The Last Couple Weeks

..have been jam-packed with activity! Last weekend (Labor Day), my parents visited. They came on Friday. On Saturday, we journeyed to the Madison Zoo. Will knew many of the animals. His particular favorites were the monkeys and bears. The tiger was only a pane of glass away from him. He liked watching it pace by then would clench onto daddy when it got too near for his taste. After the zoo, we went to Potosi Brewery. We did the museum and had dinner there. It was nice. We finished the night with a few games of euchre. Dad and I thrashed Andy and mom! On Sunday, my sister, Julie and her family came to visit. Andy tried his hand at barbecued ribs, which turned out great! We spending time together in the afternoon watching the boys plan and visiting. After dinner, we played a few games of euchre. The GIRLS were victorious! Then, on Labor Day, we all headed to Galena (except Andy) to try out Alpine sledding. Everyone that did it really looked like they enjoyed it. Thanks to Julie for taking Will down as I am trying to be so cautious with this pregnancy. Had a quick lunch with mom and dad at Culvers then they were on their way home. Andy stayed back to get some "chores" done. He kegged his home brew, mowed the lawn and bought waterproofing stain for our front porch. What a nice weekend it was!
This Friday we took Will to the Hempstead vs. Waterloo East game. He cheered for his cousin, TJ (Andy's first cousin), who plays for Hempstead. Will lasted until half time. We watched a little of the band even! We hear the Mustangs were victorious. Way to go! On Saturday morning, we dropped Will off at Andy's parents then headed to Davenport for a day and night with some friends (our game night group). It was a great time. The company was the best part (especially since I couldn't indulge in cocktails). :) It was the perfect amount of time away. I was itching to see Will so was glad to get home when we did. Today Andy has been staining the front porch. That seems like a project that will never end. I don't care how long it takes though. It is looking nice and Andy is doing a good job by taking his time. I did some unpacking. Will and I ran to a couple stores to get some necessities. I whipped up some yummy chicken noodle soup for dinner along with some garden-fresh cucumbers. We have enough soup to last probably through Wednesday. It was a big batch! Leftovers are a working mother's best friend! Now Will and I are relaxing watching the "Curious George" movie. I can't get into it, but Will loves it. He's speaking complete sentences all over the place now. To think I was worried about his speech about a year ago. What a difference a year makes. I have a smart kiddo---yeah!
**We did hit a bit of a rough patch this week. Our local radio station hosted a radio-thon for Children's Miracle Network. Hearing the stories of hope and loss were hard for both of us. We find the Children's Miracle Network as such a worthy charity that we donated twice! Andy called on Thursday and I on Friday. I thought of telling Sylvia's story (as the stories were all specific to Dubuque-area kids that have been treated at U of I Children's Hospital). Perhaps I can muster enough courage to do this next year. I'm not ready yet. Over my lunch break on Thursday, I ran out to see Sylvia. Something told me I just had to get there. Well, to my surprise, her porcelain picture was placed on her stone that morning! It is so beautiful. She is so beautiful! I love looking at it. I feel like I can kiss her lips on that picture and somehow she can feel it on her heavenly lips. We continue to miss her always. I read an obituary today with an ending quote like we did for Sylvia's obituary. It said, "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it was."--Dr. Seuss. This made me smile. I hope to get to that point sometime soon.
Also, I handed in "The Song of Sylvia" to the nurses at SHARE this week. It is an outreach packet for parents who have lost babies to stillbirth or infant death here in Dubuque. Now Mercy and Finley have packets made by me which include the story of Sylvia along with my thoughts on losing Sylvia along with how I dealt with my grief. I also included poems which I hope comfort some parents. I was also thinking they could use these poems for prayer cards, funeral service, etc. Then I added one more special "piece." Iowa City had given us 2 silver hearts--one to place in her casket and one to have with us representing that a piece of our heart is always hers. I bought angel and heart charms so each packet has an angel and a heart charm. I attached a little write-up to it. "A piece of my heart belongs to my angel forever. My angel belongs to me forever." In this write-up, I included the story of Andy giving Sylvi and me a broken heart necklace and how I have this vision that Sylvia and I will match up the hearts in heaven and live with full hearts for the rest of eternity. I think it is impossible for my heart to ever be "full" without her. I think parents may view these charms the same way. It just so ends up that these charms can be attached to a necklace chain. Perhaps someday I'll see a bereaved mommy wearing one of these angel charms on a necklace. Time to bring this novel to a close!