My Inspiration

As I mentioned in my previous post, my grandmother, Barbara Latimer, passed away on Wednesday morning March 10.  You can read her obituary here.  She was my last living grandparent.  I knew her, of course, as Mimi .  The saddest part is that the last however many years, she wasn't the Mimi that I knew as a kid, teenager, and part of my adult years due to her Alzheimer's.  I don't know if she even knew who I was in the end but whenever she saw me, she always had a smile on her face.  In fact, I think that is how I'll remember her.  She always had a smile.  I don't know if she was always happy on the inside but if she wasn't, none of us knew it.  The funeral service was beautiful.  The ten of us cousins had the opportunity to stand up and share our thoughts and memories of her.  I won't repeat it all here but I will say that it was inspiring to me.  As crazy as it sounds, she's also the inspiration for me wanting more than just several children.  Mimi was an only child and I've often wondered to myself what her life would have been like if she and my grandfather didn't have any children.  Her daughters, their husbands, and us grandchildren have always been so close and it's a horrible thought for me to think about her life if none of us existed and her husband died (which he did in 1988).  What a lonely existence.  Sure, she would have friends but it's just not the same.  So all that is my inspiration for perhaps having three or four kids (the Lord willing).  I want what she had!

                           The Ten Cousins

There is so much more I could say about her and what she meant to me growing up but I will save that for another time or maybe just my own reflection.  When I have a little time, I want to get out my diaries (which I started at age 10) and read about those wonderful years.

Despite the reason for it, it was good to see the whole family.  We haven't been together since Rad's wedding which was almost two years ago now.  I had originally planned to go up on a Friday but as it turned out, I pushed up my flight to Wednesday afternoon.  Of course, she ended up passing away that morning so I didn't get there in time (which was okay, I think, because I wasn't certain I could handle seeing her).  Flying on Wednesday meant I was going alone because Duncan stayed home until Friday afternoon so he could work.  Fortunately Elaine got a pass to go through security with me and walk with me to the gate or else I don't know if I would have braved it.  The flight was full and we had a guy in the row with us but all went very well. Aubree slept for only about 45 minutes and Calleigh fell asleep as we literally pulled up to the gate (go figure) but they were really good the whole way.  

We stayed at Lori and Charlie's house which was perfect since it was the hub of all the activity.  The only downside to that was that Calleigh had a very tough time getting to sleep and in fact, stayed up until 12:30 and 11:30 two of the nights.  What can you do, right?  We left on Sunday evening after the funeral and burial.  Duncan needed to get back to work and I didn't want to fly back alone a second time (plus with my parents going out of town on Tuesday morning, there wasn't much point in sticking around).  The trip back was quite an experience.  It was raining bucketfuls on the way to the airport and we ended up getting there a little later than we hoped.  Just getting our bags checked turned out to be a huge ordeal with a giant line (although we did see Cam Neely a few people in front of us).  We were running to the gate once through security as it was only 15 minutes until our flight was to leave (which was 7:55 pm).  We finally got there only to realize there was no plane so obviously the flight was delayed...which they had failed to post on any board or we probably would have been a little calmer.  So thanks a lot Jet Blue!  Anywho, long story short, we didn't end up boarding the plane until a good two hours late (and might I add, they made ZERO announcements at the gate) and just when I thought we were good to go, the flight attendant stated loudly that she wasn't leaving until they had more paper towels for the bathroom (we were sitting in the second row so we heard it all).  Of all people, the pilot comes out from the cockpit to go get paper towels.  I was astounded.  Craziness.  So we left about 10:30 something and didn't land until 1:28.  Aubree slept off and on and Calleigh slept the last 45 minutes.  Our heads didn't hit the pillows here at home until 2:55 am.  But we were home safe and sound and that's what mattered.

We finally caught up on sleep and all that only to be hit with some food poisoning on Thursday.  I'm certain it was some red peppers we had gotten at our local Farmer's Market as it was the only thing that Calleigh, Duncan, and I had eaten in common on Wednesday night.  Aubree, who didn't have any, was fine.  At 4 am, Calleigh woke up crying.  I went into her crib and there were a bunch of little red piles of regurgitated red peppers in her crib.  By breakfast time, I wasn't feeling well and Duncan was finally hit with it late afternoon.  None of us really ate anything all day although quite a bit came up.  This was only the second time (well, make that second, third, and fourth times) Calleigh has vomited fortunately.  Poor little thing.  It would just come upon her with no warning whatsoever so she didn't make it to the bathroom or the bowl needless to say.  Ahh, the fun jobs a mother has to do!  We were basically trapped in our house because I didn't dare go somewhere in our condition.  Ron and Elaine happened to be out of town all day but fortunately returned about 8 pm so they could pick us up some soup and other essentials.  That night was very tough since I let Calleigh sleep in our bed.  Let me just state that I have no idea how people sleep with their children.  It's hot, it's crowded and that's even with a king size bed.  After several hours of just lying there, and watching Duncan get up every little bit because he was still having problems, I went to Aubree's room to try and sleep on the futon.  But it was too quiet in there so I went back to my bed.  I finally got the bright idea to bring Calleigh's mattress in from her crib and she didn't mind moving to the floor.  After about 10 minutes a calm little voice called out to me in the dark (mind you, this is like 1:00 am), "Mommy, I fell off."  Sure enough, there she was on the floor.  She's rolled off her mattress.  So I had to fix that whole set up.  In the morning, she was lying on her belly, with her butt in the air, and no blankets whatsoever.  It was a funny sight.  Despite the sickness, it was pretty much all worth it when I was walking into the bathroom for what turned out to be my first vomit of the day (and can I say that these are much worse than the whole "I'm pregnant" throwing up episodes).  Calleigh was walking beside me and she said to me "It's okay. It's okay. I'll take care of you Mommy."  It was the sweetest thing.  I'm so happy she has a little compassionate heart.  

Ricky flew in on Friday evening from Baltimore (where he's been working during spring break) to spend the weekend with us, mainly because he had a doctor's appointment today to get the results of his CT and MRI he had done last month.  I went with him this morning to the neurologist and we are thrilled that he says there is nothing wrong with him.  He has had swelling on his forehead, for which he had surgery, for the past three years.  It's just a vein that does crazy things but it's not a big deal.  So that was some excellent news.  God is so good!

Yesterday we went to Epcot for the second of our trips to the four parks.  I had recently received two park hopper tickets and we gave one to Ricky for his birthday and then I sold the other one to Eric Badillo, who was in town visiting, so the two of them joined us.  All was going well (although Aubree was a little grouchy for some reason) until it started pouring cats and dogs.  We just happened to be at America (where we saw Mike Holmgren....I guess we are big into spotting sports stars these days) when this all went down and for those who know anything about the park, that's about the farthest point from the entrance.  We stupidly didn't bring our umbrella (thinking we would be gone before it rained) so it was a very long trip back to the car.  Fortunately we were able to cover up the girls pretty well in the double stroller so that only Calleigh's legs got wet.  By this time it was almost 3 pm and we were ready to leave anyway but Ricky and Eric wanted to stay longer so they got our umbrella from the car and decided to make a go of it.  Anyway, Duncan and I were pretty wet on the way home but it was all in good fun.  Calleigh enjoyed herself, especially the mask that she made and got stamps on at each country, and that's what matters.  She's already asking "Can you tell me a story from when I was at Epcot?"  

Not much else newsworthy to report.  Aubree turned 10 months old a few days ago but still no major news on the mobility front with her.  She is doing more things when you give her the verbal command like "stretch" and "stick out your tongue."  She's still nursing five times a day.  

Oh, I almost forgot.  Aubree had her appointment for her "bump" on her chest last week which had gotten considerably bigger and redder just before we went.  After a quick look, the doctor told us it's called a "Brancial Cleft Sinus/Cyst."  It's not a big deal but he said it would need to be removed after she turns one.  In the meantime, she's on an antibiotic and we go back in two weeks.  We are very thankful to the Lord that this isn't something more serious.

I'm going to call it a night and hopefully won't have such a gap with my postings next time.  One last thing..my blog turned two today so happy birthday blog!  You can click here to read my first post.