Happy Birthday Big Boy!

60 months ago today I was lying in a hospital bed wondering what was about to happen. My blood pressure was too high, I was having a hard time breathing, and my doctor had said he was coming back on his lunch hour to do a c-section. Sullivan's due date wasn't until November 11, and we were nervous. Would he be ok? What was gonna happen? But then, alas, his teary eyed daddy dropped our brand new video camera, VERY teary eyed, and proclaimed "You make beautiful babies!" I didn't hear him cry, and begged to know what was wrong. And then, in all of his slpendor, I heard the first sound my boy would ever make. A wailing scream. I am sure he was saying, "I am not ready to be here!" But he was, and he was in a big way!

His tiny head was full of black hair, and boy was he cute! Well, he kind of looked like a monkey, and looking back now, I can tell he wasn't as cute as we thought at the time. But, he was perfect! A healthy little man. He was a loud boy, grunting constantly, but perfect.

Since that time, he has grown tremendously. He is such a big boy! Aaron and I look at each other all of the time and say, "Man, he is a boy!" He is ALL boy. Seriously, he is Indiana Jones. He likes to wrestle and play fight. He often forgets that the other person is supposed to WANT to play fight with you. But, he is a sweetie. He loves his family passionately. The more he grows, the more proud of him I am. I always thought I was a "baby" person, but the more he grows, the more fun I have. I love him more than words can describe, and I can't wait to finish watching him grow. Each day is a new chapter, and I am loving watching it! Happy 5th Birthday Sully-man. We are so proud of the boy you are becoming! Keep making us proud!

Good bye Pop!

Well, the funeral was this morning, visitation last night, and they both went well. Sullivan was very inquisitive about everything, and I am glad we were able to explain the answers to the majority of his questions. He is definitely figuring things out. It was wonderful to see how many people loved Larry. The visitation had a line out the door all night- it was supposed to jsut be 5-8, but the line was still out the door at 9:30! Today, at the funeral, the state police payed tribute to Larry in a big way, and it was so touching. You always forget what a great job they do, because you are too worried about getting pulled over ;) I was excited to be a part of it.

While it was sad, it was nice to be a part of something where everyone was so filled with hope, knowing they would see him again. That part was wonderful. Tonight, we traveled about an hour away to see my grandpa, who had a defribulator and pacemaker put in today. We surprised him by showing up, and he said it was the best surprise of his life. He was so happy to see how much his family meant to him. And, after this week, we have learned to take NO ONE for granted. It was worth it to see him and hear him say that. He is such a sweet old man, strong too!

Aaron and I sent Sullivan and Sophie home with my parents because, quite frankly, we are TIRED! We plan on making the track back home tomorrow, so we thought we could use a good night's sleep childless. Plus, we wanted to go visit with some family without having to say, "Don't touch that, sit over there, be still, be quiet!" Etc..... So, as we try to find a normalness again without Aaron's father, I am sure we will have a bit of adjustment. It really is surreal and doesn't feel real. I am sure it will sink in soon enough.

So, this final tribute to Larry Creasy, who lost his battle with cancer at 56 but won the ultimate victory and is now in the presence of his Lord finding out all of the mysteries of the universe tonight. I am sad that my children will not grow up getting to hear your "humor" and crazy ways. The world will definitely miss out on the best weights and standards officer around, I guess the truckers will know its safe to drive through LA now. I have learned this week to never take life for granted and have already begun being more honest with my friends in family. I urge you tonight to tell your loved ones what they mean to you, for you never know how long you will have. Larry was lucky enough to have 6 months worth of contemplation knowing he might eventually lose the battle. Most of us do not get that opportunity.

We Love you Pop!

Today at 11:35, Aaron's father, Larry Creasy, left this Earth and headed for heaven. He fought the cancer battle that he was given fiercely, but in the end, God could wait no longer for him. He was a wonderful Christian, and lived his life as a strong man of God. Aaron inherited so many traits from him, most of which I am thankful for ;)

Saturday morning, while in the middle of having Hurricane Ike directly over our city, we got the call that Larry had "collapsed" and was unconcious, and on life support. We were told that he would not make it through the night, but he would be left on life support long enough for Aaron to get to him. We packed in about 7 minutes, threw a bunch of stuff in our car, and headed towards Baton Rouge. The drive was ROUGH. We drove through ALOT of destruction, ALOT of wind, ALOT of rain, and dealth with ALOT of mishap (we were side swiped, causing quite a bit of damage to our car when we FINALLY found the first open gas station in 250 miles). But, we made it last night. There were alot of things that we each wanted to tell Larry before he left this life. Luckily, we were both able to. Last night, he was hooked up to ALOT of machines, and looked pretty rough. He looked peaceful. When you talked to him, he would make small movements to let us know that he knew we were there. We decided to leave him on life support through the night and meet up this morning.

Upon arriving this morning, we were told of quite a bit of information, but basically, his body had lost the battle with cancer. I'll spare you the details. But, around 9 am, a room filled with family and friends all loved on him, told him how much he meant, and then we sang hymns and prayed with him. He loved hearing the hymns, and even had a few tears in his eyes. He was very sedated, but knew we were all there. At 9:30, the doctors came in and removed all of his life support. For the next two hours, we sang more, talked more, loved on him more (which is kind of funny because he is NOT a touchy kind of guy, so we took advantage of being able to rub his head, hands, legs, and arms without him fussing at us). I have never been in the presence of anyone dying, and that part was VERY difficult. It was odd, and I gained a totally new admiration for doctors and nurses. His death was beautiful, he peacefully breathed slower and slower. He never fought, never seemed uncomfortable. He was in thre presence of friends for many years, his sons, step daughters, daughters in law, and his brothers and sisters, and mom. It was obvious that he was well loved. At one point, he seemed to come out of the sedation for about 3 minutes and seemed to look all around at everyone there. Then, his preacher said the 23rd Psalm, and asked the Lord to help him let go. He stopped breathing a few minutes later.

Please pray for our family over the next few days. The visitation will tentatively be Tuesday night, with the funeral being Wednesday morning. Plans have not been finalized with the funeral home yet, but we will finish that tomorrow.

Sullivan does not understand, and Sophie has no concept. I was blessed to have my dear friend Jamie keep my kids today and spare them the excitement of the day. She will never know how much it has meant to me. It it times like these that you realize just how many friends you have. My mom's group has pulled together, and are taking shifts letting my dogs out for me. I deeply appreciate everything anyone is doing. Please pray for us to make it home safely when we return, and for us to help Stephanie with any loose ends left behind. I am sure the "surreal"ness will soon fade, and we will all need the "peace that passes all understanding".

We love you deeply Larry. Your legacy will definitely live on. Aaron seems to be cut out of your direct mold. He is a hard working, dedicated, goal oriented, and (sadly) hard headed as you were. He is an excellent father, and had to have learned it from the best! We will miss you deeply. While we do not understand this all happening so fast, in a few ways we are jealous that you get to be in Heaven. Save us a seat please!

CHEEESE

This is Sophie's newest favorite word. She actually loves cheese, so she goes to the fridge all of the time asking for "cheeeeese". Then, she figured out that everytime she sees a camera, she should say "CHEEEEEESE". Now, she has decided that cheese sounds better than please, so she says "cheeeeeeese" everytime she wants to say "please." Its kind of funny. Its kind of cute. And, it can get kind of annoying. But, I know soon enough she will be talking right, and I'll be missing all of the funny ways she said things!

Updates and the such

Ok, I have three minutes to spare without kids climbing on me. Sophie just woke up from her second night in dry pants! She has woken me up both nights to take her to potty! Yesterday she went all day with only one accident (and it was her poop). So, I guess she is more ready than we thought. Just shows you what a little hard headedness can get you!

Gustav:
The news sure is making gustav out to be no big deal right? Well, most of our family and friends in Baton Rouge are STILL without power!!! Can you believe it? And, most of them are being told to expect another 2 weeks!!! Insane! I have friends sleeping in one room of a house with a generator and window ac and two kids and grandparents, and parents, and themsleves!

My parents evacuated to Florida, because my mom works at a bank, and by the time they left, they were only allowed to go that way. My grandparents had evacuated to Alexandria, but the hotel lost power and basically asked everyone to leave. So, they couldn't find another hotel, and headed home last Wednesday. My grandpa is 87, not in the best of health, and on oxygen. So, they returned home to a stiffling hot house with no electricity. My parents came back from Florida two days early because they didn't want my grandparents there alone. Luckily they did! They helped them open windows and air out the house, find a generator and window ac. And, although we had a family member with a fully furnished house that never lost electricity close, they had to sleep in their house. There were 7 people in a tiny living room with a tiny window ac unit. As my grandpa went to the bathroom in the morning, he slipped and fell, gashing open his head. My uncle is chief of fire there, luckily, and was able to send over an ambulance. After tests, it was determined he was ok, just needed a bunch of staples. So, then...

Mom calls me to say she can't move, her back isn't working and is in the ER. I guess helping my big grandfather around and sleeping on the floor wasn't great for her! So, after some pain killers, muscle relaxers, and a weekend flat on her back she is ok. Luckily, my parents had power in New Orleans, and my grandparents got theirs restored on Friday.

So, everyone is wishing off ike! My dad even made a blog about it call idontlikeike!!!

Mama! Dophie no wear Diapers

Sorry for the lack of updates, life as always, has been crazy. I will fill you in on the fast details and get back later when I can fill you in on the impact of Gustav on our families. '

Sophie got her bright pink cast off last Thursday, I have never bathed her so much in my life! She did great with it, and surprised the doctor by running out of the office. She has developed quite a limp, so we took her back in today. Her bone, in order to heal, has created a thicker bone around the original broken bone (this is apparently how bones heal). So, the thicker bone isn't feeling right against the normal bone in her toe. Its causing her to buckle her big toe under when she walks. He said she will eventually get used to how it feels. So, good news because I was terrifed of a new cast. Mainly because.....

Sophie has decided she WILL NOT wear diapers anymore. This doesn't mean anything but what it sounds like. She hits the potty about 50 percent of the time, the other 50 percent, she pees on herself, then has a fit that she is "yucky" until we bathe her. Today I took her to get pretty panties since she really prefers to be naked and it isn't feasible all of the time. She LOVES them!!! She has pranced around all afternoon in them. I have to say, they are the tiniest things I have seen, and her little hiney is precious in them!!!! This afternoon, she woke up from her nap and told me "Mama! Dophie no wear diapers!" That's when I put her in the new panties.

So, more later............