Well, it was about this time last year (7:30 a.m.) that I got a phone call from the hospital asking if I was ready to come in and have a baby! Little did I know how much our lives were about to change and what a year we had ahead of us! Before you have a baby, I feel like people try to express to you how much your life is about to change - but you can never truly understand it until you meet your little one and fall in love! Every time I look at Ali it makes me smile and Ryan and I still talk about how weird it is when we actually sit down and think that she is "ours" - this precious little girl! We feel so blessed! Most people know that Ali was a "surprise" in our lives and some may think that she came "too early" after we got married - but I know that Ali was brought into my life for many, many reasons. This past Sunday kind of brought it all together for me a little bit - what a year this has been! It was All Saints Day at church and the service was very moving for me. We celebrated the year from last November 5
th through this November 4
th and during that short year, I lost two of my "Saints" and got my very own "Saint" to help me through it. I miss both of my grandmothers every day and am so grateful that they got to meet Ali and have her in their lives, even for a little bit to bring them joy like she brings me joy!! One of my favorite memories of this past year is going to visit
Tootoo a week before she was suddenly gone. My mom, Ali and I went up to Wellington Place (where she was living) and we had four generations in her one room for about an hour, just spending time together. I think that is pretty rare that you have 4 generations in one room just like that - especially b/c I was lucky enough to give
Tootoo her FIRST great grandchild - and I am so glad she got to meet her!
Tootoo held her that day and Ali just squealed (she was 3 months old) and
Tootoo smiled so big and that memory makes me so happy! Here is a picture below of my beloved
Tootoo holding Ali at the hospital! You can't tell in the picture, but
Tootoo is blind, and the second she held Ali she could not stop crying! It is such a precious picture to me b/c it was such a touching moment for me!
Another sudden loss happened a short 5 months later! It's weird to me b/c Ali and I had also gone to visit
Gindy about 2 weeks before and spent some time with
Gindy and my aunt, Harriet Anne while my parents were out of town. It is there, at their house, that Ali really learned (I believe) to pull up and after that that is all she wanted to do. I feel blessed that we got to share these precious moments with both of these two "saints" this past year. We miss them dearly! This picture below is of
Gindy holding her great-granddaughter after her christening.
Tootoo was in the hospital that day and had already had her stroke and we knew it was a matter of time and I remember
Gindy later saying how neat it was that Ali had all of her Great-Grandmothers alive at the time of her christening. That is very special to me.
Okay, this blog is making me really sad so, on a lighter note, today is actually the day a year ago that we THOUGHT Ali was coming into this world. (well, until we got to the hospital - b/c they predicted I would be in labor until the next morning! ahh!) I was induced at the hospital around 9 a.m. and was in labor all day until Ali made her grand entrance at 12:44 a.m. - just past midnight and just in time to miss election day (but, dad won! He was unopposed!). What a day!! It's weird not to celebrate today but tomorrow is the anniversary of our first real day with Ali - a real blessing to celebrate! I know that I am going to sit back and reminisce on where we were a year ago - and thank the Lord that I am not there today! (well, in labor!) Although, the prize at the end was WELL worth it! :)
Another sudden loss happened a short 5 months later! It's weird to me b/c Ali and I had also gone to visit Gindy about 2 weeks before and spent some time with Gindy and my aunt, Harriet Anne while my parents were out of town. It is there, at their house, that Ali really learned (I believe) to pull up and after that that is all she wanted to do. I feel blessed that we got to share these precious moments with both of these two "saints" this past year. We miss them dearly! This picture below is of Gindy holding her great-granddaughter after her christening. Tootoo was in the hospital that day and had already had her stroke and we knew it was a matter of time and I remember Gindy later saying how neat it was that Ali had all of her Great-Grandmothers alive at the time of her christening. That is very special to me.
Okay, this blog is making me really sad so, on a lighter note, today is actually the day a year ago that we THOUGHT Ali was coming into this world. (well, until we got to the hospital - b/c they predicted I would be in labor until the next morning! ahh!) I was induced at the hospital around 9 a.m. and was in labor all day until Ali made her grand entrance at 12:44 a.m. - just past midnight and just in time to miss election day (but, dad won! He was unopposed!). What a day!! It's weird not to celebrate today but tomorrow is the anniversary of our first real day with Ali - a real blessing to celebrate! I know that I am going to sit back and reminisce on where we were a year ago - and thank the Lord that I am not there today! (well, in labor!) Although, the prize at the end was WELL worth it! :)
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