My goodness, what a year 2010 has been already...

So - again, it has been a long time since I posted anything and as you know, when you have a little one, so much happens in just a couple of months. This will probably be another long post, filled with Levi updates and also some not so good ones...

First with the bad / sad news.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my Dad was real sick. He had stage 4 lung cancer (was diagnosed around Thanksgiving). He passed away on Jan 9th at home with his wife Shirley. When she called to tell me, I was stunned. I knew that the prognosis wasn't good, but I sure didn't expect it this soon. So we loaded up the family and flew to Pensacola for his service. We were in Pensacola for a week & it was filled with visits with family and my Dad's service. The service was very interesting and I found myself in an awkward situation. Those of you who read this that are my family know that my Dad and I were not super close, but we still had a love for each other and over the past years (since I have been in Denver) we have tried to be better with each other. Well - I was afraid that I would be kind of an outsider at my Dad's service, but that wasn't the case at all. It was real good to see much of my family from his side & they were all good to me. He was cremated and placed at Barrancas National Cemetery on NAS base.

Then for the second round of bad/sad news. We got home from Pensacola on Saturday, Jan 22nd ( I think). Then very late the next Saturday / Sunday morning we got a call from Tammie (Joey's sister) that their father had passed away. Oh man ... did this ever hit Joey hard. We weren't expecting this at all. His dad had Muscular Dystrophy & Diabetes for quite a long time and it finally took it's toll on him. He had struggled to get around for a long time & was on oxygen. When we saw him the previous week, he seemed okay, but was definitely not doing well. He had agreed that he would go to the hospital the next week. Joey loved his dad very much and this was very hard on him. He struggled with whether or not to go back to Pensacola. It was decided that Joseph would be cremated and that they(as a family) would spread his ashes out at Blue Springs in Alabama in June. So we decided we would make the trip home in June. Joey wanted to go home and help his momma get things in order around the house but his sister and mom encouraged him to stay here with me and Levi. Joey did. But then ...

Third round of bad news... On Wednesday, Feb 3rd, Joey's Momma (Mary) was taken to the emergency room and admitted to the SINU at Baptist Hospital. She had been borderline diabetic and with the stress of the recent passing of her husband, her sugar had sky rocketed (into the 900's) and her ph balance had reversed itself in her body. She was not in good shape. Levi and I put Joey on a plane bound for Pensacola the next morning. He needed to be there to be with his Momma and help her out if at all possible.

Good news time ...
Mary is doing well. She spent almost a week in the hospital. They got her blood sugar to within a manageable range & she was able to go home the following Tuesday. Joey stayed with her and they spent time visiting and doing some of the healing things that need to be done. She is still experiencing some of the bad side affects of the sugar getting so high (like blurred vision, etc), but she is doing better and taking care of herself and trying to eat right.

Joey felt comfortable coming back home and he did on Saturday Feb. 13. While he was gone, several of his friends checked in on me and Levi and that was very nice. One couple brought us some groceries and visited for a little bit. We enjoyed that too.

Levi and I were very glad to have Daddy home. We had done okay without him, but we did miss him very much. I told Joey when he got back that I had really missed hearing his voice in our home.

Levi did really well on the plane trip to Pensacola. He & I were both suffering through some congestion so the landings weren't a ton of fun, but we made it through. He was a real trooper. He met so many people while we were in Pensacola and had a smile for every one of them.

He met his Grannie Mary & Paw (Joey's mom and dad). It's crazy, given the circumstances of our trip home, we were so glad that we had made that trip when we did, that way Levi got to meet his Paw before he passed away. He also met his Aunt Tammie and cousins Sam & Adam. Everyone of them was so good to him.
He also met his great Grannie (GG) Beck & countless other relatives and friends.
He sat up for the first time while on this trip & also rolled over from front to back. Like I said before, he smiled pretty for everyone. All of his good moods during the day and entertaining really wore him out, but that didn't mean that he slept well. He didn't. But once we got back to Denver, he was back on track.

Levi turned 6months old on Feb 2nd. He weighed in at 16lbs 13oz and 27 1/2 inches long! He wasn't able to get his shots at his 6month checkup because he was running a slight fever, so we had to reschedule for 2 weeks later. I really think he was just hot because it was hot in the Dr.'s office, but it's okay.

While Joey was in Pensacola Levi and I just hung out & played. We sang and laughed and did the best we could without Joey here. I would send Joey pictures all the time showing him how Levi was doing. He was real close to rolling over from back to front but didn't do it any while Joey was gone.

This past week was kind of tough on little Levi. I am not making as much milk as he needs, so I had to send him to daycare with some formula this week. He didn't do so well with that. They sent him home on Monday because he was throwing up. Joey got him home and he seemed fine. He stayed home with Joey on Tuesday because he finally got his 6 month shots and was good. He drank breast milk all day though. Then back to daycare on Wednesday and they sent him home again because he was throwing up... !!! So - I am wondering what they are doing to him. We took him to the Dr & the Dr said that he has Bronchiolitis (which is a lung infection caused by a virus)... so it was determined that the mucus from that didn't mix well with the formula and that is why he was throwing it up. He stayed home with Joey Thursday and Friday & seems to be doing better. We still can't seem to get him to eat any formula though. He just pushes it away. Joey is gone now to try to find some different kinds so we can test a couple. If I am not making enough milk we have to supplement and Levi has to like it!

I am trying to keep my milk supply up. I feel bad because, when I was pregnant with Levi, I said I was only going to nurse for 6 months... but as it got closer to the 6 I decided I wanted to do it for a year. I am afraid my body heard me saying 6 months for so long that it took me seriously!

Anyhow ... as crazy as the first couple months have been for us, it has been good to. We have started going to church and are really enjoying it. We both have a need to grow in our relationship with God and to raise Levi knowing God as his savior. We are going to do the best we can to make sure that Levi knows and has a relationship with God.

We are still encouraged that this will be a good year.

Sending lots of love your way ...

Lacey, Joey & Levi

I will put up a post later that is just pictures of Levi! He is growing beautifully and y'all need to see him!