Back to blogging....

Its been nearly two weeks since I've last update the blog, and I'm not really sure where to start, so I'll just start at the beginning...

Almost two weeks ago, Graham had surgery to repair a sinus issue and have his adenoids removed. He was such a brave little guy! Thankfully, the surgery was a success and everything went well. Graham was not too happy coming out of anesthesia when he was in recovery surrounded by unfamiliar faces (totally understandable!) but relaxed once we were united. He quickly fell back into a deep sleep and the nurse had to wake him up several hours later. He was feeling pretty nauseous at this point but we were able to go home later that day. We had a rough night at home and it took a few days for Graham's spunk to return, but he's back! Thankfully, the surgery is behind us. We return to the specialist in about a week for a post-op check-up, but that's it!

A few days after Graham's surgery, my family had to make the difficult decision to put our beloved family dog, Millie, to sleep. Millie lived with my parents, but she spent so much time at our house, I often joked that we had joint custody. It really is true...pets aren't just pets, they become members of our family. The kids ADORED Millie, and she's going to be missed tremendously.

A few days after we said good-bye to Millie, we had to say a very sad good-bye to my wonderful, fantastic, amazing, Grandpa. We took the kids to Florida in December to spend some time with my Grandparents and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do that and that my last memories with him are filled with such joy. My Grandpa loved nothing more than family time, and the fact that there are now toddlers in our family, was like the icing on the cake for him. Because of the type of sinus surgery Graham had, he was instructed not to fly for 3-4 weeks post surgery. As a result, I immediately flew alone to Florida to be with my family, and Daddy Jeff stayed back and held down the fort. It's always hard for me to leave the kids, especially with Graham so recently having had surgery and Amelia dealing with an infected foot from some strange bug bite, but I needed to be in Florida to honor my Grandpa and I'm glad I was able to be present. At the graveside memorial service, I heard something that really stuck with me. As we slowly walked away from the service and towards our cars, we (the mourning family) were told to never look back over our shoulders and that the living must go on living. That is so very true. As sad as this situation is, and as much as my Grandpa's missing presence will be felt, we must go on living and we need to do it with as much happiness and excitement for the future as we can. After all, my Grandpa wouldn't want it any other way.

So, that's what's been going on with our family and that's why the blog has been so quiet. I'll do my best to resume regular blogging soon...this next week has some pretty big events, Graham's first t-ball game, Amelia's first ballet lesson, and most exciting, Amelia's 3rd birthday!