A tribute to Sean Given

Sadness...

How do you bury your child? My brother's best friend died on Monday. He was 31. His name was Sean and he was a great person. He was so funny and had one of those smiles that you could never forget and I never will.

His mother found him. He apparently had a blood clot in his knee that apparently broke free and traveled to his lungs and killed him. A blood clot? A perfectly healthy, active guy cut down in his prime by a blood clot?

It is times like this when I don't understand God's plan...

Please pray for the Givens family and my brother as well. Emma and I are traveling to Chicago tomorrow for the services. Adam is already there on business this week.

I look at my two little girls and I just start to cry - I can't imagine what Sean's parents are experiencing... My grandparents buried my mother at 42 but she was stricken with cancer... Sean was in his prime of life.

The one positive in all of this is that Sean was a Christian and member of the Naperville church of Christ. He became a Christian about 5 or 6 years ago...His parents are wonderful, kind people who raised their son in a Christian home...

Please pray for us and all the mothers and fathers of the world who have to bury their children...I can't even fathom the emotion.

Not a whole lot to say but I'll try...

Well it has been awhile since I updated everyone on the happenings of our little family... the truth is there is not a whole lot to report. Adam spent the last week in California for business and the girls and I managed to stay afloat without daddy around... and here we go again... Adam leaves for business in Chicago on Tuesday and isn't back til Friday morning... I must admit without Adam around I am quite bored. I know that seems impossible right? With a two year old who is very much a terrible two and a two month old, how could I be bored? I don't know. Having Adam 2,000 miles away felt as if a part of me was missing and our little family was so incomplete without him.

Not much else to report other than that we are attempting to crack down on little miss Anna's naughtiness. Today she got her first REAL spanking from daddy - she cried and said it hurt but honestly within about two minutes she was back to her old self. I just don't know how to get through to her and Adam and I are clueless how to deal with it and frankly a lot of the time we end up arguing about what to do. Are there any good books on discipling toddlers?

Our other little daughter is at the princess stage right now... sleeps like a dream and she is totally predictable- Her day goes like this: 6-7a.m bottle, up for about 1-2 hours...naps til around 11-12noon, bottle #2, then big nap til about 4p.m. and then bottle #3 and up for a good 2-3 hours, then about a 45 min cat nap around 6p.m. and back up at 7 for bath and a little play time and then bottle at about 7:45p.m. and asleep by 8:30... I am in awe of her amazing schedule. She has days when she wavers from the above but for the most part it is pretty consistent. I guess we are doing something right!

Now for the finale - We bought Emma a BUMBO seat today and man I love that thing! I wish they had these when Anna was a babe - she would have loved it. I am debating purchasing a swing for Emma. I put her in one at church this morning and she loved it. It was one of those old ones that make that clicking noise... I am not too interesting in forking out the big bucks for one so I am going to hunt on craigslist for one first...

Alright well here is Emma in her Bumbo seat sporting a great little smile!

It's all worth it...

Emma held this smile long enough for me to capture this priceless moment...

Busy days...

Well I survived my first week back at work. It went really well actually. Tuesday morning was a bit rough and when I got to work, my boss had gotten me flowers and a card and then I started to cry... My boss is by far the best one I have ever had. He has two girls of his own and he makes it very clear that family is the first priority, then work... I know I am so lucky and good bosses are hard to find. None the less, the week went by relatively quickly and I enjoyed picking up the girls each day from daycare. Emma sleeps quite a bit at daycare so nothing too exciting and Anna keeps everyone in line there by telling them all to "shhhh" because Emma is sleeping... she is a bit protective which I love.

Unfortunately just as the week went by in a flash so has the weekend... we went up to the cabin for one last mini-vacation as a family. It was the ideal weather weekend too! Mid 80's and SUN SUN SUN... we went out on the boat and parked at this beach and floated the afternoon away... Emma napped on the boat while Anna practiced her swimming skills - that girl has no fear in the water! We even squeezed in a few rides on the jet ski... a great family weekend. Mama and Papa watched the girls so Adam and I got to just relax a little.

Emma is sleeping thru the night finally - she goes down about 9 and doesn't get up til 6. I am so lucky to have such excellent little sleepers! Both of which are napping right now... :-)

Well here we go again, another week to make it thru and then another weekend to enjoy. Adam leaves for California next Monday and doesn't get back til Thursday night... this will be my first time alone with the girls... I am sure come Thursday night I am going to be downright exhausted. Any advice on how to survive a week without my hubby??!?

Have a terrific week!