It is what it is...

It's been a little bit nutty around here, and honestly it's only going to get worse before it gets better.  My grandmother "Grammy H" isn't good.  She hasn't been for a while now, but it just seems to getting worse.  It's a long story, but the short version is that she's 80, she's stubborn, she's incredibly weak & can barely walk, she can hardly talk, she eats next to nothing, and her cognitive abilities are failing her.  She hasn't been diagnosed with anything, and there aren't any real answers as to why any of this is happening...it just is.  Last week, we were told she is likely a candidate for hospice care if the new medications didn't show any improvement.  So far, she's eating a little bit better, but nothing else has changed.  I haven't seen her since Easter, but it's so hard to "see" her like this.  I still remember that fiery lady telling us to get out of her kitchen at Christmas or giving me hell for dying my hair red.  She's my only remaining grandparent, and this whole situation just makes me sad.  Any spare prayers, would be greatly appreciated! 

We have also learned in the last week that my sister and her family (Nick & Chase) will be relocating to Storm Lake, Iowa, so that Nick can take a new job.  This is a great opportunity for Nick, but we are all sad to see them go.  This move will double the distance between us...boo!  They don't want to move, nobody wants them to leave, but it's what they need to do.  It is what it is...  The good news is that there are some potential teaching job openings for Jess, and Chase isn't old enough to realize too much what is going on around him.  I'm just going to have to get a lot better at "Skyping"!    Say a little prayer that they get their house sold quickly and Jess gets one of those open jobs, and are able to make a good fresh start over there! 

We have a lot of activities/outings/events coming in the next few months.  ALL of it will be fun, but the timing is slightly overwhelming for a Type-A person like me!  We will be coming & going a lot.  Poor Delaney will be shuffled between home, daycare, & grandparents.  I'm worrying a lot about all of it with regards to her sleeping, potty training, behavior, etc.  I'm preparing for the worst & hoping for the best.  Everyone says "kids adapt", so I'm hoping they are right!  We also were surprised with a trip to Vancouver in June through my work!  It was an incentive trip for our office and the boys had other trips planned at the same time, so it was offered to me!  Aside from some new clothes (which we honestly needed anyway), it's expense free for us!  Talk about luck...we couldn't have dreamed about a trip like this at this point in our lives, so we are beyond excited & grateful!  Aside from one meeting, it's a vacation full of fun activities (think deep sea Salmon Fishing (for Craig) and Sea Safaris) and fancy dinners.  Of course, if you know me at all you know I'm freaking out about leaving Delaney behind for 5 nights, the plane crashing, and all things of that nature.  That coupled with all the other stress in life right now is starting to catch up with me a bit. 

I'm typically not one to have trouble sleeping at night, but lately that has been awful!   I've never been one to handle stress well, but thankfully so far this hasn't triggered any migraine headaches (knock on wood!)  I'd take sleep deprivation over migraines any day of the week!  My mind gets the best of me in the wee hours, and I have a lot of trouble shutting it off.  My doctor gave me some "help" last week, so I'm starting to get caught up--although last night sucked!  I'm also trying to make a bigger effort to get to the gym, as that's supposed to help with stress too (not to mention, I'm still struggling to lose some of this weight, so something's gotta give!).  I am trying to get in the habit of going first thing in the morning at 6 a.m., so I can be home before Craig needs to leave.  It was getting harder and harder to go over lunch between conference calls & meetings.  This is also my only "kid-free" time to run errands, so it was hard to give that up.  I also have a lot of excuses of why not to go to the gym by 8 p.m. when Delaney goes to bed, so I'm hoping the mornings will work out.  Let's just hope I don't turn into a raging zombie!   

We have a lot on our plates, but we are hanging in! 

Easter 2012

We celebrated Easter with all our wonderful family, delicious food, and tons of fun!  Delaney was far more into the activities this year, which was really fun to see! 

We started the festivities Saturday morning by going with Chase to the kids first Easter Egg Hunt!  Chase was so proud of his little blue egg!

Delaney caught on to the concept pretty quickly and gathered up three little eggs...an orange one, a purple one, and a pink one!  She was also very proud of her eggs!

It was soooo windy on Saturday, that we didn't get the greatest pictures!  We are going for the wind blown look!

Here's Chase and his Momma.  I don't think he put the egg down until lunch time! 

We introduced the kids to the Easter Bunny after the egg hunt.  Chase was infatuated!  He wouldn't look away!

Delaney on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the Easter Bunny!  Get me out of here Mom!

Saturday afternoon had a very special Easter Egg hunt all her own at Grandma & Grandpa Mencke's farm!

Papa Steve helped her spot some of the eggs!

She LOVED running around hunting eggs!

I think Grandma Jaccie had just as much fun as Delaney did! 

Even better after she found all the eggs, she dumped out all the eggs and started over again.  Hiding & finding all on her own!

Then she had a little play time with Daddy!  This girl loves to "fly"!

Sunday morning we were up early for church!  Delaney did extremely well during Mass.  She only caused a couple scenes and many laughs and snickers from our fellow church-goers!

We played with Chase for a while after church before the rest of the family arrived!

Here's Chase showing his "walking" skills with Uncle Chip!  He'll be running by his birthday in May!

This is the best picture I could get of the two kids.  She sat still next to each other for all of 15 seconds! 

Delaney "opened" her Easter basket after church too!  She got some new PJs, bubbles, books, and goldfish crackers!

Izzy was exhausted after all the egg hunting at the farm! 

Isn't he adorable!  I love that kid!

By the end of the afternoon, Delaney was pretty exhausted too.  She spent a lot of the time cuddled up with Papa before we headed back South!  She also zonked out the entire way home!

So, as you can see we had a fun-filled weekend!  The holidays keep getting better and better now that Delaney is more aware of what is happening.  She is starting to figure out how to "perform" for the extended family members, and she put on quite a show for them on Sunday!  It's Wednesday, and we are just finally to feel rested up again!  I've been getting the dreaded, "you look tired" comments all week; which we all know means "you look like crap".  Ouch!  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  Now, it's time for some R&R!

Spring has sprung!

We have been enjoying the wonderful weather here lately.  Last weekend, Delaney spent a majority of her time running around outside with the neighbors in her swimming suit!  It was THAT warm!  All Delaney wants to do these days is be outside!

She was being silly on the porch last Friday night as we watched a thunderstorm roll into town!

Izzy on the other hand wanted nothing more than to be inside hiding under the bed.  Delaney tried to make her feel better!

Talk about being silly!  Here she is with a big bite of chicken!  She had such a hard time deciding whether to come outside or finish her dinner, so she decided to turn it into a fun game of back and forth!

We decided to start a new traditional this year and dye Easter Eggs with Delaney.  We will need to work on her gentleness, but she did think it was pretty fun!  Next year, she'll get to be a little more "hands on".  I ran across an idea on Pinterest to use Kool-Aid to dye the eggs, and I have to say it worked really well.  The smell was much more appealing too!

Delaney had fun deciding which egg went with each color!

Naturally, green was her favorite choice!

Of course, Daddy's creativeness had to take over for a little while.  He had to make a very special egg for himself!

Yes, that's right!  Football season is 12 months long in our house! 

Here's our girl with all her pretty eggs! 

Here's to wishing you a Happy and Blessed Easter!