Irony

As most of you know the last few weeks have been stressful for me and my family. From finding out my mom has cancer to my cousin Bryan having a blood clot in his shoulder to another cousin Natalie who started having contractions in her 29th week of being pregnant and now is on bed rest. Some of you may know about my family but if you don't let me tell you a little bit about them and our relationship. My extended family is very close, we always have been for as long as I can remember.  When I was growing up I was very lucky to have my uncle, aunt, and three cousins live in the house right behind my house. We got to play together everyday! On top of having playtime my dad and uncle took turns taking my siblings and my cousins to school each morning. More than just seeing those cousins everyday, my whole family (Grandma, Grandpa, 4 Aunts, 3 Uncles, and 9 cousins) would get together almost every Sunday after church at Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch then end up hanging out all day then having leftovers for dinner. When the weather the nice we would be outside the whole day; playing kickball, kick the can, hide and seek, and any game card/board game you can think of. We have a pretty competitive family to say the least.

Each Sunday we knew the one guaranteed way to get my grandpa to come outside: croquet. Almost each Sunday at some point someone would set up the croquet set and we would have a nice family competition...ok so they weren't really always "nice" but at then end of the day we all knew it was fun and games. I truly believe that when my grandpa was able to play a game of croquet with his family it was some of the best times of his life. Even to this day when we are at Grandma's house and we set up the croquet set I think each of us think back to when Grandpa would be there playing with us, no one ever says it out loud but you can tell that each of us are thinking about him and wishing he could still be with us. When my grandpa's health got really bad and we knew the end was near our family started to build a closer relationship then we had ever had. Going though those last few weeks with him and eventually his death was one of the hardest thing I have personally ever had to do but knowing I had my whole family with me made the situation a little easier.

After my grandpa's funeral there were tons of plants to be split up among the family. I ended up getting a beautiful Peace Lily. My grandpa passed away in February of 2008, each February around the time of when my grandpa passed away there will be one beautiful lily the opens and stays for a few months. This year my grandma came to visit in early March and I pointed out to her that this year my plant had two lily's that had come up. I had commented that I hope this would keep up and each year my plant would have more lily's. As I was on my way out the door to work yesterday I noticed that my plant had five beautiful lily's that were standing tall. I don't know if I have been so consumed with everything that has been going on or if I just simply have not taken the time to "stop and smell the flowers" but seeing those flowers made me know that someone upstairs is most defiantly looking over our family.

I know I have asked for a lot of prayers lately and I thank each and everyone of you who has said an extra prayer for our family. We are defiantly not past all the rough water but I know we will be able to make it though and we have the support of some very special people upstairs.

On a lighter note we had our 36 week appointment yesterday and everything looks good and right on schedule.   My belly is measuring right on track and my cervix is still closed! We now start our weekly appointments so more updates to come!