Walkin' Free: May 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

A Different Kind of Mother's Day

This Mother's Day we went to Amarillo for church. We left at 7:15 to get there by 9:30am. Eric invited us to a very special day for their family. Their church dedicates babies on Mother's Day. Ugh! Such a hard day anyway, and then baby dedication, too. But Eric knew Brie wanted Curren to be dedicated before their church, just like the girls were, and he did not run away from a potentially hard day. Baby dedication is just a time to commit yourselves to pray and guide the little ones in your church all the days of their life. This in no way is a baptism or neccesity for a child. It is simply a set aside time to introduce new babies and to pray for them as a body of believers, as well as for their families. We were nervous to be in the same sanctuary again for the first time after Brie's service. But really? Eric and Brie's family has been in that sanctuary every Sunday since the accident, and we could do it, too. It was such a peaceful morning. They also dedicated 40something babies at that campus alone! Whew...tons of babies. Eric, the girls, and the grandparents walked out on stage. They introduced the babies in a line. Eric was asked previously how he wanted them to announce Curren. What a question. He immediately replied that they should do the same as they were for every baby. Curren Blaec Gomez, the son of Eric and Brie. Curren is Brie's son. Eric was also able to have some great conversations with Mali the week before. It is super hard to be in school and Sunday school the week before Mother's Day. Have you ever thought of that? Every art project and discussion and party is focused on honoring your Mother. Mali was struggling with making a card, and if she should make it for Eric because she does not have a mommy. Eric was able to tell her that she does have a mommy, Brie, who will always be her mommy. When he looks at his kids, they will always be seen as Brie's kids. That does not change. What a small sense of freedom he found. They did not run away from a hard day, but went through it together. Yes, it was hard. So hard. Looking on stage I could just see Brie in her little sundress, holding her baby boy, shoulders scrunched, and beaming. The hole is definitely still there. Every year there will be talks, different feelings, and new struggles to work through on Mother's Day. But I have decided that facing it head-on is a good choice. Mali and Eleri came to visit us this past weekend for a few hours, too, and Eleri and I had a good conversation about her mommy. She said she wanted to call me mommy, and then she proceeded to do so. For a second I thought we should just ignore it, being that she is only 2. But I thought about Brie and what she would do. She would not have ignored it, but corrected it in her therapist/mommy way that I loved. I just went over to Eleri in the swing and told her I wasn't her mommy, and that she did have a mommy. She said she didn't. I told her she did, and that her mommy was in heaven, and she would see her and hug her again one day. Eleri told me I was her mommy's friend. Yes, I was, and I was her friend, too. I told her I love her and will always love her because I loved her mommy so much, too. She was good with that, and went back to calling me Miss Lissa for the most part. It was just enough for her little 2 year old mind to take and understand. I am so glad I did not shy away from talking with her about it. The kids loved playing together last weekend and this one. I love seeing joy in the midst of all the sadness. I hated looking out my kitchen window, seeing 2 lawn chairs for the moms instead of 3. Yet listening to the laughter and squeals of our kiddos reminded me of how much Brie would have wanted this to go on. We will always love hers as ours, celebrating Mother's Day in a very different, but still joyous way.

Monday, May 9, 2011

She's Gonna Have HOW Many??

I love my little brother, Scott.

(of course Marc, too, but this is a post relating to Scott.) :)

I love Scott's dog, Elek.

I love Makenna's dog, Aussie.

Both dogs are so great with kids, and have such good temperaments.

Scott really wanted one of Elek's puppies one day.

Elek is half Australian Shepherd, half Great Pyranees.

Aussie is half Australian Shepherd, half Boxer.

Elek+Aussie= 1/2 Australian Shepherd, 1/4 Boxer, 1/4 Great Pyranees.

Is this getting too complicated? Math and Mel do not mix, so that little problem took me a minute to figure out.

Elek+Aussie=puppies.

Elek+Aussie=9, possibly 10 puppies on the x-ray.

Elek+Aussie=11 PUPPIES LAST SUNDAY, MAY 1.

So, last weekend we went to see baby Archer come into the world. I drove straight into town from Corinth to church for signing practice. Tyson couldn't go on the trip, so he met me at church and picked up the kids not signing. During signing practice I get a text that says:
"Aussie just had first pup, working on others."

I then drove home after practice to a dog, in a baby pool, in my sunroom, having puppies. NO, I am not an inside dog kinda person. But of course on the day Aussie decided to have these puppies it was a record low for May in the flatlands. Like low of 30. So Aussie had to do her business in the house. The kids got to experience their first live, or ever, animal birth. It really was amazing, and Aussie did such a great job. She made it look really easy.

Her second and third came out together, and one was a very large puppy that was not alive. After we lost that one, we had 7 puppies in just 2 1/2 hours. Aussie rested for a bit. I was nervous because the vet had seen 9 puppies on the x-ray, and a possible tenth. All of a sudden she got up and had another one. Instead of cleaning it and drying it off, she immediately left it and another one came out. We did not want a repeat of losing another one, so I picked it up in a towel and started rubbing it. I was on the phone with Marc, and he told me to suction it's nose. We tried that and kept rubbing, and the puppy started breathing and we gave him back to his momma. Whew! That was scary. So we had a total of 10 puppies, minus the one born dead. Nine puppies is a lot! I started cleaning everything up and getting some new bedding in the baby pool. I was very glad it was over. As I was doing laundry and cleaning up, I walked by and another puppy was laying there in the pool, and Aussie was cleaning it all up. What??? So there were 11 total, and 10 are here with us today.

10 is still A LOT of puppies!!

We have had some crazy moments and have not slept much at all in the last week. The puppies aren't keeping us up, but Aussie is! She is not an inside dog, and if she sees us she wants to immediately get out of the pool and hang out with us. We have kept her contained, with a few escapes, and now the pool is in our bathroom. She cannot get into anything in there, it is large enough for her to be in or out of the pool, and the kids can sleep in their rooms without any escape artist coming to visit them in the middle of the night. We let her out most of the day after she feeds the puppies and then we let her back in after an hour or so in the bathroom. Only problem is at night. She does great, then wants to get out, go outside, come in, cry, not get in the pool, bark, and keep us up all night. Ahhhhh! So. Tired.

At 3 weeks they will start weaning and moving around more, so outside they will go. They have really been so easy so far. Hopefully Aussie will chill soon, too.

Here are the sweet puppies!
We haven't named them, since most will be leaving us, but some names we call them are:
Heifer
Inverted Heifer
Holstein
W head
Black guy
Brown
Beast
Fav girl
Brown boy
Little Twin

I know, such silly names we are calling them. This will definitely be an adventure over the next weeks. One that I might want to be over soon, will probably never repeat again, but will always remember as a family.

Now Scott has 5 boys and 5 girls to choose from for his new puppy. wow.

Just born!

Makenna and Lauren

10!

Boys

Girls

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Archer Jace Uptmore

On April 29th, 2011, at 5:21pm, a very special little boy entered the world.

His initials match that of another special man who entered the world 91 years ago.

AJ Uptmore, my Grandaddy, has now passed along his initials to our new nephew.

Archer was a BIG boy, weighing in at 8 pounds and 9 ounces.

Sarah worked very hard for him to come into the world as safely as possible.

Marc was so proud to be a dad, probably because he has wanted to be one since the age of 6. :)

We love this little man so much already! He has a head of dark hair, a little chin like Uncle Scott, and a cute Fraser nose. His head is all Marc and measured quite large!

Makenna waited at the hospital, and really had a hard time leaving when Ashley and Erica offered to take them to eat and to a movie...love, love y'all Ash and Skeet. Such a help.

Tracen wanted to hold him at all times. He even asked after we left if we could go back one more time to hold him. He is so excited for another boy! He has also directed that excitement towards me, asking for a brother constantly. I keep reminding him that even if I did have another baby, it could very well be a girl. He is not so excited about that fact.

Mailey loved the "baby." When it was not her turn she would yell over and over,"Need a baby, need a baby, NEED DA BABY!" She loves talking about him still. She will come in and say, "Baby, JJ, oooooo, fingers little, finger little little, baby JJ!" So funny!

We also loved hanging out with Pat, Sarah's mom. I love that lady!

Here are some pictures of this sweet baby. We love you so much Archer Uptmore!

(IM)patiently waiting, Mom and Pat