My Christmas was nice, except some bad news from an old friend. A girl I have been friends with since high school lost her four month old baby boy, Grant, on December 16. He died during a fairly routine surgery - it was a huge shock to everyone from the parents to the doctors to distant friends. He had a condition that caused the sutures in his skull to close prematurely, not allowing room for his brain to grow. It was caught early, which was said to be a great thing because they could correct it with a surgery at a mere four months old, which despite being so young, was the optimal time. My friend and her husband were anxious, of course, but were given every reason to believe all would work out well. The surgeon, a top neurosurgeon in southern California, had performed over 400 of these surgeries and had never seen a death from it. Everything started great. Two hours in they were told Grant was stable and the riskiest part of the surgery was done. Right as they were about to close him up, baby Grant began bleeding. Despite the surgeons best efforts, the simply couldn't stop it. He went into cardiac arrest from massive blood lost and died right there on the operating table.
My heart is so heavy for my friend. Despite being as crushed as I can only imagine, she is fortunate to have such a strong faith in Jesus that she was able to stand at her own baby's memorial service and say, "blessed be the name of The Lord." She is clinging tightly to His promises.
This is her with Grant just before the surgery:
Doesn't the picture just break your heart? There is nothing like a mothers love. Being a mom myself and having a baby just a few months older, it physically hurts me to think about. Please keep Rob and Cindy in your prayers.
Hearing this news changed all my Christmas plans. In a flurry of quick decisions I decided to hop on a plane a few days earlier than expected so I could make it to the baby's memorial service. I simply couldn't miss it. I flew out early with Luke, and Mike and Sam flew out the Monday before Christmas as preciously planned. Three days is so long to not see my Sam! I missed him so. Monday was a sweet reunion!
The next few days were a blur of family, food, gifts, and plane rides. In some ways I dislike traveling over the holidays. It makes me wish I lived close by everyone so we wouldn't have to deal with the stress of travel. But ultimately I am so very blessed. We spent our Christmas surrounded by our families. We are healthy. And I am more certain than ever that we live where we do because God wants us to be there. So if that means we have to travel to spend holidays with our family, then so be it. I'll do it with a smile.
I'm a New Years Resolution type of a person, so I've thought of some goals for 2014. My goals kind of center around the idea of stepping out of my comfort zone more. As a stay at home mom, it's tempting to keep ourselves in our bubble. I want to get out, help others, say yes, figure out a way. Even if I'm nervous about it.
Annnnd there's Luke waking up. So here is a few latest pictures. Happy 2014 to you and yours!
