Lizzy's Baby Shower

Lizzy and I are working on 30 years as Best Friends.  There is nothing I wouldn't do for her or her sweet family.  So, throwing her a baby shower for family and friends was something I could not wait for!  I drove up Friday evening after work and had the best time seeing her new house (AMAZING), visiting with family and seeing that baby bump.  Saturday morning, Nana and Mendy drove up to meet me and attend the shower.  It was so much fun watching her open presents for her soon to be here little boy.  Of course she is keeping his name a surprise (gggrrr), but I cannot wait to meet him in August!  Love you sweet Lizzy and Baby Aughinbaugh!!

Happy Memorial Day...

HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!  Thanks to all those who have already paid the ultimate price so that my family can be together and live without fear.

Still missing my Daddy

 Today was one of the worst days since Daddy has been gone.  I think the pain is settling in and it is getting harder to breathe.  My best friend from High School, Jeff Nicholas, lives in Lubbock and visited Daddy's grave yesterday to clean it up and put flowers on it.  My Dad just adored Jeff and all he did for our family.  Jeff and I got into a lot of mischief to say the least in high school and somehow when we see each other it is like time has never passed.  Jeff sent these pictures to me yesterday and I love them so much.  They made me smile just at the right time.  It was the first time I had seen Dad's date of death added to his grave.  However, I am still struggling to find out how one moves on without someone that meant so much to them.  I know it can be done, I know I am not the only one with a great loss.  However, grief is hard.  In fact, the hardest lesson I have ever tried to learn.  I long for one more minute, one smile, one hug, one more "I love you Sweetie", one more everything.  I have the best of friends who send me verses, encouragement, laughs and more.  However, no matter what, the pain lingers and it is tough.  I went to my first funeral this morning since Dad's and I was not expecting the emotions that came flooding back.  Needless to say I spent about 3 hours tonight alone.  Just walking and driving.  I added about 3 miles to my legs, worked out and then laid on a park bench for a long time till dark.  I tried to be open and hear lessons from God, I praised him for my blessings, but one thing just continues to linger...my Daddy is gone.  I try to tell myself things like: time will heal, that grief will turn to smiles later, that he will always be with me, that he would be mad at me for crying, and so on.  But right now, none of that matters.  For now, I cling to God's promise that one day we will be reunited.  I love you Daddy.

 

My Glow Worm comes home!

When I was little, one of my favorite toys was my Glow Worm.  I carried it with me everywhere.  Somewhere along the way, my Cousin Jason Wilhite was scared and I gave it to him to keep him safe.  After all these years, he found it in a keepsake box and mailed it back to me as a surprise for Caelin.  It literally brought tears to my eyes to see her open it up.  She loved it.  I smiled the biggest when I saw my name on the tag in my Mom's handwriting.  Needless to say we could not get the batteries in fast enough and now it has a new owner in Caelin.  Thank you Cousin for the amazing surprise and love!

Preview of Recital pictures

First ER visit award goes to....

Caelin Roe.  I had a bet with my Daddy that it would be Cade for our first ER visit.  Dad insisted that Caelin was exactly "like her Mother" and would be in the ER by the age of 5.  Well, he was right, and I guess we are also overachievers cause we did it while she was 3 years.  Before church, Caelin thought it was a good idea to put her hands down her pajama pant legs and dance around.  Well, needless to say she lost her balance and fell (chin first) on the tile in the kitchen.  She cried for about 3 minutes, but then appeared to enjoy the attention more than anything as you can tell by the pictures.  Cade did NOT take the blood well.  In fact he looked away and continued to say, "Oh no, Oh no."  Then Cade watched the event from the couch while watching TV.  He was not willing to be engaged at all once he knew she was ok.  I am pretty sure Cade will not have a job with blood later on in life.  Ha!  We initially cleaned the wound and put butterfly bandaids on it.  However, throughout the morning of scaling the couch, jumping on bed, and running around...we just could not keep her down and it continued to open and bleed.  So, off we went to the ER.  The doc was able to just glue the wound and we shall see if it holds!  On our way home, Daddy got her a cake pop from Starbucks, so naturally it was all better.

A whirlwind of weeks

These last few weeks have been a bit busy, so I thought I would just compile everything into one post.  So, what have we been up to?  Well, we have been busy.  We have played with our cousins, enjoyed a visit from Uncle Mack, had fun in the sun with water, had a new roof installed due to weather/hail damage about a month ago, ate a LOT at the Bomer crawfish boil, played with Legos, kept up with Caelin's weekly ballet/tap classes, and more!  We also had girl and boy "date" days where Mommy/Caelin had fun shopping and playing at the park while Daddy/Cade went with the boys to shoot some guns.  It was a perfect day for bonding with each other and getting in some quality time.  So, take my word for it, we have stayed busy.