What a Great Day!

Saturday was the annual MEND Walk to Remember and it was wonderful. I'll explain a little, but words just can't describe the emotion and spirit that is felt as everyone there remembers a baby that they've lost. I've served on the committee for the last three years and though it's a lot of work, it is such a blessing to be a part of something so wonderful. This year we had just over 400 people remembering 160 babies. These are the angels that were distributed this year.

This is such a special time to honor my daughter, Savannah Kate, who passed away during birth on January 3, 2004. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and what our family would be like if she would have made it. Right now my heart is full and my eyes are flooded with tears as I think of her. I miss her! It's so interesting how as soon as you find out that you're pregnant, you start making plans for the baby. Not just how the nursery will look, but you develop hopes and dreams for your unborn child. Every mom out there knows what I mean. When all of that comes crashing down and you go home from the hospital without your baby, it's hard to even breathe (really, you'd rather not breathe than live another day in misery). About 4 months after Savannah was born, I wasn't doing very well at all. Everyone else had "gone on" and I was just stuck, not really knowing how to grieve or what the process was to "get back to normal". Well, in that time I found MEND, Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death, and through the support I received there I was able to slowly come out of the fog and live again. I learned that I would never be the Calli that I was before Savannah and that I would form a "new normal" for my life. Since MEND is a Christian based support group I felt very comfortable expressing my feelings on eternal families and the hand of the Lord in my life. What a great blessing that Families are Forever. I know that I will see Savannah again and what a joyous reunion that will be.

This will give you a glimpse of the Walk to Remember. It's from last year, but look closely and you'll see a few pictures of my family. Mend Slide Show Make sure you have your sound up because there's beautiful music.

Fun Weekend

What a weekend! We had a lot of fun and a lot of family time - nothing better (especially since I got some great girlfriend time in, too!)

Colton has started Flag Football and is doing great! Yes, we start them young here in Texas. Luckily for a worried mommy, tackle doesn't start until next year. Colton plays the entire game both offense and defense and he has scored a touchdown in both games. He was penalized 15 yards after his first one for excessive celebration. Jez ref - it's his first real touchdown outside of our living room! I'll post good pictures as the season rolls along.
Just this weekend he got up the courage to try wakeboarding. Until now, he's been very content just to go tubing. I was suprised at how well he did for his first try - much better than his mother! His athleticism definitely is helpful! Uncle Zane was a big help, too.

Rochelle and Laurie are two fabulous friends who are birthday twins! I was lucky enough to be invited to a fantastic "slumber" party on Friday to celebrate. It is an annual event - yippee! A bunch of women in pajamas eating amazing food and laughing hysterically. Thanks Laurie for the pictures and if you'd like to see more click here. I made it home about 1:30am to get a little sleep before waking up early for Colton's football game. Man was I tired. It doesn't take much for me to realize that I'm no longer "young", young at heart maybe, but my body is screaming, "girl, get a grip . . you are 32 not 22!"Rochelle & Laurie

Katri, me, Monica & Laurie

Women

I am so thankful for the fun women in my life!!! It only takes a little time away from friends to make you really NEED a girls night out with them. The beginning of the school year always seems crazy, so I knew I needed some quality friend time. Friday night I got some girls together and we saw the new movie The Women http://www.thewomenthemovie.com/ and went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner/dessert afterwards. I had a blast. Everyone that came new me and one other person. I love expanding circles of friends! The entire theater was full of groups of girlfriends and we all noticed the two men that were dragged into the "chick flick" by their wives. Dinner was great afterwards, though the thought of looking through the huge volume that Cheesecake Factory calls their menu is quite daunting. I always get the barbeque ranch chicken salad and again it did not disappoint. I had to get a salad since at the movie I drank enough Coke to drown myself. I am really trying to give it up, but that night watching a good movie with great friends warranted indulging in my drink of choice!

You know you need a night out with your girlfriends, so put something together and enjoy yourself.

Puppy Love

Okay, so I never really thought that I'd end up a dog owner. Of course, growing up with mom allergic to anything "petish" and thanks to dad being a marine biologist, by education, we got a lot of fish! At night we'd just lay and watch the fish in the tank. Not quite the best pet, but there was no responsibility on my part, so it worked out just fine. Fast forward to me marrying a cowboy who grew up on a small farm. Fish were just not going to be enough for Joel. It didn't help that Colton's first sentence was, "When can I get a dog????" I put him off by saying that you have to be five to have a dog, but then he turned five!!! Needless to say, with much debate about the kind of dog we'd get, we found our puppy. Colton named him Boston, since it rhymed with his cousin, Austin.

Danika (2 1/2) & Boston (2)

Just over a year later, Santa brought us Henry. Surprise!!! They definitely add a lot to our family - a lot of responsibility and a lot of fun. Great idea Colton!

Colton (6 1/2) & Henry (1)

A New Year

This summer went by so fast! Some days were the "dog days of summer", but it flew by and I didn't do all of the great things I had planned to do with Colton and Dani. Oh well, I'll keep the list for next summer. Not really, I'd loose it!

Sometimes I just can't believe how big my kids are getting. Colton started 1st grade and is loving it now. PE everyday really helps him love it! When I picked him up the first day I asked him how 1st grade was and he said, "Okay, if you like school for 7 hours!" in a really sarcastic voice. He just can't believe that kindergarten gets out a whole 45 minutes earlier than him. It's tough being a first grader! He loves riding the bus and doesn't really want me to meet him at the bus stop after school because he'd much rather look like a big kid.

"Get out of here, Mom, and stop taking pictures!!!!"

Danika is now in the "Bunny" class at Noah's Ark Preschool. She is so excited to go, but she wants to go everyday. Too bad, little one, twice a week is enough to be away from mommy. She pick out a "Hello Titty" shirt to wear on her first day.

Overall, the first week went great! I did get a call on the 3rd day of school from the nurse at CES warning me that Colton had a run-in with another student while playing freeze-tag and to expect a bump on his head. Needless to say, I wasn't expecting this to step off the bus!

Fun with Cousins

We were so happy to have Joey and Aron come visit us for a week right before school started. The kids really had a lot of fun (an so did I). I just love those boys! They stayed at our house every night except one special night. We decided to have a cousins sleep-over at Grandma O'Brien's house. Yippee! I was really excited since Colton and Danika are "big kids" I didn't have to stay. I dropped them all off in the afternoon and the fun began. Ashli brought her boys boys, too!!! They took a trip to the park, duck pond, played legos, painted wooden cars, baked cookies, played outside and swam. They were very busy kids. I'm sure mom and Ashli were busy too! I went over the next afternoon to claim them and they went on and on about how much fun they had at the "Cousin's Sleepover". I will now encourage that to be a quarterly tradition. Mom's big on traditions, so maybe she'll agree. We also went to a really fun waterpark in Allen by Ashli's house. So fun!

Addictions

Okay, so I'm now totally engrosed in watching as much of the Olympics as I can possibly see. I've got everything set for the dvr just in case I miss anything crucial to my olympic happiness. Sleeping is totally getting in my way! I can't reitterate enough that I'm an Olympic Addict. OAA anyone???? I've got to take a break to watch Michael Phelps compete in the freestyle 4x100 relay. If you missed it tonight, you must watch it on http://www.nbcolympics.com/ and be amazed! And what about Darra Torres? 41 and still an olympic athlete and a medal winner! WOW!!! I also just saw a gymnast compete at 33 yrs old who I watched compete in 1992.

Okay, so as you all know, my other addiction is Coca-Cola. How appropriate that Coke is a huge sponsor of the Olympic games. Here is the wording for one of their commercials....

"If you've had a Coke in the last 80 years, you've had a hand in making every Olympic dream come true."

I have to say that I took great pride in all of the olympic dreams I funded single-handedly!!

I even have my kids watching. We love it all! What are your favorite events?