Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Our lives just got so much bigger!

Here are a few of the comments from my girls this week!

"oh Mom, I can't imagine our lives without Eve"

"Mom she is absolutely the most wonderful thing in the world"

"Mom, our lives are so much bigger and more wonderful with Eve"

"Oh Mom, I love her so much, I just can't imagine loving my own children more"

Mom, she is seriously the cutest baby in the world!!"

My Mom then said "Gale, this is a very very special girl, you are so blessed"

I keep thinking that this honeymoon period will wear off but it only gets more and more intense. We LOVE this little girl so much.
Is it possible to spoil someone with love?.....I don't care, I just can't stop kissing and hugging on this little sponge cake!

We survived

The Arrival
We have absolutely loved having Mom here. There are just not words to describe how much we love her. We have laughed, eaten, watched school programs, gone to bookstores, read together, eaten some more and laughed even more. She is such a light and joy in our lives and we feel so blessed that she is here to visit. I can't believe how amazing she is, she has so much wit and humor, my girls just love to joke and banter with her and she throws it right back at them. I love how much they love her.
Oh she loves this little girl, she spends endless hours on the floor with her playing and talking to her. I love it!!
We had a harrowing experience on Monday. First I must say that, unaware of what was ahead, I joked with my Mom as she arrived that we hope no tornados come while she is here. Well, I shouldn't have spoken so quickly. Monday afternoon we headed out to take the girls to piano lessons at the university in OKC. We dropped the girls off and went across the street to get sandwich. It was a sunny calm day and as we were eating our sandwich I looked up at the TV and happened to notice the weather man warning that tornados were forming. He pulled up the map and it was only about a mile from us. We quickly gathered up and ran to the car, in the 30 seconds it took to gather ourselves up, the sky became black and rain in torrents began to fall. We were getting frantic text messages from my daughters and my husband (he was in Edmond). We drove to the university and lucky for us thy have a shelter. So we gathered and prayed. Ava was sooooo upset and was crying uncontrollably because she was afraid that her Dad was going to die. My Mom was so sweet in comforting her and helping her feel safe. We waited for a long time until Chris, who was near a TV told us the coast was clear. We had to drive through hail and rain but made it home safely. We later found out that 5 people had died and many more injured or lost their homes. We are so sad for those who are suffering from their losses and so grateful that we made it home safely.

Below is a picture of Mom, getting all her Mothers Day phone calls from her children....she was soooo happy to talk to everyone. It was wonderful day and such a treat to have my Mother here to celebrate with. She received many wonderful gifts one of which was a book from my sisters on heroic women, what they wrote in the front sums it up so I hope they don't mind if I write it here.
"To our mother who has her own heroic story and who became one of the finest women to ever mother a family. One of the great blessings of our lives has been falling under your motherly care!!
Mothers Day, Eve just looked so cute

Friday, May 7, 2010

Generations

My Sister and I with my Mother
We teach our children how to treat us when we grow old. How we honor our parents directly effects our children and they in turn will honor us as we move through the later stages of life. I pray with all my heart that my girls see how much I love my mother. Today we have been busy getting ready for her arrival tomorrow. Fresh linens, chocolates and books by her bedside, meals planned and a whole family ready to love and care for her.

My Mom has Alzheimers, there is no way to explain how hard it has been to watch her memory decline yet I can see that even when disease ravishes a body her spirit remains the same and despite her diagnosis she is fun, happy, sweet and positive at every turn.

She has at times forgotten names, events and constantly needs reminding but one constant that she has NEVER forgotten as the disease progressed was that Eve was soon to join our family. Every time I talked to her she asked when we were going to get her and wanted to know every detail. She would forget so much but never that. As we came home from China she expressed sadness that she was not here and was missing out so we arranged to fly her here to spend 2 weeks with us. I am so so so excited about her arrival and so excited for her to meet her new granddaughter and name sake, Eve Lorraine Bray. I can't wait to get pictures of her with Eve! It will be a wonderful Mothers Day. Here are a few pictures we took last time she visited.