Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. We certainly did. Justin and I both ended up having long weekends over the Valentine's Day weekend, so we decided to get out of town for a few days. We didn't want to drive very far or spend too much money, so we settled on Wendover because neither of us had been there before. We left Friday morning, dropped the kiddo of at my mom's house, and then took the long, boring drive to Wendover, the town in the middle of nowhere. We stayed at the Best Western and seriously, everyone  there was so super nice! I would highly recommend it!

Friday night we were tired from the drive and the early morning so we ordered pizza and stayed in our room and watched movies. It wasn't the most exciting Valentine's Day but it was nice to just relax and be together and have some alone time. On Saturday we hit up the casino, I won $9.49 at the penny slots thank you very much! We grabbed some lunch and then went off-roading in the desert. It was fun. We discovered some pretty interesting things out there, and you wouldn't believe how many couches were out there! Wow. That night we went to Bimini Buffet in a casino, the food was okay but not good enough for the price, and after dinner we hit up the pool in the hotel. The management was nice and let us go in after hours if we promised to be quiet so we had the pool all to ourselves for a couple of hours.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and headed on our way. We ate dinner at my parent's house and got home Sunday night in time for Justin to grab a quick nap before he had to work that night. It was a fun little get away even though Wendover is kind of a pathetic town if you are not big gamblers. But hey, it was an adventure and now next time we'll know.

Here are a few of the pictures that I did take...

Six Months

Baby boy is six months (okay almost seven, but I'm a little late in writing this blog). Here are some facts about Leland at six months...

• If you put Leland into the sitting position he can sit up by himself, but he cannot get into the sitting position by himself yet. Although he does try. Very, very hard. When he is laying on his back he does a crunch/leg lift combo and can hold it forever! He is one strong little dude. 
• Leland has been introduced to solid food and so far he LOVES bananas and peaches, and he likes apples, pears, carrots, and sweet potatoes. He tolerates green beans. And he HATES peas. 
• Leland is much more mobile. He can now roll over both ways, scoot small distances on his tummy, and is getting better at walking while holding your hands. His daddy thinks that he will surpass crawling and just start walking, and honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. We are also working with him on being able to hold himself up while holding onto furniture but that is a work in progress. 
• A new funny thing that our little guy does is he loves to cross his ankles. Cutest. Thing. Ever!
• He also spins the bottle around and around in his mouth. I think it feels good to him on his gums. It is pretty adorable as well.
• Leland has his two bottom teeth. Pretty sure we are going to get some more any day now.
• Leland usually has one fussy time a day, but other than that he is a very happy baby. I kind of lucked out on that one.
• Leland is an awesome sleeper! He sleeps 10 plus hours a night with two big naps in the day. Again, I am a lucky mommy!
• Right now Leland's favorite toy is probably Mickey. He likes to suck on his ears and put his tail in his mouth. Poor Mickey's tail is almost fraying because he is so well loved. Leland sleeps with Mickey and Mickey is usually packed up with us wherever we go. 
• Leland loves, and I do mean LOVES our dog Zorro. If you are trying to get Leland's attention while Zorro is in the room, ha, forget about it! He loves to chase Zorro in his car, have Zorro lick him (though mommy and daddy are not so thrilled with it) and grab on to his fur. Zorro can make Leland laugh harder than anyone. We are fortunate that they have such a good relationship already and that Zorro is so patient with Leland's constant pulling, grabbing, hitting, chasing etc., because it is bound to get worse the older little guy gets.

And now for some pictures....

The Passing of a Hero

grief (N) : a deep sadness caused especially by someones death

Everyone handles grief in their own way. Some people cry. Some people talk. And some people stay busy and try to avoid it. How do I handle grief? I write.

In my lifetime I have acquired many heroes. People I looked up to, people I respected and wanted to be like, and people who made a difference in my life. Saturday I lost one of my heroes, my Uncle Kevin. Uncle Kevin was added to my list of heroes at a very young age. When I was a very little girl, like maybe 2 or 3, I was camping with my whole extended family when I fell flat into the campfire. My Uncle Kevin jumped up and pulled me from the flames.  I should have had third degree burns covering my body, but there wasn't a single burn on my skin. It was a miracle. Uncle Kevin's quick reaction saved my life. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. I owe him my life.

Ever since I heard the news on Saturday I have tried to grasp the reality that he is gone. It just doesn't seem real. Saturday I think I was in shock, I didn't even cry. But then on Sunday when I saw the grief that my family was experiencing it hit me like a ton of bricks. I keep playing the 'could of, should of, what if?' game. Did he know he was one of my heroes? I never told him. I should have. Did he know that I loved him? Does he know that I will miss him? Was there something more I could have done? He sent me a Christmas card this year, but I got so busy I didn't send him one back or even call him and thank him. And now its too late. Regret is entangled with grief and I am having a hard time processing it all. I wish I would have made more of an effort these last few years to keep in touch with him, but I didn't, and now I have to live with that. Friday is the funeral and boy is that going to be a hard day. My heart is breaking for his family but also, selfishly, it is hurting for me too. Uncle Kevin was a good uncle. The world somehow seems a little darker this week without him in it. Sometimes I don't think its fair that the world keeps turning and life goes on when someone we love passes away. Everything should stop for just a moment, take a pause, a break. Give us a chance to catch our breath and get a grip. But it doesn't happen that way. We are forced to keep moving forward because what else are we supposed to do?

It just.... hurts. And sucks. Sucks big time.

I love you Uncle Kevin. I will miss you. And hey, thanks for the Christmas Card. I was very touched that you would send me one. Goodbye.

XOXO

Happy Valentines Day!