April started off slow, but picked up quick and really turned into quite a month. We had a field trip to a farm with some friends. It was really fun. Haley milked a cow and caught and held several chickens! She thought it was fun 🙂 Lily wanted to catch a chicken but got scared at the last second. She had fun petting the ones Haley caught though!
The second weekend in April we drove to Ft. Myers and had finally had Haley and Lily Baptized into the Catholic Church. It was pretty special because they were baptized by the same priest who baptized me, my God-Son, and several other family members, as well as married my parents and, once again, married several other family members. Also it was in the same church… so pretty awesome! Many of our family was able to attend and that made it even better. After we had a small party to celebrate at a local restaurant and then headed back home. Before the ceremony we were able to visit with my Nana (96 years old) at her home. I am so thankful we were able to do that because she just wasn’t up to making it to the church or the party and it also happened to be the last time we were blessed to be with her.
On the following Monday we started swim school 🙂 Haley did awesome! Lily cried a little at first but after the first week, she was golden and loved going to swim – and she did great as well! We certainly have 2 little fishies in our home! Later in the week, we went to the aquarium with friends and then attended a birthday party for our little friend Anson who turned 1! On Sunday we had our friends, Lindsay, David and (no-longer baby) Anson over to say good luck. They moved shortly after to Tennessee and we miss them so much!
On April 23rd, Nana passed away in her sleep. She was in her own home and her own bed. While it was expected at this point, it was still hard to hear. She was such a force in our family and it will be strange without her around. Although, I know we will all probably feel her presence at times and I know I find myself thinking often about her and what she would have thought about any given situation. On Sunday Gammy & Granddad came down. Originally they were coming to celebrate Gammy & Lily’s birthdays, and while we did celebrate, we were also mourning. They went to Ft. Myers the next week to help with all the details for Nana’s funeral.
On Friday the 29th we joined the family in Ft. Myers. The viewing was Friday evening and then Sean graciously took the girls back to the hotel and put them to bed, while some of my family got together at one of Nana’s favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. It was really nice to see everyone who was there. The next morning Haley woke up at 530 with a horrible ear infection 🙁 Somehow we waited until just before 7 and I took her to a walk-in clinic while Sean stayed with the birthday girl (because, yes, it was Lily’s 2nd birthday this day!). Thankfully the Dr. prescribed antibiotics and we were able to get them quickly. Back to the hotel to eat, open a few presents and then get dressed and go say our official ‘See you later’ to Nana. After there was a family/close friend get together at Uncle Roger and Aunt Deryl’s house. The girls were excited to see their cousin Liam again and play with all his toys. Gammy got Lily a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to her. It was bittersweet that Nana wasn’t there (like the year before) but she had brought us all together. We drove back home after and saw a beautiful sunset that I felt was a gift from God to say Nana had made it to Heaven and was watching over us all.
The next day, Sunday, we had Lily’s official birthday party at our house. It was small and she had a lot of fun – perfect!
Lily, we love you more than you will ever know. You are so funny, sweet, loving, sassy, smart… the list goes on and on. You couldn’t be any more loved by us than you are. And you have the most adoring big sister ever. We are forever grateful that you are a part of our family! Two years has flown by and I know it will seem like the next year goes by in the blink of an eye. It is a joy to watch you grow and I look forward to the years to come and watching you become YOU! I love you, Lily Caroline!
