Father's Day Weekend

This weekend, we finally came out of hiding and visited with a few people. On Friday morning, we watched the USA match at the Hammers' house with several friends. Noah got to meet some new buddies of his, Caleb, Amanda, and Jonathan (such cuties). Saturday, we got to visit Josh's grandma; it was her first time getting to meet Noah. She's had a bit of a rough couple of months, and with everything that had been going on with us, we just never got a chance to visit. In the afternoon, Patience, Jordan and Eliana stopped by to visit on their way to the Eastern Shore. It was our first time seeing them since the boys' birth, and it was so good to finally see them. The kiddos eyed each other warily while visited, and we can't wait to set up future play dates, and hopefully see them again soon. As the only other people we know to have gone through this, they have been so kind, so understanding and so wonderful to us throughout this whole ordeal. We know we couldn't have made it through without them.

Today was not only Father's day, but a big day for Mina's family - Brasil soccer! We headed to Lucy's house to watch not only the Brasil match, but the earlier New Zealand match as well. Needless to say, we were pleased by both results. While we were there, Noah and Maya got a little more acquainted and played (or maybe more wary staring). There was lots of family time, and we had tons of fun.

At the end, it was a mostly good Father's Day - yet bittersweet. We can't forget that one month ago today, our family experienced a loss we can never truly recover from. It was a good day - but we remember our buddy Charlie and how much we miss him today.

Noah lovin'

Has it really been 7 weeks since delivery? Sometimes it feels like forever ago, sometimes we feel like Noah is still a newborn! He's been doing well, he has quite a bit of reflux and colic. Some nights we get some sleep, others...well, thank goodness for coffee. No matter how tired we are, though, he brings smiles and laughter to our daily lives, and we are absolutely in love with this little man.

We found a great book online this week, called "Always My Twin" by Valerie Samuels. It's a book about being a surviving twin. We think it is very important for Noah to always know about Charlie, and know what a brave little soldier he was. We've also started to sort of get into a routine, somewhat, now that we are settled back at home. The next step, Mina begins the job hunt as an RN which is a little difficult at the time. Financially, because we are living with Josh's parents, it isn't completely necessary however, we'd like to work on what our primary goal of moving here was - saving to buy ourselves a house! So hopefully Mina will be able to find something soon. She'd love to go back to where she worked before, and hopefully it will work out!

Lastly, our friend and amazing photographer Janete came to take pictures of our little munchkin last weekend. She did such an incredible job, we can't thank her enough. Thanks Janete!!! Here they are...Mr. Noah, 7 weeks old, cutest baby ever (and we're pretty sure he knows it):

Sunrise

This morning we said our last goodbye to our sweet, strong baby boy. We sat alone in the dark on the sandy shore of Chincoteague Island with the moon and the stars above us. The winds off the Atlantic were strong and filled the salty air with the sound of waves breaking along the beach. As light began to break across the sky Josh read "I'll Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. The book was given to us by our very good friends, the Hammers, while Charlie was still battling at Children's. It was the book Marina read to Charlie right before his final surgery and the evening he took his last breath in her arms.

We also read a Bible passage we saw in a blog of another set of close friends, the Leinos. Their son, Isaac, fought the same battle with HLHS. This passage touched us deeply when we read it on their webpage, and we felt it resonated with us.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me...to grant consolation & joy to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, & failing spirit - that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." Isaiah 61.1 & 3

At long last, but somehow right on time, we have closure. At the dawn of a new day, the first day of June and the unofficial start of summer, we said our final goodbyes to our sweet, strong baby boy. We love you, Charlie.