The growing Roza family: Uncle Donald's summer visit

We had not seen Edward's middle brother, Donald, since last summer when he was in town for a week. His trip out here for Labor Day weekend had been planned long in advance. And he still had no clue that he had another niece/nephew on the way! We drove down to Brentwood to stay with Edward's mother for the weekend and to visit with Donald and his wife Karen. There was also a BBQ on that Saturday to get the Roza family together so that everyone could spend some time with Donald and Karen.

Lilah had fun visiting with all of the family! She didn't recognize Donald at first, but then she warmed up to him quickly. Donald was soooo excited to see Lilah!! And he was even more excited when I showed him my growing belly and announced to him that he was going to be an uncle again! Both Donald and Karen got to feel Snicker kicking, which they loved! Lilah had a lot of fun feeding the chickens and doves with Voa, gathering the chicken eggs every morning, and riding around in the wagon on the property. Lilah also had tons of fun playing with 2 adorable husky puppies that Uncle Anthony's friend had brought with her. The puppies had just been adopted and were only 6 weeks old. They were just so darn cute! Did they make me want to get a puppy of my own though? HECK NO!!!! We have ZERO plans to have any pets around for a long time...as long as we can hold out before our kids force us to get a pet at some point in the (hopefully) very distant future.

On that Sunday of Labor Day weekend we visited Papa Tony at his rest home. Thankfully he was having a really "good" day! He seemed to know who we all were, even his son Donald whom he hadn't seen for a year. And he was excited to see Lilah again, of course. I also showed Tony my baby bump and explained to him that he had another grandchild arriving shortly. In the trips we have made to see him since I became pregnant, we kind of hid my growing belly from him because we didn't want to tell him too early. We knew he probably wouldn't remember, and of course we were worried about losing this pregnancy. But now that I'm 7 months along, my belly is quite large, and he seemed to be able to understand, it was time to tell him. He got a big smile on his face! I don't expect him to remember that I'm pregnant, but I know next time he sees me with an even bigger belly I hope he will understand what that means. I hope that he can meet Snicker in a couple of months and understand that this new baby is another grandchild of his. Unfortunately, his cognitive abilities are going downhill quickly and we aren't sure how long he'll have moments of clarity. I'm just so glad that at least he's had almost 2 years with Lilah and I have some great photos of them. I try to take photos of Tony and Lilah each time we visit him - we need to preserve those special moments.

I made sure to exchange cell phone numbers with Donald and Karen, that way we can call them after Snicker arrives in a couple of months. I know they will be anxiously awaiting that phone call!