all about me...

grayson and diana spending time "shipside" learning all they can

about teeny, tiny babies...

It pretty much broke my heart in two when I left the NICU on Tuesday afternoon to make my way back to the place that is my home. I had become completely absorbed in "everything Logan" during my time in Portland. There's nothing like a perfect little stranger to steal your heart away and make you forget that there's even anything else going on in the world. And after three weeks of "shipside" vigil, Little Logan is a very important part of my life. I like his mom and dad just fine but he's the one tugging at my heartstrings as he struggles to figure out how to make a go of it here in this world.

little logan trying to "sleep off" all that ails him

But while I was busy getting to know Little Logan, my family "back home" was missing me.

The fridge broke the day I left. The fridge is my department; it's something I would take care of without issue. BUT, the day after I left, my sister came over to put something in the freezer part of my fridge and discovered warm, decomposing food. The rest is pretty much "gong show history!" My sister was late for work as she tried to salvage what she could from the fridge/ freezer and redeposit the stuff in the garage fridge. She was excited to find the freezer in the garage fridge quite empty so she was able to save a few items! What she didn't know was that the freezer in that fridge hasn't worked for 4 years. That was why it was empty. But you get the picture. Husband home alone, sister-in-law desperate to help out and all round mechanical meltdown (pun intended).....

So Wally ate over at Wendi and Greg's for a few nights. He bought A LOT Grandma Lee's to sustain him at work and the kids pitched in; inviting him over for dinner or joining him at Subway after work.

My sister offered to call a repairman to fix the fridge and even stayed home from work one day waiting for him to arrive...with the WRONG part! Another day off and a few more visits from the repairman to fix other problems he discovered while fixing the first problem and...Long story short, the fridge was cleaned and running the day I got home. All I had to do was re-stock and resume my kitchen duties. (Thanks, Wendi)

Wednesday night my sister walked in as I was busily getting the kitchen back to up to my standards. She exclaimed with glee, "Lorri must be home! This place smells like dinner's cooking again!" And then we planned a family dinner for Sunday afternoon....

The Saturday before I left so unexpectedly (Little Logan's arrival was a tad unexpected!) I made a mental note to pick up laundry detergent on Monday after work.

Laundry is also my department. I'm kinda picky about how it's done and I have been doing Wally's laundry for 30 years now. He has terrible allergies and is VERY SENSITIVE when it comes to how his clothes are laundered. It's taken a while but I have finally got it right and have been washing his shirts and underwear and socks in such a way that he never gets itchy or sneezes.

So by Tuesday/Wednesday, Wally needed to head down to the laundry room to tackle his loads of dirty clothes. He was able to squeeze enough out of the bottle for one load but later that evening he asked me if we had any more detergent anywhere in the house. We usually do! But for some reason, I had let it run out- hence my determination to restock on Monday...

Here is where I suppose that it's worth noting that Wally HATES stopping at Walmart. It's too big, too crowded, too loud, and "not worth the few pennies saved for all the agravation." The only thing he hates more than the store might be the parking lot. (that's where my car was rammed by something big and unidentified)

That's when I had to break the news to him that about the only place I've ever been able to buy the detergent that keeps him comfortable and allergy free is Walmart. He sort of whined into the phone, "Don't you think I could get some uptown at Roosters?, in Cardston at Extra Foods? maybe the Pharmacy? I replied that I always buy it at Walmart but he could decide for himself; it was his laundry.

So Wally picked up a bottle of "something that looked almost like what you buy at Walmart" at the little store uptown, only to discover that it made him sneeze and itch. After re-washing his underwear THREE times without soap to remove the offensive odor, he relented and stopped at Walmart on his way home one night. A painful but necessary evil that he lived to tell about! haha

And there's still some detergent in the laundry room for me to use this weekend! Who wants to go to Walmart on a Saturday before Christmas? haha

my last little peak before heading home

sleep tight, little logan

My time in Portland was filled with precious moments of time spent wth my daughter, getting to know my son-in-law a little better (he's "awesomer" than I thought) and watching over and praying for that perfect little miracle named Logan. I was tired and stressed but never really thought much about those I'd left behind. They were also tired and stressed, sad to be so far away from something as precious as Little Logan and.... kinda missing me.... I am the mom, after all.

one last good bye cuddle

see you later, little man...

And I was completely validated upon my return by all the friends and family who had MISSED me! It's a real blessing to be loved and appreciated BUT it is a bigger blessing to be part of a family!

In the end, it's not really all about me, after all. It's all about family and even though Little Logan is far away, he's a part of our family and he's made a huge difference in how we all understand this life and the people we love. Logan is a lucky boy! He's got a HUGE extended family; grandparents (TWO grandpa's named Wally!), great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.etc... AND entire wards, stakes, towns and small cities thinking about him, praying for him and loving him.

Breathe on, Little Logan! It really is all about family and you belong in this one.

logan and his mom...