Happy News...Sad Goodbyes

First the happy news: I found out today that my friend Amy is pregnant with baby #2!! YEAH!!! I'm so excited for her and Matt. They have Heidi who is 18 months old and now they'll have another baby in May. The other fun news is that I found out today that my friend Andrea and her husband Bert are having a baby boy. Again, I guessed that one wrong. I think mostly I was hoping she was having a girl because I have these clothes that Hope wore when she was first born that are SOOOOO cute and I want to give them to a friend. No luck yet. My friend Kari from church just had a baby boy on Friday. Dawn is due any day and they are having a boy. Now Andrea is having a boy. C'mon!! Someone out there has to be having a girl. And NO!!! It's NOT going to be me. hehehe But I'm excited for Andrea and Bert. This is their first baby and they are going to be excellent parents. Mommy is well and baby is well and that's what's most important:) Hey...maybe my friend Marsha will have the next girl. (hint, hint, hint)

Now for the sad goodbyes. After the late service yesterday we headed to Stevens Point. I had to say goodbye to my nephew Andrew as he headed for Milwaukee today and heads to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX, for basic training tomorrow. As of tomorrow he will be the property of the United States Air Force. I'm going to miss him so much. He's like the son I'll never have. I was in the delivery room when he made his beautiful, grand entrance into this world (all 9lbs, 1 oz, 21 1/2 inches of him). I got up with him quite a few nights during his first 6 weeks of life so my sister could get some sleep (he fell right asleep watching the Home Shopping Network). I went with Andrew and Alison on his first day of Kindergarten (and I BAWLED all the way from Stevens Point to back to Downers Grove, IL). I taught him how to sing "I see London, I see France..." I taught him how to turn the volume up and down on the TV (and did that annoy a few people I know and love). I'm his Godmother. He's Hope's Godfather. He's such a great kid and I'm going to miss him dearly. So I've shed quite a few tears over the past few weeks just thinking about him starting on this new journey. And yet some of those tears have been tears of joy because I'm so very proud of him for making this decision to serve his country. Andrew's a smart kid. He could have gotten in to any college he wanted. Yet he chose this because he feels it is his calling. Lots of people have given him lots of advice about bmt (basic military trainging). I could offer him none. All I could do is hug him and let him know how much I love him, will miss him and how proud of him I am. He's going to do great. I know he will. I'm looking forward to seeing him once he gets settled at school after bmt. He'll be stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. It's a great deal for me because my friends Dawn and Dan are at the Navy base in Gulfport, MS, which is right next door to Biloxi. That means when I see Andrew I can see them (and baby Spies...who hasn't made his arrival yet) as well. Please say a prayer for Andrew...especially during these first few weeks. I'll keep you posted on what I hear. I'm sure I'll shed a few more tears in the next weeks, but Hope will be near me telling me as she has so many times in the past 24 hours: "Don't be sad, Mommy."

Ya know, I actually have FOUR awesome nephews and I'll post some things about them in the next few days. What I'm feeling about Andrew leaving is what I felt when Barry graduated from UW-Madison (GO BADGERS!) and left for his Peace Corp assignment in Benin, West Africa. I was so proud and yet he was going to be so far away and I missed him horribly. And I felt that way again when he decided to go to South Korea to teach. He's doing such great work, but selfishly I wish he lived in the States. And then Shane left for Marine Corp bootcamp. I heard horror stories about the Marines before he left and I was so worried about him. But he got through it with flying colors...and he actually said he liked it!!! Now that's about as crazy as me saying I love working with Jr. High students. What can I say?? We're gluttons for punishment. hehehe I was so proud of Shane and I knew he'd do well, but not knowing how often we'd get to see him and worrying that he'd be in danger just made me cry. Fortunately he got out of the service just before this whole mess in Iraq started. My other nephew, Jack, will be 2 in October and he's so blasted cute!! Yesterday he told me that he's dashingly handsome. LOL He and Hope have so much fun together.

So I've rambled. I just had to journal about how I'm feeling about Andrew right now. My best prayer right now is just "Lord, please be with Andrew." I wish he weren't flying to San Antonio tomorrow because it's 9/11. I've got an "icky" feeling about tomorrow simply because when 9/11 originally happened it was on a Tuesday. And tomorrow is Tuesday, 9/11. Again Lord, please keep Andrew safe.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Time for bed.