A Nephew for Me

Yep, that's right...my sister and brother-in-law found out today that "It's a boy"! Everything looks really good, and they moved her due date up by a week. They are really excited! My sister always wanted her first baby to be a boy, so she got her "wish". Apparently, my mom had in her mind that it was going to be a girl, so she is having a hard time believing it isn't. A few weeks ago, I had a dream it was a boy, which I thought was a little odd since I kept thinking how much fun it would be to buy girl stuff (not that I put TOO much stock into dreams, but I have actually had a few dreams that make sense...eg. Once in high school, I dreamt my religion teacher had a baby girl who they called "Lily". When I told her, she realized that she was, in fact pregnant...she did have a girl, but they named her "Maggie" [her husband wouldn't go for "Lily" because they had a "Rose" and a "Hannah" and didn't want "Hannah" to be the only "non-flower"...as it turned out they have had another girl and a boy, so it wouldn't REALLY have mattered...]. Of course, I also had those Facebook/blog friend dreams a couple months back that were a bit crazy, so anyway...)

My sister and I went shopping and I bought a few outfits for my nephew (we went to four different stores, including gymboree...I got a REALLY cute outfit there and a "computer glitch" gave me $50 in "gym bucks" instead of $25, so that was an extra bonus). It was fun hanging out with her, especially since we don't talk as much as we should. She bought me a caramel apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory that was delicious (it was my "lunch", so I didn't count that as "eating between meals"...now, the ice cream I had a little bit ago is a different story!)

I went for a walk with my friend from Curves (even though there is still quite a bit of snow on the ground from Friday and it was pretty cold!). Her husband is progressively getting worse and now is pretty much only awake when he needs to get up to the bathroom. Obviously, she is having a rough time with that and is also starting to feel really isolated. So, she started letting friends come over to visit, and we went out to dinner with some other women tonight while her son sat with her husband. Thankfully, in an answer to many prayers, she discovered that her husband's employer will let her keep his insurance for an entire year (not "COBRA"). So, she will not have to find a new job with benefits right away after he dies. I started crying when I heard that because it was really hard thinking about how she was going to deal with all of those things all at once...

Yesterday, I finally saw another one of my friends whose son is a patient at my hospital. His transplant was two years ago this week, but two weeks ago, his transplant failed. Yesterday was the first time I saw her. She gave me a hug and said "it is going to be okay...I got a message...things are going to be okay" Um, definitely would have been bawling if that wasn't the only time yesterday when I was "super busy". He has a long road ahead of him, but faith and a positive attitude go a long way.

These two things, along with a couple "facebook chats" with Kristy in the week leading up to Asher's Birthday Weekend were some of what led me to write this post . Writing that post definitely helped me feel less overwhelmed, but feeling like "my" prayers were answered has lifted the weight that was left behind. Of course, my heart always finds it's way to those who are hurting, but today was a day to celebrate. Celebrate the tiny boy that is growing within my BABY sister--a tiny, but fiesty (apparently, he moved around so much during the ultrasound that the tech said she had to go really fast to catch good pictures) and healthy little boy that will be here in July for me to love (and spoil!) Celebrate the answer to prayers of peace-of-mind, optimism, hope, comfort, and being able feel the love and compassion from afar.
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On a completely different note, I have no idea what has come over me that I have begun to stay up later. It actually doesn't suit me that well...I've never been a night owl and it was pretty crazy that I could barely keep my eyes open driving to Curves at TEN-THIRTY this morning! Last night, I stayed up late "Facebook chatting" which was really fun, but thankfully I didn't have anywhere to be today where it mattered that I looked like a zombie. Tonight...no excuses really besides starting my blog post later (since I spent lots of time searching for cute baby stuff on etsy.com...that place probably should have stayed a "secret", but it is fun!). I probably should check my calendar to make sure I don't have anywhere to go tomorrow :o)

Good night!