Thursday, September 30, 2010

January 19, 1942-September 23, 2010

My sweet mom lost her battle with cancer last Thursday morning.  It still doesn't seem real and I keep thinking when my phone rings, that it's her calling and keep hearing her voice.  I'll never, ever get used to her being gone.  I'll miss so many things about my Mama.  Her smile, her laugh, her cooking, her warm hands, her selflessness, so many things, but most of all her sense of humor.  She loved her family, having everyone over for dinner, playing cards (and taking everyone's money), camping, fishing, cooking, bike riding, Entertainment Tonight and Dancing with the Stars.  There's so much I could say about her.  I will miss her every single day.  Having her gone changes my day.  I won't have her morning phone call and mornings spent with her before I go to work.  I'll never forget you Mama and it's my #1 priority to keep your memory alive to Peyton and I will tell baby-on-the-way everything about you.  Rest in Peace Mom.  I love you.

This is my mom's senior picture.  We had this blown up on poster board to display for the Rosary service and the funeral.


My boys looking so handsome for her service.

Austin and Peyton hanging out after the service, with a little wardrobe malfunction.

Austin helping his cuz out with his (clip on) tie.

My winkin' sweetie.

We released pink and orange balloons at the cemetery after her burial service (pink for breast cancer and orange for uterine cancer). Each of us wrote a note to my mom tied to the balloon along with a return address.  It will be interesting to see how many we get back and how far the balloons traveled.


My sister, aunt, dad, and sister getting ready to release.

It was such a peaceful and amazing thing to watch.  The weather was perfectly sunny and right before we released the balloons, the wind picked up. 


Peyton did so well throughout this. So handsome!
 I was so worried about Peyton, and him not understanding all of this, being so young.  But he's surprised me and amazed me at the same time at how he listens and takes things in.  He sat with her the day before she passed and just held her hand, whispering "It will be okay" and telling her he loved her.  It was heartbreaking but so sweet. The morning after she passed, he asked me "Mommy, who drove Grandma to heaven?" I love him so so much, and so did my Mom.  He was one of the last people she asked for before she was unable to speak anymore. 

After the burial we had close family and friends over to my Dad's for a feast.  It was so nice to see lots of people that I hadn't seen in years.  This definitely brought our family closer and I know my mom was looking down smiling, because she loved it when everyone was together.


Charlie boy


My cousin Julie and my gorgeous Grandma.



Ok so my mom had her signature leg kick she did when her picture was taken.  I tried...didn't quite do it justice.  :)


Cousin Julie and Aunt Carol


Bro-in-law Brett and my nephew Brandon


Cousin Andy and my Daddy.  He wore my mom's favorite color-Purple.

Nephew Drew and his Charlie


Sis-in-laws Amy and Sherri doing the kick.


My close immediate family that my mom always loved to have over.  (My grandma, dad, siblings, their spouses and kids)

My nephew Sean's wife Delores on the left and Kate my nephew Brandon's girlfriend (who handmade 150 pink ribbons for my mom's service! Thanks Kate!)

Nephew Cameron


Peyton being silly with Aunt Amy

Charlie kept Peyton occupied for most of the night. He loves that dog.

Clockwise from left: Nephew Sean, nephew Brandon, niece Lauren, and Kate.
Here's a video of the balloon release.  Monsignor Tim Murphy did the burial service.  He was the president of my high school and my dad's high school classmate at Central Catholic.  It meant a lot to my family, especially my dad.  Thanks Father! And thanks Andy for shooting this footage!



My cousin Andy, who flew in from Colorado, put this slide show together for the service.  He is awesome and I can't believe he put this together in such short notice.  A great tribute to my mom.  Enjoy...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Happy 7th Birthday Austin!

This past weekend Austin had his 2nd 'friend' party.  We were unable to attend the family party due to me having to work and Peyton had a cold.  Austin is really into StarWars and Legos, which was the theme of his parties.  Peyton had a lot of fun hanging out with the bigger kids.  I can't believe Austin is already 7!  Happy Birthday Austin!
Trying to get a group pic of the kiddos.

Austin got a ton of cool Star Wars gear/legos.




Peyton opening his gift from Austin, legos!

Peyton trying out the Darth Vader get-up.

20 Weeks

Last Thursday I had another pre-natal appointment.  Baby is doing great and I'm feeling pretty good.  I've been feeling the baby move around more and more each day.  Cravings: peaches, and one day I had a mad craving for a powdered donut (random!).  Lately, though, nothing sounds good to me at all.

BP: 102/60
Baby's Heart Rate: 140's
Weight gain: 4 lbs! (8 total)
This appointment was another quick one, although I did get a flu shot as well.


20 weeks, 2 days


Sunday, September 12, 2010

Ultrasound

On Friday morning I went in for what will probably be my one and only ultrasound.  The baby looks good and the doctor called with the results saying everything looked perfect!  I'm so thankful for a healthy baby.  The ultrasound tech kept saying "he" and "his" but then later reassured us that she always does that.  Suuure lady.  :)  It took forever to get a good profile picture of baby since he/she kept putting his arms and hands in front of its face.  It was so amazing and reassuring to see the little one moving around.
Here's baby's profile:



And here's baby's foot:

Thursday, September 9, 2010

First day report

Hood River Fruit Farms

Yesterday we all loaded into Kate's car and headed East to Hood River in search of apples, peaches and more.  It was a really fun road trip!  We stopped at a couple farms and got some fruit.  We weren't able to pick this time, probably due to the weather, but it was fun none-the-less! We got some delicious apples and peaches then we stopped at Peitros Pizza and had lunch before we headed home. 


 
All 3 boys strapped in and ready to go!


Harsh lighting, but I love this smile.


Hunter munchin on a delicious, juicy apple.


Exploring.

Swingin together.

 

The boys had fun talking to the goats and feeding them dandelions.  One of them licked Ethan in the face!  ICK!  He thought it was hilarious though.




Playing with this cool car table deal at one of the fruit stores.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

First Day of Preschool!

Peyton was nervous this morning about his first day and was a bit anxious...

"Buddy, you're going to have so much fun! Your new friend Micah will be there."  "Okay Mommy."

When I got off work late last night I went into his room to check on him and just sat and looked at him for a while.  I just couldn't believe how big he's getting and it made me all teary.  I was nervous and anxious for him!

OH boy, he didn't want me to leave when I dropped him off.  And the tears were a-flowin.  He finally agreed to go sit in the circle with the kids as long as I stayed in the room.  I stayed in the class for a while.  Once Peyton had no more tears and was engaged with the rest of the class, I snuck out of there.  He did great after that! His teacher said he was sad when he realized I left, but did really well.  His favorite part of his day was story time. He couldn't wait to call Daddy and tell him about school.  We'll see how Thursday goes!