Chuck E. Cheese

Today we took Gavin to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time.  It's funny how different it was from when I remember it as a little girl.  I don't know if it's because it is different or just my grown up view point.  There was a small section that seemed to be for smaller kids filled with cars and trucks to ride.  Gavin was all about that!  The first thing he climbed into was this big "monster truck" with hydraulics.  He really liked that.  Then, we went on all the other cars...many times!

We finally pulled him away from all of the car rides to play a little ski ball.  I still love ski ball.  The one thing I loved as a kid was, you could crawl/walk right up to the board and throw your ball into the 5,000 or 10,000 point hole.  The plastic on this machine seemed so low that there was no cheating to be had. We played on these machines for a while and got a really pleasant surprise! Chuck E. Cheese himself came right up to Gavin for a hug!  I wasn't sure what Gavin's response would be, but he went right to him and gave him a great big hug.  He's gonna Looooooove Disney World!  The funny thing was, after Good ole Chuck left us, he walked past a couple of kids, approximately 8 and 10 years of age.  The 8 year old turned around, much to her horror, to see a giant mouse walk past her.  She took off running and screaming, and Chuck threw his hands up in the air and kept walking.  That, my friends, was funny!!

We put our tickets into the ticket counter (which I think Gavin enjoyed more that any game there) and redeemed our prizes!  Gavin got an orange lizard and some sweet hearts.  Not bad for his first time!

Visiting Aunt Beth

This past weekend I went to New Orleans to visit my best friend, Beth.  I was originally visiting to have a girl's weekend and to throw her a baby shower.  We didn't get to throw the baby shower because on August 1, 2011, she gave birth at 25 1/2 weeks to a 1 pound baby boy named Gabriel Joseph.  Beth felt the baby move less and less, so her doctor had her come in for monitoring.  What they found was not good.  The baby was very sick and needed to be delivered right away if he had any chance to survive.  The doctor said if she had waited another day, he would not have made it.  After tons of tests, the doctors finally figured out the cause.  Beth had contracted CMV(http://www.cdc.gov/cmv/overview.html) at about 20 weeks and her body started to fight off the virus, and the baby.

It's been almost a month now, and he's had his share of struggles, but continues to fight.  He is the smallest baby I have ever seen.  I was surprised every time I walked into his room to see him.  He's hooked up to tubes and IV's that help support all of his systems, but he is so cute.  He has blonde, fuzzy hair and eyebrows.  He has a perfect nose and big hands and feet.  He responds to his mom when she talks by opening his eyes and turning his head in her direction.  He moves his little arms and legs all around and protests being handled with the most demonstrative facial expressions (much like his dad).  He's perfect.  Except he's not supposed to be here.  He's supposed to be in his mom's belly growing.  Life is so unfair sometimes. I know that things happen for a reason, but why at the expense of a tiny baby and the mother that wanted him so badly.  Beth visits him every day, but she's getting tired.  The physical and emotional stress are getting to her.  I can't imagine what she must be going through.  I have a hard time dealing with Gavin being sick with a cold, so I know her heart is breaking for her little guy and everything he's going through.  The doctor's are doing everything they can for him, and I continue to hope for the best for my friend and her family. We've postponed the baby shower until further notice. I really hope I get to throw her that baby shower in a couple of months...