped us fix our kitchen light (it needed more than a new light bulb), hang a shelf in Phoebe's room, and hang a plate in our kitchen. Yay for handy/awesome dads!
• Phoebe and I met up our friends--Lui and her daughter, Suri--at a yummy Asian bakery. I love Lui and Suri...we happened to meet each other at a library baby storytime, and since then have become really good friends. Yay for yummy treats and awesome friends!
• It snowed in Tacoma! For a whole week! We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves.

And then because I can't help but make a collage of Phoebe pictures...