Happy 2nd Anniversary Baby....

Well, I am not sure we could have had a more complicated entrance into our 3rd year of marriage, but I do know that there is no one else I would rather be sharing all the bumps in the road with. You, my dear, are without a doubt the strong but silent type. I know at times it can infuriate me when I wish I could get you to talk more, but I also know that you will always be there for me and our family. You are my best friend, my partner in everything and the only person in the world I would want to share my life with. The day I married you I without a doubt made the best decision of my life!

Thank you for loving me, Scout and our little girl so unconditionally. For always putting us first and for making sure we are well cared for. You are an incredible husband, you were an amazing dad to our Scout and this little girl has no idea just how lucky she will be to have you as a dad.

So here is to our thrid year together. May it be blessed with many happy memories and lots of wonderful firsts for our family. But no matter what it holds for us, it will all be better because I get to share it with you.

And maybe one day in the not too distant future when life settles down a bit we can actually celebrate our Anniversary!! I know a c-section class at the hospital and Arby's drive thru was not what either of us had in mind :-)

All my love always....Laura

Baby Shower in Clute

Well, I am very fortunate to have a very special group of ladies here in Clute that hosted a wonderful "Baby Shower Brunch" for me and baby Girl Johns. Jenny, Shauna and Brooke of course went above and beyond and we had the tastiest food, some fun games, cute decorations and YUMMY cookies to take home! It was an especially nice treat for someone on bed rest to be able to get out of the house and be spoiled for a couple of hours and to visit with a lovely group of ladies. And of course I have to also thank my friend Julie for coming over and helping me get dolled up and look somewhat human after a week on the couch and for taking the great photos!! So thanks to all of you ladies for making my shower such a special day. I will remember it always!

Jenny and Shauna prep people for the first game...matching the celebrity to their kids names...

Wyatt, the only male allowed in the shower definitely had plenty of smiles for all the ladies!

Me, loving opening all of the fun little girl gifts!

The mama-to-be and the hosts!!

All the ladies...Julie Tyree, Julie Zielke, Rachel Pearts, Me, Steph Fontanella, Meagan Gimber, Alechia Crown, Teri Hermel, Shauna Grantham, Nicole Mytych, Jenny Heinlein, Brooke Beveridge and Lindsey & Wyatt Neyland

Farewell to My Best Friend

Well, as you all know from previous blog entries, my beloved Scout was recently diagnosed with Hermangiosarcoma. It is a very aggressive vascular cancer. We thought after we removed his spleen and there were no other signs of masses and started chemo that we would extend our time with him, but it was not to be. After just one round of chemo the cancer had already spread to his liver and he was again bleeding into his abdomen. Even after that news we decided to bring him home. We had another 1.5 weeks of playing ball and just lots of loving family time, trying to show him in as many ways as we could how much we loved him!!! But late last week it became evident he had hit the final downturn. He stopped getting up and about and I couldn't even get him to eat home made hamburgers. Then he had a few rounds of vomiting and the final straw came when he started having uncontrollable bleeding from his nose. We had loved him as long as we could and we did not want to see him suffer. So we gave him the last gift we knew how to, a peaceful end. My baby fell asleep in my arms for the last time and I will forever be grateful for his time on this earth and that God somehow led me to be his mama! I know I did a lot for him, but as I told Jay, he gave me so much more. So much unconditional love and companionship at times in my life when he was all there was. I was so blessed by this gentle creature and he will be forever in my heart and never far from my thoughts. I know that when my time comes he will be waiting for me with his favorite ball at the ready.
I also want to say a special thanks to all of you. All our dear friends and family who understood just how much our four legged friend meant to us and for all your support and loving words.
It means so much.

Now we turn all our attention to welcoming Scout's little sister. We will love her with all of our hearts and know that she has a guardian angel already up there looking out for her!

34 Weeks and Bed Rest

So, of all times to end up on bed rest. The hubby is in Aspen, the dog is doing poorly and during what I think will be a routine checkup I find out I have preclampsia and need to go on bed rest. I followed the doctor's orders over the weekend with some help from my great friends who looked after me and then Jay took me back to the doctor on Monday. My BP was still up and there was protein in my urine, a tell tale sign of preclampsia. I was trying to work from home, but sitting up for too long kept spiking my BP as well...so now the doctor has ordered me to stop even that. So, from here on out we will be going to the doctor weekly and I am guessing it will be a week by week thing as to how I am doing and how baby girl is doing...she could come anytime if things get a bit worse....so stay tuned!!

Jay's trip to Aspen

Here are some photos of Jay's recent trip to Aspen to visit his lifelong friend Aaron. They had the ultimate guys weekend, biking 53 miles on Friday, early morning trail run, hiking at 10,000 ft, wandering around Aspen and dining at the St Regis after a dip in the pool!! Baby girl and I just hope next time we can join in on the adventure. A big thanks to the Pughs for being such great hosts. Jay had a wonderful time and these are awesome photos!!