Harry's Thanksgiving Musical

[I promise I'm going to post Gunner's 3 months post SOON. I was planning to do it today but don't have my camera with his pictures on it so it will have to be tomorrow.]

Anyways, since sister and Brandon are in Korea picking up their sweet babies this week, we decided our family needed to get together and go watch Harry in his Thanksgiving musical at church last night. (We think he's missing mommy and daddy a lot. Pray he makes it through the week.) I was SO glad we went. I really enjoyed watching all those sweet children (especially my sweet nephew) sing their hearts out for Jesus! It was beautiful. And both my babies were in AWE. See for yourself.

[Sorry about quality. All pics were taken from my phone]

Pa and boys

Sweet Harrison is the shortest one, in the middle.

And here is a little video we clipped for mommy and daddy to see. Harrison was "breaking it down" the whole time. I love his free spirited personality.

Lastly, April and Brandon got to meet up with the twins today. You can read about it here on her blog but here is a picture of their new family, minus sweet Harrison.

April's face is hilarious.

But how stinkin sweet are these babies? Can't wait to see them Friday!!!

This week, I'm thankful for a SHORT work-week.

As I'm sure everyone else is thankful for the same! :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thankful

As Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I find myself with a heavy heart this year. I've been experiencing a little bit of guilt and regret after everything that happened with my Nana.

Let's go back almost a month... Every year on Halloween we take the kids trick or treating and then stop by the Holiday House (where my Nana lived) so my Nana could see the kids and give them the treats she had prepared for them. This year my mom and I were talking about going before trick or treating but after trying to come up with a decision, we ended up deciding on going after. Trick or treating was fun but got a little overwhelming towards the end since Tuff wanted to be held and daddy was on a tight schedule because of work. So after we got to the car, we loaded up and headed to my MIL's. YES... completely forgetting about my Nana. Just a few miles from home my cell rang and there displayed on my screen said "NANA calling." I felt horrible. She laughed it off and said it was fine but I still felt bad. THAT was the last time I talked to her before the accident. I also feel like I could have made a little more time for her. Called her more. Visited more. Took the babies to see her more. Invited her over more. And now all I'm left with is "should have's" and "could have's." This really got me thinking about some other family situations we have been faced with lately. Since my Nana's passing, I've wanted to work on mending everything that needs to be mended. I want to try and start over-looking the small things, try to accept the way people are and just LOVE my family & friends regardless of their flaws. God works in mysterious ways. I truly believe that. I also believe he used this situation to open our eyes to REALITY. Reality is that anything can happen at any given moment. Someone we love can be taken away from us in the blink of an eye. And like I said earlier, we are then left with the could have's and should have's.  HE loves us regardless of our flaws and HE expects the same from us.

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you are to love one another."

I have a few other reasons for having a heavy heart this morning that I'd like to share with everyone. Shortly after my Nana's memorial, my mom got some news that her dad (my papa) hasn't been feeling well. He has been having severe headaches. Severe enough that it's been making him incapable of doing anything. He went to the DR the beginning of the week and had an MRI scheduled for today. Yesterday morning we got news that he was in so much pain that he had to go to the ER. They have him on pain medicine AND muscle relaxers and none of it seems to be helping. Once in the ER, they told him there was nothing they could do for him until his scheduled MRI today and they sent him home. I'm not sure if we'll get the results today or not but we could use some prayers. Please pray it's just something minor that can be fixed. Also, please pray for my mom. She could really use the prayers. I feel like she is always trying to be Super Daughter, Super Mom, Super Sister, Super Daughter in law, etc. I am proud to have such a caring mother. We can always count on her to be right by anyone in our families side in their time of need. BUT, I know how exhausting that must be for her. And I feel like it's starting to take a toll on her, emotionally. And that tends to make me worry about her. Also remember that her whole family is 9 hours away from us. Which means if anything were to happen, she has to travel that far just to be able to be by their side.

And my heart is heaviest this morning because of a little boy in my home town who just got diagnosed with cancer yesterday afternoon. From my understanding, he had been having headaches and they took him to get it checked out the beginning of this week. They found a brain tumor and once they drained it and sent it for tests, they found out it was cancer. The cancer has also spread to his spine and is in his spinal cord. BLESS this sweet little boy. Can you imagine the hurt and pain his parents must be feeling? I hate to see my children sick with a cold... I can't imagine what it would be like to see them sick with cancer. Where I'm from it's SMALL. I'm not sure of the population but it isn't much. Since I've moved here when I was younger, it was always something people complained about, including myself from time to time. Everybody knows everybody and everybody knows everything. That kind of thing. But I can tell you one thing, when something like this happens, everyone comes together. And that's what I love most about our small town. Last night at 9 p.m. they held a prayer vigal for this sweet little boy at the town square. I couldn't make it since I had 2 babies that needed to be in bed and because it was so cold but from what I've heard, the turn out was HUGE. That my friends, is powerful. When it really comes down to it, that is what a small town is all about. Everyone coming together in time of need. Since I couldn't be there, I said my own prayer at 9 p.m. while holding both my sleeping baby boys tight in bed. I know I've asked you all for LOTS of prayers the past few weeks but please remember this little boy and his family in their time of need. They NEED the prayer's. He needs the Lord's healing hands. Please spread the word. Tell your friends, family and even add to your churches prayer lists if you can. His name is Branden Schwartz and he is only 10 years old. I know him and his family would be so appreciative.

After all of the above, I've been feeling extra Thankful & Blessed lately. I'm thankful for a happy, healthy marriage to a wonderful husband & daddy. I'm thankful for 2 beautiful baby boys who are also happy & healthy. I'm thankful for my family & my husband's family. I'm thankful for our jobs that provide us a home, food on the table and clothes on our backs. I'm just thankful. So even though my heart may be a little heavy this year for Thanksgiving, it will be extra FULL of thankfulness too.

Happy Friday, Friends.

Playing catch up

The past 2 weeks have been crazy. Trying to juggle our normal every day life schedule and make trips to Vanderbilt and back several times throughout the week last week has wore me out! I've also been slacking in blog posts. I'm sure you all understand. Anyways, I am BACK and playing catch up this morning. So let's start with my Nana...

THANKS to anyone and everyone who prayed for my Nana and my family over the past week and a half. As I said in my last post, Nana went to be with Jesus last Friday night around 10 PM. It was extremely sudden and unexpected. She had the accident the Saturday before (11/5) and was responsive for the first 3 days of being in the trauma unit. She started slipping away from us Monday night and never really came back after. It's complete chaos being in the trauma unit. It's up and down, up and down. Every time we thought she would be getting better, she would take a few steps back. Friday morning the doctors wanted to meet with the family. My older sister April and I decided we wanted to be there for this. I went into work and left around 9 thinking I would be back after lunch. We were thinking this meeting was just an update of how she was doing and maybe some options of where to go next... We were wrong. We met with my Nana's doctor and the palliative care nurse for Vanderbilt. The doctor told us that she was no longer fighting. They had her on the biggest vent in the US on the highest oxygen rate and she was not progressing. He told us what her conditions would be like IF she were to ever survive this and they weren't good. We were left with making the decision of taking her off of the life support. The doctor stressed that in her condition he was afraid something would give out and she would pass without her family being able to be with her. We didn't want that. She WOULDN'T have wanted that. They gave us time to get all of the family there, including her sister who flew in from Florida. We gathered around her bed side Friday night as they took her off the vent. We kissed her... we held her hands... we rubbed her arms/legs... we told her how much we loved her... we told her how much she mean't to us... and we even sang her favorite song as she went to be with Jesus... "Amazing Grace." It was so surreal. It was like nothing I've ever had to experience. It was sad but comforting all at the same time. We were comforted by the fact that she didn't have to be in pain anymore. We were comforted by the fact that she wasn't suffering anymore! Most of all, we were comforted because we knew exactly where she was going... straight to Heaven!!!

July 14th, 2009. The day Tuff was born.

Holding baby Tuff :)

and feeding baby Tuff ;)

October 2, 2010. My wedding day.

Again, with my hubby and her husband Ray.

Her wedding day, just 2 weeks later.

LOVE this picture. She looks SO happy.

My Nana was an exceptional woman who LOVED big!!! She loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren more than ANYTHING. She will be thought of daily until we are reunited again. I love you Nana. See you in Heaven!

So for some more catch up... Gunner Bear (that's my nickname for him lately) turns 3 months old TODAY! Our boy is getting big. We were behind on going to the doctor so we just had his 2 month check up last week on Tuesday (11/8). Here he is before seeing Dr and getting shots.

His stats looked like this:

age: 2 months

weight: 12 lbs. 13 oz.

length: 23.75

I will be taking his "3 month" photo shoot tonight so I will be back with his 3 month post tomorrow.

And just for fun, here is Tuff at his 2 month check up.

They aren't looking to similar in these pictures.

On to some more catching up. I hosted a sprinkle for my new niece Sophie and nephew Greer last Thursday night (11/10). My sister decided she didn't want anything too big so we just invited close friends and family to a local restaurant. We ate, enjoyed each others company and talked alot about the new additions coming soon! She got alot of sweet cards and gift cards from everyone who attended. Here are some pictures from our night.

Table 1

Table 2

I caught a fish face

My beautiful sister

The cake.

If you look closely, you can see the twin babies on top.

All the sisters, and Ada!

The whole crew.

Twin sock monkeys! I LOVE these.

We had a wonderful time celebrating the twins with my sister! They actually got their travel call Monday so they will be leaving THIS Friday to get the twins and returing home next Friday. I can't wait to love and smooch all over them!!!

Next on the catch up list... Tuff had his very FIRST picture day at school yesterday. I have to say, he was looking mighty cute before I sent him on his way. We had a little photo shoot before-hand.

My FAV of the "shoot"

Our baby is getting SO big. He's almost not a baby anymore. I'm in love with how handsome he is in ALL of these pictures.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week.

I will be back tomorrow with Gunner's 3 month post!

Happy Wednesday, Friends!!!



GRANDMOTHER

My grandmother went to be with Jesus Friday night around 10 pm. Just wanted to let you all know and thank everyone for their prayers and support during this sad time for my family. Please continue to lift us up in your prayers, specifically my dad and his brother and sister. Will update more when I can find time.

Grandmother update

My grandmother is not doing well. Since inserting the trachea tube, she has been on 100% oxygen. She has also been unresponsive since Monday night. We are scheduled to meet with the Dr and trauma unit tomorrow morning at 11:00 to go over her current condition and they will also answer any, and/or all questions we may have. PLEASE continue to keep her in your prayers!!! She needs to turn a corner soon! We are continuing to pray for a miracle.

A little bit of happiness in our time of sadness

How could this sweet face not make anyone happy???

Update on my Nana... They are placing trachea tube this morning. The doctor told mom she could be on this for weeks, months, possibly even years. We're praying she can prove that doctor wrong. He also told mom that this was going to be a long, hard recovery, regardless.

Please keep praying for her.

Needing Prayers

Saturday morning I had a big day of shopping planned with MeMe and the boys. Once we got to Murfreesboro and in our first store, we got a call from my dad. It wasn't a good call. It was one of those calls that everyone NEVER wants to get. My Nana (dad's mom) and her husband were in a bad accident. So we packed the boys back up in the car and headed over to MTMC's emergency room. At this point all they knew was that she had a tear in her aorta and a cut on her pancreas. They were most concerned about the tear in her aorta. They sent her straight to Vanderbilt shortly after we arrived at the ER in Murfreesboro. Later Saturday, they discovered the tear wasn't big enough to have to perform surgery which was WONDERFUL news because they would have had to crack her chest open to repair it during surgery. They also got x-ray's back showing she has 6 broken ribs and a broken sternum. She was in ALOT of pain while we were there with her Saturday. Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, she starting having trouble breathing and stopped breathing around 2 am. They had to put her on a ventilator and she's been on it every since. They were hoping to wean her off of it by yesterday afternoon and she didn't do too well so they kept her on it a little longer. We were hoping for her to be off of it and breathing on her own by lunch time today but plans changed when the Dr. came around this morning. He told my Aunt Melissa that she wasn't doing well breathing without the vent. This is how he described it... "We take in 20% of oxygen to breathe on our own. She is currently taking 80% FROM the vent to be able to breathe." Since the vent can cause pnemonia, which can be VERY dangerous in her current condition, they don't want to keep her on it any longer. The new plan is to place what they call a "Trach" tube in through her throat. It will pretty much do the same thing the vent was doing but make her much more comfortable and will lessen the chances of her getting pnemonia. They also said it makes the process of trying to breathe on your own, better. Right now, we are praying for that. Everything else is good. Her stats are good, her BP is good, her aorta tear and cut in the pancreas are all completely healed already.... She just can't breathe on her own. This is a BIG step for her. We NEED her to breathe on her own. Please pray for her... She needs all the prayers she can get.

My Nana on the far left.

This was her wedding day in October of 2010.

My dad in back, Aunt Melissa in the middle, uncle Kevin on far right and her husband in the middle.

Her husband Ray was also hurt pretty badly. He has a broken nose, broken hand, broken sternum and 8 broken ribs. He should be released from the hospital in Murfreesboro today but will have to go straight to rehab. He could also use some prayers.

Thank you ALL.