Spoiled.....and a sweet goodbye.

I'd like to say the title of my post is about my sweet little Addi but its so not. Although I have known prior to mom's surgery that I'm a very lucky girl this past (almost) week has allowed me to appreciate my mother that much more. Most people would think for both a daughter & son in law that having a live in parent would be for the birds however we are lucky in our situation. Not that there aren't times I'm sure that Josh may wish we had the house all to ourselves or even me for that matter however we are very fortunate to have all the help we have. I did a survey thingy on facebook and there was a question regarding who does the laundry and my response was momma, and not me the momma that would be my momma! .......(now I must give props to my husband because long before mom moved in with us he did do ALL of the laundry so from the get go I've been spoiled!!). So typically by the time we get home from church mom had the floors upstairs swept and mopped, the laundry done or going and lunch prepared. Sounds like I'm housing Cinderella & I'm an evil stepsister, huh??? Anyway to say exhaustion has set in by the time the weekend was over was an understatement. Mom was supposed to spend 1 night in hospital for observation, which turned into 3. No complications but the pain was outrageous...and trust me I could feel the pain. I thought I was going to pass out from the pain...and that was just watching it. I've never felt like a good care taker either so I knew I might have my hands full. My aunt did come down Saturday evening to allow me to go home and get some rest, and mostly to be with my family that I hadn't seen since Friday morning before mom's surgery. I was able to get all of the laundry done, Addi's lunch fixed for the week and the house cleaned up all before having to go back to the hospital on Sunday. I dealt with a lot of guilt though on Sunday night because mom had to stay over night by herself but we didn't have any other option. Josh works nights & well Addi can't stay at the hospital with me so I had to go home.

Addi is becoming quite the mommy's girl since YaYa can't "hold you" "hold you" and to be honest I think its going to be several months before she can. Mom always allowed me to get ready and would do with Addi, not to say I was completely shut off in my room getting ready..no Addi runs and does as she pleases but mom made sure she got fed before the sitter and would address any meltdown's we might have. It made getting ready in the mornings a seamless routine. Now we have chaos....ha! Yesterday I had her shut in my room w/bathroom door open, she kept peeking in the shower and then finally just sat down in the floor crying b/c I couldn't "hold you" right then. She is really doing good though with being gentle with YaYa & is so curious about her boo boo that she wants to "see it" all the time. I guess b/c I've never known what its like to do it all on my own I've become spoiled. I hope that this hasn't at all made me out to seem like an absent mom or a bad mom I've just accepted the help when offered & needed & for us it was just there all the time so its been appreciated & welcomed. So to YaYa...we appreciate everything you do for us but need you to take it easy and recover completely. We don't want to take any chances that you'd push yourself to recover too quickly and jeopardize the recovery you've made so far.

On another bittersweet note......Josh's great Aunt Dora, 104 in age passed away on Tuesday night. This woman was a fireball I tell you. Many great stories she could share and although up until recently did she begin to somewhat show her age she led a great life. She outlived 2 husbands, many friends & family members and to me that is somewhat sad to watch everyone around you pass away. She was very active in her church up until she began to come to the end recently. And recently is within a week or two. We've made many trips to Blairsville, GA to visit her and the beautiful land she lived on, celebrate birthdays with her and as we make one more trip this Friday for her funeral we hope that it will not be our last. I know for Josh's family there are many great memories there, as well as Jane's brother & sis in law. The pictures below are from Aunt Dora's 103rd birthday. We were not able to go this yr for her party as it was the same day as the Heart Gala and it saddens us that she did not get to see Addi in full force but we know she will forever watch over us.

Momma

Please say a prayer for my momma....she is having surgery today to repair a very large hernia. Its a rather easy surgery however mom has a heart murmur so going under anesthesia is risky but is always closely monitored. Just say a prayer for us, for her, for the doctors and staff that will be taking care of her. Probably just an overnight stay but little Addi isn't going to understand why Ya-Ya can't pick her up. Thanks my friends for the prayers and support!!!

Have a Heart!!

Saturday evening we went to the American Heart Associations Heart Gala. It was a great evening of good food, good company, a great band and it was also great to hear the success stories of men and women so young in age suffering & beating heart disease. Of course it always hits home in thinking of papaw's heart attack & how close we were to losing him & most importantly how lucky we were to have more time with him. To say we had a great time is an understatement. Nicole does such an awesome job in planning these types of events.

Me & Hubby

Britt, Nic & ISmiths & Lewis'

Loving on baby Sophie!

Doesn't Nicole looking beautiful??

Our group

Let's "squeeze" something else in...

So the title of my post in mainly because we are going to the American Heart Assoc's Heart Gala this weekend - so I'm trying to squeeze into a formal dress ( & our weekend was packed full of activities). SO maybe it wasn't such a great idea to start Saturday morning off at the UTC Softball Pancake breakfast at Applebee's. Lyndsey Stile's is playing for UTC & being the softball lover I am we're always willing to support any fellow ball player. We picked up Britt & Andrew & arrived at Northgate by 7:40. Addi enjoyed getting to run like a mad woman around Applebee's and the mall since it was all closed. We went down and let her play on the playground - which was so nice because its not something we really do much, if at all. I'm far from a germ freak but everytime you walk by there, there are kids hacking, snotting and really just running wild. I sometimes think some parents believe that they don't have to watch their kids while they are playing there. Loves Nit-ney The big kids got to play too!

From there we went straight to Red Bank High School where Seth & Eli were both in a wrestling tournament. I tell you, I am so proud of these guys for never giving up - wrestling friends and still never giving up - just for giving it their all. Its so fun to watch and being such competitors Josh and I hardly miss an opportunity to watch them. Britt & Andrew tagged along for this as well. We are very lucky to have friends that do such fun things with us, adult things, family things - really anything. We have such adventures with them, there is never a dull moment and we honestly don't know where we may end up that day - but anything with them is a blast!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather Sunday after a trip to the mall & Five Guys. It was so nice to be outside, which Addi loves, just running wild and playing. She had so much fun actually venturing onto new things at the playground. Here a few pics from our Sunday fun, probably the only girl in a girly outfit out there playing but hey, a girl can still be cute and play in the dirt, right?