Vacation at Disney World

We packed up and flew to the Magic Kingdom last week and had a great time. We decided that it would be good to get away for just a few days before Misty went back to work. Four days was perfect for us for our first trip to Disney World. Ben was beside himself as we prepared to go. When I picked him up on Wednesday his teacher said she had to warn him four times at nap time about settling down and going to sleep. So she requested that we not tell him where or when we are going somewhere next time. So I picked him and got his flu shot then we headed home to pack for the big trip. We flew down there and went over to the Magic Kingdom and the fun started. The weather was nice and the crowds were small. I told someone at work today that the wait times got up to 20 minutes on Saturday and they laughed at me saying that was a long time. They said last time they went during June it was MUCH longer than that. So we were blessed with a great time. We did all of the Magic Kingdom including Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain roller coaster. Ben LOVED each of those and would do those 2 rides a hundred times again.

He of course made out like a bandit with the stuffed animals and souvenirs. So we made it home with everything and eventually got packed up. The only reason I mentioned that Ben got his flu shot before we went was.... he woke up Sunday morning saying he was cold. So he had a fever and we think well maybe we can get him home and get some Tylenol in him and maybe by Monday he will be fine. Well this morning his fever was just as bad or even worse so we visited Dr. Goldsmith today and confirmed that he has the H1N1 flu. So 5 days of Tamiflu and he should be back in action. Misty returned to work today to only be out for the next 2 days as I travel to a sales meeting. So pray for Ben as he battles this virus and that Misty and I don't get it too!!!

I am not sure if I posted this but the organizers of the race/walk to raise money for The Amelia Center e-mailed everyone to let us know they raised over $9,000! We also got a letter last week from the Executive Director of the Center and he informed us that the memorials that all of you have made now total more than $1,500!!! We want to thank you so much for remembering our little girl and helping this amazing place with your donations.

Thanks so much for all of your continued prayers as well.

Another week

Another week has passed and everyone is doing well here. It has actually been a month since Amelia entered our lives. That sounds so hard to believe! But at the same time it seems like the past 4 weeks has lasted for 10 years. I am back at work physically but I am not sure how much mentally. Misty is still enjoying her time off by walking and reading blogs of other people out here that have gone through similar situations. Boy there a BUNCH.

We were reminded this week of how many people out there care for us. We got a letter from The Amelia Center listing all of the people that have made donations in memory of our Amelia and it was overwhelming. There is always the presence of this support around us but it is nice to be reminded of it.

We have had a busy week. We signed up Ben to play soccer at the YMCA. This is going to be fun for sure. We also did some recruiting of some other neighborhood kids that Ben played T-Ball with back in the spring. So we have 12 three and four year old kids signed up and ready to play. Ever since we told him about playing we have had to "practice" in the backyard. Some of the adults almost passed out last weekend but he was going strong. I am also going to be the coach since no one else had signed up. This should make it even more interesting with him playing and me coaching. In fact the last team I coached was at the same Y about 6 years ago. I volunteered and ending up coaching a 3-4 year old team and we had a blast.

We also are preparing some to travel to Disney World this Thursday. Someone at work asked me this week if we were all prepared to go and I simply answered, No. Misty and I travel so much with work that we will pack the night before and just simply get on the plane. In fact I just bought the tickets for the Magic Kingdom yesterday. We are just going to be down there for 4 days so it wont be hard for us to make this a fun time for Ben. Of course I did do a little planning yesterday by calling the Hilton Honors guest manager and asking what the capacity load of the hotel is next weekend and what our chances are for an upgrade. No matter how much I travel I still cover my bases for upgrades!

We have a very peaceful weekend planned thank goodness. There just happens to be some decent college football on this weekend so that will help pass the time on a rainy weekend I am sure. I am also very sure that Ben will keep us entertained playing the Wii.

Thank you always for the continued prayers. We know that we can face each day with God's help and your prayers are also helping us do just that.

The Amelia Center Walk/Run

This is a group picture of our team that walked/ran in memory of Amelia!

The Baby Steps 5k Run/Walk was a huge success. The organizers of this event I am sure spent many hours organizing this event. It was such a blessing to have so many family members and friends join us as we walked to raise money for The Amelia Center. The families that organized the event said they were anticipating around 75 attendees and they had over 400. This is a huge turn-out for the first year. I am so excited to know that they were able to get this many people involved to raise a huge amount of money for the place that we all hold dear to us.

Misty and I are so appreciative of all of the prayers and support that people are still offering. This is still very prevalent in our lives. We have had some ups and downs as we go but knowing that so many people are STILL praying for us has helped. This week brought about another challenge for us as September 1, 2009 was the original due date that the Doctors had given us. But as everyone has said these days will come and go. We also have Ben to always keep us entertained. This week Misty got out some stuffed animals to give to him and there was a little black kitten. She said he looks like Oliver, a cat we had that died last year. She asked Ben if he thought that Oliver and Amelia were up in Heaven playing. He responded "she was probably pulling his tail because that is what babies do!" What a cute thought for the adults to think about. Sweet Amelia and Oliver up in Heaven running around and having fun.

We have planned our trip to Disney for a weekend. Ben is beside himself that he is getting to go meet the seven dwarfs. I think this will be a great time for us to have fun and be together as a family. Also please pray for Misty as she gets ready to go back to work in a couple of weeks.

More pictures of Amelia

This is a great storyboard of Amelia that Monica Carroll put together.

This is a wonderful picture of her holding her big brothers hand.

We have been getting some great photos from Monica and have finally gotten around to posting them here. Thank you for all of the prayers. We have definitely felt them and we will continue to need them. Also thanks to everyone that has decided to join us this Saturday for the race/walk to benefit the Amelia Center. We are definitely making a presence at the event in memory of our Amelia.

Update

This week has certainly had some ups and downs. Wednesday was my birthday so it definitely gave us something to focus on. Misty asked Ben what he wanted to get me and he replied some Goo Goo Car washes. It is a local place that you can buy a gift certificate to. Well they had just done that for Father's Day so she told him that was out. Recently I was installing a new drain line for a new laundry room. I had several different pieces of PVC and was connecting them all to our rain barrel outside so Misty can water the plants with our washing machine water. The entire time Ben was there with me probably causing me more trouble than help.

So back to the story when Misty asked Ben what else he simply replied "plumbing, you know Daddy likes plumbing. And let's get him a bunch of pieces!" So we went to Home Depot and I wandered around and he got to pick out 10 - 15 PVC connectors and he thought that was the greatest thing EVER. Then Misty gave me a choice of something or a Wii. I have really wanted a Wii but was hesitant because I didn't know if it would be too complicated for Ben just yet. I talked with the guy at Wal Mart for 20 minutes and we took one home with us. Well as I said earlier this has been something to focus on is really the understatement of the month. We had so much fun watching Ben playing the games! Now he is wanting to play it 24/7!

We also visited The Amelia Center this week and had a great hour with our counselor. He gave us a great analogy about this chapter in our lives. He said if you will imagine the grief and pain being a ball inside a jar. The ball will never shrink no matter how much time passes. But our goal is to make the jar bigger around the ball. In other words grow your world with experiences around the grief/pain. So the Wii definitely has helped us to start having some fun experiences together and "grow" our world around everything that has happened in the past 2 weeks.

We are also contemplating a short weekend trip for the 3 of us next month to Disney World. I think for us to experience Ben having the time of his life will do both of us wonders. Although he told me the other day "Daddy we need to go on vacation soon and we need to go to an island in the ocean." I guess we have spoiled him some already. Back in May I had a trip to San Juan and St. Maarten so Misty and Ben went with me. He has experienced a lot for a 4 year old, in fact he has had a passport since he was 2. So I hope Disney will suffice for him!!!

I can't say enough about the continued prayers and support that everyone is offering for us. We can definitely tell that God is with us as we continue to walk down this path.

The Amelia Center 5k Charity Run

The Amelia Center which has been such a fabulous resource for us over the past 2 weeks and will continue to be a dear resource to us is having a fundraiser 5k run/1 mile fun run!

We would love for everyone to join us on August 29, 2009. Misty, Ben and I are going to participate in the 1 mile fun run (well maybe it will be a walk too)! Please go to this link, http://www.ameliacenter.org/body.cfm?id=27&action=detail&ref=7, to find out more info about the event and this website, http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1757989&assetId=3908DEF5-DEFA-4E00-AB9D-123D5FD5A4F8, to register. It is @ 8:00 am at Tannehill State Park. What an exciting way to raise money for an organization dear to us and a great way to start your Saturday morning!

We look forward to seeing everyone out there to help us remember our Amelia.

Post Doctor Visit

Misty had her post op visit today with her OB/GYN(s). We saw 2 because we feel like there are 2 doctors that have been involved in these past 2 weeks that are now very dear to our hearts. Dr. John Woods and Dr. Cynthia Lassiter have been more than Doctors to us in the last 2 weeks and made it extremely easy to come in today. They were very pleased with Misty's progress and sat down with us and chatted about the past week and what all we have been through. We gave them each a picture of Amelia and I think it really meant a lot to them that we remembered them. Dr. Lassiter is a real encouragement to Misty considering she had 3 kids after the age of 35 and never once did an amniocentesis! Not that we are even considering what our next steps are but I think Misty felt a reassurance to hear her say that. She also reminded us that she was so proud of us for making the choices for Amelia that we made last week. She strongly believes that it is best to bring the baby into the world and allow God to work his plan for the baby.

We also stopped by the Birthing Suites floor and handed out some pictures of Amelia to our nurses from last week. We also donated some more clothes to the NIC unit for babies born unexpectedly. They were so thankful for the clothes.

We also scheduled an appointment with The Amelia Center this afternoon. Our counselor there is a God send for us right now. I know I have praised them in a lot of our posts but I can't stop talking about what a great resource they are for us. After meeting with them we had a good understanding where we are and where we need to be. He gave Misty some very practical info for returning to work when she is ready.

I want to thank everyone again for their prayers and support. The food has been PHENOMENAL!!! You know that is very important to Ben and I!