My Funny Valentine

I learned to laugh and squeal,
then to sit and stand
and now I can walk if you hold my hand.
But the fun has only just begun.....
Look out world, I just turned ONE!

Kiki ~

A year ago you entered this world, two days overdue, already showing me who was boss. You completed our family in a way I didn't know possible and have continued to fill my heart with so much joy. I am so honored and proud to be your mom and I can't wait to see all the things you will teach me. I love you, my little Valentine.

~Mommy

I'm Still Here

I realize I said I would update after my last post & I never did. But no worries, we're all still here. I can't say for sure why I haven't been blogging - but I think it's a mix of being busy, not having much to say and my sincere effort to live more in the moment.

We did survive that week of rain, but it was miserable. We made up for it by spending the last 10 days of June in Hawaii. It was a wonderful trip, complete with 4 generations! How blessed am I that my children will have the memories of traveling with their great-grandparents? Nacho also surprised us with a trip to Disneyland in July, for our 12th anniversary. There is no such thing as too much Disney ;) And then, before I knew it, it was time for school to start. Samantha started 2nd grade & Lexi started 1st. Both are loving school & doing great. I can't believe we're already half way through this school year.

The holidays have been plentiful - Halloween was fun & I loved seeing all my kids dressed up. We hosted Thanksgiving here for 30 people - and it was the first time in years we have had all of the Luas together! Christmas was wonderful as always; filled with family, parties, presents & lots of food. We rang in the new year together (even Kate made it until midnight) and in the company of our wonderful neighbors. I love our annual NYE party! And in between we celebrated Lexi's 6th birthday, Jack's 3rd & survived another year of the Nutcracker (Samantha was the naughty gingerbread and loved every minute of it).

So here we are, half way through the first month of 2012. And in the final countdown to Kate's 1st birthday. How has a whole year gone by already? Wasn't she just born? I have loved watching her develop, but I feel like it happened overnight. She is now cruising furniture, "talking" up a storm, making messes & has become Jack's constant shadow. She loves that last one much more than he does. It is hard to believe that in less than one month, my baby days will officially be over. I know it had to come sometime, but it's something that I've been doing so long, it's hard to let go.

We don't have any major plans this year - and I like it that way. We may or may not go to Whistler this summer (passport renewals/purchases for 5 of us is costly) and if we don't, I'm sure we'll take another vacation. But for this moment, our only planned one is to Disneyland soon. We are ALL looking forward to that. Right now though, we are focused on football! The 49ers are in the playoffs! It's been a long time since I've been able to say that.

That's where we are in a nutshell. I'd like to say I'll blog more often, but right now, I don't know.

Testing My Abilities

I think somebody has decided to test my abilities as a mother.

It's the first week of summer break.

That means I have all 4 children home.

It is raining. And not just a little rain, but full on downpour. It rained yesterday too.

And it is supposed to rain ALL WEEK.

A week of rain in June?

With 4 kids in the house.

I'll try to check back in next week to assure you we all survived.

The Perfect Mother's Day

I try to not get wrapped up in what is essentially a Hallmark holiday, but truthfully I do. There shouldn't be just one day where my family shows their love & appreciation for me, they should do it every day, right? But the thing is, life gets busy. We take each other for granted, our schedules & routines become just those and things we should be thankful for turn into expectations. So it's nice, that one day a year that my family slows down to recognize and be thankful for everything I do for them. And it gives me a chance to take a moment from our crazy life to thank my own mother for everything she's done & still does for me (and to apologize because now that I'm a mother, OMG, I GET IT!)

This is my 8th Mother's Day. Wow! Some have been better than others. This year, I told Nacho the only requests I had were that 1) I was not planning the day (why is it that the planning of Mother's Day gets put on the MOTHERS?), 2) I was not cooking, 3) I was not doing dishes and 4) I would like to see my own mom at some point. Luckily, the big girls are old enough to enjoy the planning, so I knew they would lead their dad in the right direction. But I am glad they didn't see the email I received from Chuck E. Cheese, inviting me to celebrate Mother's Day with them. Because on what planet would that EVER happen? There isn't enough wine in the world for that!

My weekend celebration actually started Saturday. I had been complaining to Nacho that Kate is almost 3 months old (side note, WHEN did that happen?) and we only have 2 pictures of all of 6 us. I really wanted a professional one, so we went and had them done. The big kids complained they were bored within five minutes of being there & I had to bribe Jack with goldfish, but we got that picture. And it's perfect. They all turned out perfect. After that, we took my mother-in-law out for dinner in our old stomping grounds. The food was wonderful & the company even better.

Yesterday, the big girls were in our room as soon as the sun came up because "Daddy we have to get breakfast made!" As I dosed off, they were busy bees & I was surprised with breakfast in bed. I had pancakes that spelled "MOM", an omelet, coffee (!) and most importantly, all 4 kids piled in bed with me. The girls had made cards & crafty presents at school, which we all know are the best. But then I was presented with a red box and inside it was a beautiful silver necklace with 4 pearls - one for each of my children. Apparently, Nacho & the girls looked & looked until they found one they were all happy with it and for me knowing he included them in the process makes it mean so much more to me. I was so giddy, I didn't even care the big kids ate most of my breakfast.

As the kids were all downstairs playing, I took the opportunity to jump in the shower. And I got to take a HOT shower all by myself. I even had time to shave my legs! Anybody with kids, especially 4, knows this is a gift all in itself. I didn't have anybody trying to climb in with me, or asking me to draw hearts on the glass doors, or asking if the baby needed to eat again. I had 20 minutes all to myself.

In the early afternoon, I went to lunch & the movies with my mom and Nana. It felt weird to leave my own children on Mother's Day, but I also wanted to celebrate my own mother. And honestly, it was great! All moms deserve a break and chance to celebrate themselves, where it isn't countless diaper changes, potty trips, spilled drinks and bickering. We saw Water for Elephants and I LOVED IT. And now, I also want an elephant.

The girls had been most excited about taking me out to dinner and it was such a perfect day that even the hour long wait to be seated didn't bother me. Actually it worked out well - Nacho took the big kids outside to burn off some energy and I took the opportunity to feed Kate and she was pretty much asleep by the time we were seated, so I actually got to my entire meal. When it was served. And hot! It really is the little things, isn't it?

Our night was rounded out by putting the kids to bed, opening a bottle of wine and watching The Amazing Race finale.

Of course, this morning it was back to normal with rushing kids out the door to school, laundry, dishes, life. And I love this life. But it was nice, for one day, to take a break and be celebrated. Celebrated by these little ones. These little ones who made me a mother.

That Sickness

In following Murphy's Law, Spring Break around here was miserable, weather-wise. It rained every single day, and while we did manage to get out of the house every day, it wasn't the sunny, fun-filled week we all had envisioned. By the end of the week the kids were going stir crazy. One evening, my mom stopped by for a few minutes and noted that she thought Sam & Lexi had a severe case of cabin fever. After explaining to them what it meant, Samantha whole heartedly agreed.

As Spring Break was coming to an end, my mom and I decided it would be a nice treat to take the big girls to the movie. Unfortunately the movie (Rango) ended up being a huge dissapointment - seriously a whole post all on it's own - but it at least broke up the monotony of our week. As we were leaving Samantha looks at me and says "Mom, I think I'm over that sickness." A panicked me replied "Sickness? You've been sick? How did I not know?" (Yes, I was preparing my mother of the year award acceptance speech in my head at this point). To which she replies "you know, that fever you guys were talking about." Ah yes, that sickness.

And wouldn't you know it, the following week our weather was in the high 80s!

How I Do It

If I got a penny for everytime I hear "I don't know how you do it" ....well you know how that saying goes.

The truth is some days are easier than others. Some days I love it all and other days I want to pull my hair out. But I wanted to be a mom. I love being a mom and so I take the bad with the good. Now, this isn't supposed to make it sound like I'm some supermom because I am far from it. My kids help a lot too. For example, in the last week:

Samantha has decided it's relaxing for her to give my daily back massages.

Lexi has decided that she loves the way the diaper genie works and waits for the chance to throw away a poopy diaper

Jack has decided that his favorite person is Kate, so not only haven't we had to deal with jealousy, he is the first to lay next to her, give her a pacifier and talk to her so I can get a picture of her smile!

And Kate has decided that (at the risk of jinxing it) sleeping through the night is pretty cool! She sleeps 8-9 hours on average (thankfully the same hours we sleep), but last night slept a whopping 10 hours straight! At just over 6 weeks old.

And speaking of that beautiful smile of Kate's...

Who Are You?

This is mostly for my record keeping, but there is nothing funnier than having a conversation with a toddler. Case in point, my conversation with Jack this morning.

Me: Jack, are you my big boy?
Jack: NO!
Me: Well, are you my baby boy?
Jack" NO!
Me: What are you then?
Jack: I am a Wuwa! (Lua)

And on that same note, he can't say Kate, so he calls her Kake or Baby Kake. So Jack would like you to meet his little sister Baby Kake Wuwa!

Big Blue Eyes

Thanks a Million, Jerry

Jerry Brown can kiss my ass. And this has nothing to do with his politics, although I'm not a big fan of those either.

I recently requested a recognition of Kate's birth from his office, just like I had done in the past for all of my children. With both Samantha & Lexi I was able to get ones from the President (under Bush's administration) and the Governor (under Schwarzenneger's administration) with little trouble. They both had places on their website to request it and while it's not personalized or anything (I'm pretty sure it's either a printed or stamped signature even), it was a nice addition to their baby books. With Jack, I was able to get the one from the Governor, but not the President. He was born in the December of the administration change and Bush's website stated they were busy with the transition and Obama's website didn't have a place to request it. It sucked, but I understood they were dealing with more important things.

Fast forward to the birth of Kate...Obama's website still doesn't have anywhere to request it. A friend said she heard this administration wasn't doing them, but another friend said her daughter received a recognition of her birthday. Granted that friend has connections, but thankfully she has promised to see if her husband (who works at the White House) can find a way for me to get one for Kate (and maybe a belated one for Jack). And if she can, I will be so grateful!

I was happy to see the new Governor's website still had a place to request the recognition. Kate might not be able to get the Presidential one, but Jack didn't have the Governorship one and at least they'd each have one. So imagine my shock and disappointment when I received an email from Jerry Brown's office days later saying they are too busy to fulfil the request. Really? It takes less time to send me that email (that was signed by a staffer, so I don't believe auto generated) than it does to print out the form letter?

So I posted this frustration on Facebook, asking my friends to back me up in 20 years when Kate plays the "4th, forgotten" child card, letting her know that I tried. A friend, so smartly suggested I put it here on my blog. After all, this is my record of our lives for my children to read someday. (Thank you Joe!). So Kate....I tried. You may or may not eventually end up with the recognitions (which you may or may not find as important as I do, lol), but know I did NOT forget about getting them for you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

They may look like their Daddy, but their Irish eyes are smiling!


(excuse the awesome photo quality - it was taken on my cell phone. And don't worry Christy, I did take some with our real camera too!)

A Jack Funny

Jack speech improves every single day, but it feels like in the last month he's broken though a wall and now the words & sentences come easily to him. He still gets frustrated, but that's becoming fewer & far between.

Yesterday on the way to school he kept saying something that I just could not understand. And the more I didn't understand, the more frustrated he became. Sam finally said "I think he's saying 'I love you' to you." It didn't sound like the way he normally said it, but it did sound similar and since I couldn't come up with anything else it could be, I agreed with her. So, on the way to pick up, when he started to say it again, I replied with "I love you too." He kept looking at me really confused and repeating it. Finally he pointed to my center console and said it again. I looked and found a DVD case the girls had left in the van - Scooby Doo. So I tried telling him it was "Scooby Doo". He'd reply with what he had been saying. So I tried again. After about the 3rd time I realized what he had been saying.

"Where are you?"

As in the theme song of Scooby Doo. ("Scooby dooby doo, where are you?") That whole time he had been asking clear as day to watch "Where are you?"

Would it be wrong to just go with Samantha's suggestion and believe he was telling me how much he loves me?

My Brags

There are things I'd love to share with the world (well on Facebook at least) but I'm always afraid of being that person. You know, the one who only posts brags about themselves, their kids, their life. Which in my book, is pretty on par with those who only post about how miserable and horrible their life is. And the reason Facebook invented the hide feature.

But this is my blog so I can get away with it here!

* Last week was conference & report card week and both girls are doing AMAZING! Lexi, who is in kindergarten this year, is now reading a mid-year 1st grade level, has 100% in math and scored 100% on the state mid-year bench mark test. She had already mastered the kindergarten high frequency words her first month of school and has now worked her way through the majority of the 1st grade list. Samantha, who is in 1st grade is reading at 3rd-4th grade level, has 100% in high frequency words (she passed the list early into the year), 100%+ on spelling tests, 98% in math and 98% on the state bench mark test (she missed 1 question). Their teachers have nothing but praise for them! We are so proud. And I am so, so happy they both have the same love of reading I do.

* All of my older kids have adjusted wonderfully to the addition of Kate. I thought there might be some jealousy, but so far there hasn't been any. I really had my doubts about how Jack would adjust, given his age & the fact that he has been home with just me for awhile now), but he has proven to be the best big brother. He showers her with kisses & head rubs (unprompted), is the first to try to replace her pacifier (even when she's asleep and doesn't need it), always makes sure she has a blanket and loves to sit next to her and talk to her. He even has become brave enough to hold her! The older girls, I was confident would adjust well and they have proven me right. They love to hold her, feed her and maybe most importantly are patient with me.

*I was able to comfortably get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans (and clothes) at 6 days postpartum! And I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight at two weeks. Things obviously aren't toned and gravity has taken hold of others, but overall, not bad for my 4th child!

Our Little Valentine

Announcing our newest addition....

Katherine (Kate) Marie Lua
February 14, 2011 ~ 10:23am
8lbs ~ 20.5 inches



I know I am much delayed in this wonderful announcement, but we have been adjusting to being a family of 6 (which has been going great and much easier than I thought) and dealing with sick kids. It would be just our luck that all 3 of our biggies would take turns running fevers the week leading up to and the week after Kate's birth. It was a blessing that they had all been 24 hours fever free the day she was born and they were all able to come meet her.

And we have been truly blessed. Kate came back Coombs negative, which means she never had the anti-c antigen. And that means there was never anything for my body to attack! It still affects me, should I need a blood transfusion, but as any mother knows, as long as my baby is ok, it's all good!

Hopefully I'll be able to post here more often, but I make no promises. After all, I am a mom of FOUR now!

Merry Christmas

From our home to yours...wishing you all the best this holiday season.

Bits & Pieces

I've been meaning to update here for awhile, but life has just gotten in the way. So this post is going to be a quick bullet point update, just to get me caught me up. Although if one were placing bets, I'll probably fall behind again.

• Jack turned 2 just over a week ago. I can't believe it! I feel it every day with the girls, but this birthday really pointed out to me how quickly the time is going. He's doing well, into everything, finally starting to talk and the most lovable guy ever. An interesting note on the speech - I was starting to get worried that he was possibly behind because he didn't seem to have near the vocabulary the girls did (I know, never compare children). And he's extremely stubborn. For example, he can say Einstein, but refuses to say milk. But at his doctor's appt. we were told he's actually slightly above average, so I'm very relieved.

• I had my titers tested 2 weeks ago and those luckily came back at 1:1. I tested again today and am praying for the same results. I'll find out for sure on Wednesday. This was supposed to be the pregnancy I really enjoyed, didn't wish to rush past, etc, since it's our last. And yet, here I am worrying all the time. It's really hard living two weeks at a time. But I am getting close to the end and I'll can hope for is a healthy baby in the end.

• The girls have been so busy, it's crazy. Samantha finished up the cheer season in November at regional competition. They had done really well at local and had they done exceptionally well at regionals, they would have been invited to nationals in Disneyland in March. I am a horrible mom and relieved to say, while they did awesome, they did not place high enough to qualify! There was a part of me that hoped the crazy schedule would talk Sam into NOT doing it next year, but it has instead talked BOTH girls into doing it. Samantha also just completed her first year in the Nutcracker (ballet) this past weekend. She did amazing, but we're all exhausted. And now, both girls have signed up to the school musical.

So that's really all for now. We're all looking forward to Christmas break, which starts Friday and the little bit of down time it will provide us.

The Great Unknown

We have recently learned that this is now considered a high risk pregnancy, although at this moment we don't know to what extent.

Last Thursday I got a phone call from my doctor saying that my blood work came back positive for the anti-c antibody. I have not had this in previous pregnancies and while her original thoughts were it happened during my delivery with Jack, it's looking more like it's happened within this pregnancy, since it was negative at my 10 week blood work up. Basically, I must have had a silent bleed at some point in this pregnancy and the baby and I have shared blood, changing the make up of my blood and my body is now attacking the baby's red blood cells. While I understand much more than I did last week, I still don't completely understand the genetics of all of it. What this could result in is severe jaundice in the baby either before and/or after birth.

Last week my titer levels (what they judge this by) came back at 1:1, which is very good news. I retested again this past Monday and my levels remained at 1:1, which is great news. It means the levels are very low and that my body has not yet started viewing the baby as "foreign". If it starts to rise, it means my body is going on "attack" mode. I will retest again every two weeks until the end of the pregnancy and we will base the next course of treatment on those results.

The outcome for this can vary. Worse case scenario, which we are not allowing ourselves to go to, would be stillbirth. Best case scenario is that my titer levels remain low and I go on to have an semi-uneventful remainder of the pregnancy and normal delivery. Other possible scenarios include a preterm delivery and possible NICU stay, interutarine blood transfusions and/or blood transfusions after birth for the baby, and mild to severe jaundice (which in it's own right could require a NICU stay regardless of being term or not). Long term (after the newborn period) there should be no risk to the baby. Long term for me - if I were to ever need a blood transfusion in the future, I would need to make sure they gave me some that has this anti-c antibody or my body will reject it. It may make sense for me to bank my own blood when I'm not pregnant, but we'll cross that at a later date.

Although my titer levels could raise at anytime, it is to my benefit that they are so low and that it happened so late in the pregnancy. Titer levels raise in doubles, so 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, etc, although could jump mulitple levels. As long as my levels remain under 1:8, we can continue on as though this was a normal pregnancy, minus the extra blood work. If it raises beyond that, we will go to the next step which are specialized ultrasounds that would check the baby for anemia. It's only if those results are too high, that we would start discussing the interuterarine blood transfusions. The belief is if my levels remain as low as they are now, that the baby should not have any complications (in regards to this) at birth, although we won't know that for sure until he/she is born. For right now, I am able to stay with my doctor, who is consulting with a high risk doctor. If things get worse, I will be referred to a perinatoligist at a larger hospital.

So for now, we sit and wait. I'll admit it's weird to be "high risk" and yet have nothing I can do change the outcome of this. My next test results will be in 2 weeks. When we got this news we were devasted as I'm sure you can imagine, but now we are cautiously optomistic about it. Right now, we could really use your good thoughts and prayers that my titer levels stay low and that this remains an uneventful pregnancy with a normal delivery.

Happy Birthday Alexandra!

Today my baby girl turns 5! It is hard to believe that at this exact moment, 5 years ago, I was sitting in a hospital minutes away from giving birth to this beautiful little girl. Lexi came into this world 10 days early, with a head full of black hair, weighing 7lbs 14oz and was 21 in. long.

Since that day, she has been a constant bright light in our lives. Sure, she can be the most frustrating child at times. Her ability is listen depends on her mood and we often tease her that she's must be visiting "Lexi's world" because she isn't here with us. When I first suggested that to her, expecting her to get mad at me like her big sister would, she looked at me dead pan and said "it is really cool here, there is 102 roller coasters!". That's our girl :)

But she is also the most caring, compassionate, loving child I have ever met. She truly cares about others, is always willing to share her time and her things and is never one to back away from a hug or a kiss from us. Her laugh is contagious and you can truly tell she's happy when you see the giant dimple form on her cheek.

A 5th birthday are a milestone for a child and it's no different in this case. Maybe it's because she was my baby for so long or because she already seems so grown up, but this is a hard one for me. She's already started kindergarten and thriving, she's already started living in a world that doesn't always include me and she is definitely becoming her own little person. But she is one who absolutely knows home is where your story begins.

Lexi, you are a bright, shining star in our lives. You amaze us each and every day and we are so proud to be your parents. You have a unique job of being both a younger and older sister and you excel at both. May being 5 be all that you want it to be. We love you with everything we are.

We had our big ultrasound yesterday. Although not so "big" for us as we chose again to stay yellow team. What I can tell you is that the baby looks good, is average size (after Jack, yay!) with really long legs and is very active!



It only seems appropriate that before my appointment I watched a show on Discovery Health called "8 Boys and Wanting a Girl." It was all about families who have boys (some with 4, one with as many as 8), who truly believe their lives will incomplete without a girl.

This is something I've never truly understood - the desire for one gender over another. And some might say that I feel that because I have both, but that isn't true. I was shocked when I had Jack and found out I had a boy. I really believed we were having another girl and was excited about it. Nacho and I have never gone into this "trying" for anything. We didn't plan a 3rd baby in hopes of "finally getting our boy" (which quite frankly is a phrase I'm so tired of hearing), nor did we ever feel we were done because we had one. We have more kids because we want more kids. I love my children for who they are, not what they are.

So, some of these women were willing to try just about anything, including gender selection, while others couldn't afford anything but the hope & pray method. Of the four women, one who did extreme measures, did get twin girls. But she is the one that bothered me the most. She likened not having a girl (keep in mind she had 4 beautiful boys)to not being able to have kids at all. Now, I've never been infertile, so I won't pretend to speak for them, but I can't imagine there is anything that compares to the heartbreak of not being able to have any children if you really want them. She also refused to marry her partner unless he could give her girls. Because she finally got them, she finally agreed to marry him - 17 years and 6 kids later. Something seems wrong with that picture.

Only one of the other women were able to get pregnant again and when she was getting her big ultrasound done, she burst into tears when she found out it was another boy. She came home depressed, like having a healthy baby wasn't good enough. Now like I've said, I don't understand the feeling of need for either gender, which is probably why it's so easy for us to stay yellow team. I guess I can sort of understand the desire to have one of each or hoping for one first. But to let it make you feel like your life isn't complete, especially when you've got beautiful children at home - that I don't understand. And it makes me wonder - do these children suffer because they aren't who their mothers wanted. Do they live with knowing that every day?

For us, boy or girl, we are just thrilled to be adding another member to Team Lua. Either one will complete this family.

Lesson: Slow Down

Background: Samantha is now a cheerleader, which I'll get to in a later post because it really does feel like it's taken over our lives.

Last night, I dropped Sam off at cheer practice and because I had a few minutes to kill before a meeting I had to be at, I decided to stay and watch for a bit. They take attendance and the girls run their lap(s). As a bunch of girls were running the far outside of the blacktop, opposite of where we were, a pick up truck comes barreling through, almost taking out quite a few of our cheerleaders. I watch in horror as this truck comes close to hitting Sam and knowing there is no way for me to get over there in time. By the grace of God, Sam realizes something's up and goes the only other direction she can to avoid getting hit - face first into a basketball pole.

As she comes limping back to me, I go out to meet her. The force has knocked the wind out of her, which has terrified her and she's got a nice bruise forming above her eyebrow. The cheer directer meets me and calls over on her cell to where this guy is going, only to be told that he was trying to get to a hurt football player. Umm, excuse me? So taking out a bunch of cheerleaders to get to an injured football player is somehow ok? The cheer director deals with that, while her coach gets her some ice, but at this point, she's had enough and wants to go home. And who could blame her.

This guy, which I found out later is the grandfather of the hurt player, never once used his horn to warn them he was coming up behind them, nor did he ever come over to see if Sam was ok. I think this is a case where I can truly call someone an asshole and mean it. Because he either didn't see the cheerleaders (next to impossible with 50 of them out there) or he simply didn't care. And I know this because moments later as I was carrying Sam back across the blacktop, he came barreling back through again...while there were still cheerleaders out there.

There is a part of me that wishes I had confronted the guy, but holding my baby was more important at that moment. Not to mention, he was in a truck and he apparently wasn't afraid to use it. I don't know where it will go from here. The football board has said they'll talk to the parents, but I'm not sure how much that will change anything, unless they make a policy that nobody, other than emergency vehicles, can come onto the black top during practices. But something needs to be done because it was only 3 weeks ago when some other asshole decided he didn't want to let a group of 10 of us finish crossing (in a crosswalk!) the parking lot after practice, so he gunned it and swerved around us, barely missing some of the cheerleaders.

So while Sam has a major headache and a nice size bruise & goose egg, she is no worse for wear. And compared to the alternative of what could have happened last night, for that I am thankful.

The lesson: slow down. The 20 seconds you saved, could have taken the life of somebody else.

Updated 9/16 to add: They have closed practices to all vehicles (they are keeping the fire gate locked to all but emergency vehicles) and they have sent out an email to every single parent. I am so glad they are taking this seriously!

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

There are very few songs that can move me to tears anytime I hear them. One of those songs is "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?" by Alan Jackson. Every time it plays, I stop what I'm doing and remember where I was on that horrible day. Today, it has been 9 years.



So, where were you when the world stopped turning?

I was in bed with my husband, when our tv came on and we both sat straight up and watched in horror as the 2nd plane struck the World Trade Center. It felt like we were watching a movie - surely this couldn't be real. As we prayed for all those people, it suddenly struck me - my mom and stepdad were flying home from Greece that very morning. I called my dad in a panic and then we sat in silence on the phone as a plane hit the Pentagon. It was at that time we decided it would be better to be together, so we drove down to his house. We sat glued to the tv all day. I'm sure we got up occasionally and we must have eaten, but I don't remember any of it. I do remember endless phone calls to the airlines, trying to get information about my mom, that never connected. I did feel better once they had grounded all flights, and I knew realistically those weren't her flights, as her only connection was in Heathrow, but the not knowing was like a sucker punch. Finally, early the next morning, I received a phone call from her - they were safe in Scotland, where they would spend the next week before being allowed to fly home.

As I listen to my 3 children running around and laughing and I feel my 4th, happily moving inside me, I am deeply humbled and grateful for all that has been sacrificed so I can sit here with my family.

To all the military personal, fire fighters, police officers, flight crews and everyday civilians who gave so much that day - THANK YOU!

ALL GAVE SOME. SOME GAVE ALL. WE WILL NOT FORGET.