So much going on....

August has been such a very busy month for us! I guess we are tying to cram as much stuff in as we can before summer comes to an end.

Two weekend ago we had a fantastic time. That Saturday we went to my Aunt and Uncles (My Dad's brother and his wife) for a belated birthday celebration for Cooper. They are the kids Godparents but were on vacation when we had the party. When we got there my Aunt mentioned that she had invited her sister's family (her kids are 7,5 and 4). Which was great because I haven't seen A in at least 10 years. My Aunt then mentions that A just lost a baby last week. So I'm thinking a m/c until she starts talking about a funeral! Turns out Gerard passed away at birth. So A got there and when we were alone (or as alone as you can be with 6 adults and 10 kids!!!) I told her how very sorry I was about the baby. Her and I ended up sitting down and talking and crying for about 45 minutes. We missed dinner!! I certainly can't understand exactly what she is going through because I have never lost a child but I can understand a little bit because of what my brother and sister in law are going through. A told me that at her 20 week u/s they found out there was something wrong with the baby. They were thinking Down's Syndrome and decided that they would have an amnio just to know exactly what to expect. A came to terms with the fact that the baby was probably going to have Down's and they would all get through it. Turns out that Gerard has Trisomy 18 and would most likely die at birth. A said that the only thing keeping him alive was her. My Aunt's family is EXTREMELY religious. So the only option is to go full term and pray for the best. So for 20 WEEKS she knew that her baby was going to most likely die. I just can not imagine knowing that. It is heartbreaking. From my experience with Dawn I knew that A would most likely want to talk about Gerard. So we talked about her delivery and everything else. She showed me tons of pictures and my heart just breaks for them. She was allowed to keep Gerard in the room for 2 days. I didn't realize that they would let Moms keep their babies for that long. But A said that on day 2 she dressed the baby and called the nurse and told her to take him and run or she would not want to let him go. A is doing remarkably well and my heart goes out to them.

And then on that Sunday we went out to our friends Jeff and Kelly's house. Madison LOVES playing with their 4 year old daughter Kasey and their son is 2 also. They live up on a mountain in Naples with an awesome view of Canandaigua lake and they have 60+ acres. So the kids just ran and swam and had an awesome time! After dinner they got out the 4 wheelers and the dirt bikes and the kids rode on the golf cart and loved it! That was a fun night for sure!

This past weekend is the first time I have spent a weekend without children since Madison has been born. Yes she is 4 and a half!!!! Ryan and I went to PA for the weekend to go 4 wheeling and it was such a nice and relaxing time! It was really nice to spend alone time with Ryan. We are actually going back this weekend without the kids again! We are going with 3 other couples and I can't wait!!!!!