A big ol' "UGH!" and some pictures :)

I know, Bloggers been wonky and everyone is sad, me included! :) I had a super special post posted yesterday about my hubby, and now it's gone :( I know it MIGHT be back, but I don't want to hear might, I want to hear DEFINITELY! I really hope it comes back! :)

But, it's Friday, that's a good thing. It's 3:45 which means I get to leave work in 45 minutes, that's a great thing! And I get to spend the weekend with my loves, that's a wonderful thing! :)

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. The 2 year "anniversary" (that always seems so strange when talking about death) of my dad passing is Sunday. I'm sure I'll post about it at some point on Sunday. My dad was a very special man, who was ravaged with addictions that ultimately led to his passing, but wait, this post was supposed to be happy, so we'll save the sadness for Sunday :)

Here are some pics from the carnival last Saturday...

 Waiting patiently for the swings to start...he LOVED them!

 Riding the motorcylces! :)

 Parent of the Year award: High fiving your child while the ride is in motion! ;) Clearly the child in front of him also has Parent of the Year award winning parents because they were doing it too! :)

 Mia's a tad too young to enjoy the rides, but she enjoyed the sites at the carnival. Here she is tuckered out from a long day :)

Fishing for junk a prize :)) (I like how our shadows are on his back, minus the fact that my bottom half looks HUGE! I swear it's not THAT wide :)

Have a great weekend friends! :)

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

The two little people that call me "Mommy" (or in Mia's case, "Mama" ;)
Mothers Day 2011

The boys birthday

Hi Friends!

Sorry for the lack of activity on my blog...work is ALWAYS getting in the way now! ;) I have tons of pics from this past weekend that I want to post, and I will over the next few days. But first I wanted to post pictures of Friday evening when we released balloons, in honor of Mateo, Ian and Anthony's 3rd birthday. It was a beautiful evening and SOOO windy out, so the balloons were in Heaven :) in a matter of seconds. I love that we honor the boys, and that Mia and Manuel will always know their cousins, even though they won't KNOW them this side of Heaven.

*Please excuse the appearance of everyone :) It was REALLY windy out, yes Manuel is wearning his jammies outside (and he's barefoot) and yes, Mia is barefoot too, oh, and yes my hubby is in his "comfies" (aka jammies, that aren't really jammies! :) I just have to say that because I know how people might look and judge! :))

Enjoy...

 Manuel wanted to write his name on the balloons :)

 My sweet little boy was REALLY into it!

 Writing my message to the boys

 The kids waiting patiently to release the balloons (and CLEARLY not interested in looking at the camera! :))



 And I just realized as I was posting these that I didn't save the pic of the 3 balloons in the sky on Photobucket :( I have it on my computer at home, but not at work. It's a very touching picture...we tied the 3 balloons together, so they would "travel" together (as I'm sure the boys are) and I just LOVE it! :)

I hope you all are doing well. I still read your blogs and comment as often as I can.

Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll be posting pics from the carnival and Mothers Day. It was a fabulous weekend! :)

Happy Mothers Day

Hello Friends!

Happy Mothers Day to all of you who read this...whether you are a mommy with children you are holding in your arms, a mommy whose arms are aching to hold the child you've lost, or a mommy who hasn't had a child but will one day....Happy Mothers Day! You all mean so much to me, thank you for being friends :)

Love and prayers to all of you! :)

Children are so amazing...

At the time that Mateo, Ian and Anthony passed away Manuel was about 27th months old, which may seem young to many, but Manuel has always been wise beyond his years and I truly believe he has known the boys from the beginning and will ALWAYS remember them. I had always heard people say that children see things and hear things that adults don't because we don't "allow" ourselves to, but I never REALLY believed it until I experienced it...This story that I am about to share always puts a smile on my face, through an incredibly difficult time...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 10:18 AM, EDT
I have no doubt that my two nephews are already little angels in Heaven...
I have a little story to share about something that just happened that makes me know, those two boys are already angels...(and I'm aware this sounds SOOO far fetched and like I'm making it up, but I swear to goodness, that this JUST happened)...

I am sitting in our kitchen typing an e-mail and Manuel (my son, the boys cousin) is sitting behind me on his tricycle. I hear him talking but I'm not fully paying attention and then I stop to listen and this is what happened...

I hear Manuel say "Don't cry babies, don't cry." And I said, "Manuel, who are you talking to?" And he said, "The babies." And he just said, "Why babies, why? Are you coming back? Don't cry" I know, this seems like it's from a movie or something, but I swear, it just happened.

To my angels Anthony and Mateo,
Please watch over your brother Ian, give him the strength to pull through this!! He needs you right now and so do your mommy and daddy!!!! Love, Aunt Christina
I'm going to call Mike for an update on Ian in a bit, I just wanted to share this story with everyone to give my family and Mike's family strength and hope that our boys are already God's angels! :)

I posted this mere hours before Ian passed away. Our family thinks that the Mateo and Anthony did come back (like Manuel asked them if they were going to) and they got their brother Ian, and took him Home with them.

Happy 3rd Birthday Mateo, Ian and Anthony

*I have to say, thank you SO much for all of your kind comments of support and love these past few days. It means the world to know that friends (who've I've never met in real life-except for you, Heather. I do remember you from high school) care about my family! :)) Thank you!*

3 years ago today from Caringbridge...

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 2:49 PM, EDT

Amy is in labor, full labor. The boys are coming, and I'm hoping and praying that they'll be okay. I'm leaving work now to go to the hospital. I'll keep you posted as soon as I can!
PLEASE PRAY!!!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 9:12 PM, EDT

It is with a very sad heart that I have to tell all of you that Heaven earned two angels today. Mateo Joseph and Anthony Michael went to be with Jesus. Mateo went as soon as he was born and Anthony passed a short time later after Mommy and Nonna got to hold him, in his Aunt Christina's arms. To my nephews who I never knew you will be loved and missed more then you will ever know!
Ian Vincent was the last to make his entrance at 3:40pm, weighing a little over 1 lb. He is fighting for his life in the NICU with a million and one people cheering him on! Please say millions of prayers for Ian. This time is SOOO critical, and although the odds are greatly stacked against him, you can tell he's a fighter and we hope and PRAY for the best!
Amy and Mike are AMAZING! What wonderfully strong, great parents they are! They are officially mommy and daddy to two angels and one strong little fighter.
Please keep the prayers and support coming as these next weeks are crucial for healing and for Ian's recovery.
I love you baby boys!
And here is my post from Caringbridge from a few moments ago...
Friday, May 6, 2011 9:21 AM, CDT

Happy 3rd Birthday!
3 little boys, 3 years old, 3 years gone
Today, Mateo, Ian and Anthony are celebrating their 3rd birthday, and I'm sure it's a beautiful celebration in Heaven. I wish we could be there celebrating with them, but we'll all be together one day and what an amazing celebration that will be!!! :)

Mateo, Ian and Anthony,
I am sending all my love to you three in Heaven. NOT A SINGLE DAY goes by that I don't think about the 3 of you. I love you and miss you SO much, as does your mommy, Daddy, little brother, little sister, and entire family! Happy Birthday sweet boys!
Love,
Zia Christina

If you could take a few minutes to pray for Amy and Mike today, that would be wonderful! Time passes, but that doesn't mean that their hearts are healed or that their pain is any less. Please pray for them!
Thank you! :)

Tomorrow....

*Please don't feel like you have to comment on my post these next few days...this is my on-line journal of sorts, so at times things might get pretty personal, but it's just whatever is on my heart at the moment. For another day I felt the desire to post my Caringbridge entries from the day, 3 years ago. Again, this is not for pity or sympathy, just feelings on my heart at the moment. Thank you! :))

Please continue to be in prayer for my sister, her family and our entire family...

Monday, May 5, 2008 6:15 AM, EDT

I did hear from Mike again last night, and Amy's contractions had started to space out a little bit. This was around 12:30am when he text me. I haven't heard anything since then, so let's hope and pray that no news is good news. Things were VERY uncertain and scary last night, so hopefully I'll get some much needed good news this morning when I call (usually around 9:30am). I'll post as soon as I hear something!
Keep the prayers coming! Amy was right, things can change SO quickly, so pray that God allows the boys to stay in for as long as possible!

Monday, May 5, 2008 9:33 AM, EDT

Okay, so I just got off the phone with Mike, after Amy's doctor (her high risk OB-Dr. Alger) came in to check things out. Here are a few key points...
1) They don't know why this is all happening, but due to the high amounts of blood she lost last Sunday (when this all began) and last night, they are discussing giving her a blood transfusion! Please pray that if that is what happens, everything will go smoothly. It is pretty scary and unexpected!
2) They were going to start giving the babies steroids on Thursday (23 weeks and 5 days, standard protocol) to help get their lungs stronger in the event they do come early, however, they are discussing starting the steroids today. It won't hurt anything, it's just a matter of whether or not it will help either!
3) They can't increase her magnesium (one of the meds helping prevent labor) unless the levels of magnesium in her blood come down. Her body has reached it's "quota" for magnesium. However, they may look into increasing her pills (not sure what med that is), if possible.
4) She appears to be about 2cm dilated, which is an increase from the 1cm she held steady at all last week. But like my wonderful brother-in-law said to me, "Well, if she only dilates one cm a week, we'll be in good shape." Good point Mike, let's hope that's the case!!!
Things are very uncertain at this point, and Amy is doing well, but it's just an emotional rollercoaster for her (and Mike too), as you can imagine. PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY! I'll post more after my visit, if there is anything pertinent to say.
Thank you for following their story and a HUGE thanks for the prayers!!!!! :)

Monday, May 5, 2008 8:40 PM, EDT

**Amy is 23 weeks and 2 days**
First off, I just want to apologize if my entries come across choppy, confusing, etc. Sometimes its hard to get all the information out correctly! :) Okay, with that out of the way, on to the important stuff...
I went and visited with Amy after work. And I must say, she looked GREAT! Much better then she has looked and much more "with it." (love ya Ames! :) Things are still up and down. When I first got there, she hadn't had any contractions in the prior hour and a half, however, over the course of two hours (while I was there) they started becoming more regular. Amy said, "It's just hard!" And I cant even begin to imagine how truly hard it is...emotionally, mentally, physically. But her and Mike are strong, have a great marriage, and will get through this, with hopefully 3 healthy sons! :)
Her blood levels came back up, so as of tonight, she does not need a transfusion.
The neonatalogist (sp?) came and spoke to Mike and Amy today. She presented them with some very scary figures and statistics, HOWEVER, there were two "on the bright side" points...even if the babies are born before 24 weeks they WILL try and save them! "If they are big enough for their smallest tube, they will actively try to save them." God PLEASE let them be big enough for their smallest pieces of equipment. If they aren't, they will "comfort and care" for them until they pass (but let's not even think about that!!!!!) As for their sizes...the neonatalologist said according to their last full ultrasound (at 22 weeks) all 3 boys were the size of singletons (meaning if she was just pregnant with each of them seperately at exactly 23 weeks and 2 days) which is AWESOME since multiples tend to "run small" (for lack of a better term).
One day is good news, one day is bad news, so all we can do is PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, and let God take care of the rest!
Thank you everyone for you kind words and encouragement. I know it means the world to Amy and Mike, as it does to our entire family!

In less than 24 hours of that last post it would all be over...