Monday, January 30, 2012

How do you really “catch up” when so much has happened?

I went through a period of at least 30 days with no posts.  It wasn’t because I was slacking, it was because we were busy going through trials of life. My last post in December was on the 14th.  One the 16th our Dear Nanny passed away.  We headed to Virginia the next week for the Memorial Service. We chose to leave Lexi with my parents because we just didn’t feel she was ready for that kind of loss in her life. Throughout the pain and loss I felt one of the proudest moments of Geoff in our life together now.  The proudest of all was when he became a Christian and was baptized even though he has a fear of the water.  His faith overcame that fear to make that public proclamation of his belief in God.   Following that is the day we took our precious Lexi in our arms for the first time and I watched him become a father and every since then I’ve been so blessed to watch him be a fantastic Daddy.  And following that was the day we stood before our family, friends, and God and became one in the eyes of God. ( I know to some that is backwards but it makes sense to me.) And now to add to my list, I have the day of Nanny’s Memorial.  He volunteered to speak.  He wanted to talk about their relationship, her relationship with God, and just try the best he could to bring others to understand that he could say a temporary goodbye to Nanny because he knows they will meet again in Heaven.  His wish for his family and Nanny’s friends was to feel that same peace even in loss.  I couldn’t be more proud of him.  It was a hard thing to do and yet he did it no matter how hard it was.

After we returned home it was Christmas Eve.  We tried to move into the holidays appreciative of our loved ones.  We did really well I think but then my sister Carolyn ended up back in the hospital on Christmas Eve with complications from her double mastectomy.  She was there an entire week!  And during that time Carolyn’s husband was sent to Texas for the last training before his January deployment to Afghanistan.  We did everything we could to enjoy every moment of the holidays with Lexi and enjoyed watching her enjoy her new toys and gifts from family.  All in all, it was a very nice holiday even though I was not able to post photographs and commentary as usual.  I can gratefully say Carolyn is doing better.  I know it’s been hard for Carolyn and John to go through cancer apart but somehow they are managing to do it.  That too is a huge blessing!

Then we began 2012 with no real expectations of anything other than our desire to be better Christians and raise our daughter the best we can.  We want and DO enjoy every moment with her --- good and bad --- silly and irritating!  Life just can’t be perfect all the time and we have truly learned that lesson.  What I do find myself doing more and more is praying with and for Lexi.  I also find myself enjoying the little moments and MAKING even MORE  little moments (like today, we made heart shaped mini pizzas for her lunch tomorrow just for no reason at all). 

I can’t even say that things in 2012 have been great.  I’ve had problems with my left shoulder for unknown reasons.  I spent the first two weeks of the year in severe pain and even missed most of the second week back to school.  It’s getting better and I can’t begin to understand why but it is getting better just as mysteriously as it appeared. But I’ll take that with a grateful heart.

And finally, two weeks ago we lost our dear Sable.  It was her time even though we did not want it.  I’d like to believe she is in Heaven playing and loving on Nanny with her new healthy doggie body just living it up watching us knowing that we loved her so much.  (even though I know there is no Biblical doggie heaven, I sure hope there is!) We didn’t know how to handle it with Lexi.  We waited for her to ask about Sable but she didn’t in the way we thought.  She proceeded as if Sable was still here.  If she had a piece of leftover chicken at dinner, she asked to give it to Sable.  She asked why Sable’s bed was in the garage and she even would tell us she wanted to go home to her Sable when we were out. So finally, I had “the talk” with her.  She has only now for the last 4 days shown understanding that Sable is gone.  At first I found this odd, but as I type this post I get it.  It’s not so real for me either. It’s not really real that Nanny has passed and it’s the same with Sable.  Sable has been with us our entire married life. It’s weird that I can now open the front door and not have to worry that she will run out and take off into the street with her deaf ears. And it turned out she was also blind.  She was a tough old girl and she’ll always be missed. 

I don’t know why I suddenly tonight I can  “talk” about all of this and I’ll admit it has been a sad walk through the last month but I blog about our life as a family to document, document, document for Lexi and while the past months have not been filled with all happiness and bliss, it is part of our life and at least we can say we have made it through it all TOGETHER as a family.  I think tomorrow I will try to make just a post of my favorite pictures of that silent month.  This post explains it all.  The pictures will be the final documentation and will show that we even through the face of adversity used our faith in God to get us through and leaned on each other as a family in such a way that we have grown personally and spiritually for the better because of it. 

Through the Grace of God… we are a family and I’m so proud of the family we are and will continue to be.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Happy Birthday Lexi Jayne!

Wow, how time flies!  It’s incredible to see our little one turn four!  We had a small family party for her yesterday and everything was just perfect! 

 

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This Cinderella dress has special memories for me.  I bought it at Disney World while at a conference the day I found out when we would travel to China.  When we did get her, I thought she’d never fit in it but this is the last time she’ll wear it.  It now fits snug but once we decided on a Cinderella party, we just had to get one more wear. 

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Mom and I made the cake.  It turned out so cute and was just delish!

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I love this picture!  Our house IS the place to dress up and usually as soon as the boys come over they begin playing and dressing up.  Brennen cracked me up with this get-up but Sara said that since Lexi dressed up why not him too!

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I love this picture! 

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My Girls with their boys!

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Our happy family…

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Four already!!!

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Lexi was a little jewel and just let the boys help open all of her presents. 

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Lexi loves her some Aunt Carolyn!

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Nana’s girl!

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And of course after the cake, ice cream, and presents… it was play time outside. 

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This one cracks me up!  It reminds me of the runaway bride!

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Lexi’s birthday was certainly full of fun.  She got some really nice presents but the best part was just enjoying the day with her with family. She has brought so much love to our family and we thank God for her everyday!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A story to get us back in the groove…

Okay, so I know it’s been over a month since I posted to the blog but  I do plan to get some updates of our holidays done soon.  A lot has happened in the past month making it hard to keep posting.  So tonight’s quick post will be the one to get us back in the groove.

Tonight I was reading to Lexi before bed.  First I read “Bark, George” with no problem… but then I began to read “The Teeny Weeny Tadpole” and as soon as I got started my little Lj very seriously told me “you FORGOT the author, my TEACHER says the AUTHOR!”.  I said, “what?” and she repeated it and showed me the front of the book. I couldn’t help but be so surprised!  Okay… I know (as a teacher) to tell who the author is but I was just thinking she’s 3 and wouldn’t notice.  Wrong!  So I began to reread and THAT time I told both the author and the illustrator!  I guess we know who the brains in this family is!!!

I’ll post more later this week… of course I will!  Baby-Girl is about to be 4!!