The Peoples Family

First thing Easter morning, Jacob realized the bunny came to see him! (He was saying "ho ho" all weekend. I was afraid he was going to be slightly disappointed, but he wasn't!)

We then got ready to head to church to celebrate the real reason for Easter! Did I mention these two love birds were here?

After church, we tried for our annual Easter photo. There was one major difference. There are four of us now. Let me demonstrate how well that went.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Take 5

Take 6

OH FORGET IT!!!!!!!

We then headed to Granmollie and Papa's for some family gathering! Something very special happened that day. Grant met his Great Pappaw for the first time! He was placed in an assisted living in January, and that's not exactly the best place for a baby. We were so proud when he showed up and got to meet the newest addition to the family!

We also had an Easter egg hunt, and guess who found the golden (eerr, green) egg! It had a whoppin $10 in it! And trust me, he immediately wanted to go to Target!

We had lots of fun with family, and we can't wait to do it again!

It was 5:30 AM. My phone started ringing off the hook. Groggily, I answered with Wayne (who was on his way to work) telling me to get the boys, get in the hallway and throw a mattress over us. There were 100 MPH winds with tornadoes at Tannehill State Park (10 minutes from our house), and it was coming our way. I have never been so scared. Here I was alone with two sleeping babies. I got us in the hallway, under a mattress (this has been routine lately, but this was the first time Wayne wanted us there so I knew I needed to move quickly.) and we waited. Almost immediately after we got in the hall, we lost power. It was so incredibly dark, and all I could hear was this terrible storm. Wayne stayed on the phone with me and let me know when we were safe. It happened quickly, and we were able to head out of the hallway. Thankfully we had no damage (we had more damage a few weeks ago when we found our pool in a tree!!!), but we kept hearing that the worse was yet to come.

I was suppose to meet up with a friend of mine that day, so I headed on hoping she would have power. She didn't, but I did see a couple of homes destroyed by trees on my way. Ours could have easily been one of them. A tree came down opposite way of our house in the empty lot next to us. I then headed to Wayne's grandmothers who I knew had power. About this time I hear our local weather man saying the tornado coming that afternoon to us was the worst he had ever seen. I knew then that I better get back home to our brick house.

Wayne was able to make it home before it got too bad. On his way home, the tornado was about to hit Tuscaloosa, and it was 1/2 mile wide! I was in complete shock! I didn't even know they could get that big. Next thing we know it's a mile wide and heading this way! We hunkered in the hallway and prayed. We were fully prepared to throw ourselves on our babies.

We quickly realized we would feel a bad storm here, but the tornado would miss us. I wish I could say the same thing for our neighbors. We have church members who have lost everything. Our church has had disaster relief crews going out non stop. Wayne and I have helped when we could, but we have been in the hospital with Grant (more on that later). I think we will have plenty more opportunities to help a lot more. Pleasant Grove will take a very long time to rebuild, much like Tuscaloosa.

Our church has been gathering donations, and I know specific families in need. If you would like to help, I can help direct you to people and places that would appreciate it. For my family and friends who have already helped, thank you so much.

Now, grab a tissue and check out the devastation in our great state..

Wayne's parents went down and spent the weekend with us. We went to the Rattle Snake Rodeo (yes you read that right) where we saw snake races, a slippery pole contest, and blow ups galore for Jacob to bounce in! It really was a lot of fun. I only had our phones with us, so I didn't get any good pictures.

Quick side story (keep in mind this was just a few days after finding out about Grant's eyes): I saw this man carrying this baby around that had the cutest little sunglasses on. They looked just like the Miraflex ones we had just seen at the doctor's office. I just KNEW they were prescription. You can guess what I did. I'm the idiot who walked up to a complete stranger and asked if their 8 month old baby had prescription glasses on! You should have seen the look I got! I literally think he thought I lost my mind. I was still in shock mode, and I was determined to find someone who had gone through this. Since then, I have learned to accept this, and I promise I don't ask complete strangers if their babies in sunglasses have vision disorders!!!

Back to what this post was about. I wanted to snap a couple of 2 month pics of little man. We only got a couple before we quit. The only thing he could see was light, and I think the lights were scaring him. This first one was my sister comforting him, and I thought it was sweet. :)

On Sunday morning we had the dedication. Grant wore Jacob's Christening gown, and as you can imagine the entire thing was so emotional. We were all thinking of the surgeries the little guy was about to face.

Thinking of how scared we were at that moment, I'm so thankful we are now on this end of the surgeries. We had another great check up at the doctor today. He released Grant for an entire month!!! Over the last three weeks we have been at the doctor's office 2-3 times a week! Sure will be a nice break! :)

When we got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see our pastor's wife was going to be our pre-op nurse! Seeing a familiar face helped so much! Plus, she worked extra hard to get us back as soon as possible. Thank you Lorrie! :)

Pretty much if you read about Surgery #1, this was the same exact war, different battle. (We would soon experience sweet VICTORY!) We were just as thrilled to have our baby in our arms again! Just FYI, Wayne and I debated the entire surgery who would hold him first (it was a FRIENDLY debate!), and the nurse put him in MY arms when she walked in. I did share though! :)

When we went back Thursday to get his patch off I noticed this exam took longer, and of course the mom in me freaked. When he finished up he told us both eyes were about the same at +22, and looked great. I told him about the sample pair they had (he was floored that they took two weeks to come in), and he was all for us using them.

This, my friends, is our victory. This video is my precious baby boy seeing for the first time. It ranks up there with the happiest days of my life, right along with our wedding day and the birth of our boys. This day is etched in my memory for forever. I'm so thankful we have a video to watch as many times as we want. It makes me cry every time I see it. Tears of joy that is.


How incredible is that? Dr. Metz joined the party for a minute, and I did hug his neck again. He is a wonderful man, and we will be forever grateful. I was so worried about the glasses for the longest time, and seeing him see took that away. Plus, I think he's even more adorable with them on! We are so richly blessed and thankful. I could shout from the rooftops! Thank you, thank you, thank you LORD! And thank you to all who have been praying for us. We have several years before we have to face the OR again.