Welcome Back, Kotter

I always imagined that feeding a baby would be hard whether it was breastfeeding, bottle, or actual food.  What do you feed a baby?  What do you feed a toddler?  Searching and pinning Pinterest provided some ideas that I vowed to try.  Some I did but as of late, I decided to just feed him exactly what we are having for dinner.  I didn't want to have separate meals made specifically for The Kid and while I still find myself perusing Pinterest for meal ideas, I'm happy with the road we chose.  The Kid is a super great eater and just watching him devour his food,, veggies and all, makes me happy.

Current favorites?  Spaghetti, rice, broccoli, carrots, celery, green beans, macaroni and cheese, empanadas, avocados, bacon, eggs, breakfast tacos, beans, mashed potatoes, veggie lasagna, roasted chicken, chicken fried rice, pancakes, turkey sausage are some of his favorites.  

Yay us.

Birthday No. 2 is in the Books

My son went and turned 2 last weekend.  How did this happen?

How did my sweet baby boy go ahead and turn 2?

Noah, my love, I don't know what to tell you.  I love you beyond words.  Beyond where my head can comprehend the deep love I have for you.  This year has been rough.  We lost your Uncle B earlier this year and we are all broken.  However, having you and Alexa in our lives gives us reason to roll out of bed to care for you both.  I need you to be good to Alexa when she is older.  She will need you so much.  Her dad is gone and she will need you to hold her up when she asks and subsequently sad over losing her dad.

Thank you for continuing to save my life.  I don't know where I'd be at this point if I didn't have you.

You are amazing.  You are funny, clever, a great eater and make us all happy to have you.  Grandma and Grandpa are just wild about you.  

Stats:  Weight: 31 lbs Length: 35.9"

Likes: Spaghetti, carrots, pizza, tacos, fresh green beans, muffins, yogurt, refried beans, pears, rice, ribs, the Leukemia & Lyphoma Society, www.marrow.org and Uncle B, your cats, your cars, your trucks, your cousin Alexa, naps, milk, Peppa Pig, Dora, Zack & Quack

Dislikes: Changing diapers,  the heat, ants, Caillou (yea) and meat 

We love you, babe.

XOXO,

Mom and Dad

Change Up

This blog started out as a way to showcase my life and the foods I ate.  Then shit happened and I devoted many posts about my brother and his fight against leukemia.  I have started a separate blog devoted entirely to letters for my brother.

Letters for B


I will resume my food photos as well as my daily musings on life, pop culture and my kooky kid who recently celebrated his second birthday.  Minor references to my brother will be made but he deserves his own spot and I do as well.  The separate blog is mostly to help me with my grief cause it is hard.

Anyhow, thank you for reading and I hope you continue to read.

XOXO,

Margie

No One Fights Alone

My life is a walking contradiction.

I am happy and sad.

I am angry and understanding.

I am proud and defeated.

I feel like my brother passed so long ago but it also feels like yesterday.

Grief is suffocating.  I feel so many things.  I feel so many emotions in the blink of an eye.  For example, this morning, memories of my brother popped into my head.  (They always do.)  And I was suddenly overcome with tears and pain.  I begged B to help me, to ask God to help me.  And, just like that, my moment passed.  My brother was hospitalized a year ago.  My baby's birthday is coming up and it reminds me of last year when I wanted to cancel the party but B told me that the "show must go on" so I didn't.  I was so happy that day and so heartbroken that B wasn't there.  I only relented because I told B to get better so he wouldn't miss anymore.  The fact that he won't physically be there breaks my heart all over again.  The reminder that things can change in 1 year is also gut wrenching.  I miss my brother oh so very much and I just still cannot believe, 3 months later, that I have lost my brother.

I want to share this video of Stuart Scott giving his speech at this year's ESPYs.  I never liked to say my brother lost his fight to leukemia but I couldn't find the right words.  Mr. Scott did.

"You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live. 
And when you get too tired to fight, then lay down and rest and let someone else fight for you."

Stuart Scott's ESPY Speech

Yes.  That is it.  

I love you, B.  I miss you terribly.  

Day 45

Sometimes I forget what day I'm on and I have to go and count back.  My mind, it's here but it's not.  My exterior, it's at work, doing work stuffs.  It's at home, doing home stuffs.  My heart, it's loving on my family, my son but there, right in the middle, is a huge hole.  It's in pain.  It's sad.  It remembers and it cries.  A lot.  I still find myself in disbelief that I have lost the love of my life, my brother.  I remember everything.  I remember the plans we made.  I remember our last conversation, our last texts, and I still have those voicemails he left me throughout the past few years because I'm a bad hoarder of texts/voicemails/emails.  Those voicemails, with his sweet voice, asking me to call him back; returning my call, inquiring what I had planned today, they hurt so much.  I tortured myself that day after I found them.  I kept listening to them over and over again until the battery ran out.

I have no idea what I am doing.  I have no idea how to grieve.  I know there is no handbook and that makes it all the much harder.  I'm searching for a grief support group to help me so there's that.  I mention brother a lot.  I always have and I guess I always will.  There are just so many stories and I'm going to need them to help me get through this for the rest of my life.

You know how I feel?  I feel lost.  I am completely functioning on the outside but on the inside, I am a huge mess.  My insides finally caught up with my outsides and I broke into hives 2 weeks ago.  I have lost my best friend, my soulmate, my light and I feel awful.  I'm so angry.  So angry at leukemia.

I miss my brother, I miss him so much.  I want you to know how much I hurt.  How much I miss him.  How much I want to pick up the phone and call him, tell him I love him.  SO.MUCH.

I love you, B.  I miss you.

My Beloved B

My beloved brother passed away on April 20, 2014.  He was surrounded by his family and some friends and it was easy and hard to send him to set him free; to be at peace.

I just don't know how this happened.  How did I get here?  How is this possible?  How did I manage to pick out a casket for my brother and not lose my shit completely?  How?  I had to walk away at the cemetery.  I couldn't see them lower my beloved B into the ground.  I couldn't even pick up his certificate last week.  Too much reality.

How do I go forward?  How do I exist in a world where my brother isn't?  I can't pick him up.  Can't call him. Can't text him.  WTF?  How the fuck did this happen?  How the fuck did I lose the light of my life?  This has always been my worst nightmare and that now I'm living it.  This is some bullshit.  FUCKING BULLSHIT.  I feel like someone broke into my home and robbed me.  Leukemia came in and robbed me of my beloved B.  FUCK YOU, LEUKEMIA!  FUCK YOU!  How dare you think I am going to sit back and allow you to get away with this.  FUCK YOU.  I'm coming for you.  I will work hard to keep you from doing this to someone else.  FUCK YOU.  FUCK YOU.

I miss my brother so much.  I love him so much.  I'm so broken inside.  I'm so lost.  I wait for him to come into my dreams.  I want to tell him once more of how much I love him, how much he means to me.  What is a sister called when she loses her little brother?

I love you, B.  I love you so much.  I'm so sorry I couldn't take this away from you.  I'm sorry.  I tried.  I begged.  I will miss you every day.  I will love you more every day until we are reunited.  Please, give me strength to make it until then.  

All my love always,

Your sister, B.

Sibling Obligations

I am new to this whole Brother is sick and needs my help thing so I'm sure that I am making a lot of mistakes which in the future, long after he has recovered and is home, will make themselves known and will make me think, "Fuck.  I could have done it that way and it would have been easier."  There is no handbook with a map insert showing you how to navigate all this.  It's a heavy load to carry and yes, it's tiresome and draining but I do it because the alternative is not an option.  To continue to have my brother in my life is the only option I have and I refuse to think of living a life without him.  2 months ago was the worst.  I cried like I have never cried before, my heart hurt so very much because I came face to face with losing him.  Having the Quality of Life Talk with his doctor, consenting to a DNR, is gut wrenching.  I dreamt of eulogizing him.  For real.  WTF was that dream all about?  But now, with the little strides we have made, I now fantasize about the humongous homecoming party we are going to have.

He is awake and responsive with a move to an LTAC (long term acute care) hospital being planned.

Soon. Don't care how long it takes.

18 Months!

My son went and turned 18 months without asking me and it got me right in the feels.  I'm trying my hardest to remember the feeling of his breath on my neck, or how it feels to have him sleep in my arms as his legs dangle over the edge of my lap.

Aside from delayed talking, The Kid is normal in length, weight and noggin size.  I'll take it.

A photo of (L-R) my Momma, my Grandma, myself and The Kid.  4 generations.  I didn't know how badly I wanted this picture until I saw my Grandma and bawled.  It had been a few years.  

Vital Statistics:

Weight: 25.2 lbs.

Length: 32"

Likes: His books, his cats, playing with Grandpa's tools, cooking with Grandma and rough housing with Dad, sleeping next to Mom, balloons, baths, the Houston Rockets, the outdoors, people who join the National Registry, and his family

Dislikes: Getting changed, getting his toenails clipped, mean people

Happy 18 months, Baby.  Momma and Dad love you so much.  Thank you for keeping us sane.  

Liz Lemon!

Everything reminds me of my brother.  Everything.  I see a Liz Lemon quote, I laugh and think, "OMG, I have to call B!" only to quickly remember he's still hospitalized in ICU.  This morning, while watching Sportscenter, it happened again.  I plan on making spaghetti and realize that I can't save him any because he won't be eating it for a while.

God help me if anything happens to my brother....God help me indeed.

Heartache

Nothing I have experienced in my 37 years could have prepared me witnessing my brother in ICU, hooked up to a breathing machine, with arms restrained.  I mean nothing.  How does one not shed a tear?  How does one not go up to their brother and say, "I'm here, Brother.  I'm here.  I'm always here." with tears in their eyes, with a knot in their throat?  How does one not run to his beside, when you are getting ready to leave because he is trying to grasp your hand, trying to say something?  "I'm here, Brother.  I'm here.  No, don't talk.  It's okay.  I love you, Brother.  I miss you.  Please, please, get better.  I need you, Brother."

This is hard.  My heart hurts all the time.  I want to puke my insides out all the time.  It took so much strength to not carry my brother in my arms when I left him yesterday.

This is all I have to say.