back from DC

i am back from Washington DC. actually, i have been back for 3 days, i just haven't had time to post yet. i've been too busy posting my tons of pictures on facebook. it took part of saturday night and all of yesterday but i'm done!

DC was awesome!!! we arrived there at about 10:30 on tuesday night and got our room assignments. i was with emily, cathy and angela which rocked! i was SO scared i was going to be with someone annoying or mean or someone who might steal my stuff, but not at all.

the rest of the week was pretty much all the same. wake up, eat breakfast, load bus, drive to DC (we weren't actually staying in DC), go to lots of museums and memorials, walk, eat lunch, walk, go to more museums and memorials, eat dinner, walk, go to MORE museums and memorials, load bus, ride to hotel, take shower, and crash. it was very busy but totally worth it.

i don't remember half the places we went or in what order we went to them so i'll just say what i remember. my favorite things we went to were the Arlington cemetery, the holocaust museum, and the world war II memorial. they were all amazing. the Arlington cemetery and holocaust museum were both so cool but in a sad, depressing sort of way.

the Arlington cemetery is just thousands and thousands of graves of former soldiers stretching on and on and on. i was really looking forward to seeing the tomb of the unknown soldier and the changing of the guard but after we walked all the way there they made us turn around. for some reason we couldn't go at the time and we couldn't come back because we had other memorials to see. it was disappointing but at least it gave us more time to look at other graves and things.

the holocaust museum was.... wow. there aren't even really words to explain it. unfortunately we were in a rush when we went and didn't get to read a lot of the things there but we still got the same effect. what was most amazing to me is that there were actually possessions of the holocaust victims in the museum, like shoes. there were so many shoes. there were also hair brushes and tools and clothes and all sorts of other things. another interesting/sad/cool thing there was a model of the process of getting gassed. it was hard to see but it really made you understand more. the whole museum did that.

other things we saw were the Vietnam veterans memorial, the Korean war memorial, the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, iwo jima, the capitol building, like 5 museums, and a quick walk past the white house. we also saw Obama's car go by which was really cool!

here are some pictures of all those things.

capitol building....

Korean war memorial...

lincoln memorial...

Vietnam veterans memorial...

jefferson memorial...

white house...

world war II memorial...

arlington cemetery...

iwo jima... (this is probably my favorite picture of the week)

pretty cool places, huh? here are some pretty cool people too...

i'm so glad i got to hang out in Washington DC for 3 whole days with these awesome people. it was wonderful. :)

almost time for DC

today the 8th grade is going on a field trip to Washington DC!!! i am so excited but really dreading being away from jonah and everyone else. we aren't coming back until friday night. last night i told jonah he had to be really good while i was gone so i didn't have to worry about him. lets hope he listened. its gonna kill me to not know what's going on throughout the day. i will call mom to get an update at night when we are in our hotel rooms. that is the only time we are allowed to use our cell phones. i am also going to be worrying about baby stellan while i'm gone. he is having a very rough time so please pray for him. mycharmingkids.net.
i gotta admit.... i'm going to miss the computer while i'm gone. but i'm pretty sure i'll be having too much fun to really care. we are going to see tons of memorials and some museums and things like that. we are also going to have a dance on a ship tomorrow which will be really cool. please pray for our safety to and from DC. its a 5 hour bus ride. kinda dreading that part but i am hoping to sleep the whole time, if my brace allows it.
well...that's pretty much all for now! i just have to get through the school day and then its off to Washington DC!

this is the song i made up when i was little when peyton and amy lived in DC,

on the road again, til we come
to DC Washington.
we will have lots of fun!
when we come to Washintonnnnnn.

(you can't really gut the full effects by just reading it but whatever. just imagine me being little and cute and singing it with much enthusiasm). :)

a not so crappy day

for once i am going to write about school...but not in an 8th grade sucks post! hooray! i never thought the day would come. but here it is!

all this week we have been having end of quarter test which i actually kind of like because that means we don't have so sit through most of our boring classes and we don't have homework! Monday and Tuesday (we had a field trip Wednesday) we just took our test and then went to 2 of our core classes and did regular work but today we just goofed off the whole day. it was awesome! i stayed with my home base all day and pretty much did nothing. we took our integrated math test which was very hard (now this was a bit crappy) and then played games, watched tom and huck, played more games, and went outside. it was really fun! then we had lunch and went to our encores and pretty much did nothing there too. i had gym but we didn't have to dress out and we went outside. as long as we were being active we could do whatever we wanted so i just walked the track and talked to friends most of the time. i would have been playing soccer but we only had one ball and all the really good people were playing with it and i didn't want to play with them. i would just make myself look like an idiot. so anyhow, gym was kind of boring but i would rather it be boring then be inside playing stupid games that make you collide with stupid boys. refer back to 8th grade sucks-volume 1. jeez...i am STILL embarrassed about that. moving on...
in art we are working on self portraits so our teacher just showed us ways that we could paint them and that was all. then we went home! :) hooray!

i was VERY thankful for a good day. i really needed one. i was very worried about jonah yesterday (it was just one of those days...) and i was afraid today was going to be the same way. thankfully it wasn't though. of course i am always thinking about him and worrying about him to some extent but that is reasonable i think. i am just so stinking proud of him. he's so tough. i am ALWAYS bragging about him. i'm sure it annoys some people but i don't care. they can deal with it. :) i haven't heard any news on how jonah is doing today but i am hoping that God blessed us both with a good day. keep praying.

the power of prayer

i'm sure everyone has already seen the post on patrice's blog about jonah's perfect day but i just wanted to do one too and say how perfect it was for me too. there are no words to express how wonderful it feels to look at your sweet little nephew and know that prayers are being sent out for him all around the world and even more wonderful to know that God is actually answering them. there aren't enough thank yous in the world to show how thankful i am for everyone's prayers. i think yesterday gave so much hope to all of us that jonah may be okay. i have tried to keep an open mind throughout all of this and tell myself that he WILL be okay and that he is going to live for a very very long time just to keep myself from going crazy but it really helps to actually SEE that. i hope every day is as good as yesterday but if not, at least we know for sure that one day jonah was pain free and happy. every day like that is such a huge blessing for us and jonah. it was so much easier going to school today knowing that days like yesterday are possible. please pray for more days like yesterday (i know, i didn't even have to say that).

this morning i printed out a couple pictures of jonah and took them to school to brag about jonah and how i got to hold him. i showed them to one of the ladies that helps out in my science class and explained to her jonah's situation.

"this is my nephew jonah. he has a skin disease called EB."

"oh. i've never heard of the before. is it rare?"

"yes, very rare".

"well i'll be praying for him. does your sister believe in the power of prayer?"

(i laugh to myself) "OH YEAH." then i tell her how there has been this huge prayer movement for jonah and how awesome it is.

"is there a cure?"

"no"

"well, God can do anything."

and that was the last thing she said. i'm glad too. it was a good thought to be left with.

in love

i have to admit. i'm totally in love with this little guy named jonah. he is SO cute. he didn't really know i existed before....

but now he does!

he'll always hold a special place in my heart. forever and ever. i love you jonah.

a very tacky aunt

i saw jonah yesterday and he looks so good! his face is looking awesome except for the blister left by the tape but still... he looks so much better then when i last saw him. it amazes me the differences that happen in between my visits. i see him about every 3 or 4 days, although it feels like 3 or 4 weeks to me. when i first came in he kind of opened his eyes. it made me happy because it was the first time i had seen them open at all. it was really just a flutter but i'm pretty sure he saw me which is good. i don't want him to wake up when he's 2 months old and not recognize his aunt....even though i'm pretty sure babies don't really recognize anyone at that age. but maybe. i don't really know. i got to see patrice hold him and saw him suck on his bottle for about 30 seconds. it was really cute.






please keep praying for matt while he's dealing with a virus. he is not getting to visit jonah and i know that has to be hard. so yeah... just pray that he gets better very very quickly and that he gets to see jonah soon.

on a totally different note, yesterday was tacky day at school, and i was actually brave enough to dress up for it! and i mean REALLY dress up for it. this is really big for me. i'm not really the out going type. it was kind of scary because when i first walked into school i didn't see ANYONE dressed up and all the horrors of "what if i got my days mixed up?!" went through my mind. but it was all good. it WAS tacky day, just not many people dressed up. this surprised me. i thought everyone would dress up for tacky day, but apparently middle schoolers have to look perfect and popular and can never have any fun. i didn't get the memo.

at least there were a few other girls that looked worse than i did. it made me feel a little less stupid....

my hair was my favorite part. i have the perfect tacky day hair.



i didn't want to scare jonah so i unbraided my hair, took off my ugly blue orchestra shirt, my plaid pants, and removed my different colored eye shadows. i thought this look was much more fitting for an aunt.


hope you enjoy this post being that it took me 2 days to get it up here.
so much to do, so little time.

an awesome hospital party

i was right, i AM exhausted. i don't even really feel like blogging right now but i'm trying to avoid homework and this is the best way to do it since it takes forever. plus...i have to tell about my birthday party.

well, first off i would just like to say that it was the coolest hospital birthday party ever! i seriously wanna have my birthday there next year too, but i DO NOT want anyone to be in the hospital. i just wanna go back for fun.

it was supposed to be a joint party for me and ainsley but her and asher and peyton were all sick so they didn't get to come. :( i am sooo tired of everyone being sick. julia was supposed to come over this weekend too but didn't because she got sick. but i'm getting off topic here....

the party was really fun! sarah decorated and amy made a cake and mom bought pizza and it was just awesome. some of our family and some of matt's family and some friends were all there. we just ate and talked and stuff but it was good. i got some very good presents too! i got a backpack camera case so now i can ride my bike and take my camera with me! i also got a jason mraz cd, a taylor swift karaoke cd, an itunes gift card, a shirt, and lots of money! it was very exciting.

here i am with winston-salem behind me...

jonah also had a good day yesterday which was fabulous. patrice and matt got to hold him! it was a very happy moment, as you can see by the pictures on patrice's blog. i can't wait til i see him again. i should really be thankful (which i am) but it is still aggravating to only be able to see him twice a week. i am lucky for that though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINSLEY (aka...cutest/silliest/prettiest/awesomest 2 year old ever)!!!

you make me smile :)

night night

you know what i hate? ...time change and stupid computers. i am going to be exhausted in the morning and our computer is being majorly slow so I'm just gonna post about my birthday-ness tomorrow. goodnight.

weeks and years

well, today was my first day of being 14. its pretty much the same as being 13...not that exciting. it mostly just makes me feel old, which im not really sure how i feel about. honestly, im really not concerned with how old i am right now. it makes me happy that jonah is 1 week old today more than it does that im 14 today. i am grateful for every hour, every day, and every week he is here with us. i just hope that one day jonah will be celebrating his 14th birthday too and that i will be right there celebrating it with him. it makes me very sad when i think about gabe not having that. he was supposed to have lots of birthdays and spend lots of birthdays with me. it always feels like there is someone missing and i guess it will be like that until i see him in heaven one day. i am glad he is in a happy place where there are no tears or sorrow, cause it really gets old after a while.

i got to see jonah today!!! i went during feeding time hoping to see him down 15 ccs or maybe see some open eyes but neither happened. he seemed VERY tired, but that's pretty understandable. he's been through a whole lot in this past week. even with closed eyes he is as cute as ever.

other than getting to see jonah, nothing too exciting really happened today. i went to school...if you consider that exciting. it was just a normal day except for i got sung to a lot which made my face turn red. i got cards from mom and dad and amy which were all filled with some much needed money (thanks guys!). julia was supposed to come over tonight and spend the night but today she called and said she had a runny nose and cough so i asked her not to come, that we should just hang out another weekend. i am trying desperately not to get sick. when you only get to see your nephew 2 times a week, you do whatever you can to fulfill the opportunity.

tomorrow we are having a little party at the hospital on the 12th floor to celebrate me and ainsley's birthdays. her 2nd birthday is on sunday! i cant believe she is getting that old. *sniff sniff* anyhow...i am excited about the party. the 12th floor is really cool. its on the very top of the hospital and its outside but there are glass walls surrounding it so you don't fall off you know. and there is also a playground which im sure asher and ainsley will enjoy, and maybe me too. :) sarah came up with the idea of having it up there since patrice and matt are sticking close to the hospital. plus, that way jonah can kind of be there. kind of.

okay, i should probably go to bed now being that its not really my birthday anymore. i should have never gotten a blog. it keeps me up too late at nights...

blessed

well, i made it through the school day. it wasn't as bad as i was afraid it was gonna be. pretty much the only people that know about jonah's condition are my friends on facebook because they have joined his prayer group and i got to talk to them while sitting in the waiting room after everything happened (thank you for wireless Internet). i talked to them about it today but not many other people. i am SO proud of him and want to brag about him but maybe just not now. i mean, i don't even know what to say to people when i tell them about his case of EB because we really don't know much about it yet. it makes it hard when you don't know what kind he has or anything. every time i explain what jonah has, people bombard me with questions that i cant answer. is he going to be okay? how's he doing? will he live? well, i don't know if he will be okay. what exactly does okay mean? i don't really know how he's doing either. he's a tiny little baby fighting for his life and in that way, he's not doing well at all. but on the other hand, he is a STRONG little butterfly baby doing a very GOOD job of fighting for his life....so, yes, he is doing well. and i have no clue if he will live. i wish i could say yes, but i cant. that's not my decision. that's God's. maybe that is what i should say to people. but knowing kids at school, that wont stop the questions. its so hard going from being surrounded by your family who are all Christians and KNOW that God is making the decisions to being surrounded by many non-Christians who don't even believe in God. i would try and explain to them how God is in control but that is such a hard thing to explain. i don't know why God does the things he does, or what he has planned next. trust me...I've tried to figure it out, but its not something you realize all of a sudden, and when saying that to someone who doesn't believe in God you're gonna get some very puzzled looks and more questions. one thing i DO know is that God will get me through this and provide the right words for me to say to other people, and for that i am thankful. one thing i have recently learned is that you have to give your worries to God and let him handle things. it's a lot harder than it sounds but I'm getting better at it. knowing that God has his arms wrapped around our little jonah is the only thing that gets me through the days at school...and everywhere else. everything will be fine. i just gotta keep telling myself that. on the post before this one someone gave me some very good advice; no one who hasn't dealt with EB before is never gonna understand. that's why you have to tell them about the person and their personality and get people to see past the bandages and blisters. i am determined to do that with jonah. i can already tell he is going to have a wonderful personality and he's already just so darn cute. i will make people see that, even people who don't understand. that same person who gave me that advice also told me about their son who is also in 8th grade AND has EB. like 8th grade isn't torture enough. i have so much respect for that boy. he has to deal with weird questions all the time and i know it has to be hard. it makes me realize how blessed i am. i have never really had to deal with anything like that. the closest thing is having this back brace and that can't even compare. my goal is to start focusing on the good things in my life and not so much the bad. i gotta count my blessings.

...blessing number 1 - jonah.

the most wonderful sight to see

guess who i got to see today?! JONAH!!! he is SO cute. there's not even words to describe it. the manager nurse person (I'm not really sure who it was) made an exception for me (bless her) and is letting me see Jonah 2 times a week now. i am so very happy. i didn't think i was gonna survive one more day without seeing him. i am going to use my second time on Friday so i can see him on my birthday. i finally got pictures of him! some of them are a bit blurry though because we had to keep the camera on no flash or there would be reflections off of his incubator. and i was so excited i was shaking. but in my opinion, any picture showing Jonah is a good picture. so i would say i got some good ones.

man, i could just stare at that little face forever. notice his exposed tummy! it was looking so good that the doctors decided to just leave it unwrapped. its the cutest tummy ever. i know i know....he's cute, we get it. but I'm his aunt. I'm supposed to go on and on about how cute he is. it's my job. I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job of it.

on a less happy note i have to go to school tomorrow. i am dreading it sooo badly. i just don't feel like having to explain to everyone what happened to Jonah. the explaining isn't even that bad, i just don't like the reactions. people my age just don't understand how serious this is. they try but they just don't. and it's okay i guess. it's definitely not their faults they don't understand. but it's just hard, you know. please just pray my day is good and goes by quickly so i get to be back at the hospital ASAP. and of course keep praying for Jonah's progress. i am gonna be missing him like crazy...

love you buddy!

jonah's first snow day

it's jonah's first snow day! this morning i looked out the window to see tons of snow. there is probably about 4 inches....just what they predicted. the weather man was actually right for once! i wouldn't be surprised if we have school off for like a week. the school system is probably freaking out. here are some pictures of my walk with chuck and leeann and the puppies. i don't have my camera which is sad but leeann let me use hers. it was so pretty!

a break

today i took a break away from the hospital. i felt useless just sitting in the waiting room doing nothing, not even being able to see Jonah. i just needed to be somewhere else for a while. i felt bad not being with the family but i think they all agreed a break would be good for me. so after visiting The Journey for church this morning i went to LeeAnn and Chuck's house to hang out and haven't left yet. it started snowing earlier today so i had to decide whether i wanted to come back to the hospital or just stay here. i decided to stay here. i think Jonah would understand. i miss him a lot but i would be missing him at the hospital too. i am just looking forward to seeing his sweet face again in real life. i have seen recent pictures but its just not the same. guess i just gotta be patient. what makes my heart break is that Jonah is in pain. so please pray that he feels better. i can deal with me being in pain more than someone else.
it is snowing like crazy here. I'm amazed. i didn't really believe the weather forecast when it said 4-6 inches of snow but i believe it now. i haven't seen it snow this hard in forever. its really pretty but VERY cold. school got canceled tomorrow and i am very happy about it. i wasn't planning on going anyhow but this way i wont be so behind when i go back. i really wish we would have tomorrow off too. i just don't feel like being at school right now. i really cant deal with stupid middle school drama.