Gulf Coast Oil spill

Well, I am somewhat speechless as I think about what is brewing out in our most beautiful waters along the gulf coast.  I took the girls out and to be honest it was not a pretty day, but I am worried, worried it may be a long time before they can enjoy the afternoon at the beach  : (

Don't worry, this guy was safely released : ) but, the magnitude of what is happening out in the gulf concerns everyone ~ we are so dependent on the water, our town is dependent on tourism and fishing.  Hurricanes we can brace for and rebuild, but this, this is worse.  Our animals won't know to leave, the birds, the fish, the sea mammals it effects everything and everyone.  We are as prepared as we can be.  We have our gloves and boots and we have signed up to "volunteer" but now, now we sit, we wait, we watch and we pray... 

Pelicans ~ the pelicans...  they are not the best hunters.  We have a lot of pelicans and they love to hang out on the docks, they are characters.  We have Brown Pelicans and you can tell the babies because they have what we call underpants (white under bellies) and we have quite a few babies right now so I worry.  I worry about the families, the dolphins, the fish, the crabs, the plankton, the turtles, the sharks, the boats, the beaches, well... everything because it is so far reaching and the ripple effect is so frightening.  If we are spared, and I of course hope we are, it is still going to devastate our fragile eco-system (it already has and is) and it is already touching families and wildlife along the Louisiana coast. 

On a happy note, my Stephanie made it through surgery and all went well, but she still needs prayers as she heals and worries with me because I know her and that is what she does. 

Baby Matthew

I have been talking with a woman for awhile now and she just gave birth to her first child.  A little boy named Matthew.  He was a whopping 4lbs 10 ounces at 37 weeks - which is pretty big for a Trisomy 18 baby.  Please keep his family in your prayers as he was only able to be with them for 10 minutes and now they are planning his memorial service.  He was much wanted and they were so hoping for a miracle, and he is now home.  He was so beautiful and I am a little sad for them today. 

Please also keep my friend Stephanie in your prayers and her family as she prepares to have surgery tomorrow.  She is getting ready and full of anxiety so please, please keep her and her entire family in your prayers as she goes to have part of her colon removed (no fun!)  She does however has a sense of humor - this is her facebook profile picture this week...

Michael

Well, this is actually a picture Bill took - I am going to post the new pictures up over the weekend, but I do love this picture, so here is baby Michael, such a little boo...

Michaels's Sand Angels

Today was such a gorgeous day - I picked the girls up from school and we went to the beach and Abbi made Angels in the sand - pretty normal for Ms. Abbi, but today she wrote Michael's name in the sand.  We are pretty sure that he can see it from where he is.

Back from vacation!

I know I have not been posting much, but not because I haven't wanted to as much as I have been doing a bit of thinking, but I assure you Michael has been on my mind.  We all went to Puerto Rico last week and it was beautiful.  I will be putting pictures up on my other blog this weekend if you really want to see, but while my husband and the girls were doing the last hike of the day in the rain forest, I took a break.  Just a little quiet time and it was so beautiful.  The birds seem to communicate with each other and it is so amazing.  I collected rocks and made Michaels name at the top of a little area under some trees, just because : )

The night we arrived in Puerto Rico we went to the roof of our hotel and it was a full moon - I love full moons as they also remind me of Michael.  Little reminders everywhere - just kind of make me happy. 

I love this! My sister in law and brother are Michael's Godparents and they remembered him for Easter! I hope you can zoom in on this, because it is the best thing anyone could have done this year.  World Vision
2 chickens were given in my sons name to other children in need.  This is such a perfect gift and reflection of God's compassion, mercy, and watch over "the least of these."  I have been struggling a bit with understanding this and this just could not have come at a better time.  I know I am still on this journey of trying to find peace and acceptance and some days I am better than others, but Easter without Michael seemed a little sad this year, so this was so incredibly thoughtful and appreciated.  Thank you!!!

We did make Michael his very own Easter egg this year and I imagine we will continue to do this every year : )

On a very happy note I finally got the pictures of Michael from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and I am still digesting them a bit, but I have every intention of getting thos up this weekend as well - so keep watching, thanks for looking and blessings to everyone that is still following. 

St Jude's

Just a quick note to thank my Aunt and Uncle for donating to St Jude in Michael's name. I just got this yesterday and it is an organization near and dear to my heart.  

http://www.stjude.org/

It means so much to us that he is remembered and for this, I can not thank everyone enough. 

Disappointment

OK, so I have to admit, it is strange, one moment I think I am ok and then something seemingly small will happen and I realize how distant a memory Michael is becoming for many. Not for me... Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is such a wonderful organization, but my experience has made me sad. I counted on them to take pictures, so I didn't really take any and it has been over 2 months now and I don't have pictures or a fun slide show : ( After sending several emails I just got an email back tonight from someone else telling me I will have pictures in a few more weeks. I know things happen, but as medical bills pour in and people continually move on (business is business) this is just one more reminder of how seemingly unimportant our journey is or was to many. Perhaps my expectations were unreasonable, but when you are expecting something like pictures of your baby that is dead, gone, it feels like we were just forgotten. It is a volunteer group, so you can't really complain? We had three photographers and I suppose I just don't understand, or maybe I fear more disappointment...