Monday, June 20, 2016

Our Un-pictured Child: Miscarriage

My blog posts are typically full of photos of my children - their birthday parties, their swimming lessons, at museums and parks, or playing with each other in those rare moments of sibling affability.

Today, though, I'd like to dedicate internet space to a child of mine who will never have their face appear on this blog. I've been mourning the child we won't meet or hold or know, but today my body has decided to move on and I finally forced myself to try to as well.  

This child will never sit in time out or have his bum spanked. He will never have a parent raise their voice to him or accidentally laugh when he was serious. 

This child will instead have the perfect parent. Isaiah 64:8, "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." God created our child by hand (Psalm 139:13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb"), he then brought our child to Heaven.

This child will never feel embarrassed in front of his friends, or feel left out of a group and lonely. He will never join the wrong crowd, or forget his homework or band uniform and not be allowed to participate. 

This child will instead be surrounded by others who have also had a place prepared for them in Heaven. John 14:2-3, "My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

This child will never have his heart broken or fret about unemployment. He will never forget to pay a bill on time, get pulled over, or face a critical illness. 

This child will never feel pain. Not emotional nor mental nor physical. Revelation 21: 3-4, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore." This child is already dwelling with God - he doesn't even have to wait until God dwells with us on earth.

Do *I* hurt, though? So much. My baby doesn't hurt, but I do. I grieve. But "'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways' declares the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8), and I know that despite the fact that this would NOT be my way, it is His way, and He has a plan for me and this child that did not involve him being born to me. Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" I will still continue to grieve, no doubt. I don't think I'm completely done crying yet. Hearing about the similar pain of friends and family will bring the pain back, but I KNOW that I will see this child in Heaven one day. I may not hold him, rock him, nurse him, clothe him, sooth him, care for him, but I will see him again in a place of perfection. 

So my precious baby, you are not pictured on my blog today, your photos won't hang on our walls, and your toddler art work won't decorate the playroom, but you've made a mark on my heart. You won't be someone's best friend or their first crush. You won't be someone's spouse, parent, or boss, but you've impacted me deeply. You're my child and I will see you again. I love you. 

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Happy Father's Day 2016

Happy Father's Day to the FABULOUS father figures in my life!

Bryan, ya da bomb, man. 



Papa, you are awesome mister.




Grandpa, you are wonderful!



Paw, we love you!





 Papaw, you give the best hugs!



I hope you all feel cherished today!

And to the other fathers in my life - friends, uncles, cousins, fathers-to-be and fathers-who-have-passed, we love you all! You leave a beautiful legacy.

Schlitterbahn: "One more time!"

I know I posted a brief post last night about our somewhat random Tomball adventure, but I didn't finish posting about Schlitterbahn! 

The theme for the trip could have been either "ONE MORE TIME!" (or maybe "5 more minutes" as my kids told every single stranger and life guard they saw).

Unfortunately I don't have all of the photos I took while we were there because my phone died and Apple was unable to recover the photos on my phone. I was feeling sad about this, but I have these lovely memories also floating around in my mind of the pure excitement my kids had about this magical place. I think Clara imagines Schlitterbahn is an awful lot like Heaven will be. 

In no particular order the following are photos from Monday-Wednesday:

Ready to play!
Reading doesn't stop just for a swimming vacation 
Uncle Bryan and Molly discussing the merits and pitfalls of sliding and swimming 
Molly & Lulu driving a submarine 
Emma sliding down a shell slide
Lulu with her two littlest grandbabies 
Emma and a frog slide
Clara and Emma LOVED all of the time they spent with their Auntie M & Uncle G. or "M and Unkie" and Emma calls them. 

Clara & Marissa sliding down together 
Lulu the Jessie Jane whisperer
 These girlies crack me up! (A funny blast off video will be on the bottom of the post)


Lulu convincing Molly to join us in the lazy river (her favorite activity!) 
Katy & Shari 
Daddy & Emma
 We ate a LOT of food! Mercy. Swimming is hungry business.

The below photo is one of those special snapshots in my mind of this particular trip. There was something about Emma's pure joy in getting splashed by an elephant that I just hold onto in my heart.

Emma walking with Papa
 Clara was the only one ready to play on the "Pirate House" this year, but I think it's going to be a big hit in future years with all of the girls. She LOVED it and went down those slides over and over and over.


Papa looks a little concerned while Emma is in a happy happy place 

Another motto for the trip: "MYSELF swim!" 
Raging River-ing! Floating selfie problems :)
Here comes Clara! 
Marissa & JJ
Did I mention Clara was in Heaven?


About to conquer the Wolf Pack with our girls! 
Ahhhhh, thank goodness for the wagon AND for my fella who pulled it up and down all the hills

here we go! 
4 cousins on an alligator does NOT make for an easy photo op
This photo is of particular note because this is another "snapshot" in my mind. We weren't sure if Clara was ready for some more "high thrill" rides or not - especially ones that required independent riding, but Bryan and I decided to take Clara on the Banzhai Pipeline. It's completely dark in the tunnel and goes really fast. Clara landed and her words were "OH MY DOSH, ONE MORE TIME" so we were fairly certain it was a winner! hahah


Lulu & Papa about to take Clara on the Wolf Pack
G, M, Molly & JJ in the lazy river
I have no idea why this one ended up getting switched to black and white, but it's another photo of Clara coming down the Banhzai Pipeline. Happy girl!

weeeeeeeeeeee!!
Sometimes it's just tiring. And sad. Tiring and sad to leave the park. 
Emma got lots of looks and giggles from fellow patrons for this :)
my sweet girl 
Lulu and Emma Lou racing down the slides! 
Emma checking out the view from the Wolf Pack
I love my water high thrill seeker! Clara you have so much JOY. 
Emma in water with 2 of her favorite people 
The politely smiling photo-bomber - Love it! 
Papa had to work pretty hard to keep up with his oldest granddaughter! 
Precious cousin love 
Aunt Katy and JJ split some ice cream, yumm :) 
what's not to like!? I was having fun too! The Falls was a great ride discovery! 
Papa and Clara on The Falls ride
Clara on the "opatus" slide! (last year's favorite)
Of course, like all amazing trips, they do eventually come to an end. Here are Molly and Clara enjoying some Daniel Tiger on Bryan's phone while we all loaded up the cars and got the kids ready to go.  
No TV for 4 days means they missed that lovable Tiger
Ah, yes, attempted cousin photos :) Some of my favorites! Plus, 4 girls in DINOSAUR shirts - what's not to like!? 

these sweet Lous!


Schlitterbahn also has a service where they take photos and give you the numbers and then you can purchase them if you want to later. Thank you Mom for grabbing up these 3 great photos of the trip!

Our whole family and one large pink alligator!
 Clara, Lulu, me, Papa, Emma Lou, Bryan
Clara & Emma's first tube ride: Raging River
 And my favorite:

What a beautiful family we have!

In case you haven't had enough of our trip just yet,
here are several videos as well:


These girls are hilarious and have way too much fun together :)













(Don't watch the below video unless you wanna see Lulu's pretty hysterical cinematography!)



So this one is slow motion, and nothing really happens until the last few seconds, but it's cute :)






Phew! All done :)