If I die young....

A few weeks ago this song came on, so I decided to talk 'funerals'. I had never brought this subject up before. You always hear that story of the couple where one passes away, and they think it's so ironic that they had JUST been talking about death, family, & how they wanted their funeral. No, I don't believe in jinxing things or superstitions, but that's just not something I wanted to happen. After my parents drove as quickly as they could to Nashville anticipating their daughter being dead,  after Luke and Amanda witnessed the nurses/doctors asking each other if anyone had found a pulse on me yet, and after Luke had been pulled into the hallway by Dr. W. letting him know I'd most likely have brain damage the rest of my life, I figured maybe we should discuss funerals.

I asked Luke what clothes he'd dress me in, what songs he'd have sung/played, who he would have hold the service, where the funeral would be, and where I'd be buried. He had some thoughtful answers.


Music Playlist at MixPod.com

This isn't my typical running song, but I did add this to my play list when I ran in Louisville the other week. It got me over the first big hill in the park. Running gives you  plenty of time to think and clear your mind. It also gives you time to pray. I'm so thankful, especially with everything that happened, that I am still here and am able to enjoy my sweet babies. I probably won't forget any of the Dr.'s faces that I saw that day, even though I don't remember too much. I can't imagine my kiddos having to grow up without me. I know their Daddy could take care of them & love them, but I want to be able to love on them too as much as I can! The first time we took Lucy to the pediatrician after she was released, he was speechless. He told us he had read through my Dr. report again, and was just so happy things turned out the way he did. He stammered and stuttered a bit and finally got out how bad it could have gotten & we could have even lost Lucy too. I enjoy having Christian doctors. He came back to check on Lucy for the first few days, and even came in my room to see me. He came in right after all the 'excitement'. I always try to look decent when I do to Dr. appointments now, because I feel bad at what they had to look at those few days ;)

On another note, we took a family vacation to Orlando a few weeks ago. We spent Mother's day with some of  my mom's family. Here are a few pictures:

So HAPPY to be a MOMMY to these 2!

Family beach picture! (I'm still working on getting back into shape).

Running with purpose!

The Derby Festival Mini Marathon and full marathon were April 30th. I ran with the Run with Purpose relay team. It was a great day, and I had a wonderful time! the legs were split up into a 10k, 5k, 10k, 5k, and a little over 7 miles.



About 2 miles into my run, still smiling because I hadn't hit the 3 miles of hills yet ;)



I had a long blog posted about it, but am not quite sure where it went! I would love to do the relay again, and train a little more next time. My 10k time was not even close to 'good', but the experience was good, and it was all to raise money for Will and Audrey's mission work, and it was worth it all. I had a great time meeting some new people at my leg of the race, and also meeting some G.O. ministry people too.



Waiting after leg 5 to join the rest of the team across the finish line!

The team, minus Ashley, after the race.

After the race I went home and took a nice long nap. I didn't get much sleep the night before from driving in from Nashville & feeding Lucy throughout the night. After I woke up from my nap, my grandpa was out our house and we ate a good steak dinner! We hung out on the patio talking about everything with him from air conditioners ( ours had just gone out) to his training in Ireland. At that point it was getting late, and I hadn't had any caffeine yet in the day, so we took a short trip to Starbucks before hitting the hay! We went to church Sunday morning before meeting up with Audrey and Will for a few minutes,eating lunch, and heading back to Nashville before we left for Florida the next day. The marathon weekend was great!

And if you'd still like to donate money to G.O. ministries, let me know! I will let you know how to make that possible.

Happy Easter!



Lucy's Easter Basket

Yes, I realize Holy week was LAST week, but I need to put some pictures up of my 2 lovelies!

Landon, Lucy, & their cousin Elyssa on saturday before Easter.




Landon checking out his basket





Cell phone picture from during church. This is Lucy's smile she is starting to show us EVERY day! =)



My family came into town for Easter.



Moving on

We've started taking Lucy out more. She usually stays in her carrier away from people, we'll keep this up for just a little bit longer. She has been to church about 3 times now, and has been to Target a few times, but that is mainly all besides the Dr. We're still keeping her away from small spaces that have lots of kids--nurseries, play places, other people's houses etc. But when we are out the questions flow from strangers. It usually starts with ," How old is she?". Some people don't say anything. Either they've never been around babies, or really just don't think anything. The people who usually say " ooohh she is brand new, what is she 2 weeks old?" are the ones with the questions. How big was she? How long was she in the hospital? How big is 2 pounds? How did she fit into clothes? When did you bring her home? Everything is ok with her now though, right? I bet she is big to you now, right?

I've finally been out of the house to hang out with people about 3 times now without Luke. =) Big steps for me. The social aspect of all of this was much harder than I ever imagined. I'm now realizing that I got sick 4 times so far since she has been born ( throw up sick), and she has been here 4 months. Every month the stress and anxiety just built up to a point where I got sick. And I don't get sick. I can count on one hand the # of times ( before her) that I have thrown up. Looking at her pictures from the hospital even made me dizzy for a long time. Thinking back to holding a baby that has stopped breathing, monitors beeping, nurses suctioning out her mouth & stimulating her by talking and rubbing was just too much to think about at some times. Look at this picture, and see if you notice anything:

(Besides her nasal cannula all crazy). Hint: look at her chest. Yeah, some things weren't formed yet on her.And her eye. These things were hard to be ok with while she was in the hospital.

Having a baby that was only alive because she was hooked up to machines is not fun.I imagined that once she was home, it would be fine.Then when people would ask questions once she was home, and it would all come back. It was just easier to not go around people, then I wouldn't have to talk about anything! And if Luke was with me, he could do the talking and I could just walk away. But it is getting easier. So if you haven't see me in the last 4 months, it's either because we don't want to take Lucy to the place where you're at =) or because I'm still working on myself with some help & recommendations from the Dr. and Luke. One of the times I have been out was last week. My wonderful friends had a little shower for sweet Lucy. It was a book and gift card shower! We are so thankful for each of these girls!

A few things came up last minute for a few more friends, and they weren't able to come. Believe me, I understand =) The cake was fabulous also.

Thanks again SO much! And since you all said I am not to send Thank You cards, I hope this is OK ;) We've been keeping up and making sure we do TY cards since right when we had her. Cards, food, gift cards, money, diapers--we made lists and checked off as soon as people gave us things. We were so thankful for ALL of the help, and wanted to make sure you all knew! If we left you out, we are so sorry, but know we are thankful. I think I'm more worried about leaving someone out than the gift givers themselves are. I slipped a card in a purse at church a week ago, and they told me that it better not be a TY card because I'm a new Mom and don't need to worry about that. They are also a new mom, and said they hadn't done them. I was  in Target the other day, and 2 ladies were talking about these cute onesies. One of the onesies said something about 'my aunt'. One lady was joking that when the mom sends out TY cards, she'll thank her for it instead( they were both aunts, and the shirt was prob. about my aunt is cute). Then the other lady said, " I never got a wedding TY card, did you? I don't think she is doing them". So I'm guessing that thank you cards are on the way out. I never really understood them. You tell someone thank you face to face when you get a gift. And you know people ONLY do them because it's what you are supposed to do. BUT this time around we REALLY REALLY were so very thankful and happy for all of the gifts, so we wanted to make sure everyone knows! We've been so blessed with help, and hope that we can be the same to others when they are in need.

4 months old

Yes, I'm slacking! We've been busy around here. Lucy has had appointments, Luke has been out of town a few times,we've had company 3 times, and Landon is just crazy wild. Here is a 3 month picture of Lucy:



Handsome 2 year old



Lucy @ 4 months

Lucy had her 4 month appointment last week. She got all her regular vaccines & also her 3rd RSV shot. That will most likely be her last one of the year. She weighed in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 19 3/4 inches long. She is staying right on her growth curve, and doing great! We are no longer supplementing frozen milk after she eats, and she is sleeping one good long stretch at night.We're still keeping track of her development, and will continue to do so. She is right around where a 2 month old would be with most of her things. We have just started to get some good smiles from her last week, and she is starting to make noises with us! She does keep her hands fisted most of the time still, but is starting to have a little more control of her arms. Her head still needs almost full support, but she is starting to try to lift it on her own a little. We love her so much,and she is such a joy! We don't know what the rest of this journey through life might bring us from her being so early, but we know that God is in control, and we will praise him no matter what the outcome!

=)

 Landon has started praying on his own, mostly by us saying the same prayers over and over.I think it is time we start working on some verses! It's never too soon to start.How exciting =) Check this out if you have a little one that you want to help with memorizing verses.It has a verse from every book and a few extra blank cards! There are also different patterns to chose from.

 http://outoftheheart.myshopify.com/pages/welcome

P.S. I really like this because the friend who makes them was a friend who we were with in Sunday School growing up adding verses to our caterpillar across the wall. Don't y'all remember them? You know, every week you had another memory verse, and if you got it you got to add another section onto the caterpillar or inch worm or whatever it was.

Landon

Landon has been saying some VERY crazy,funny things lately. I'm going to try to remember all of them, but I'm sure they aren't in any order.

My sister was giving him a bath last week when she was visiting. She told him she was going to wash his hair, and he screamed, " NEVERRRRRRRRRRR". This was totally unexpected. But he loves the new Disney show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates". They say never a lot!

Speaking of shows............Landon is SUCH an actor! He thinks that EVERY single word he knows or has memorized from EVERY COMMERCIAL, EVERY SHOW, and EVERY MOVIE he has to say along with it. This even goes for the little ad for the company that produces it after a show ( ex:Little airplanes). Not only does he have the words memorized, he says it EXACTLY as they do. AND if it's like the old Disney "Robin Hood", and the character is being shoved into a gate by the rhino, he will run and throw himself on the couch and grab his chest. Yesterday we were out and about for a while so we put his DVD player in the car. He was watching Lady and the Tramp. We haven't watched it in quite a while. But he was getting SO into the movie yelling," NO YADY!" " COME HERE YADY!", and then even went as far as CRYING when lady got in trouble. He can fake cry so easily! Such an actor. He likes to pretend I'm fake crying so he can hug me and say, " It's OTay Mommy, it's OTay!". Wow, if you haven't spend a day with this kid lately, you're missing out. Amanda even said how much energy he had when she was here.......all day, every day.

The kid still hops ALL THE TIME. I made the mistake of telling him to hop into bed the other day.

When he is getting into trouble, and we ask him, " Do you hear me, Landon?" , he responds with "Hear me, Daddy(or mommy)." haha He doesn't know to say I hear YOU.

He can now count to 15 on his own.

He can point out to Mickey Mouse on tv which shape is a triangle and which is a circle. He's pretty good at drawing circles too. we practice a lot with bath tub crayons ;)

I also made the mistake of telling him one time when he went #2 A LOT, that it looked like a big snake. So every time he goes #2, he leans forward to see in the potty and he says " I pooped a big nake ,Mommy!!!"

He was eating some ham at lunch one day. ( He is obsessed with all and everything Toy Story) I picked up a piece and told him to eat some more ham. He then picked up each piece and called it Woody and Buzz. Then when I tried to explain he started to call his ham Elmo World.

I can't think of the rest.But he is great, and keeps us going and laughing!