Happy Birthday to my Dad!

Fifty-five years ago, the best dad God could possible give me was born. Actually, he's a Leap Year baby, but we celebrate his birthday on the 28th of February. I thank God every single day for my dad. He exudes strength, tenacity, compassion, love, and an incredible sense of humor. I admire my dad and thank him for everything he has given us and done for us.

Thanks to my dad, I am alive. I was born stillborn. My dad was the one that didn't give up on me and brought me back to life. Because of my dad, I am alive today. I owe him my life, literally. I am so grateful to have such incredible parents.

Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you very much. My wish for you is that this year brings you much happiness, wonderful moments to last a lifetime, and prosperity. I wish nothing but the best for you.

Love you always and forever!

Jonathan's 1st Birthday Photo Session

Jacob is one of my best friends and one of the reasons I love working at Shaw so much. He's very talented, an incredible person, incredible father, and a wonderful friend. His eye for pictures is magnificent and these are probably some of my favorite pictures of us. He always does our family pictures that we give to Debbie, Phil, and Muna for Christmas. We asked my parents to join us this time for my dad's birthday and to help us keep Jonathan entertained and smiling. He missed his afternoon nap, so he was exhausted. He still did a great job thanks to Jacob and his beautiful little girl, Merri. We love them both and our thankful for them in our lives. Thank you for these wonderful pictures. If this blog didn't take so long to download the pictures, i would have downloaded all of them. I love them all!

Very Graphic!!!!

I have always had stomach problems. From ulcers, to IBS, etc you name it. I know, I know too much information. I've had a few endoscopies, colonoscopies, etc. Well, my parents always tricked me to go to the doctor. When I was 18, my parents tricked me into going to see a Pediatric Gastro. He went to medical school with my dad and my parents know him very well. How in the world both of these doctors ended up in Chattanooga, I have no idea! This occurred during a time when my filter went missing at times when I became furious. LOL! I went in there thinking I was going in for an ultrasound. NOT! Well, if you've ever had stomach issues, then you know what doctors have to do. I lost it. I started screaming at him telling him no way, don't touch me, that's nasty. Ex. How did you go to school to do this? How do you enjoy giving these type of exams (but with more descriptions). You name it, I said it. He finally had to go get my mom and have her in there so she could control me. LOL!

Well, Jonathan now has stomach issues. He starts screaming when he uses the bathroom and cries, bleeds when he uses the bathroom, etc. Well, guess where we had to go??? Yep, you are right. Back to the doctor where his mother acted like a disrespectful, spoiled, ridiculous brat! Oh the humiliation begins. We go and guess what Jonathan does? Screams bloody murder, cried, completely inconsolable. Like Mother like Son. As he is getting examined, he decides to pee all over us. Then, I rush get soap, water, paper towels to clean him up. Travis and I were in shock! We cleaned him up and he has to continue to check him. Poor guy wouldn't stop crying! He didn't stop until we left. How embarrassing, but can you blame him???? That's the worst kind of exam ever!

He is the best baby ever and we love him so much. Now, we have him on medication and we hope he feels better soon!!!

I know, I know too much information, but a little funny!

You Never Know What People Are Going Through

While I'm writing this, I'm trying not to cry. Today is the anniversary date of a very special guy, Jonathan LeGrand, whom we lost. I will never forget that day. NEVER! I remember being in training at work and getting a call from Justin. Since I was in class I didn't answer, but would call him back during a break. Soon there after, Jay calls. Jay's mom had been in the hospital so I stepped out and answered. The first thing out of my mouth was, "Is your mom okay?" He said it's not my mom it's Jonathan. I lost it! I grabbed my stuff and called Justin. He just told me to meet him in Nashville. I called Travis, he got me a reservation to go on the shuttle to Nashville and he'd meet me in Greenville asap. I get home and pack as much as I could and leave stuff for Travis to bring. When I get to the Nashville airport and see Justin I lost it all over again. From that moment on, I tried to be like a robot and make sure we got there. Justin was devastated. Obviously, people didn't know why we were both crying in the airports, on the plane, etc. I tried to be strong, but I'm a crier.

We arrive in Atlanta and Justin looks up finally and says, "There's T.I." He didn't skip a beat. How he knew that I have no idea, but it was true. We get on the next plane and over the loud speaker they announced that we had a soldier on the plane being escorted to their family that had lost their life at war. Justin, in his own time of grief, looked at me and said that's terrible and took his hat off to give his respects to the soldiers that were on the plane to deliver the soldier to his family. You just never know what people are going through.

We arrived at The LeGrands and they were surrounded by family and friends. They are amazing people with amazing people in their lives. No one skipped a beat to be there for them. That day changed their lives forever. I have never hurt for a family as much as I hurt for them.

My whole point to this is that you never truly know what people are going through. There might be days that they are down, distant, crying, etc. There is always a reason. Remember to be sympathetic, caring, and love those people in your lives. Everyone is going through hard times, but some people need us along the way.

Love those special people in your lives that weigh on our hearts. Pray that they find peace, and pray that we keep those people alive in our hearts by the memories we share of them.

To the LeGrand Family, we love you guys very much.

What a Weekend!

Aunt Ashley Loves Jonathan and We Love Her
Kendall, I love our niece. She is too cute and such a sweet girl!

Ayden, even though you say you are too cool for hugs and kisses, we still love you! You are such an incredibly sweet boy.
Ashley, we were both blessed with incredible husbands. Justin is wonderful!
This past week, I was fighting quite the cold. I have felt horrible. I have loaded up on Vitamin C, DayQuil, Cough Drops, etc. Whatever I can get to help me feel better. Friday, I had no time to rest, because we had to eat dinner with Travis' boss, his wife, another guy he works with and his wife. We ended up going to Alleia and having a great time, but as soon as we got home, I went to bed and didn't wake up until noon the next day. Crazy! I felt terrible and was so exhausted from a stressful and emotional week.

Saturday, my dad cooked for us and we had a yummy chicken and rice soup. Delicious! Then, my mom, Jennifer, and I went to see No Strings Attached! It was great and just what we all needed, a great laugh. I'm so thankful for Jennifer! She is such an amazing friend!

Today, well, we had no time to rest and get better. We had Ashlynn's first birthday party! It was wonderful! There was a soup bar, a hot chocolate bar with all the fixings including a little Bailey's, and a cookie decorating table. Too cute! Not to mention, Jonathan had a great time flirting with the beautiful birthday girl and all the women! We are in trouble for sure!
The best part of our day was going to dinner with the family. Ashley, Justin, Kendall, Ayden, Muna, Debbie and us. We had a great time. Man, I love Ashley's kids! Ayden is to the point where he's too cool for kisses, but I seem to sneak one in by tickling him and well, Kendall, she has my heart for sure! Love that little girl like no other! All in all, it was a great weekend and now I'm laying on the couch which is even better with my box of tissues beside me.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed their time with the ones they love!

Stella

On Monday, we found out that Stella would be in heaven with God and all of her family and friends up in Heaven. I can't imagine the pain that Megan, Chris, and their families are going through. Please everyone keep them in your prayers.

I have to say that during these past few days, Megan has shown me an insurmountable amount of wisdom, faith, love, etc. She is truly an inspiration of Faith in God and in love. Talking to her last night, not knowing what I can possibly say to make her better, I said, "This might sound cliche and doesn't help, but she is in a better place. I talked with Calla(my grandmother) and told her to give her lots of kisses for all of us." Megan says, "I know she's got lots of loving family surrounding her and one beautiful thing that gets me through is knowing she will always be in a beautiful place and never have to feel any pain, sadness, or suffering, just unconditional boundless love and beauty."

That right there is a true testament of faith in God. We can never forget that God has a plan for all of us and even if we don't understand it, He has something perfect in mind for us and definitely for Megan. They say God won't give you anything we can't handle, so I ask God to stop testing all of us for a while.

Please continue to pray for Stella, Megan, Chris, and both of their families.

Everyone please hold your families closer tonight and tell everyone you love just how much you love them.

It Just Keeps Getting Better With Time

Having Jonathan has been the greatest blessing of my life. We are blessed beyond words with an incredibly happy baby full of love and happiness. He blows us kisses constantly, he waves at us, smiles all the time, and laughs. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby boy.

This weekend was the first pretty weekend. We were in the 60s and 70s, so we took him to the park to enjoy his time outside. When we first put him down to walk around, he was a little startled by so many people, since all of Chattanooga came out to the parks too. LOL! He was a little clingy to me, but I loved it, since he's usually such a little independent baby. We finally got him to swing and he was perfect.

It was great! We saw old friends, teachers (Mrs. Claudia Iorio and her perfect kids), Debbie came with us one day, and we just had a great time Saturday and Sunday as a family. That's what this life is all about, being with your family and the people you love.

Jonathan's First Haircut

On January 26, 2011, Jonathan got his first haircut. I just can't believe that he is old enough to get a haircut. Well, the best part was that Auntie Meg was coming into town to work, so I booked an appointment with her. I couldn't imagine not including her in this first experience. It was so special for us to have her be the one to cut his hair for the first time.

We both got capes on and I held his head, because I was scared to death that he'd move his head and she'd cut his ear like my mom did to be. LOL! In one of the pictures you could tell I was nervous and it was because I could remember my mom taking a chunk of my ear off. Good thing it grew back. LOL!

Jonathan got a glimpse of Emily, a beautiful girl that works there. He was flirting and loved getting everyone's attention. It was a great day and we loved spending time with his Auntie Meg.
We Love you Auntie Meg. Thank you for cutting Jonathan's hair and for making it a special day.