Long Overdue

Photos from my trip

ARIZONA

Okay I know this is waaaay overdue but here's part 1 of my time spent at home.

The first leg of our trip was spent in Arizona as we celebrated my sister-in-law's wedding. Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

Enjoy!

I had a ball at Devon's bachelorette Party with her and her Bad-Ass Bridesmaids!

Me and Christina, Maid Of Honor, at the end of the night in the Party Bus.

And YES Brianna, I had my purse, but don't worry it stayed in the bus the whole time!

Devon and Eric wed at Brophy Chapel. After the rehersal my family took a picture at the very spot where Marcus proposed to me on Christmas Eve 2003.

Grandpa looking nice and tan before the wedding.

The day of the wedding was wonderful. The Bride was beautiful and glowing, the Groom was very happy, the guests had a great time and the flowergirls... well they were the most beautiful I've ever seen :).

The wedding party got ready at the family home.

Sierra and Charlie LOVED their dresses!!

Me and my babies :).

Marcus and his mommy.

I decided to do something deifferent and not wear a dress to the wedding. Marcus wasn't sure what to think about my outfit when I told him what I had in mind, but it worked!

Devon was gorgeous!

So were her bridesmaids.

Charlie & Sierra and their cousins were adorable (and incredibly well behaved I might add!!).

Sierra took a moment to treat us to a song.

Click for video


Marcus and the girls before heading to the church.

Bride and Groom at the reception.


Charlie & Sierra spent quality time with Aunt Devon...

And each other.

We learned our Sierra is quite the little dancer.

Check her out!

Marcus and SiSi cut a rug.

Charlie & Grandma got down on the floor too!

I love this picture of Grandma, Devon & Charlie exiting the photo booth.

Grandpa showing us "Blue Steel".

Congratulations Devon!!!!

Photos from Vegas coming soon!

Bad Mom

Never in my life have I had a worse feeling...

As a mom you always want to protect your children. When something happens to them you feel responsible... doesn't matter the circumstances- you feel responsible...

A few days ago, while in Hawaii, we were heading down the escalator after breakfast. We were about halfway down when Sierra, who was standing next me, sat down on the step. I paused, wondering why she would sit right there but really didn't think anything of it. As the escalator continued moving I noticed her body was turning and realized that her foot was stuck. As she started crying I picked her up and rushed down the rest of the steps to see where she'd been hurt.

Most parents can distinguish their children's crys. The I'm embarrassed cry is different from the I'm scared cry which is different from the I'm hurt cry. Let me tell you, the cry that came from my baby was one I'd never heard before, from either of my girls- ever!

I knew that she was hurt badly but when Marcus and I examined her we didn't find anything. He was holding her so that she was facing me, we had taken her socks off to make sure she still had all her toes, we noticed she had a bruise on her thigh, but that was it.

I wanted to breath a sigh of relief but her cry wouldn't let me. Marcus turned her towards him so she could rest her head on his shoulder and as soon as she was facing him I saw it, blood. My stomach dropped and for a split second I thought I would break down. The back of Sierra's ankle was cut- deep. I showed Marcus and he ran w/ Sierra down to security while Charlie and I ran to get the car. I pulled up in front of the hotel and the valet guys were expecting me. They told me that the on-call doctor was on his way but Marcus and I decided we couldn't wait and would drive Sierra to the doctor's office.

While we were driving I suddenly remembered an email I got years ago when Charlie was Sierra's age. It was about crocs and escalators and told a story about some kid whose foot had gotten mangled when his croc was sucked into the escalator and the impending court case against the croc shoe company (I don't remember all the details but I do remember dismissing the email and assuming the kid was playing around on the escalator or doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing when he got hurt and the lawsuit was without merit).

When we got to the doctor's office they took us back and numbed Sierra's ankle so they could flush out her wound. As they did I could see the white of her tendon, but thank God her tendon hadn't been cut. They gave her a few stitches and some stickers and sent us on our way.

Sierra is doing fine. In fact she's been fine for days now. She's running and playing and aside from the fact that I have to clean and dress her wound twice a day you can't even tell that she had ever been hurt.
She's fine... I on the other hand am not.
I can not get rid of this pit in my stomach and the guilt that I have over the fact that I'm supposed to make sure things like this don't happen. I mean Sierra is damn near completely better, but my guilt is the same. It's the same today as it was when I first saw the blood, as it was when I could see her tendon in the doc's office, as it was that next day when she tried to limp around and got upset when we wouldn't let her walk. I just, I feel SO terrible. And I know it wasn't my fault. I know we couldn't have seen it coming. I know I'm a good mom... so why do I feel like a bad mom?

Seriously. My logic mind knows I shouldn't feel guilty. How do I get the rest of me to get the message?

I'm baaaaack!!

Hey everyone!
I know it's been a while but I'm back in Okinawa and ready to start blogging again.
In the coming days I'll post blogs (and TONS of pictures) about my trip back home to the states.
Stay tuned!
-Nikkie