Family Tragedy

I always hate writing about certain things, because I never have the right words to describe how I'm feeling, or the intensity of the situation.  Last Sunday night, May 23rd, I got a phone call as soon as I left church - my Brother-in-law Delon had passed away.

Eric was at the hospital with his sister and parents.  Delon had taken a nap that afternoon, and never woke up, and Heather had gone to check on him around 6pm and called 911.  The paramedics did the best they could, but he had already stopped breathing before they got to the house.  He had taken some medication, and that plus his ulcers and alcohol had been too much for his body to handle, and he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

To say that they are devastated is an understatement.  Heather is only 27, much too young to be a widow.  She doesn't know life without him.  They were married at 16, and really grew up together.  And they have two boys, 11 and 3, and they had been married for about 11 1/2 years.  This was very hard on the whole family.  The funeral was Friday in Florida. 

I know that at this point, it is just the beginning.   That it is going to take months and years for her to get over this, and for the boys to come to terms with losing their Dad at such a young age.  Heather didn't go back to the house except to grab a few things until today.  I think she is still very numb to what has happened, and her emotions come and go like a freight train.  Her world was completely changed, and it all happened so fast.

It makes you cherish the people you love even more.  Cherish the time we have together, and to not take it for granted, because you never know when that time will come for it to be your time, or someone you love's time to go.  Knowing that my family is saved makes this much easier, but in Delon's case we just aren't sure.  We hope and pray that he had believed and said a prayer at some point in his life, but he was pretty open about not being a Christian.  And that makes it harder.  We hope that his pride got in the way, and that he had realized he needed Jesus at some point before last weekend.  Not knowing makes it harder though. 

Fun Saturday

Saturdays around here have really changed since Eric got a full time job a few months ago and is continuing with his EMT degree.  He works M-F and so he only has Saturday's to schedule his ambulance rides and his rotations in the ER.  So I'm waiting on him to get home now!!  I have dinner ready and waiting (only the 2nd time I've cooked this week b/c i have been too exhausted after work).  And I have a roast ready to go in the crock pot in the morning for our meal after church.

So what is our typical Saturday like?

Well today we slept in, until about 8:30, then ate breakfast.  Usually I like to go garage sailing...but wasn't in the mood today.  Then we cleaned the kitchen and living room, made lunch, ate lunch, went outside to put more chemicals in the pool (more on that in a minute), took a shower, took a 'rest' (an hour or so of nap for me and movie for Peyton with his blanket on the couch), grocery store and movie store run, took dinner to a close friend at church who lost her MIL last week, came home, cooked dinner, finished up bible study from the week (was 2 days behind, had to catch up), cooked dinner, and now we are waiting on Daddy to get home so we can eat dinner and watch Avatar. 

I'm so proud of Eric though, for continuing with his schooling, even though he is exhausted and never gets much of a break at all.  I keep telling him, just one more semester, just one more!!!

Oh, I hear the garage door now.  Will tell about the pool woes next post.

Pool Install

After much deliberation, we finally decided to buy a pool. This is the first shot of our back yard transformation!!!

Feeling Ok

Well, this week so far hasn’t been too bad.

Which started to scare me at first b/c I felt so bad last week. Then I started thinking about those 2 days – I had to stop my daily migraine medicine cold turkey, stopped drinking caffeine, plus I probably had some nerves going on too – so combine those 3, plus that spicy shrimp and no wonder I felt bad for a few days. So I’m not going to worry too much about not feeling bad.

I go to my first prenatal appt next Tuesday. Hope to hear the heart beat! Might be too early, but I can’t wait to hear it…

So far, my gut is telling me this is another boy…but I guess we will see come August.

FINALLY!!!!

Thursday Morning I took a pregnancy test, and discovered that it was POSITIVE!  Ran to Publix's to get another brand, one of the new 'digital' types, and took it, POSITIVE.  Went to the doctor for the blood test, Positive!  Barely positive on the blood test, but still, a line is a line.

We were on cloud nine for the whole first day, and now the reality is finally 'starting' to set in.  Along with some nausea. Not too bad, but the doctor did give me some medicine for it and I'm feeling much better when I take it.

After trying for about a year and a half, I couldn't keep it a secret at all!  So pretty much everyone that we know already knows. 

We are praying really hard for this little guy/gal to stick, and we can't wait to meet him/her in January!!!

Nine Years

Nine Years.  Today is our 9th Anniversary.  Wow.  I can't believe it has been nine years.  That is pretty amazing.  Some days it feels like it has been WAY longer than 9 years, but most days, it seems like it has just flown by.  We have had our ups and downs, but I'm still very happy and much more in love now than I was or ever could have understood 9 years ago.

This is what I wrote in his card (or part of it anyway).

The 9 reasons I love you more today than the day I married you:

1. Because you make me laugh

2. Because your the best Dad in the world

3. Because you love me unconditionally

4. Because you believe in me

5. Because you make me proud

6. Because is still think you are HOT!

7. Because we were ment to be together

8. Because you are my best friend

9. Because I love you

*in no particular order...

Now we just have to start saving up for our next Anniversary.  I wanna do something BIG for #10.