Eva Genelle Clearfield

Sunday afternoon was Eva's memorial service. For those of you who do not know who Eva is, I urge you to go to Jessica and Dan's website www.caringbridge.org/visit/clearfield to find out more about this amazing little girl. I truly believe that her short life will continue to touch others through her mother, father, sister and loved ones. The service was beautiful. I loved how the focus was on how Eva was such a fighter from the get go and how she made us all better people because of her existence. Her father Dan will be a better physician, husband and father. Her mother Jessica will be a better mother and advocate for children who are given the diagnosis of "not compatible with life". Hannah her sister will never judge a book by it's cover. She saw Eva and her beauty despite her cleft palate. She loved and accepted her no matter what because she was her sister. For all of us who know the Clearfield's personally or those who know of the Clearfield's, we are touched deeply by this families devotion to each other and making all the moments count. Only God knows the real meaning on why Eva was sent to us and why she was taken away so soon, but in that short time I have learned to love my children more and be so very thankful for all of our moments together as a family. I am so very blessed to have been able to hold that beautiful little girl. I can praise God for she has now exchanged that broken earthly body for a capable beautiful heavenly body. She is now running, dancing, laughing and smiling. My heart aches at the thought of losing a child. The Clearfield's strength is admirable and I wish only love and the best for them in this dark time.

We Are Having Another......

Earlier this week my friend called me to tell me that the OB's from the hospital were having a conference this weekend. The subject was ultrasound. They needed volunteers around 20 weeks pregnant to come in and be scanned. I signed up right away. Another chance to see the baby and hopefully find out the gender. Today couldn't come fast enough. I arrived at the hotel and was shown to a conference room with a bed and an ultrasound machine. All the residents were still at lunch so the teacher said she would just start off by finding out the gender. Oh boy was I nervous that the baby wouldn't participate today. She had no trouble at all finding the "Parts". We are happy a proud to announce that we will be having another....GIRL. I was pretty surprised. I really thought it was a boy. My theories have been put to shame and I no longer hold onto them. The rest of the scan went well. I had about a dozen or so OB's practice their technique on my tummy. Some of them were really good and knew what they were doing yet others not so much. I had a blast being able to see my baby girl. I do have lotsa pictures to share and a video but that will have to wait until Scott gets home. Not sure how to do that yet. Yipppeeee!!

Darby Dan Dinner

Saturday evening Scott and I went to the Darby Dan Dinner. This is a yearly event put on by the hospital. Their way of thanking the doctor's. It is held at the Darby Dan Farm, hence the name of the dinner. Anyway it is a private party with valet parking and usually amazing food plus open bar. Our friends Brennen and Nita Smith picked us up as they were dropping off their daughter J.J to babysit. Nick, their oldest was going to drop us all off and take the truck to hang out with some friends. He just got his licence. Anyway, we arrived at the dinner and headed for the bar so Scott could get a drink and since I am pregnant the only option was water. Then we headed back outside to participate in the games. There was corn holing and putting. I played Scott in the corn holing and beat him and won a $25 gift card to Cameron Mitchel restaurant. Then we headed over to putt. This time I played Scott and our friend Allan. Guess who beat them. Me. I don't golf so I guess it was luck. I won two more $25 gift cards to Cameron Mitchel Restaurants. It was getting pretty cool after this game so we went inside to cruise the hoers devourers. After a long speech by someone I don't know dinner was served. I must say that the Darby Dinner is usually great but this year missed the mark. I was so unimpressed with the selection and ended up filling up on the dessert table. Last years was sooo much better in my opinion. After dinner we sat around and talked with friends. Shorty after 10 we decided it was time to go but Brennen and Nita were wanting to stay. Scott was on call the next morning and My kids get up pretty early so we got a ride with Michelle and Allan. When we got home we found both J.J and Grisham asleep on the couch. Too cute. I tucked Grisham in bed and told J.J. to go back to sleep. Her mom and dad would be back soon. It was a great night out and sad to say that next year will be our last dinner. It better be freaking awesome!!!

Still To Come...

I am working on my posts from all of our fun activities this weekend. Life happened and interrupted my progress numerous times today so be patient and hopefully I will have new posts tomorrow.

Apple Picking

Saturday morning we went down to Chillecothe for some apple picking. We go to Hirsch Fruit Farm every year (at least the last three). The Elliott's got us hooked and now we have a family apple picking tradition. It is about and hr drive and both kids fell asleep of course. Oh well, at least they would be rested for all the walking. The day was beautiful. I always forget how cool it is when we are down on the farm and then how hot it gets up on top of the hill in the orchard. We decided to take the farm tour this year and get some pretty pictures of the land. The farm has been around since 1890 and it is 400+ acres. They grow numerous types of apples, peaches and strawberries. They even have a good sized pumpkin patch. After the tour we went over to the picking area. Our favorite apple is the Melrose. It is great to eat and bake with. The only problem is that the trees are on this big hill. The grass is really thick and hard to walk through. I was having a heck of a time carrying Genevieve up the hill so we sat down in the grass, ate an apple and waited for Scott to fill the bag for us. We also picked some golden delicious too. After the ride down the hill we went over to the petting zoo area and then rode the horse drawn wagons. We got on one that had comfy seats and a canopy. Best horse drawn wagon ride I have ever had. We were so surprised to see it was after 2 in the afternoon. The morning had flown by and we needed to get home to get ready for dinner. Grisham was a little sad to leave. I wanted to do more too but we were running out of time. We always have next year.

Baby Appointment

I had my baby appointment today. The ultrasound was first and then the talk with Dr. Roncone. I was so nervous going into the scan. I think back to my pregnancy with Grisham and not even one negative thought entered my mind. I was so oblivious to all the bad things that can go wrong during a pregnancy. Then being pregnant with Genevieve I was a little more aware. This time I am almost panicking because I know too much about what could go wrong. I have witnessed it personally. Once I got into the ultrasound room and sat on the table. I could feel the tears building. I kept telling myself to stay calm. Then there on the monitor was a beautiful baby. The tech went about measuring and snapping photos. Most of the time I had no idea what she was looking at. But I could see the head, the heart, the arms and legs. I couldn't hold back the tears any more. Everything was looking good. I was so relieved. All these weeks of worrying and finally relief. The tech tried really hard to see what the gender was but the baby is in such a position it made it extremely difficult. She couldn't get all the pictures needed for the anatomy scan. The baby is face down, spine up. The spine was casting too much of a shadow over the heart so she could not get a picture of the blood flow. So she needs to rescan me at the next appointment. After the ultrasound I went to see Dr. Roncone. She was pleased that I have gained some weight and said that the baby did look good. No worries just need to rescan for that blood flow next time. Hopefully the little stinker will be in a better position and we can see who is getting a room mate.

Fire Station Museum

Today for playgroup we went downtown to the Fire Station Museum. The building is an original firehouse from the 1800's. It is full of antique fire engines. When we arrived we all gathered together for a quick tour. The firefighter that lead us on the tour was full of information on how fires were fought a long time ago. The kids did an amazing job listening and following directions. I could just tell they were dying to climb and explore but unfortunately this part of the tour was hands off. He took us towards the back of the house where the horses lived and talked about how the firefighters also had to care for the nine horses that lived there too. The kids liked the fake horse very much. Genevieve kept pointing and laughing at it. Finally the tour was over and the kids could go over to the hands on area. They got to climb in a fire truck and push buttons, play with the radios, and turn the lights and sirens on. There was an area for dress up and sliding down a poll. Brenner didn't want anything to do with the play area. He was content to sit in the stroller and watch the kids play. I attempted to get him out and play but he ended up in tears and wanted back in the stroller. Oh well:(

Buddy Walk

Sunday was the eighth annual Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome. This is our third year walking for the For Love of Leah team. This was the biggest year yet. Over 100 people signed on to partner with the Elliotts and they raised over three thousand dollars for the Down Syndrome Association. Mary and her family work so hard every year and it really paid off. We all gathered together at the Crew Stadium 15-20 minutes before the walk to take a group picture then it was off for the mile long walk around the stadium. Leah is always so fun to watch during the walk. She gets so animated and excited to have all these wonderful people around her who care for her. After the walk we went to the bouncy and let Grisham and Genevieve have a bounce. After that we saw the fire truck and police car. By this time I was really needing something to eat so we went back to the For Love of Leah headquarters for some burgers and hot dogs. While Genevieve and I were chowing on some cake Scott took Grisham back over to the stadium to see the clowns. He came back with a balloon sword. He was so proud of the sword. He sat down next to me in the grass to show me what he had and the balloon popped on the grass. He was sooo upset about losing his sword. So we decided to call it a day and go home. It was a successful walk and we had a great time. Thank you Mary and family for all your hard work.