Bittersweet at its best

So, it's official. Britney's new baby is named Sean Preston. I must say I am vainly tickled silly that they didn't go with London. BUT now I will feel like a sheep if we had another girl and named her Sean. I guess we'll burn that bridge when we cross over into white trash land and live amongst Britney and Kevin's people.

I am now just asking myself WHO CARES? Why should I let the famous of this world dictate what I do or don't name my child? Plus, I can rest easy knowing I have cuter kids than most of them. Not that it's a contest.. But if it were, we'd clearly be the winners.

Waiting patiently

Britney Spears (I hate to even devote blog space to her, but this must be said) has infiltrated our lives. I haven't quite figured out how she's doing it, but I know she MUST be watching us, listening to our conversations, digging through our trash. Saturday night a good friend broke the news to me. If Britney's child is a boy, they're naming him London. If it's a girl, Addison, and they'll call her Addie. WHAT? Dost my ears deceiveth me? I had always heard she wanted the name Preston (for a boy). Now, Gabe and I have chosen our children's names very carefully. My goal was for our children to have unique but beautiful names (you will not find a Pilot Inspektor or Audio Science on our list of possible names, though I have to admit I think Apple is a cute name). But, the point is UNIQUE. Not an every day name. While I was pregnant with our first, we narrowed down our names. London for a boy and Adelaide for a girl (we didn't find out the sex while I was pregnant). It was a boy, and we bestowed upon him the name London. But we adored the name Adelaide and knew if we had a girl, that would be her name. Some time after our son was born we learned that Slash (yes Slash, the guitarist from Guns N Roses) had a son, not much older than ours, named London. Stink. So then, fast forward a year. I am pregnant with a girl. No discussion needed. We will call her Adelaide. 3 months after Adelaide was born, an actress (one Rachel Griffiths) has a girl. My Aunt breaks the news to me. "Some actress just had a girl and named her Adelaide." WHAT? You have GOT TO BE kidding me.

And here we are to present day. I am waiting not very patiently to discover the name of Britney & Kevin's son. The funny (not funny ha-ha funny, but funny they seriously are listening in on us scary funny) thing is, the latest I read was the names they picked out if it was a boy were Sean Preston or London Preston. Here's that funny thing.... Gabe and I had just decided we really liked Sean for our next girl (that happens to be my brother's name and I have just always liked that name for a girl). Now tell me CONVINCINGLY that the famous of this world don't listen in on us commoners' daily lives. They are everywhere and they are watching us. Just waiting to steal our children's names and take them as their own. Curse you celebrities. Curse you all.

Where happiness abounds

Friday night we returned from a 4 day trip to Disneyland. Disneyland.. The happiest place on earth despite the screaming kids. There is an awful lot of crying at the happiest place on earth. I think someone's lying.

We spent 2 days driving and 2 days at the park. It was our first family vacation ever. And Gabe and I haven't been on a trip since before London was born. This was well overdue. We know London most likely won't remember this trip and Adelaide definitely won't remember this trip, but we needed a FAMILY friendly vacation. Disneyland is what we came up with. It was great. Gabe and I haven't been to Disneyland since before we were married (over 5 years ago!). A lot has changed. They have since added California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and some new rides in Disneyland. London LOVED Disneyland. A few days before we left we started talking to him about Disneyland and all the magical wonder that he was going to experience. When we arrived at the hotel, I went inside to check in. I came back to the car and London yelled "WE'RE HERE!!!!". That ignited the Disneyland excitement.

We went to the park the next morning. Standing in line to get inside the gate I got goose bumps. There IS something magical about Disneyland. I seriously felt like I was 5 years old on Christmas morning, knowing I was about to unwrap the greatest present ever to exist. I almost couldn't contain the excitement. We got through the gates, to the first photo-op place.. And that's when the crying ensued. Well, after we got London out of the stroller to take his picture; when we tried to put him back in the stroller. That was the first of MANY crying fits.. I don't think he got the memo about Disneyland being the happiest place on earth. He has much to learn.

But seriously folks, we had a great time. London got to see his first fireworks display. He absolutely loved it. He watched Fantasmic on Dadda's shoulders. A couple parts scared him, but overall he was enthralled. A few rides scared him: Pinnochio, and because of that, Small World (the first half of the ride he spent looking down. Halfway through he finally allowed himself to look up and highly enjoyed the rest of the ride), Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland.. A few rides he liked the most: Autopia, the merry-go-round, Dumbo. At California Adventure we visited Bug's Land, got to see some BIG Tonka trucks (which he loves). He got to meet JoJo, Stanley, Goofy, Flick and Flick's chick (I can't remember her name). He got to see some princesses (all the rage with the girls, but London has no clue who they are) and Mickey walk by. We were in a store, Mickey walked through, I yelled (very, very excitedly) "LONDON, THERE'S MICKEY!!!" As he whipped his head around to see, so did the rest of the store.. I was a little louder than I had intended to be. And apparently crazy by the looks on people's faces. The highlight of the trip for London (right up there with the fireworks) was the Playhouse Disney show. He got to see IN PERSON characters that had up till then only existed in his TV. That was the most thrilling 20 minutes of his life. I have never seen him enjoy anything else as much. That was awesome.

It was amazing to introduce our son to the awe that is Disneyland. We can't wait for next year!

(I'll post pictures by this weekend. And if you're wondering where Adelaide was this whole time, wonder no more. She was in her stroller pretty much the whole trip. She was one of the few kids not crying. She gets the whole "happiest place" thing.)

Never got to say goodbye

We received the message none of us wanted to get. Kurt Mathews passed away at 9am this morning. A gloom has been cast over our hearts. We mourn with our friends at the passing of their husband and dad.

Now as we continue with our day of various errands and family gatherings, our hearts, thoughts and prayers are fixed on the Mathews family as they endure this horrible, life altering time.

Kurt has gone before us. His family has said goodbye to his time on earth. But there is hope. This is not the final goodbye.

Kurt Mathews is survived by his wife, daughter and son. And a church family who will miss him dearly.

Sadness

One of our good friend's dad (who we also know pretty well), is at this moment, dying of cancer. He was diagnosed just one month ago with lung cancer. At the time he was diagnosed the cancer had already spread to his liver and bones. Since starting treatment, one month ago, masses behind his eye and ear have also been discovered. He has been hospitalized since this weekend. He just recently lost the mobility in his right arm. The family was just informed there is nothing else that can medically be done. Now they just have to stay by his side and prepare for his passing. I can barely type those words without crying. We have seen a family crushed. A man, a physically fit, healthy man in his 50s, brought to his end by cancer. A wife, losing her best friend, her love, her life. A son, watching his father fight for his life, now taking care of his mother and sister, having to be the man of the house. A daughter, no doubt daddy's little girl, having to see her strong, hero dad, being defeated by his greatest enemy. This is devastation to the fullest. My heart is so heavy for this family. We are grieving with them.

The man that lies dying of this horrible disease, joyful, for he knows God is in control. The family that lies in ruin can rejoice. This is not the end for them. Praise God for that hope! And as a church family, we will mourn the passing of this man, but we will rejoice and praise God knowing He is the creator and sustainer of life. God is in control and is calling home one of his own.