A Last Hurrah

Typically, we are not fans of summer. We don’t like the heat. We dread the humidity. Let’s face it – it’s usually over 100 degrees in the south.

However, not this summer. It has been a glorious, lazy, breezy, simple, AMAZING summer. 

I spoke to a friend yesterday, who reminded me of our summer last year…. We were in Charlotte. Shaw came home in May. He was less than six pounds, attached to a monitor (that alarmed often, to alert us that he had stopped breathing). His lungs were so fragile and the heat so strong that we were only allowed to be outside before 10am in the morning. ONLY ALLOWED TO BE OUTSIDE UNTIL 10am…. I look back and I think, how on earth did we survive last summer? I had a 1.5 year old, rambunctious toddler, aching to swing, slide, run, play – and we were trapped inside?

My friend said, “You guys deserve this summer at the beach to make up for last summer”. I know we don’t really ‘deserve’ anything, but I sure appreciated the reminder of what a reward it has been to be here for over three months. Talk about blessings!!!

sweet (sometimes) brothers

We are with mixed emotions as we pack up our seashell collection, alphabet wall graffiti, bug catcher and swimsuits to head back to the life that we know.  We have had the opportunity to have our boys in the water – every day. While Shaw learned to walk this summer, Nash learned to swim! They have been exposed to so much. We have grown. We have healed. We have so much peace.

Happy, sandy babies

And then there were TWO dancers on the dance floor. :)

Our last visitors of the summer, Mariah & Chad!!

Swimming bums at dusk

Bongo player (and tolerant band)

Boathouse sunsets

Sand caught flying through the air. Nash on a mission. 

Saturday mornings with Daddy

We also have a lot of excitement on the horizon. Nash is starting preschool in September. This is uber exciting, since he was not allowed to attend last year, due to what he would bring home to Shaw. (In the same breath, Shaw's lungs are still fragile this cold/flu season and we will be ramping up to take extra precautions over the next few months). Nash will go two days a week, allowing him to have some interaction with other children his age, as well as evading attending therapy with Shaw.

Team Richter is also gearing up for ABM therapy again in the mountains. We will spend a few days in September for intensive therapy to kick start areas in his brain (as well as show off to John just how far he has come this summer!)

We also have made some really exciting advances with Bee Mighty. Thanks to Courtney Toomey for her tshirt purchases and for sending shirts to other micro preemie families! Thanks to Cameron Uher and her partnering with Wells Fargo, they have added another $1,000 to the poole! So exciting! We have raised enough money to begin accepting applications for children - the dream in all of this. We're planning our first board meeting and have narrowed down our fundraising event for next summer, "Paddle 4 Preemies". We will send out information, as soon as it is confirmed, but really hope that so many that have supported us in this endeavor will try to attend. We have been surrounded by so many blessings and want to celebrate with so many - near and far. 

We're still hanging on... celebrating sunrises, dancing at dusk and (unfortunately) on dueling computers at this hour as some things just have to get done.

Oh - and maybe this is the time I should share with you some of the friends we've spent some time with this summer...

Maybe an 8 footer. These alligators are in EVERY one of the lagoons down here. They are just as common as turtles, herons, etc. VERY hard for Mommy to get used to...

Stalking Blue Herons

Seizing Blue Heron

Sharks in the tide pools (frightening, right?)

B.I.G.

We are used to seeing sharks just off the beach - but this is the first hammerhead

baby gators (too many photos to include)

Happy 8th birthday to our dear niece, Delaney!! 

HHI - It's a wrap...

Nash Rockin' it out - his new thing is break dancing