It is early in the morning and it is a rainy cold day outside. I am nestled in the warm covers of my bed hoping that Mason decides to sleep in late this morning. As I lay here, typing away, I am grateful for the blessings of my life. Life has been a bit of a bumpy road in recent history; bumpy with beautiful scenery, however. It is truly amazing how one can be at the top of the highest mountain peak and then fall suddenly to a valley, only to return to the top of the rolling foothills! Ok, enough with the metaphors! .....

The highest mountain peak .....

As many of you have already heard, Tim and I are expecting our second child! We are excited about our pending new addition and are happy that Mason and baby will be so close in age. I am due November 11th. We will be able to find out the sex of the baby in about seven weeks (my big ultrasound appointment is June 23rd). I have been feeling relatively OK; I was queasy and consistently tired the first weeks. Thankfully, the queasiness has subsided but unfortunately, the exhaustion still remains. I am hopeful that in the coming week or two, I will hit my stride and ditch the "first trimester tiredness." When announcing the pregnancy to our immediate family, it was revealed that Tim's sister, Kara, is also pregnant!!! I nearly tackled her in excitement when we found out the great news. Kara is a week and a half in front of me (her due date being October 28th). We couldn't be more excited to have another cousin that will be so close in age to our coming addition (Mason is two weeks older than his cousin, Rudy - my brother's second child). So as you can probably understand, we were standing on Mt. Kilimanjaro there for a while ....

The valley ....

In the past two weeks, my Grandpa Jim has been in and out of the hospital with complications arising from congestive heart failure. My Grandpa is 93 years old (almost 94) and has lived beyond the years his myriad of doctors ever predicted. My family is very blessed to have had him in our lives all these wonderful years. He is the origin of the spark, orneriness, wit, stubbornness, humor and cunning nature that flows through my veins. It is hard to see 

him so altered and I am forced to remind myself after talking to him (or about him with Grandma) that no one is immortal and we need to be grateful for each and every day that God gives us!

 

Well, when it rains, it pours, and I am not talking about the  downpour that is occurring as I type. This past Thursday, Tim's (and my) beloved Grandma Susie (more commonly known as "GG" for "Great Grandma") suffered from an acute hemorragic stroke.  She is currently in the ICU receiving treatment; although she has been responding well to the treatment, she is heavily sedated which clouds any potential progress she may be achieving. It is hard to say how GG will recover from this episode as it is too soon to tell what lasting effects will remain after her release from the hospital. Tim and I are praying for the members in our family that are suffering from ailing health. 

Back to the foothills ......

So amidst all the emotional turmoil, we were excited to celebrate Connor's (our nephew) first birthday last night (although he does not officially turn one until Monday the 4th)! He had a Finding Nemo / beach theme party complete with bubbles (in the rain), chocolate fountains, trampoline jumping (during a break in the clouds), and face painting. All the kids were running around late into the night while still high on the mass quantities of sugar pumping through their veins. Mason had a great time, but hit his wall around 9pm.

We are also very excited to meet our newest 2nd cousin, Ainsley, this coming weekend. (Tim and I will be traveling down to Paso Robles to visit family and see GG.) Although Ainsley isn't scheduled to join our world until Wednesday the 6th (via C-section), we are eagerly anticipating her arrival and can't wait to meet her.

We are also very excited to see Emily, Ella and Rudy as they are heading to California this coming Wednesday for a visit. Mason and Rudy will have such a great time wrestling around and playing with each other. Mason always learns new things from Rudy as he tends to be a little ahead of Mason in learned skills (he is lucky enough to have a sister to emulate). We are very excited to spend some much-needed time with them.   

Even though we all have our struggles in life, it is important to recognize the blessings we have each and every day. Often times, it is tragedy and sadness that forces us to recognize how fortunate we really are! I challenge you to take a moment every day to be thankful for the family, friends and loved ones that care about you. Tell those people that you love and/or care about them, too; as you never know what curve-ball(s) life will launch your direction.

Another post will follow with the Mason update from April.

I hope this finds each of you blessed and grateful!

Love,

Jenn, Tim, Mason, and Baby "B"