Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kept going

I think I've discovered the portal to hell.... it's our nursery. It was HOT here today in general, but the nursery was by far the hottest room in the house. Now outside it's cooled down nicely, the rest of the house is comfortable.... but step into the nursery and you break into a sweat. Despite the ceiling fan going full speed and the small fan in the window blowing in the cool air. It's so weird. It's so HOT. Poor babies.

We had a really great, busy holiday weekend. On Saturday we went to the the flea market and out to lunch, on Sunday to Fuddruckers for Daddy's birthday dinner, and the Memorial Day Parade and Daddy's birthday party Monday.... phew. It was jam packed. And as usual, the girls were REALLY good. I am so lucky. These babies go anywhere and are happy (except maybe the Cheesecake Factory... that fiasco was brutal).

Some pictures.....

Dinner at Fuddruckers, sitting in high chairs like big girls!



What does every baby want? Why, a stuffed mug of beer!



How awful is that?? It came out of the machine where you win a stuffed toy at Fuddruckers. I was hoping we could win a stuffed cigarette to go with it. Yikes. Of course Katie loved the awful thing.

First Memorial Day parade!! Watching Sparky go by....



And Daddy's birthday party!! Katie with Daddy and Charlotte with Great Grandma-



Playing at the party with our cousin Owen, and Katie is STILL chewing on her stuffed beer:



He wants the beer but no way, Katie's not sharing. Since the party the beer has 'accidentally' been 'lost'....

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I was tagged by Tammie to do a pretty interesting meme....

The Meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. His words were- For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4 .Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!


Ok, so.... I thought about this and thought about it. Being the sort of word nerd that I am, I love the idea of this, and had heard of it before. It actually came up on the Nest one day, and I quickly came up with:

Love lives on, no matter what.

Which means Jack, of course. But, as much as the birth of my children, and the death of Jack, is the most defining thing about my life, is it everything? Is that all.... I don't know. It wasn't quite right. I thought maybe:

Never miss a moment of joy.

That is my life now. I am trying not to miss a moment of joy. I am trying to hold on to all of them, appreciate them, even the small ones. I am trying to have joy for Jack, and for my girls, and for me. But that is my life now, not always.

Then I thought that if I can survive losing Jack, I can survive anything. That I stayed strong, held it together, did what I needed to do for my boy. I always tried to convince myself and everyone else I was a delicate flower, in need of rescue... I'm not. And it is completely empowering to realize you can handle it, whatever it is. So -

I was tougher than I thought.

But after much reflection, that's still not right.

So, finally, the best I can do.

Laughed. Cried. Prayed. Loved. Kept going.

Now, I tag five ladies who are hopefully not as OCD as i am and will not waste hours thinking about it.

Jody at The Hyperfertile Infertile
Lisa at
Helping Make Sense
Karen at
My Perky Ovaries
Pam at
Pyjammy.com
Rachael at
Little Bites of Heaven

And everyone else... it was hard to pick just five!!

19 comments:

My name is Tammie said...

Oh I am so so glad you played! Those all are wonderful. I also had such a hard time settling on just one sentence. I wanted to use so many things. Thanks for doing it!!!!

The girls are beautiful, love their little bows and headbands. So cute!!

Beth said...

The stuffed beer had me laughing out loud... especially since it was still in the picture the next day!!! The kids are sooo adorable! I forgot who referred me to your blog but I always enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for sharing your journey...

Lisa said...

Oh, Megan, they are getting soooo big!! As soon as I officially kick this brochitis/pneumonia/sinus crap I really want to come see them...and you!

OK, now I have to start thinking about words...yes, I'll obsess over this - so much for getting any work done today!

Anonymous said...

I love the stuffed beer mug!

Anonymous said...

That's a girl after my own heart. I wonder if its Coors Light :)
Lori

Anonymous said...

Perfect.

Colleen said...

I don't remember how I found your blog (I think it was through a friend of mine). But I love reading about your little girls. They are precious and beautiful.

And you truly are a very strong woman. I look forward to reading more and more.

Rachael Schirano \\ Rachael Schirano Photography said...

oh my gosh, i love that mug of beer. and katie clearly adores it, so give it back to her! lol.

thanks for tagging me, i feel so special :) i will be at least as ocd as you (and probably even more so) trying to figure out what in the world to say. i love what you chose. absolutely perfect.

The Mom said...

I love the stuffed beer, my husband would like to know where we can get out little boy one, just like it! The girls just keep getting prettier I love the bows! Maybe one day I will get my little girl and then watch out bows, here I come!

Melissa

debi9kids said...

Ahhh ha! Now I know where the tagging came from. LOL I was just tagged by rachael. LOL (I saw you on her blog and decided to pop over & say "hi")
Great post! Love that the beer "accidentally" disappeared. LOL
That happens a LOT with McDonalds stuff with my bigger kids. haha (I am a mean mommy)
Debi

Cindy said...

I LOVE that beer! LOL!

Mom O Matic said...

This is so funny! I just got a free bath/room temperature monitor in the mail yesterday. I was trying to think who had a baby that would want this...do you want it? I'll send it to you if you do.

Amanda said...

I am pretty sure that if you went into business making stuffed beers, martini rattles and Jose Cuervo teething rings, you would be rich :)

Kristin (kekis) said...

I LOVE your six-word memoir. It must hold so many stories for you. I'm going to try mine now, but I doubt it will be so deep.

I would like some stuffed beers for my (hopefully) future children. If they become anything like their parents, they'll need them until they turn 21!

Deb said...

I think you did a lovely job of the memoir meme. I had to do it a few months ago for a writer's group I was working with, and it was not an easy task.

Love the beer mug. That would make an excellent dog toy in our house...

Dawn said...

That stuffed beer is PRICELESS! Great for some blackmail photos one day, be sure to save it, hope is hasn't been 'lost' completely!

Kristine said...

I don't normally comment...but I just wanted to tell you how beautiful the girls are! I am so happy that everything is going well with them.

You are an inspiration.

pyjammy pam said...

that stuffed beer cracks me up!

i am not ignoring being tagged, i just haven't had a chance to do it yet. i will try to get to it today!

Anonymous said...

Great collection of memoirs. Your girls are lovely, sorry to read about little Jack's death. Thanks so much for playing my meme, I enjoyed "meeting" you and reading your blog:)