Independence Day

4th of July this year was going to be low-key.  We generally have family in town for the 4th but it wasn't in the cards this year...one nephew is only a couple of weeks old and our oldest nephew had an all-star tournament the weekend before and after (which makes for lots of sitting at the hot, hot ball fields for our family!).  Jason was scheduled to work in the evening so we were going to hang out at home.  The night before all those plans changed.  We received a call that my husband's sister (30 weeks pregnant) was going to have her baby immediately.  We were all going to head over but then we decided that only my husband would go.  The kids and I will head over soon to see our new nephew and his parents...of course, their identity now changes that he is here...they are just his "parents" :-)  Fortunately, everything went smoothly.  My sister-in-law is recovery well from her c-section and is home now.  Our nephew weighed in at 2 lbs 2 oz and is 14 inches long and is working on getting bigger and stronger to go home to his mommy and daddy. 

The kids and I had our low key day and my husband made the 4 hour drive home to go to work.  Later in the evening, the kids and I headed to visit Dad at work and watch fireworks.  The evening was good.  The kids and I headed home...a couple meltdowns due to the late hour, but that is to be expected! 

As of this 4th...my husband and I have been together half of our lives.  Our first date was 4th of July 19 years ago.  Hard to believe!  It is an absolute miracle that we had that first date.  We had a "little" miscommunication and I was an hour and half late!  He doesn't agree with the miscommunication part...he says I was flat out late.  Oh well...he waited and it is history :-)

This 4th of July had a different feel than last year.  Last year we were 8 days away from Hailey's open heart surgery.  I was still trying to forget it was really happening.  I was trying to live in the world of denial even though every day I watched my daughter struggle to survive.  Her heart was working too hard which was causing her lungs to work too hard.  She was using all of energy to keep her heart beating and her lungs breathing that she just didn't have the energy to eat.  It broke my heart to watch her struggle.  We knew the statistics were on her side, but she was still our little girl.  When our family left to return home, you could hear the sadness in their good-byes...you could feel their worry in the air even though they didn't dare say it aloud.  This year we celebrated...Hailey is thriving...eating everything in sight and making messes through out the house. 

What a difference a year can make!

Watching her brothers...

fake being asleep!

Typical Hailey fashion...all lounged out...not watching the fireworks!