The above is part of one of my favorite songs for the last few months. It reminds me how much I have to be thankful for and how much I'm blessed. When I sing it in church, I can close my eyes and truly find myself in a place of worship. Of course there are many other songs that have the same affect but this one stands out to me right now. Maybe the song hits me hard because of my recent vacation to Los Angeles and Phoenix.
I left Richmond on June 19th to fly to LAX where my brother would be waiting to scoop me up and take me to see the precious baby we call Nico. It was a very long day which included one stop in Chicago, a dash for the next plane to only find out it wasn't the right one and I had to go back to where I'd just sprinted from, and then, of course, a slight delay. Once on my final flight of the day, looking for my middle seat (not my choice), I found that I would be sitting in between a rather...um...hefty woman, and a young woman that was actually small enough to sit in the seat sideways while she slept. This ironic situation left me with the larger woman basically sitting on my left thigh and the smaller woman pushing her behind onto my right thigh so she could sleep comfortably. At least they showed a movie that kept me entertained for about ninety minutes of the three hour forty five minute flight. Plus I had my tunes and a book, which was fine once I was able to reach the light above my head so I could see what I was reading. We arrived at LAX on time, despite the initial delay, and I was very excited to get off the plane...mostly because I was starving and really needed a bathroom ASAP! It's really a shame when airlines are charging for snacks (a few cookies) that you used to get for free. Now they load you up on beverages, that are free for now, and seem to think it's not a problem to get up and use the lavatory provided on the plane in the middle of a bumpy flight....squished between two rear-ends. I'm really not complaining. They did get us to our destination safely and for that I'm grateful. However, we waited about 30 minutes after we landed on the runway trying to avoid the active runways on either side of us. It was an interesting experience.
Eventually, I was in the car with my brother. We had to make a slight detour to In 'N Out Burger to get something "nourishing" to eat. After that it was through the streets of LA we went. It's a heck of a culture shock after driving on the highways of VA for the past year and half. It's even busier than Phoenix...and this was after midnight on a weekday! After arriving at my brother's home, I got to peek in on Nico. He was fast asleep and looked so peaceful that it was hard to take my eyes off of him. Reluctantly, I dragged myself away and got ready for my own trip to dreamland.
When I awoke, earlier than expected, I went to greet my nephew for the first time since last Christmas. He'd grown so much from being a 4lb 2oz preemie to a now 14lb little smiley human. I smiled at him and he smiled right back like he knew who I was. My heart melted all over again. That first morning was spent feeding him and then having some playtime before putting him down for a nap. Then it was off to his physical therapy appointment where I learned quite a lot about him. It seems that many preemies are born with some nerve damage in their necks. So even at 7 months, Nico wasn't able to turn over by himself or put his left arm out when he'd fall over from sitting up. We went through exercises on how to strengthen his left arm and what we could do at home with him to get him up to speed. Nico is trooper! He smiled the whole time and only got a little bit cranky at the end because it was feeding time again. Once we got him into his car seat, I fed him a bottle and it was off to meet up with my brother for lunch. Knowing the lack of authentic Mexican food in VA, they took me to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. It was fantastic and served my craving. After lunch, we piled into the car and drove to my brother's work where I got the grand tour. Very impressive!
The rest of the week was great as well. My brother, his wife, and I got to spend a lot of quality time together. Plus, I got to experience the schedule of a baby. It seems pretty good to me. Wake up, have someone change your diaper, eat, play, change of diaper, nap, wake up, eat, change diaper, play, nap, etc. This kid has it made! And in case you were wondering, I did change his diaper...but not the poopie ones. I need to work my way slowly up to that.
There was one down point that came on Thursday. We had just put Nico down for his nap and I was checking some email on the computer. My cell phone rang...it was my dad. My dad never calls me from his cell phone so my mind was going in all sorts of directions. He was calling to tell me that he'd had to take my mom to the E.R. and that they found blot clots in her lungs. "Here we go again", I thought. On Thanksgiving 2010, my dad experienced the same thing. He was in the hospital for ten days so I was worried...really worried. We were going to drive out to Phoenix the next Wednesday but with this diagnosis, I was wondering if we'd leave earlier than expected. Thanks to all you pray-ers out there, she was released from the hospital in three and half days. I'll touch more on this in a bit.
Saturday, we got to go to Disneyland and California Adventure! I hadn't been to Disneyland since I was in high school and California Adventure didn't exist back then so this was an amazing treat for me. I got to go on some old but updated rides with my brother that we'd gone on as kids. I suppose we acted like kids this time around as well. We also went on a few "new" rides, like Indiana Jones and the new Cars rides at California Adventure. I was amazed at all the changes since I'd been there last. We were able to meet many characters along the way. Nico absolutely lit up when meeting Goofy, Mickey Mouse, and Baloo. He would grab their noses, kiss them, and smile like crazy. It was probably one of the cutest things I'd ever seen and we've got pictures to prove it...tons of pictures.
Sunday, we went to a picnic for all the people that had used the adoption agency where Nico came from. We got to meet with all kinds of families but most importantly, Elmo was there! Elmo is a favorite in Nico's world. He was thrilled and we have pictures of that, too. The weather was perfect. We all had a really wonderful time.
Wednesday came fast and we were getting ready for the journey to Phoenix pretty much all day. When my brother got home from work, we packed up the car and headed out. We had a few stops to change seating arrangements, and to let Nico cool off and stretch (those car seats are hot). But we made it in about six hours. That put us there around 2am. Even with Mom still recovering, she and Dad manged to get the rooms ready and the air mattress blown up. We chatted for a little bit and headed off to sleep.
Saturday was the big day. It was the day my big brother would graduate with his Bachelor's in Accounting from the University of Phoenix. It was hotter than...well...a place I don't want to spend eternity. I believe it was around 110 degrees that day. I know, it's a dry heat, but seriously it's no fun to get a third degree burn when you grab your seat belt or when you have to drive with oven mitts. At least it was cool in the stadium...actually it was freezing. Maybe they set it up for a hockey game instead of a graduation. Anyway, despite the normal obnoxious people getting in the way of the zoom lens and using blow horns to get their point across that they were in attendance, it was a great day. We are all so proud of him. I honestly have no idea how he managed work, school, and having a baby all the same time. What an accomplishment! He's truly an inspiration to me.
Sunday, we had to say "see ya later" once again. I stayed behind to spend some more time with my parents and see some friends. So my brother, his wife, and my devastatingly adorable nephew packed up the car and headed back to LA. It's always hard to give those "see ya later" hugs and I doubt it will ever get easier.
The last few days went by very fast. I was able to catch up with old friends...not as many as I'd liked but I'll catch the rest of you next time. We had people over for the 4th of July to eat and watch fireworks set off from the Peoria Sports Complex...which happens to have a great view from my parent's cul-de-sac. My mom's health continued to improve and I'm so thankful I got to spend time with her. I witnessed my dad being "Mr. Mom" for a week. I kind of wish I'd had a video of it. Not because it was funny or out of the ordinary, but because he did such a great job at taking care of my mom.
Getting back home to VA was bitter sweet. It's tough to leave family and friends but awesome to come home to a new family and new friends that I very much missed. I'm currently out of work due to my long vacation but praying for something to supplement the income until I can get started on school in August.
Now back to the song...I believe I have 10,000 reasons + to give thanks to God. He has blessed me with a crazy, wonderful family, a loving partner, and the most caring, supportive friends ever! I couldn't ask for more. My soul will sing like never before and I'll worship Your holy name forever! Thank you, Jesus!
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