Little Aurora turned two weeks old yesterday, and we celebrated by spending the day at Nana and Granddad's house. Or maybe we spent the day there because we were evacuated from our home due to a 10,000+ acre wildfire. Either way. We got home from church on Sunday to see an enormous cloud of smoke rising from the forest behind our house. Blake immediately expressed great dismay, and seemed to understand the gravity from the get go. It was not long before he had us packing up essentials and irreplaceable sentimental things, like photo albums and baby blankets made by the great grandmothers. We left home before the official evacuation notice came, a sobering act even though both of us were pretty confidant that our house would be fine.

We hung out at my inlaws' place for Father's Day, which we were planning on doing anyway, and had a fabulous, very meaty dinner of grilled ribs, steak, and chicken (can you tell that the guys heavily influenced the menu?). It was Blake's first Father's Day, and while it was definitely a special day, his beloved forest was burning down, and it will be a long grieving process for all of us. Pictures posted earlier on the blog show us enjoying Schultz Tank, which is destroyed. Our favorite trails to walk Vlad on our gone. This wilderness area began literally just minutes from our house, and we've lost something more precious than even our home, part of me feels.

Rory got her dad a new razor (and other grooming accouterments) for Father's Day, with a note explaining how much she loves his kisses when his cheeks are smooth. She may have been unwittingly influenced by her mother in picking out this gift... her parents are convinced that she is quite advanced for her age, and will entertain inquiries from interested universities starting in a year or two, assuming the stipulations are acceptable. However, something must be done about her hygiene preferences first, since she is entirely opposed to bathing and diaper changes. Have you heard how beautiful she is? I may have mentioned it a time or two. She really is the most beautiful baby. It's a good thing Blake has so many weapons to intimidate her future suitors with...we'll probably have to get a guard shack too, or maybe a nice tower to lock her up in. Mark Driscoll has a great series on the Song of Solomon, and one of the last sermons is on dads and daughters. He mentions that girls are either doors or walls, and that a door lets any guy who knocks get close. A wall, on the other hand, remains completely impassable to all guys up until the point she meets the worthy one. My fervent prayer for Rory is that she be a wall, and if she's not, that her daddy barricade her up and stand guard with his AK47 until she's past the door stage. Raising a daughter is stressful, and she's only fifteen days old!

This lovely trail is charred now

  Family picture at Snowbowl for the wedding of some friends
Caution: Slippery when wet











Pictures taken from our house

Note: At the arboretum, I learned the difference between a forest fire and a wildfire- forest fires begin naturally, as with lightening, and are God's way of keeping the forests healthy. Wildfires are caused by humans and cause destruction in an unnatural, unhealthy way. This is a wildfire, caused by carelessness. Oftentimes Flagstaff's wildfires are started by people from out of town, tourists or transients, who don't know how to manage their campfires or just don't care. They ruin things for those of us who live here, and who care so much. It makes me mad!

Life with Rory

We've been home with our little one for almost a week, and it's been a whirlwind. Here are some random thoughts about her arrival and settling in:

• Blake is much better at changing diapers and swaddling than I am, but I make awesome milk, so we're even.
• Blake made an innocent inquiry about the placenta, and the next thing we know, it's in a Tupperware container in our hospital room. Now it's in our refrigerator. Gross. What does one do with a placenta, anyway?
• After months of preparing for natural, medicine free childbirth, both Blake and I felt nothing but relief when, after hours of apparently futile labor, our doctor informed us that we would be delivering by c-section.We were glad to go through labor for the experience, but discovered that c-sections aren't so bad.
• An enormous red flower in one's hair speeds the recovery process, and is, as I suspected, an excellent distraction from a drugged, tired face in pictures.
• Things I am finding invaluable:
• enthusiastic grandmas
• a loving, encouraging husband whose also an adoring father
• my moby wrap...wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, but it's amazing
• the nice comfy glider and ottoman
• I love not being pregnant so, so much!! It's almost worth getting pregnant again just to enjoy the thrill of being not pregnant after.

My first glimpse of my beautiful daughter occurred on the operating table. My doctor probably told me that she was going to hold up the baby for me to see before the nursery people checked her out, but it did not register with me. Thus, I was a bit taken back when I heard a cry and turned my head, and leering down at me was Gollum. the creature had grabbed hold of the curtain with both hands and stayed grasping the curtain even as the doctor pulled her away. It occurred to me that Gollum was actually my baby, and while I was a little underwhelmed, I determined that being cute isn't everything, and we could work with it. However, fifteen or so minutes later, in the recovery room, Blake handed me the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. She bore no resemblance at all to the slimy, unfortunate Tolkien villain; she was perfect and gorgeous and I was smitten at second sight of her.

Worth the Wait

Aurora Whitney Bowen

Born 6.7.10 at 6:32am, 8.4lbs, 21.5 inches

She is perfect!