This afternoon around 5 I got the biggest shock I've had in a while. My aunt called to let me know that she had heard that my mom's childhood bestfriend had been shot by her husband in a murder/suicide. I was completely overwhelmed with grief. I have literally known Cindy my entire life. She was one of my first visitors when I was born. She was also one of Michael's first visitors at the hospital when he was born. Somehow I had missed the story on the news yesterday and this morning. I then had the "joy" of getting to call my mom and tell her the news. I debated with myself about calling her but decided that if anything were to ever happen to any one of my closest friends, I would hope that no matter where in the world I was at that time someone would call and tell me. I found out later that Cindy's mom was the one that found her. I can't imagine as a mother what Gin is going through. I can't wrap my head around ever walking into anywhere and finding my child dead. The very thought of it breaks my heart. I know how my heart hurts for the loss of this friend and I know it doesn't come anywhere close to what her family feels. She has left behind a daughter, Ginger, a son, Houston, and two beautiful grandchildren. I ask that you lift that family up in your prayers that God will help them to heal and bring to them a peace about the situation. I know their hurt will never fully go away, but at least take some of the sting away.
This whole thing has made me so thankful for all the people that I have in my life. It makes me appreciate my mother and that I still have her here. I can't tell you how many friends I called tonight to tell them I love them. I know that they know that but tonight I wanted to make sure that they knew. Thankfully they were all understanding of what I'm feeling right now and didn't think I was too terribly crazy. If you didn't get a call, it's not because I don't love you, it's more because I had a fussy 15 month old that demanded my attention.
I'm sorry if this post was a lot of rambling, but I'm still trying to make it all make sense in my mind. Thanks for reading my thoughts. This let me at least put some of my feelings into words.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Prayers Needed Urgently
Saturday night while we were out Trick or Treating, we found out that a friend of ours, Scott Richardson, had been rushed to the emergency room in Nashville, TN. They found out he had a brain aneurism. He also has a clot about the size of a beebee. He is currently in ICU and will remain there for at least the next two weeks. Saturday night the doctors drilled a hole in his skull to relieve some of the pressure on his brain and to let some of the accumulated blood drain. Sunday morning they did a procedure something like an angiogram on his brain. I'm not really clear on the reason behind that test. They are keeping him awake as much as possible so they can check him for brain swelling. For that same reason, they aren't able to give him as much pain medication as he needs. They haven't given the family any kind of a prognosis yet. This morning he appeared a little depressed to him mother. The doctors warned her that this may have caused a permanent personality change in him. Scott is only 29. Please say prayers for him and his healing. Pray for his family as they travel to be with him. His mother is planning on staying in Nashville for at least a month. Any prayers you can lift for this family will be greatly appreciated.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Long Time Gone
Wow!! Can't believe I haven't posted anything in two months. Sorry!! It's been a crazy two months!!
September was filled with work, football and vacation. I am working again at our church's Children's Day Out program in the nursery. Our babies are too cute!! We have 8 now that range in age from 3 months to 7 months. We have two that are pretty much crawling, four that will be very soon, and two that will be learning to roll over before we know it. It's constantly crazy in there, but a lot of fun too. I'm glad I get to share that time with my special friend Alli.
Tech football season has started and kept us VERY busy. I've had to miss two games this season due to Michael and I being sick. I'm going to miss tomorrow night's game too so that I can take Michael trick or treating. Some things are just too important to miss!!
Aaron and I went on a cruise at the end of the month. It was a much needed vacation. We haven't been anywhere in 3 1/2 years so we felt it was about time. We got completely relaxed, ate some great food, met some really neat people, and saw some beautiful places. I was shocked that I didn't get sea sick and was able to completely enjoy myself. The trip was wonderful and I have too many stories to tell in my little blog. One quick one though. Aaron and I were at dinner on Tuesday night of the cruise and he gets a text from my mom letting us know that Michael is walking. That's right!! My little baby boy started walking while Mommy and Daddy were in the middle of the Carribean Sea.
Michael is all over the place now. I thought he was busy crawling, but I was wrong. Walking brings out a whole new level of safety that you never thought of before. He's discovered that he likes to try and walk with his head covered and he can't see. He loves the freedom walking has given him. He's able to keep up with his friends Cooper and McKenzie a little better. He's really happy that McKenzie doesn't treat him like a baby so much anymore. Alli and I were shocked the first time he walked up to McKenzie and we found that he's almost as tall as she is. By the way, McKenzie is 10 months older than Michael so that's why we were so shocked. He's learning so much now. We've taught him the difference between hot and cold, to wave bye-bye (he even says it some), to blow kisses (these are usually reserved for Mommy and Daddy only), and his vocabulary has exploded. He still says mama, dada, and nana, but has added ball, sit, stay, up, bye-bye, juice, hot, and I'm sure I'm leaving several out. He has learned to work his shape puzzle. He knows where the shapes go, but still lacks that fine motor skills to properly place them in the puzzle without a little help. He's trying really hard to master the art of feeding himself with a spoon or fork. We're still working on it and hopefully will have it down soon.
Well that brings everyone up to speed on all that Pier household has been up to the last couple of months. Our world has literally been revolving around Michael, work and football. We are looking forward to the holidays, Levi's first birthday, and seeing Aunt Ashli and Uncle Paul. We haven't seen Uncle Paul since last year and Aunt Ash since July. I guess we haven't seen Aunt Steph, Uncle Jarrod, or Levi since July either. I can't wait to get those two boys together again and see how much they've changed and how well they play together. We've got a busy couple of months ahead of us but as you can see we are looking forward to every minute of it.
Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!
September was filled with work, football and vacation. I am working again at our church's Children's Day Out program in the nursery. Our babies are too cute!! We have 8 now that range in age from 3 months to 7 months. We have two that are pretty much crawling, four that will be very soon, and two that will be learning to roll over before we know it. It's constantly crazy in there, but a lot of fun too. I'm glad I get to share that time with my special friend Alli.
Tech football season has started and kept us VERY busy. I've had to miss two games this season due to Michael and I being sick. I'm going to miss tomorrow night's game too so that I can take Michael trick or treating. Some things are just too important to miss!!
Aaron and I went on a cruise at the end of the month. It was a much needed vacation. We haven't been anywhere in 3 1/2 years so we felt it was about time. We got completely relaxed, ate some great food, met some really neat people, and saw some beautiful places. I was shocked that I didn't get sea sick and was able to completely enjoy myself. The trip was wonderful and I have too many stories to tell in my little blog. One quick one though. Aaron and I were at dinner on Tuesday night of the cruise and he gets a text from my mom letting us know that Michael is walking. That's right!! My little baby boy started walking while Mommy and Daddy were in the middle of the Carribean Sea.
Michael is all over the place now. I thought he was busy crawling, but I was wrong. Walking brings out a whole new level of safety that you never thought of before. He's discovered that he likes to try and walk with his head covered and he can't see. He loves the freedom walking has given him. He's able to keep up with his friends Cooper and McKenzie a little better. He's really happy that McKenzie doesn't treat him like a baby so much anymore. Alli and I were shocked the first time he walked up to McKenzie and we found that he's almost as tall as she is. By the way, McKenzie is 10 months older than Michael so that's why we were so shocked. He's learning so much now. We've taught him the difference between hot and cold, to wave bye-bye (he even says it some), to blow kisses (these are usually reserved for Mommy and Daddy only), and his vocabulary has exploded. He still says mama, dada, and nana, but has added ball, sit, stay, up, bye-bye, juice, hot, and I'm sure I'm leaving several out. He has learned to work his shape puzzle. He knows where the shapes go, but still lacks that fine motor skills to properly place them in the puzzle without a little help. He's trying really hard to master the art of feeding himself with a spoon or fork. We're still working on it and hopefully will have it down soon.
Well that brings everyone up to speed on all that Pier household has been up to the last couple of months. Our world has literally been revolving around Michael, work and football. We are looking forward to the holidays, Levi's first birthday, and seeing Aunt Ashli and Uncle Paul. We haven't seen Uncle Paul since last year and Aunt Ash since July. I guess we haven't seen Aunt Steph, Uncle Jarrod, or Levi since July either. I can't wait to get those two boys together again and see how much they've changed and how well they play together. We've got a busy couple of months ahead of us but as you can see we are looking forward to every minute of it.
Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Another School Year
This week I have been getting geared up for another year at Children's Day Out at the church. Yesterday we went over the curriculum that we'll be teaching and got our room assignments. I am excited to announce that I will be in the nursery with the babies. The oldest in my classroom is 7 months and the youngest is only a month old. I can hardly wait to get my hands on all those little guys!! Oh and the even better part is that I've been teamed up with my good friend Alli. I really think it's going to be a great year.
Yesterday afternoon we spent our time cleaning out our room and getting rid of stuff that should've been thrown out a long time ago. Today we got to get creative. That's one of my favorite things about teaching, the creative aspect. Our room name is turtles so we tried our best to decorated with as many turtle things that we could. Alli found a cute turtle note pad that we used to put their names on the crib that they'll use. We made a welcome poster with little wooden turtles on it that we put their names on. Alli bought two bigger turtles that look a little on the flattened side to put our names on. I made the joke that we looked run over and that's probably how we're going to look everyday after taking care of 7 babies. The poster looks really cute anyway.
Tomorrow we've got meet the teacher in the morning and we will go over policies and procedures tomorrow afternoon. UGGHH!! Nothing much more boring that being told how to wash your hands, how to change a diaper, how to wipe a snotty nose, and not to use your cell phone at work. Did I mention I'll have about three hours of that? Fun, fun!!
Michael, my smart little toot, has totally skipped a class and is now in the classroom that was mine last year. He's the youngest in there I'm pretty sure. I forgot to ask his teacher today. I guess I'll find that out tomorrow. My biggest concern about him jumping ahead is that he's still crawling and most, if not all, the kids in class are walking. I'm worried that he'll get picked on or left behind. Then again I'm hopeful that it'll motivate him to start walking because he'll want to keep up with everyone else. I'm excited though about this move too. He'll get to go to music which I think I'm the most excited about. They don't do a lot of music education with his age group, or didn't last year, as much as they dance and clap and that sort of thing. They also learn some sign language. I may have to sneak out of my room so I can go watch him in there. He loves music so I'm sure he'll love music class. He'll also get to go outside which he didn't get to do in the nursery and I don't think they do in the class he skipped over. Granted he won't be able to play on any of the equipment unless his teacher helps him, but he loves to be outside and in the grass. Hopefully he'll enjoy it. I'm also hoping that being in a new class will help him learn to nap at school. The last several months he's thought napping at school was optional. I no sooner get him in his carseat and start out of the parking lot than he's asleep. I'm hoping they will wear him out enough in the morning that he will want to nap. We'll see. If not, I may have to deal with an unhappy pair of teachers.
That's what has been happening in my life lately. I'm glad to be back into a routine. I can't wait for the school year to begin.
Yesterday afternoon we spent our time cleaning out our room and getting rid of stuff that should've been thrown out a long time ago. Today we got to get creative. That's one of my favorite things about teaching, the creative aspect. Our room name is turtles so we tried our best to decorated with as many turtle things that we could. Alli found a cute turtle note pad that we used to put their names on the crib that they'll use. We made a welcome poster with little wooden turtles on it that we put their names on. Alli bought two bigger turtles that look a little on the flattened side to put our names on. I made the joke that we looked run over and that's probably how we're going to look everyday after taking care of 7 babies. The poster looks really cute anyway.
Tomorrow we've got meet the teacher in the morning and we will go over policies and procedures tomorrow afternoon. UGGHH!! Nothing much more boring that being told how to wash your hands, how to change a diaper, how to wipe a snotty nose, and not to use your cell phone at work. Did I mention I'll have about three hours of that? Fun, fun!!
Michael, my smart little toot, has totally skipped a class and is now in the classroom that was mine last year. He's the youngest in there I'm pretty sure. I forgot to ask his teacher today. I guess I'll find that out tomorrow. My biggest concern about him jumping ahead is that he's still crawling and most, if not all, the kids in class are walking. I'm worried that he'll get picked on or left behind. Then again I'm hopeful that it'll motivate him to start walking because he'll want to keep up with everyone else. I'm excited though about this move too. He'll get to go to music which I think I'm the most excited about. They don't do a lot of music education with his age group, or didn't last year, as much as they dance and clap and that sort of thing. They also learn some sign language. I may have to sneak out of my room so I can go watch him in there. He loves music so I'm sure he'll love music class. He'll also get to go outside which he didn't get to do in the nursery and I don't think they do in the class he skipped over. Granted he won't be able to play on any of the equipment unless his teacher helps him, but he loves to be outside and in the grass. Hopefully he'll enjoy it. I'm also hoping that being in a new class will help him learn to nap at school. The last several months he's thought napping at school was optional. I no sooner get him in his carseat and start out of the parking lot than he's asleep. I'm hoping they will wear him out enough in the morning that he will want to nap. We'll see. If not, I may have to deal with an unhappy pair of teachers.
That's what has been happening in my life lately. I'm glad to be back into a routine. I can't wait for the school year to begin.
Monday, August 17, 2009
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
My sweet little baby boy has turned into a stubborn, mind of his own, toddler. God will definitely have to give me patience and peace.
He has officially started having temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. The other day I told him he couldn't have our home phone so he literally head butted our end table, looked at me and screamed. His head was fine, didn't even have a mark on him. Then while we were eating dinner I went to give him a bite and he out right told me no. I was shocked!!
I keep hoping that the attitude it due to him getting so many teeth right now, but it seems to be persisting. I don't really know what to do with one so young and so much attitude. I'm currently reading "Bringing Up Boys" and have "The Strong Willed Child" waiting in the wings. Both books if you're interested are by Dr. James Dobson. Hopefully they will give me some insight. I've also talked to both grandmothers about it to see how to handle the situation. It seems that I'm pretty much doing the right thing, but man is it hard. My mom, by the way, thinks it's quite hilarious. She says I'm paying for my raising. Guess I was more of a drama queen than I thought I was.
Anyway, I'll take any tips anyone has about getting through the ever so fun toddler years. I keep thinking that it only gets harder from here and that we're royally screwed if that happens. Hopefully it'll get better once I learn some different discipline techniques and Michael understands what we're telling him.
He has officially started having temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. The other day I told him he couldn't have our home phone so he literally head butted our end table, looked at me and screamed. His head was fine, didn't even have a mark on him. Then while we were eating dinner I went to give him a bite and he out right told me no. I was shocked!!
I keep hoping that the attitude it due to him getting so many teeth right now, but it seems to be persisting. I don't really know what to do with one so young and so much attitude. I'm currently reading "Bringing Up Boys" and have "The Strong Willed Child" waiting in the wings. Both books if you're interested are by Dr. James Dobson. Hopefully they will give me some insight. I've also talked to both grandmothers about it to see how to handle the situation. It seems that I'm pretty much doing the right thing, but man is it hard. My mom, by the way, thinks it's quite hilarious. She says I'm paying for my raising. Guess I was more of a drama queen than I thought I was.
Anyway, I'll take any tips anyone has about getting through the ever so fun toddler years. I keep thinking that it only gets harder from here and that we're royally screwed if that happens. Hopefully it'll get better once I learn some different discipline techniques and Michael understands what we're telling him.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
One Year
I can't believe that my baby boy is one year old today!! Someone told me yesterday that the first year really drags by. If that's the case, then I don't want to know what the next 17 he'll spend at home will be like.
Michael went for his one year well baby visit today. He weighs 21 pounds and is now 29 inches long. That means he's 3 pounds shy of having quadrupled his birth weight and is 3/4 of an inch shy of having grown a full foot over the last year. He has met all his milestones right on time and Dr. Bello says that he is a perfectly normal and healthy one year old. He also got 4 shots and had to get blood drawn for a CBC and Lead level. Poor guy!! Not the greatest of ways to spend your birthday.
This year has been an amazing adventure and journey. I can't wait to see what his second year holds for us. Hopefully walking, talking and potty training!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Our BIG Suprise!!
Last week Mom came and stayed with us and asked if we could come up for the weekend to help Dad finish Michael's swing set in their backyard. I told of course we'd come because how do you say no to your parents. I was not a very happy camper all week. I couldn't understand why we had to go up there and work on the swingset the weekend before I had a whole bunch of people, including ALL my in-laws, coming to my house. To be honest, I think I complained to anyone that would listen. I never said anything to my mom, but I was not at all happy about having to go to Brownfield. She added fuel to the fire when I called on Friday and told her that we wouldn't be there until Saturday morning because Aaron had to work late. She told me that Dad had a business meeting that morning and we were to meet him, my mom, and the CLIENT at Texas Roadhouse for lunch at 1. I was livid. I knew we were supposed to be going to work, but here we were going to have to entertain one of Dad's clients. Poor Aaron got the brunt of that rant. I wasn't happy going up there, I wasn't happy packing, I just wasn't happy about any of it...period.
So we finally get to Texas Roadhouse. I couldn't imagine why no one was really following me in. I find the booth that Mom and Dad were in. I looked around the booth and saw...ASHLI!! I'm pretty sure the whole restaurant knew she was there because I screamed her name rather loudly.
Then I found out that she wanted to see us and really wanted to be here around Michael's birthday. She couldn't make it for his party, but could make it the weekend before. Mom planned a party for Michael at their house so that Ash could be a part of a party. I was beyond thrilled that Ash got to be here and be a part of Michael's first birthday. I had really been getting a little depressed about not seeing her. She hasn't been here since Thanksgiving and I really thought we wouldn't see her again until Christmas. I'm so grateful that she made it here!!
Aaron asked me later if I felt bad about all the complaining I did during the week. I told him yes and no. I was happy to be at Mom and Dad's with Ashli. I didn't like the idea of us having to come up to work. If I had known Ash was going to be there, I wouldn't have complained, but since I didn't know, I don't feel that bad.
We had so much fun this weekend. It makes me look that much more forward to the coming weekend and his party at our house. Like I said earlier, the whole Pier family will be here together. We rarely all get to be together so this is going to be a real treat. We've also got several friends that are planning on coming including my best friend, Erin, and her little one, Colby. What a great way to start off a crazy week!!
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