LuvBug

The faith of a child

Weatherly and I have really been missing Brad. My emotions have been a roller coaster of loss, grief, peace and a feeling of being incomplete. I pray daily for God to help mend my heart and fill the void Brad left after his death, I know God is working because my crying is not as frequent and my guilt is less severe. However, Weatherly's heart is hurting very deep. Everyday she talks of Brad and how she misses him. I know part of the issue is Weatherly is surrounded by memories of Brad - his hospital, we travel the road to his old "house" a lot, ambulances, people in wheelchairs, handicapped parking, and of course pictures of Brad around the house. Weatherly tells me at least once a week she is ready for God to send Brad back home. I try to explain to her how happy Brad is in heaven, how he can walk and breath on his own, and that she will see him again one day. Her response to me is....

But I can pray for God to send Brad back and God can send Brad back. God can do anything!

Matthew 18:3-4

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It is amazing what children can teach us!!

Their love started the minute I brought Weatherly home from the hospital. The day she decided to walk she stood up and ran to Brad's room. When she learned how to climb she would climb into bed with Brad and they would watch Spongebob together. Her memories will last forever and I know Brad left something special in her as he did for me :)

He is coming home :)

Jason is currently on a plane from Guatemala and he will be home around midnight. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself, and so are the kids. We have been talking about him coming home since he left and the kids are more excited than when it is Christmas time. We painted him pictures today then tried to straighten up so the house was more welcoming. When he gets home we will all be in the "big bed" so we can all get hugs and kisses at the same time - I can not wait :)!!!

The rest of our vacation

The rest of vacation was full of sunny days, beach fun, and great family time. Weatherly made new friends every day and Tennyson actually played in the sand and ocean this year. Last year Tennyson couldn't stand to be dirty and it made beach time kind of tough. Besides chasing waves Weatherly's other favorite beach hobby was finding "buried treasure" or what we call - finding seashells. By the end of the week she became pretty picky on which shells she would accept. Weatherly has decided she is ready for God to move us to the beach so she can spend the rest of her life playing in the sand. We ate some great seafood and we found out Tennyson loves fish - Yay, something he will eat!!! Weatherly stuck to her two favorites - chicken and spaghetti o's.

October is definitely the best time of the year to go to Florida. The weather is not too hot and not cold, the water is the perfect temperature to play in, the beaches are more vacant and the sand does not burn your feet. I wish Weatherly wasn't going to big school next year so we could carry on my birthday tradition. I may have to find a way to keep her out a week in October anyway :)....

Playing with one of our new friends

My favorite beach photo

Our second rainy day

On the second day of our vacation we awoke to more thunderstorms. Weatherly and Tennyson were even more disappointed than the day before. Jason was brilliant and decided to go ahead and bake my birthday cake with the kids. They both had a heart shaped pan to pour their batter into and when the cake was done they decorated them themselves. They were pumped and distracted for an hour or so. Even though the condo did not have measuring cups Jason managed to estimate the ingredients properly and the cake was delicious (Weatherly picked out a strawberry cake mix with cream cheese icing - my favorite)! After we blew up and played with two dozen balloons the kids were anxious to get out of the condo again. So we all got ready and went to Build-A-Bear. This is one experience we had never encountered (and one expensive experience it can be!). The kids had a blast - Weatherly picked out a monkey and Tennyson picked out a dinosaur. I think their favorite part was giving their new animals an air bath before they got dressed. However, Weatherly did not want clothes for her little monkey, George, she wanted him to be like Uncle Brad and decided to buy George a wheelchair. So we had Rex-e dressed, a naked George in a wheelchair, and two happy kids. Once we were done "making our new friends" the rain had stopped so we grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach. It was much warmer than the day before so we were able to wear bathing suits and actually experience the beach like we imagined. It was a fabulous day :)!

Our first day on the beach

Our first day on our vacation, not in the car, was spent looking out the window at the rain. It was raining so hard I was almost convinced a hurricaine was close by. The rain was sideways and if felt like razor blades when you were outside. The trees were also blowing sideways, almost toching the ground. It was not very relaxing, to say the least. We loaded up the family and went shopping - Yay!! We found my birthday present, ate great food, and played indoors for awhile. Before dinner the rain let up and we took the kids to the ocean so they could play in the sand. It was still very windy and a little cool, but we still had fun playing in the sand, investigating jellyfish (moon jellyfish - they don't sting), and catching sand crabs :)

It's good to be home

We made it home from our fun week in Florida to celebrate family and my birthday. I do believe 7 days is our limit - we were all ready to come home and sleep in our own beds. Despite the eagerness to come home we can not wait until next year when we get to do it again. There is nothing better than spending unstoppable time together without distraction.

I posted the majority of our beach pictures in the Perdido Keys 08 photo album - check it out and tell me what you think....

I lied - quick pic and update....

We are having a great time, despite the crappy weather.....

Miss you all :)!!

Out of town

I will not be blogging this week....

I am going to Florida with my family to celebrate my birthday :).

Once we are home I will have an abundance of pictures and stories to share, until then....

I will be here :)

My husband's sacrifice

My husband is ADDICTED to "connectology," almost to a point of irritation to myself. On Monday we will be taking a family vacation to Florida and he will be making an ultimate sacrifice......

BIG Announcement . . . from sebren on Vimeo.

First Broken Heart

On Wednesday I got a call from Jason while I was at work:

Jason: Are you coming home on time?
Me: No, I was planning on staying awhile to finish up two weeks of work. Why?
Jason: Weatherly has had a hard day and she needs her mommy.
Me: What happened?
Jason: Zied (Weatherly's 4 year old friend from her old school) didn't call like she expected and she is heart broken. She has had 4 break downs and she has thanked me for distracting her from "you know who."
Me: I will be home as soon as possible.....

It turns out Zied's mom did not understand the importance of calling back ASAP and Weatherly was devastated. Her 4 year old heart was broken by another 4 year old little boy. Is this really starting - at 4? I realized, after getting off the phone with my husband, I have many years of many broken hearts. We are starting way too early!

However, my wonderful husband got in touch with Zied's mom and made a play date for Thursday. Weatherly and Zied were ecstatic to see each other. They could not tell each other "I love you" enough. Weatherly was beaming after her play date :)!