A Celebration of Life

L i f e
Is Not Measured
By the Breaths We Take,
But by the Moments
That Take Our Breath Away

This Friday we will celebrate
the Life of our son, Riley Dean Black
on his 1st birthday, March 14th, 2008.

In honor of his birthday we had awareness bracelets made with his name on it. They were mailed out to immediate family and friends who were involved in Riley's short life. It is our hope that they will wear it on Riley’s birthday to remember our precious son and hopefully get the opportunity to share with others the impact his life has made.

I also took balloons to his gravesite. At Forest Lawn, they have very strict rules on decorating. Actually, all they allow is flowers in the vase or hanging on a shepherd's hook. Nothing else. But my neice Jacque and I snuck over today and tied balloons on Riley's hook as well as hooks on the babies sites around him. It looked like they were having a birthday party for him :) I'm sure the party in heaven is awesome. We still miss him, but celebrate his life in heaven and look forward to having both our boy's birthdays on the same day each year.

Talk About Spring Cleaning!

We had some new ceramic tile layed, extending from our kitchen to the garage door. Yea, no more strubbing shoe prints off the carpet! Now we're on a roll, today Dennis moved all the furniture and cleaned the carpets. Who's nesting now? :)

Church Shower

I am so blessed to be a part of some amazing women at Friendship Baptist Church. Today they threw me us a Children's Book Shower where each of them brought a book for Ty, although as usual they all went above and beyond. From the cheesecake to the fireboot vases, the firetruck toybox and hand-made cards, there was a lot of work and creativity. I can't thank these women enough for all their love and support over the past couple of years.

Almost 9 Pounds!!??

At 36 weeks, Ty is weighing in at a whopping 8lb 14oz, nearly 9 lbs! He's got chubby cheeks, a pudgy nose, pouty lips, and lots of hair. But most importantly everything looks healthy and right on track. We can't wait to meet him!

We're 36 Weeks/ 9 Months!

We Have A Date!

Well it's official, unless Ty & God have other plans, our C-section is scheduled for Friday March 14th at 2:30pm. That date is important to us because it would have been our son Riley's 1st birthday. So now we get to celebrate both our boy's birthdays on the same day :) It will be nice to be able to celebrate their lives as opposed to being sad that day. I know Riley will be having an awesome party in heaven.

Nesting & Disinfecting

Well, I think we're on the upswing of the flu now. Slowly each day we feel better and better. Now the sense of urgency has set in. If I have it my way, we'll have our C-section on Friday March 14th. That's only 2 1/2 weeks left! Not only do I feel like I have to disinfect every surface of our home, but we have to make sure everything else is ready too. We made a few returns today, and looked for things we think we still "need". As new parents, we don't know what's really necessary or even nice to have versus things that will just pile up in a few months. Do we need a pack 'n' play? How about the baby bath tub? Do we get a cool new monitor, or use the one someone gave us? Who knows. I guess we'll just wait and see. That's parenting right? Trial & Error. Poor Ty, but I'm sure he'll turn out fine.

Flu & 8 Months Pregnant...Are You Kidding Me?

At 8 months pregnant, I'm fairly uncomfortable as it is...now Dennis and I both have the flu! This is some bad stuff this year. Of course this is the first year I've opted not to get the vaccine. I won't make that mistake again. At the doctor's appt my BP was 80/40, so we got the lovely experience of going to triage for 3 Liters of IV fluids. Poor Dennis, body aches and all, looked just as miserable trying to sleep in the bedside chair with his head propped against the wall with my coat as a pillow. We've both been unfunctionable for 5 days now. The dehydration is making me contract frequently. We just pray Ty can hang in there until the bug is out of our home and our bodies. I never thought I'd be the paranoid new mommy asking everyone to stay away or scrub their hands. You bet I will be now!

Dillman Family Shower

My wonderful sister-in-law, Dana, and cousin, Lyndsay gave me a family shower on Saturday, February 9, 2008.

We played some great games like trying to remember "What Baby Items Were on the Tray" and "How Much Toilet Paper Does It Take to Go Around Amy's Belly?"

And we received some wonderful gifts for baby Ty.

We're 32 weeks/ 8 months!

Co-Worker/Friends Shower

My wonderful (and also very pregnant) friend Carissa held a shower for us with my friends on Saturday, January 26, 2008.

Professional Maternity Pictures

This is me and my friend Carissa (Ty & Mya :)

Ty's 30wk Ultrasound

At each visit, my belly would measure 3 cm/weeks ahead. However, at our 30wk visit, I measured 3 1/2 cm ahead, so my doctor sent us for an ultrasound. Can we say "Big Baby!" Ty is measuring in the 95%ile at 4 pounds 11 ounces!

We're 28 weeks/ 7 months!

We're 24 weeks/ 6 months!