Yesterday, Jordan and I found out that one of my high school classmates, Gracie, lost her mom, Susan, Friday evening in a 4-wheeler accident. To make matters worse, Gracie was the one who found her mom dead. I simply cannot imagine that. Jordan worked with Ms. Susan at Home Depot up until just a couple months ago, so we were both shocked and heartbroken to hear of her sudden and "untimely" passing. It feels like just yesterday Jordan and I went in Home Depot for something on one of his days off, and we stopped to chat with her. She loved to pick on Jordan (apparently, she always called him "Jordana"). She was such a beautiful, sweet woman; it's so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that she's gone, and I didn't even know her well. I can only imagine what her family and close friends must be going through. Please keep them in your prayers, and pray especially for Gracie. She is so strong, but she has been through quite a lot this year. Back in April, she lost her friend, Loryn, in a devastating tornado that hit Tuscaloosa, and her dad has also been in poor health. Now, to unexpectedly lose her mom, who was her best friend... I am just so heartbroken for her. May God give her and her family peace and comfort that only He can provide at a time like this. Here is a picture of Gracie (on the right) with her beautiful mother, Susan. Rest in peace, Ms. Susan. I am thankful to have known you.
Yesterday evening, I found out that another family I know of lost their baby boy, Tate Jones. I don't know the family personally, but I heard of their story through the momMEtime group I attended at East Memorial Baptist Church. Baby Tate was born on June 7th with a chromosomal defect called Trisomy 18. Doctors did not expect him to survive more than a few minutes after birth (if that, even), but miraculously, God blessed his family with 7 weeks with him. However, Tate had a lot of trouble breathing, especially while he ate (he would often stop breathing during/after eating), and his condition had worsened over the past week. Yesterday afternoon, he went to rest in the arms of his Creator. I am deeply saddened for his family as they mourn his loss, but I rejoice with them in knowing that he is now healed and no longer suffering. Please keep the Jones family in your prayers. You can follow their story through Tate's mom's blog, "The Southern Cricket".
Now, on to some not-so-depressing random updates...
Yesterday morning, my parents drove my little sister, Amanda, and my little cousin, David, to Atlanta to catch a plane to Wisconsin to spend some time with our great-uncle Bob. I can't believe they're both already big enough to ride on an airplane by themselves (with flight attendant supervision, of course). It feels like just yesterday, my brother, David's two older sisters, and I were flying up to Wisconsin by ourselves to visit with Uncle Bob and family. It's hard to believe that was 13 years ago. I was only 8 years old at the time. David and Amanda weren't even alive back then. Anyway, it was the first time either one of them flew on an airplane, so I'm sure they were excited and nervous, but thankfully, the flight made it safely to Wisconsin. I hope they have a great time visiting family (and I know Uncle Bob will keep them "in line" while they're there). I sure wish I could be up there with them. My parents will join them up in Wisconsin next week for a big family reunion, but unfortunately, Jordan, Rylee, and I won't be able to go. Can't wait to see them and hear all about it when they get home in a couple of weeks.
I am really loving getting to spend the weekends with Jordan. I can't remember if I posted about this yet or not, but he recently started a new schedule at Home Depot, so he now works 3pm to 9pm Monday through Friday, and is off every Saturday and Sunday. His work week is definitely long (remember, he also works 5am to 10am Monday through Friday at UPS), but we're so thankful for the consistent schedule (the same hours every day, every week) and real weekends off. Yesterday morning, he made us eggs and bacon for breakfast. I'm hoping it will become a Saturday morning "usual". I like having eggs and bacon for breakfast every now and then, but I don't really like making them because the bacon grease always pops and burns me. So, I just leave that particular meal preparation up to Jordan. He doesn't mind making them every now and then, and I certainly appreciate it.
Yesterday afternoon, one of Jordan's cousins, Carl, whom I also happened to graduate high school with, got married. We attended his wedding and enjoyed visiting with family and friends there for a little while.
Jordan is off from UPS this week (starting tomorrow), so I'm really looking forward to getting to spend some extra time with him.
This evening, Jordan, Rylee, and I got to church a bit early, so we took Rylee to the playground area behind the church to push her on a swing for a bit to pass the time. She loves swinging, so I was able to snap a few pictures of her with big smiles on her face. Below are the pictures. (Please excuse the black areas on the sides/corners of the pictures. I'm not sure what they're from, but I'm thinking the shutter that covers the camera lens must not have completely opened.)
While I'm posting pictures of Rylee, I figured I'd share a few more of the pictures Mrs. Lynne took of her a couple weeks ago. I included a few of them in a previous post, but Mrs. Lynne put all of them on a CD for us, so I wanted to post a few more of my favorites. Please remember, all pictures are copyright of Lynne Richardson, Making Memories Digital Photography. Please do not copy, edit, or cut.
Last, but not least, it's time again for a pregnancy update. Today, I am 17 weeks pregnant with Baby R (whether it's a boy or a girl, the name will begin with an "R"). I don't think I actually have much to update on. I haven't really experienced much of anything new (other than still wondering if I'm feeling slight movements every now and then... it's so hard to tell for sure). As far as I know, everything is still going well, and overall, I'm feeling well, so I can't complain. Tomorrow, I go to the doctor for my next check-up. I'm really looking forward to hearing the heartbeat again (my favorite part of every appointment, unless we get to have an actual ultrasound), finding out if I've gained any weight (and how much), and scheduling my next appointment, when we'll get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. I am definitely counting down the weeks... I am just so anxious to finally know exactly what has been "cooking" inside of me. I really wish they would do an ultrasound at each appointment. Anyway, I reckon that's about all I've got for now. Here are me and Baby at 17 weeks:
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