A year ago today I woke up thinking it was just another day.  It was the busiest day of the week at work and I was tired and not really looking forward to the day ahead.  My feet were bloating up like balloons and it was hard to put shoes on so I slipped on my flips and headed out to work.  As the day progressed, I started feeling a tightness and swelling in my legs.  I figured it was just the joys of the last few weeks of pregnancy.   Luckily, I had a dr appt that evening so I planned on asking about the swelling just to make sure.

As the nurse checked my urine and took my blood pressure in silence, I knew something was up.  She asked me if I had ever had protein in my urine or high blood pressure before.... my heart started beating really fast as I quickly told her no.  This time around, I made myself fully aware of anything that could happen, so I knew that those two results signaled preeclampsia.  After what seemed like 30 minutes, my dr came into my room and told me to go home, grab my husband and my bags and go to the hospital for a 24 hour urine test.  I just stood there in complete shock.  I looked at her and made her repeat what she said 2 seconds before. My hands started shaking and my mind immediately went to the worst case scenario.  I was only 37 weeks pregnant and I was scared out of my mind.  I suddenly didn't even want to go home, I wanted to be admitted to the hosptial immediately!  Luckily, I live within a mile of my dr office and the hospital so I drove home, told J what was going on, made him snap this pic and then we were on our way within minutes!  We had no idea what was ahead for us, but we were scared and excited that we may finally meet our son!

As I look back on that night, I see a definite God moment.  I remember my 36 week dr appt.  I was trying to make an appt for the next week and my dr was really full.  I always made appts on Fridays because at that point in the year, I had them off.  She was booked, so I had to go on a Tuesday.  Unfortunately, the only appt she had open was an evening one.  I was not thrilled about it because Tuesday's were a tough day for me and I usually went home and took a nice long nap.  But when I think back to that day, that appt was so meant to be.  After 24 hours of testing, my levels were extremely high.  My dr woke me up Thursday morning and told me the results were not good.  The next words out of her mouth were....you are going to have a baby today!

After longing for a baby forever, God blessed us with a pregnancy.  He walked those difficult nine months with us and He guided us to the appt that would change our lives forever!  I love when I can look back and see moments where God has reached down and touched our lives!  Has he done that for any of you lately?

Artprize

This weekend we headed downtown to ArtPrize.  For those of you unaware of ArtPrize, it is an art competition where thousands of artists from around the world descend upon our little town.  Their unique artwork is displayed for 2 weeks and the public votes on their favorite piece.  Last year, we were unable to go because I was in this state....

and lacked the energy it took to walk the city!

This year, I was so excited to go check out all of the awesome artwork that included paintings, sculptures, blown glass exhibits, mixed media artwork, and a really big pig!  Although, there were some amazing pieces of art, none of them compared to this special one!!!

Peace in Pieces is a beautiful puzzle created by a friend of mine as a fundraiser for the Ella Bullis Foundation.  It features stories from moms and dads that have endured life in the NICU.  Some of them have happy endings that make you smile and some of them bring tears to your eyes.  One special story featured in this piece is the story of Brooke Janae and Alexcyn Grace.  My friend A did such an amzing job making something beautiful out of our story.  Oftentimes, I feel like my girls are forgotten.  We have Grant now and people just assume that he fills the hole in our hearts left from the girls.  (All of you that have lost babies know how untrue that is!)  To be able to see my girls pictures and names displayed in a piece of art hanging on a wall in an art competition with thousands of people glancing at it just brought tears to my eyes!  They are not forgotten.  The story of their short lives has now been shared with the world and that makes this mommy so proud of her beautiful little girls! 



 Here are a few pics from our amazing day! 



The story I wrote and shared with you in July!  If you look close, the flowers are made out of the blankets the girls were wrapped in when they were born.



our dear Alexcyn....

Brooke...

one of the only pics we took- there were obviously too many people around to take great pics!

Man, that is one big pig!

and....we're walking!!!

Grant took two steps on his 11 month birthday and then 4 steps a couple days later.  He was still wobbly and leaning forward and would always end a walking attempt by jumping into our arms.  I was pretty sure the only reason he would take steps in the first place was so he could jump when he was done (I have to admit it was pretty cute!)  But, to our surprise the other night he straightened himself up and started walking around the room! 

It is so cute that I just had to share it with you! If you listen closely, you can even hear the purring noise that he makes- he is definitely going to be great at rolling his R's in Spanish class someday!

What time is it????

Game time!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending the Notre Dame- Michigan game! It was a cold and rainy day and unfortunately our sitter was not feeling well so we layered Grant up and gave him his first tailgating experience. He enjoyed a stroll around the Notre Dame campus with mom mom and pop pop and  got completely spoiled by Uncle J who gave him one too many cupcakes!  All while J and I enjoyed the festivities inside the stadium. It was an exciting game and we were thrilled that Michigan pulled out a last minute win!

road trip

This last weekend we loaded up the car and took off for a road trip to my cousin's wedding in PA. We had been anxious about this trip all summer due to the fact that G does not like to ride in his car seat and this adventure would require him to be in his seat for 14 hours each way!

We planned to drive at night as much as possible in hopes that G would sleep most of the way. And, we planned a lot of stops along the way. As you can tell, he was not a happy camper when we first took off!

Luckily, he calmed down quickly and slept the whole 5 hours of that journey. We were blessed to spend some time with my aunt C and uncle E where Grant learned to play the piano. He was a natural and I am pretty sure whatever he does in life, music will definitely play a part!

For the second leg of our trip, Grant rode in a front facing seat. We were lucky enough to borrow one from a friend (thanks C!) at the last minute and when I say last minute, I mean the hour before we drove away! Grant did SO good in this seat. He loved being able to see us and watch Baby Einstein and look out the window- this seat was a true lifesaver!

Once we got to the hotel, Grant was on the move. The door was propped open so J could get ice and Grant crawled over to it, opened it and was on his way down the long hallway. He actually went back and forth a couple times- I was exhausted just watching him go...

The next day we were blessed to be a part of two beautiful weddings. Yes, I said two weddings! My cousin's fiance is Hindu so the first wedding was a morning ceremony followed by a brunch with lots of yummy Indian cuisine. I loved the beauty and tradition of this ceremony.

The second wedding was a Quaker ceremony held in a Quaker Meetinghouse. Although this wedding was also deep in tradition, it was the total opposite of the Hindu wedding. The Quaker religion is based on silence so this wedding ceremony was mainly composed of a lot of moments of silent reflection. I loved the beauty and the peace I found in the silence of this ceremony. Grant spent most of the time outside since he does not quite understand the meaning of silence yet!

That evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local winery while celebrating the new couple! Grant did so well considering this was such a long day for him. He napped in his stroller and crawled around in the grass and never even cried once!

We loved introducing our baby boy to all the family that he had not met yet!

We headed home on Monday and although it was a really quick trip, it was so worth it to experience these amazing weddings! Congrats to you E and K- may you be blessed with many happy years together!

11 months!

Grant Weston-- where has the time gone? I can't believe that last year at this time we were putting the final touches on your nursery and wondering what life would be like with a baby in the house. Now here we are watching you take your first steps and wondering how we suddenly have an 11 month old!

This is what you have been up to...

*you still have a teeny waist and 9 month clothes are fitting just fine. Not sure on your other stats because you haven't been to the dr lately.

*we started this month with you eating everything in sight and we are ending it with you eating almost nothing! You had an upset tummy after we got back from the cottage and spent a few days eating nothing but bottles. We worked back up to jar food and then a few table foods and then we got the stomach flu. You will gladly eat bananas and yogurt but otherwise, it is a guessing game if you will eat it or spit it right out at me! This has made meal time my least favorite time of the day!

*you are into everything! The minute I blink you are on the move opening the cabinet doors or figuring out a way to get the register cover off and put all of your Little People and the register cover down the register.

*you still love to swim and can even paddle your arms now like a big boy.

*you love music and bounce every time you hear even a commercial with some sort of tune.

*you imitate a lot of things now. When we stick out our tongue, you stick out your tongue. When we make a high pitch sound, you make a high pitch sound. It is pretty cute, but definitely makes us more aware of what we do and say!

*you also pucker your lips and make a kiss sound like we do when we kiss you- it is SO CUTE!

*you are now standing on your own and today you took your first two steps!

*you still love to put everything in your mouth. Cat food seems to still be on your list of must have foods!

*you love to splash around in your bath and eat your bath toys.

*you say ba ba for bye bye, na na for no and per for Jasper the cat. Otherwise you say a lot of things that make no sense to us.

Every month with you has been amazing, but we have to admit that we absolutely love the phase you are in right now- even if it keeps us very busy! You are so curious and interactive and we just can't get enough of you! xoxo- momma and dada

Beach Bum...

Yesterday, we headed to the shores of Lake M to enjoy a beautiful day at the beach. It used to be that I would sit in my beach chair for hours on end reading a book and tanning myself. Not anymore!!! This trip confirmed the fact that #1- my child has no fear of water. #2- There will be no more relaxing beach days. And, #3 -I am in trouble when it comes to Grant and his adventurous spirit!

Daddy and Grant hanging out at the waters edge.

Grant loved the waves crashing onto him so much that he screamed when we took him away from them. Floating around the lake is boring to him now that he knows the excitement of waves. This would be when I started to get scared for what our future may look like- YIKES!

Grant deciding he doesn't need daddy- he is going right into the water himself!

Wonderful solution to allow mommy and daddy some down time from chasing G as he attempted to crawl back into the water every 2 minutes.

Grant's idea of a snack....

mommy's idea of a snack.

All in all, it was a wonderful day at the beach. Even though it wasn't as relaxing as it used to be, I wouldn't trade it for a normal day at the beach ever!