The Highs and Lows

Hello Internet, it's been a while, life has been hectic, to say the least. I've had moments of blissfull happiness, so full of love that I couldn't stand it but I've also been devastated, had my heart broken into tiny pieces. First the stuff, my grandma (my mom's mom) passed away at the beginning of October. She was such a beautiful soul. She was kind and generous. She had the ability to listen to you and to somehow always know what you were trying to say and to say back to you what you needed the most. She was 90 and despite a brief illness in the early 70s, she was healthy up until the last 6 months of her life. I was sad when she passed but I couldn't help but feel blessed that we'd had her here as long as we did. She raised 2 kids, she saw all of her grandchildren graduate from school and get married, and she was able to see (on multiple occassions) her 2 great-grandchildren. She had such a good, full life.

Then we lost Max. Our 10 year old german shephard/beagle on a night that was supposed to be just a normal Tuesday night. Ric was going to go to Lowes. I was making dinner. Max seemed ok when we got home but went downhill in a matter of 2 short hours. It was the saddest day of my life, and that is saying a lot considering I'm the same gal who lost her home when she was 7 months pregnant. I can't write out everything that happened..because I'm doing my very best to let it go. I can't carry that kind of depression around with me and still be a good wife and mother and employee. It just doesn't work. I will say that I cry every day and I will probably continue to do so for quite a long time. I miss him SO much.

On to the good things...we took trips, one to Iowa to see my grandma on an AIRPLANE with my 23 month old!! and my 18 month old nephew!! Talk about stressfull flying!! But of course, the boys were amazing. So, so good on the plane. I was in awe. I didn't take my first plane ride until I was 22 years old, so Will already has more traveling under his belt that his mom did at his age. Then we went to the beach to celebrate Grammie's bday. The ride there was the pits. It seemed like we had to stop for something or another every 10 minutes. Our 4 hour drive to the beach ended up taking a whooping 7 hours. Ugh. But, once we arrived. It was bliss. We played in the sand, we played in the water, we flew kits, we napped, we ate, we took our first family bike ride, we had a night to ourselves when Will stayed with Grammie and Granddad. It was one of the most enjoyable trips we've taken in a long time.

On top of that, we managed to squeeze in some MORE fun..a trip to Salisbury to take a ride on some train named THOMAS, the Cabarrus County Fair with the aunts and uncles and nephew, an attempt at going to the hot air balloon festival in Statesville only to get there and be told they were full (GRRR) but we did see about 15 balloons in the sky on the way there which I was pretty excited about! We've been visiting friends and spending lots of time together. Oh, and did I mention we now have a TWO year old! How? How is that even possible? I'll never figure out where the last 2 years have gone. But my baby is 2 and he is growing up so fast and is just the sweetest thing. I am so lucky to be his mom.