Camping, RV Style

Carlos and I spent the weekend camping at Guadalupe State Park. It is 30 minutes from our house on 281 and 46. We had such a good time with our friends. Except for the fact that it was way more work than I expected (ccoking a meal was a whole production), it was alot of fun. We stayed in an RV, so we really didn't "ruff it". We spent all day Saturday sitting by the river, watching the kids play, and cookin' burgers. Saturday afternoon, we sat under the shade and played dominoes. It was very relaxing. Who would have thought you could be 6 1/2 months pregnant and still enjoy camping? Not me...but I do now! We are already planning another trip...after the baby comes in the fall.

Oh, I had my last dr's appt. last Friday and I gained 7 pounds! Ooops! Dr. Sutton didn't seem to be bothered by it, but I was. I mean, I am all about a fat baby with big ol' cheeks, but I will have to loose that 7 pounds at some point. That is the part I am regretting. At least I don't have to push Cristian out, Dr. Sutton will get to wrestle him out, just like he did with Philip! My next appt is in 2 weeks. I can not believe I am already on the 2 week appts! Anyway, so I will have my glucose test and another sonogram. I can't wait to see how big my Cristian is. I hope we get another face shot, he is such a cutie. I never did get around to posting those last sono pics, but I will make sure to post the next ones.

Marker Update

We met with Pete at the cemetary last Sunday and struck a deal. In addition to creating a new marker for Philip's crypt, they will also give us the ruined one. And...they will accomplish creating and installing in one week. Well, today was the day. We spent most of the day hanging out with Carlos' mom, but we made it to the cemetary around 5-ish. Yes, they did complete the new marker and they had it installed by the time we arrived. They have yet to add the flower cup, but Pete said the marble cutter would be there Monday to complete that task. The marker looks fantastic. It is different from the original because they did not have any more white marble in stock. So, the created a large black marker instead of the small black on the white background. All the other markers around Philip are white, so he gets to be different and stand out. We were cool with that. They have also offered to cut down the white marble on the first marker, so it looks better for us to take home. That should also be completed by Monday. All is well that ends well. I will post a picture soon. We forgot to bring the step stool and the crypt is rather high, so pictures from so far down tend not to come out very well.

I think I pissed off the Pope.

Sorry if my title is a bit offensive here, but I really do feel like if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any. Have you ever had a day where you felt like the whole world just refused to give you a break? Every slow car was in front of you and the red lights just don't stop. Well that was our day. As you know, Carlos and I have been making plans all week for Philip's birthday. So, we both got out of work around noon and met at home. We loaded up the car with the cake and the balloons. The plan was to go to the cemetery, spend some time with Philip, then come home for a bit before meeting our friends for dinner and a movie. The plan was that although emotional, the afternoon was going to be pleasant and the evening relaxing. Our day would not be all tears, but laughs and smiles as well. So, we headed out, which is the point where our luck ran out.
When we arrived at the cemetery, not only was Philip's marker not up like we were promised, but there was a funeral going on at the mausoleum. I mean really, how dare someone have their service on our day! Kidding, of course. Since we had to wait for the service to end, we decided to go by the office and inquire about our MIA marker. Pete (his name has not been changed because I don't really care about his identity) said that because of the service, they had to wait to install the marker. By this point it is around 1:30 and Carlos and I have both gone without lunch. So...we go to have some lunch in hopes that the marker would be installed while we were gone. An hour later, we returned to the cemetery only to find the workers just pulling up to start work on installing the marker. By this point both Carlos and I are pretty upset. This was supposed to be done by noon, not just being started at 2:30. Carlos' office had some issues with their payroll this morning, so we needed to go by his work and pick up his check anyway...so we decided this would be a good time. Across town we headed. After picking up his check, going by the bank, and stopping by our house (the baby was jumping on my bladder), we headed back to the cemetery. We were scheduled to meet our friends for dinner at 6, and we finally returned to the cemetery at 5. Not the long afternoon with our son we had planned, but we were willing to settle for whatever this day would give us. So we got out of the car, marker in sight. As we got closer though, we realized that something was wrong. The marker had been glued to a piece of marble that was 2 inches shorter than the opening of the crypt.

This day just would not let up or end. We decided to ignore the defect and spend our time with Philip. We cried and talked and read letters to our son that we had written. We lit a candle and sang happy birthday. We each ate some cake and released his balloons. It was a celebration through tears. It was as perfect as it could be. Afterward, I made Carlos drive to the restaurant before calling Pete. I was hoping the short drive would help to calm him. It didn't. Pete made excuse after excuse, promising to replace the ruined marker with a new one ASAP. We could have anything we want free of charge. You see, the workers attached the marker to the wrong size marble slab. And, once attached, you can not unattach. Basically, the marker can not be used again, so they have to make a new one from scratch. Like this was their first rodeo? Like they just opened the cemetery yesterday? Like these guys don't do this everyday? I mean really, could my luck be any worse?

Do you see the space at the top of his white marble in the picture above? If the inside lip did not come down so far, we could have see right into the crypt. In the end, we made an appt. with Pete for Sunday. They are going to give us whatever we want and in return I want the ruined marker. I mean, they can't use it and I refuse to allow them to trash it. It is my son's and therefore, it is mine.

BTW- dinner was lovely and 10,000BC the movie wasn't to bad either. I expected a bit more action out of the movie, but the love story was nice too. I just wish the middle of the day could have been as enjoyable as the end. Oh well, I guess there is always next year. I sign-off exhausted and hopeful that next year someone (hey, that means you God) cuts me a little slack.

Happy Birthday Son!

Well, today is the day...Philip's 1st Birthday. It is already a hard day and it is barely 7:30 in the morning. This time last year, Philip was 5 hours old.

Carlos picked up the cake we ordered last night. It is really cute. I will take a picture of it before we cut it, so ya'll can see. When we ordered it the lady asked what we wanted it to say...without hesitation, Carlos said "Happy Birthday Son!" I had to laugh because it was so funny and really cute at the same time. In the end we decided with "Happy Birthday Philip". In addition to the cake, we are going to release 3 ballons today. One for each of us (Cristian will get his own balloon). Carlos and I will write messages to Philip and attach them to the balloons before releasing them. We plan to spend the afternoon at the cemetary hanging out with Philip. It's a funny thing, death, it makes you do things you never thought you would. If you would have told me (even just 2 years ago) that I would want to spend an afternoon at the cemetary I would have said you were crazy. And today, I can think of no better way to spend an afternoon. It's strange how things work and how your perceptions change with time and circumstance.

On of the wonderful mom's in my online supprt group sent me a candle lighting ceremony. It is a lovely tradition Carlos and I will start tomorrow, for Philip's feast day (the day he went with God). BTW- we have Philip's story posted at:

http://www.livingwithtrisomy13.org/MemoriesOfPhillipP.htm

You can also check out some of the other babies on the site, all of them were born with some version of Patau's Syndrome (Trisomy 13). Philip is part of the Treasured Memories albums, but you can click on the Children Living With Trisomy 13 link at the top of the page to read about so many sweet babies, children, teens, and adults who are living with this syndrome. It is amazing how all of us were told our babies were "not compatible with life", but many of us experienced our children living and breathing, proving those docstors wrong. The mom that gave me the candle lighting is one of the mom's from this site.

So, I think I have prepared myself as best I can for the upcoming days. I am hopeful that, once again, Philip's life will pull Carlos and I closer together. I have posted a picture of our little guy in his "coming home outfit". It was the first thing I bought for him when we found out we were going to have a boy. It is the cutest velour jogging suit ever. Light blue with a hood and tiny pockets on the jacket. Thank goodness I bought a 3 month size, as he fit just perfect in it.

BTW- Carlos has changed his mind...Cristian will not have an "h" in his name. My bad. So here it is...new and improved: Cristian Alejandro Palacios.

Short Weekend, Long Week

Like all weekends, this past one was short. I spent Saturday working on the Nursery and organizing closets. I am preparing to have a garage sale in the next few weeks, so I have been cleaning out and filling the garage with all kinds of unneeded stuff we have been holding on to. Carlos was helping his mom's boyfriend all day, so I was alone, but I accomplished so much. I had lost a well fought battle last Friday with a migraine that would not quit, so I was happy to wake up Saturday feeling good and motivated. On Sunday we went to register and ended up meeting my mom and having lunch as well. Shortly after, the migraine returned and Carlos had to take me home. I spent the afternoon moaning and groaning with a cold compress on my head trying to sleep. Thank goodness it finally supsided by early evening and we were able to enjoy dinner and some TV before bed. In the end, we did get registered at Babies R Us and Target, and I was able to finish prepping the Nursery. I suppose that was a success considering I only felt good on one day.

So far this week has dragged on...I woke up this morning thinking "It's ONLY Wednesday! Arggghh!" I guess I am a bit stressed because Friday will be Philip's 1st birthday. I went by the cemetary last Staurday to sign off on the design of his plaque. They assured me that it would be completed and installed this Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Carlos and I ordered a little cake Monday night, which we will pick up on Thursday. We both have to work on Friday, but we plan to leave early so we can spend the afternoon with Philip. I know it is only the anticipation that is stressing me out, as the actual day will be wonderful despite the circumstance, but it is still hard. One year ago today, Mandy took me to my doctor and then to the hospital where I was admitted and induced. It is going to be a hard couple of days thinking back to what I was doing one year ago. Each day between now and the 10th are saturated with memories...good and bad. I suppose I could have taken vacation days, but I think maybe that would have been harder...like the 6 weeks of maternity leave that I spent alone at home. Those were the hardest weeks, made worse because I had no distractions but daytime TV. In the end, I know everything will be fine. We will enjoy Philip's birthday because we will reminince about the wonderful gifts he gave us and the impact he made on our lives...especially the gift of Christian.

On a more uplifting note, we are planning to see the movie 10,000B.C. this weekend. The previews look great, so I can't wait. Carlos has an old friend named Sam who is married to a woman name Alba. They are a really great couple and we all get along quite well. Anyway, we have gone out to eat and to the movies with them a few times, so they will be meeting us to see this one as well. It is kind of funny, Alba speaks very little English and I speak no Spanish, but somehow we manage to understand each other. She is such a nice person, it has been a blessing for us to have found another couple that we get along with so well. Many of our friends are in different stages of their lives and different ages (and different towns). Sam and Alba are very much like us, similar in age, and in the same family expanding stage (and they live down the street). Anyway, it is nice to be able to hang out with such similar characters as ourselves! I will let ya'll know how the movie is and if it is worth the time!