My Dad went to be with Jesus...

Fred E. Wert

It is still pretty difficult for me to comprehend that my Dad is with Jesus right now and has been for 2 weeks already. I was there when he died and praise God he recognized me, Lauchlin and smiled and waved at little Jude. He shouldn't have been able to do those things because he had been declared brain dead a couple hours earlier after 20+ minutes of CPR. Little did he or any of us know that his drive to the hospital the Thursday before would be beginning of the end of his life. He was initially diagnosed with walking pnemonia 4 weeks earlier but over some time, heart stopping and testing at the hospital it was soon discovered that he had congenital heart disease that had been eating away at his heart for the past few years and there wasn't much left. His few days at the hospital included his heart stopping and a number of sequences of CPR, ventilator etc. We thought he was going to die a number of times and miraculously he would wake up and be very alert. God was merciful in allowing us to get a flight out of Memphis last minute with no delays that got us there just as my family was running down the hall because my Dad's heart was going into arrest again and this time he had said he didn't want any intervention. So, I held his hand as he struggled for breath and his heart beat it's last. Lauchlin and I agreed that his dying was so real and connected to eternity that it was almost hard to comprehend that one minute he was there with us and the next with Jesus.

As we looked back over the last year in which the doctors' were amazed that he hadn't been struggling physically during and saw the mercy of God. Not only did we not know to worry about him during significant events in all of us kids's lives, he also wasn't suffering or struggling. He was able to welcome his first grandchild into the world...

Walk his youngest daughter down the aisle at her wedding... ...and my brother and his business partners sold their business in a very significant transaction. Dad was there to celebrate. I just think how distracting or even awful it would have been to have dad suffering or even have a heartattack at one of these events. Thank you Lord for your mercy.

I wanted to share some things that I will really miss about my Dad...

• The way that he would call me and say 'Hey Kenny, how are you doing?' (Kenny was his nickname for me since I was little. He had started calling Jude, 'Juder'. So he would add on 'How's my little Juder and Lauchlin doing?')
• His love for anything golf, football or coffee related. Especially Penn State. Lauchlin said he will miss on our visits Dad coming out of the kitchen saying 'Lauchlin, how about some coffee.' with a big grin on his face (this could happen any time of the day not just morning!)
• His passion for lost and hurting people. His willingness to be a minority politically in his area and community because of these beliefs.
• His great ability to teach and communicate God's word.
• His goofy sayings like 'What the hun!' 'Heaven's to murgitroid.'
• His whistling through his teeth which you could hear at any time. That's how I would track him in a store.
• His laughing so hard watching 'Home Alone' when the little kid is getting the robbers. He would start crying he laughed so hard.
• Seeing him reading his Bible and/or commentary early in the morning.

Those are just a few...I am grateful that we had some special time with him after Jude was born and that he got to meet Jude at all!

The viewing and funeral were very honoring to Dad and below are a few special things that people did. We gave a bunch of pictures and photo albums to my mom's dear friend Yvonne who put together a beautiful display for people to look at when they entered the church lobby.

Also, my Dad used to say 'What the hun!' alot in surprise or emphasis to a sentence and often would say to people 'If I were any better I'd....' and list off a few things that identified the person's situation in life. So, someone put this up on the church's billboard for my Dad. He was well loved at our home church!!

Mostly, I guess I wanted to in a small way honor my Dad with this blog...

I will miss you Dad in all sorts of ways and don't even comprehend all of them yet. I am SO glad that you knew Jesus before you died and now know Him fully. I am so glad that you got to meet Jude but feel pretty sad that you never got to experience him looking up at you with his arms up wanting you to pick him up. I'm also sad that you won't ever meet Priscila in this life. Thank you for being my Dad.

I love you,

Mackenzi

Jude is 1 year old!!

Jude is 1 year old as of November 4, 2008. It is so hard to believe how he has grown and how much our love and enjoyment of him has grown. Here he is as a newborn...
Here he is today...

We had a small birthday party for him this weekend and it went over quite well with him. Between cake and gifts, he was having a blast. It continues to amaze me how much of a people person he is. He just seems so content when people are around.

We sang 'Happy Birthday' to him, he seemed confused but not so confused about what he wanted to do with the cake...

At first the texture of the icing was odd to him but then not so much!

Just get it in there as quick as you can!

He got some fun toys as well as great books and cds.

The grownups there enjoyed some chili and later smores on our back porch with some fires in our fire pits. (Jude went to bed so mommy and daddy could enjoy some grownup time.) The weather was perfect with just enough nip in the air for a fire to be very cozy.

Okay, so here is Priscila growning. I am currently 29 1/2 weeks pregnant. Now going to the doctor every 2 weeks, which I can't believe it is time for that already. We are starting to get the nursery set up and decorated. The goal is to have it done by Thanksgiving my family comes to visit.
But, for now, here we are!!

Much love and affection,

Mackenzi for the gang

Trick or Tweet?

Here is Jude in his Halloween costume! Okay, so we only went to one house... Alan and Pam's but he still look ridiculously cute in our opinion!

We enjoyed beef vegetable soup and yummy cornbread at the May household, put Jude down for bed and then watched scary movies with zombies in them.

I don't usually watch scary movies because I end up having nightmares but it seemed appropriate...kind of! :) We had a lot of fun just hanging out though.

This week is Jude's 1st birthday so I will be posting soon again but wanted to share pictures of our little bird.

Happy Halloween!

Mackenzi (and gang)

I've been tagged...

...by my friend Melanie. I guess the game works like this: She tags some people from her blog who then choose the 6th picture from their 6th folder in their pictures on their computer. Her's was a sweet one of her and her daughter when she was born in 2001. I however have only had a digital camera for 1 year and this is the picture fitting that criteria. Can you guess what Lauchlin is doing?He is showing what time it is when we are leaving for the hospital for me to deliver Jude. It is quite fitting since Jude will be 1 year old next Tuesday. I can not believe this!!! So, I thought this was a fun game. I don't have very many friends who blog so...I tag Cindy, Sarah and Katie. Who knows if they will know that they have been tagged but I tag you all just the same!

(The crazy thing is that we will probably have a similar picture in a few months when we head to the hospital for Priscila. Lauchlin hates this picture because when he initially posed I didn't like his facial expression so he went over the top for the second one. He will just love that this is the picture that I have posted for this game. heehee!)

Love you all,
Mackenzi :)

First football game and not a baby anymore...

We went to Jude's first high school football game on Friday and he seemed to enjoy it for the most part. (It was a game for one of our friend's brother, who is the quarterback for his team and is quite good). Sitting in the 'parents' section' made for alot of cheering and Jude did get scared when there was loud cheering. However, he sat looking at the game for quite a while with interest. Lauchlin and I decided that Jude can play football or be in the marching band, just so that we can come watch games when he is in high school! I really love marching bands!



I have been weaning Jude from formula to milk this week as well. The doctor suggests that in this transition we also replace the bottle with a sippy cup. I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it, I think psychologically it means that my baby is now officially a toddler and it makes me sad! (I will do it soon...I promise!)

I can't believe that he will be 1 year old in a short 2 weeks. Well, I am enjoying his increased babbling and mobility!

Hope all is well with you!

Affectionately,

Mackenzi (and gang)

Atlanta or Bust...

We packed up on Friday and headed to Atlanta to see Aunt Anna, Uncle Calvin, cousin Arielle, cousin Gabriel and Uncle Jon. Jude seemed to get excited as Momma began to pack our things to go. It took us about 7 hours to get there and thankfully Jude slept most of them. However, once we arrived he didn't sleep much. So, the grownups ended up with about 3 hours of sleep the first night.

Saturday morning probably around 5:30am, Jude and Gabriel met. We had to try to contain Jude from brutalizing Gabriel because he was so excited to interact with him. Gabriel is only 5 months old so he can't give it back. :) They liked to look at each other and smile.Arielle and Jude were another story. They were all over each other. Considering Arielle is 2 and 1/2, Jude held his own. His weakness was that he couldn't stand up and so got pushed over alot. Arielle started calling Jude, 'my Jude. She kept asking when Jude was napping, 'where is my Jude' or she would try to get into his room to wake him up because she wanted to play. They became fast friends.Then, Saturday afternoon, Jude got to meet his Uncle Jon. The beard went over well and Jude kept playing with it. Also, because Jon and Lauchlin sound so much alike, Jude kept staring at Jon because I think he was confused as to why Daddy's voice was coming out of Uncle Jon's mouth.

It was neat to see the Groff siblings together, even if it was only 3 of them. Always good to hear the Groff banter going on around the dinner table. One topic of conversation was how good of a nickname Lauchlin had given Jon a number of years ago. Jon had come out of his bedroom wearing different patterns in his top and bottom. He got the nickname 'Jonny Patterns'. It has stuck. So much so that Arielle somtimes calls him Uncle Patterns. :)

Lauchlin and I both got to spend some quality time with Arielle. She was able to master our names surprisingly well. She sometimes called us Aunti Mack and Uncle Lauch which sounds very endearing coming from a toddler.

At the end of the day, Lauchlin and I both agreed that we have great affection for our niece and nephew. There is something very special and unexplainable about family ties. We had a great trip with some neat memories. The amazing thing is how different each of the children will be once we come together again. Priscila will be added into the mix as well.

We are now back to Memphis but very grateful for a wonderful trip.

Affectionately,

Mackenzi and gang

Little booty in jeans and moving toward Priscila...

Look at that little booty in jeans!

As I have been dressing Jude in more fall clothing, I just think he looks sooooo cute. The other day when I put these jeans on I just couldn't stop from chuckling because he just looked like a little man.

Okay, so that may be very boring and a little over the top for most of you but I love it and frankly this is my blog so get over it! :)

This past weekend we really worked hard on the house cleaning things out and reorganizing. We are getting carpet put into our bedrooms to minimize noise between rooms for when Priscila arrives. So, this entails cleaning out closets and reordering bedrooms. Jude will be moving into what was our office. The kids are winning, it is a losing battle!! But, doing this helped me feel a little bit more like we are accomplishing tasks to be more prepared for a new baby. Once the carpet is in the two kids' rooms will get organized and I will feel much better! I am definitely having the nesting instincts again this time around.

Anyway, that is what we are up to. We will be heading to Atlanta to see Lauchlin's brother, sister and brother-in-law (and their 2 children). It is exciting because we haven't met their youngest Gabriel yet and they haven't met Jude. So, it will be a weekend of introductions and fun!

Have a great week!

Affectionately,

Mackenzi (and gang)

Jude has a 'tude...

So, last post I thought we were on the mend...not so much. Jude got diagnosed with an ear infection and is on antibiotics. Then the past 2 days Lauchlin and I have had some kind of bug which included throwing up etc. Not fun and we are ready to be over it. The following pictures are to reflect how Jude felt about his mommy being sick and trying to lay on the couch when he wanted to play...

You are sick and going to do what today momma?

Ha ha ha ha ha...guess I'll have to cry all day then.

Seriously, it is pretty challenging being sick and trying to care for a little one. It did seem like he knew I was sick and kicked it up!

Priscila seems to be thriving in spite of the rest of the family being sick. Here is a mediocre picture of her growing....

On another note, we unfortunately have to find another home for our kitties. If you know of anyone looking for 2 cats that are brothers and very friendly, please let us know. Here they are...

They are dear cats but with another baby on the way, we literally do not have any room for them.

Hope your week is going well....

Ta ta for now,

Mackenzi :)

Sick and Tired, Man of many hats...

We have had a rough weekend. Little Jude had a temperature up to 104 degrees and just wanted to be held. Poor little boy was just miserable and clingy. This meant mommy was on super duty. He didn't want to be put down nor did he really want his daddy. Anyway, Lord willing we are heading out of this sickness.

Being home for days at a time we did get a little bored and loopy. So, I am trying to prepare the changing table for Priscila and I had Jude try on all his hats to see which ones fit.







Needless to say, some are still too big and others too small.


I don't have anything witty to say because my brain feels like mush from lack of sleep.





Hopefully we will be back to this cheerful healthy little one soon.

Much love,
Mackenzi

Jude and his Daddy...

It amazes me at how much Jude loves his Daddy.


He gets soooooo excited when I say, "Daddy's home!". He starts smiling and squealing. When he hears Lauchlin's voice he starts heading in that direction.


There are often times that we are sitting down for a meal or just hanging out and Jude just watching everything that Lauchlin is doing. Lauchlin often says "What buddy?". That often evokes a squeal and smile.



When he suddenly gets a bunch of Daddy kisses, he presses his little head into them with his eyes slightly closed and a gentle smile on his lips. It is beautiful.


It really is a wonderful picture of how trusting and hungry we should be for the Lord's affection. How much more loving is He. Do I really see Him this way or let Him love me this way? No. May I take this picture of my little Jude and husband as a real life parable of His love.



Jude and Lauchlin at lunch today. We took a picnic for his lunch break.


May you experience and see God's fatherly love for you today!


In Him,
Mackenzi :)

Better mood and same eyes...

Praise the Lord!! Jude is in a much better mood today and not as clingy as he has been the last 2 weeks. We were being silly with the camera. He really is a dear boy and I love that he likes to smile and be cuddly (is that a word?)


I also noticed as I looked at these pictures, we really do have the same eyes. Wierd! Still a bit strange that God chooses to use us in the process of creating life, what a blessing and very very humbling.

Well, happy weekend!

Love,
Mackenzi :)