Newport in small doses and a baby update.

I had a doctor's appointment today and the baby and I are doing great. She is now 12 inches and 1.8 pounds and totally "viable" as the doctor pointed out. That means that should anything go wrong and she be delivered she could survive outside of my body already. Probably sounds odd to some people but there is something a bit reassuring about that news. I had lots of pain in my right side and a few other symptoms while I was on vacation in Newport and it turns out I passed a kidney stone - what a relief that there was nothing baby related wrong! So Caroline (or Elizabeth if my dad has anything to say about it) is moving and kicking and dancing and loving life - what a blessing! BTW - 142 beats per minute - perfect baby heartbeat!

Newport was great - relaxing is probably not the right word for it but enjoyable, joyful, and fun. My cousin Brigid is going to kill me because I took less pictures than usual - I lost my ambition around Wednesday when the glares became more and more violent in nature when I asked the kids to pose. I am also having many issues with my camera/computer/blogspot so I am uploading in segments! Obviously I did take some major pictures if I have to do it in parts - right??? These first pictures are not in order but I love them. The kids went on ther cliff walk and had so much fun - everytime I go on the cliffwalk I am blown away by the beauty of it all and the majesty - it is truly breathtaking. Add to that oodles of beautiful children dancing on the rocks and I felt like the luckiest Auntie and Mommy on the planet!

The three big girls on the rocks posing Hannah Montana style.
Unlce Ed and the boys on the top of the mountain.
Peter and Tyler in the clouds!
The end of the cliff walk with everyone.
Someone stopped and took this one for us so we could all be in it!

Julia on the cliff walk - talk about heart in your throat - its bad enough taking your own kids on those treacherous paths but taking someone else's gave me heartburn - Karla and I stuck to her like glue!
Abby and her Daddy
The Harding clan on the rocks.
The Harding - Wheeler clan on the rocks.
Uncle Ed, Uncle Pat and Daddy showing their muscles on the cliffwalk.

I already framed this one of Julia - The only thing more beautiful than the scenery is my goddaughter!
Daddy and Auntie Karla with the babies!
Uncle Ed with the kids on the rocks - notice that the only child who turned and looked when I asked them to was Julia!
Molly girl on the rocks.
Another picture I may frame - how gorgeous are my chickies?

Daddy attempting to use the Indian sling - Annie loves being so close to her daddy.
Uncle pat and the kids on the cliff walk.
Daddy and his girsl check out the cliff walk.
Julia posing for Auntie again!
And again!

Later I am going to try to post the ice cream pictures after the cliff walk - 2 lost cones and lots of dirty face - worth coming back for!

Another note worthy addition to the blog is that my son - the almost eight year old - has not sucked his thumb in 3 days. That is huge for him and Papa and KK made his day by taking him out for ice cream last night to celebrate. Molly and I are going to make him a cake tomorrow to mark the 5 day mark. Anyone who knows Pete knows what an absolute challenge this is for him as he takes great comfort in his thumb. There is a product to help kids stop biting their nails called "Bite It". I highly recommend it as we had tried everything else on the planet and this is the thing that finally worked for Peter. We put a little bit on his thumb nails and he has not put his thumb in his mouth once since then - if it starts to wear off he comes and asks for more - he is so committed to this. It was kind fo cute in Newport when he wanted to share the experience with Tyler and stuck his thumb in Tyler's mouth - needless to say that Tyler was not impressed.

More blogs later in the day!

GNM - ILY!