Grieving

My sweet friend Christina went to the arms of her Savior on Wednesday night. She was only 3 years older than me with the most precious 5 daughters. Her youngest is the same age as Jude and her oldest is one of Jude's most favorite baby sitters. There are so many things I could say about this dear lady, but I am going to leave it to her husband, Christian. This is the message he sent out today:

To all who haven't heard, Christina Jones Hooker, my beautiful wife and perfect mother of my precious girls, very unexpectedly went to be with Jesus last night, after a hard 24 hour struggle.

These are hard words to say. First, thank you so much for those who prayed so fervently for her life. The preciousness of her life was greatly reflected in your outpouring of concern and grief.

We do...n't know why, but Christina suffered a severe heart attack Tuesday evening. There was no warning. One moment she was a happy, active young mother, and the next she was undergoing CPR for 15 minutes on the ER at Erlanger hospital. The doctors DID revive her, and fought to save her 24 heroic hours.

She lost that battle. She is so very much needed and missed, and though we do not blame her or God, an awesome person leaves an awesome gap in the lives of those they are closest to. Christina's friends and loved ones, please grieve with me and her children. We are facing something we can only heal with the love of God almighty and you, those who loved her. We are making arrangements at Wilson's funeral home in LaFayette, GA, and I will post om her account as more information becomes available.

Listen to me. Hold close what you have. Your wives, husbands, and children. Every fantasy I had that what is precious to me is too good to be taken was destroyed last night. There are NO guarantees. Every moment we have here is a gift. Live that while you can.

Gotta get caught up

Have you ever gotten to that place of needing to do a load of laundry where you pull out a bathing suit bottom to serve as underwear?

No?

Oh. Uh, me neither.

They're out of control. . .

These companies are out of control.

Last week I received an e-mail from Gerber, "Your Pregnancy: Week 37." (Ha! If only I had ever made it to week 37!)

Friday I got one from Simlac, "Your Pregnancy: Week 34." (Now that one I did make. Passed even, delivering at 35.5 weeks. But that was 3 years and a week ago.)

Today I received a box in the mail. You guessed it: formula samples.

I am SO far from being pregnant it's not even funny. About 6 months after the boy was born, I developed a hormonal imbalance. We verified it with a salivary profile test. Then this past June (ironically, the month we had set to consider trying again) I started experiencing excruciating pain several days running every couple of weeks and it turned out to be rupturing cysts. Since July, I've been on the pill to keep the cysts away.

These companies are out of control.

I have a fake internet friend who I have TONS of respect for. She struggles with a severe and confusing case of endometriosis that has rendered her infertile. She has dealt with two very expensive and unsuccessful IVF cycles. She has also in the past few months received similar e-mails and even larger formula sample packages than I.

These companies are out of control. For me, the samples and e-mails are just mildly annoying. For her, they are extremely painful reminders of those embryos that didn't stick. These companies need to pay attention what they are doing.

Three

Three is officially big boy. This week he decided he would use the potty for EVERYTHING as long as he's awake and that he wanted to move from the toddler bed to the "super big boy bed." (The old full from our guest room that we moved out when we got the king and put our queen into the guest room.)

This is three:


And 2. . .
And one and none. . .