In the Blink of an Eye

Life can change in the blink of an eye. I've heard that tons of times before, but I couldn't relate to it. Now I can.
On Sunday afternoon, Derek was hopping out of the shower and I was playing around on the computer (putting off my grading and lesson planning for a little while longer) when my cell phone rang. I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. I was caught off guard because I saw my mom's name pop up on the caller ID, yet I was hearing a southern man's voice asking for my husband. Confused, I handed the phone to Derek. The look on his face went pale in an instant, then I heard the word motorcycle..and I just knew. I didn't know any details, but I just knew it wasn't good. I started sobbing uncontrollably as Derek spoke to the EMT that responded to my parents' motorcycle accident, and then I heard my mom's shaky, terrified voice trying to explain to Derek what had unfolded moments before.
It was a beautiful afternoon in Georgia, and I had talked with my mom late that morning. She told me that she & Daddy were going to go for a long ride on the motorcycle up to North GA. On a road in the middle of nowhere, a deer jumped out in front of them. My dad never even saw it. To make a long story short, my mom walked away from the accident very lucky. Her wrist is broken in several places, jammed fingers, bruised ribs, road rash, and just feeling pretty banged up. She was released from the ER on Sunday afternoon and will have to see an orthopedic surgeon in the coming days.
My dad was a different story. He went from the ER straight to ICU. He has a broken shoulder/ scapula/collar bone in addition to 5 broken ribs. They were originally headed to the Habersham County hospital, but after my dad asked "What happened?" for about the 15th time they were re-routed to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. And what a blessing it was to have them at that hospital. They were in a brand-new wing, and everything was state-of-the-art.
My dad stayed in the ICU through Tuesday night due to their concerns about the trauma to his chest. They were worried specifically about internal bleeding, which appeared to be minimal after a few days. So on Tuesday night, they moved my dad out of the ICU and onto the orthopedic floor of the hospital where he currently still is. He will probably be there for a while still. I can't even begin to explain how emotionally and mentally exhausting the past few days have been for Derek, my sister, and me. At this point, we are worried about what will happen when my daddy comes home from the hospital. Even though my mom is doing well and being really tough, there are certain things she can't do for herself yet. There is no way she would be able to take of my dad (who is twice her size) on top of dealing with her own recovery. But I just have to keep reminding myself how lucky we are that we can worry about the recovery process instead of something much, much worse. We are just grateful they are alive.
Derek and I are back in VA tonight after a whirlwind trip to GA. It is killing us that we can't be with them right now, but we know they will need us more when it's time for my daddy to come home from the hospital. The tears have been flowing constantly, and I get overwhelmed thinking what's happened and what's still to come. I keep trying to remind myself that we just have to take this one day at a time. I'm also trying to keep my thoughts focused on how thankful I am for these 4 people in my life. They are my everything.
And thank you to all of our friends and family who have been praying for us through this difficult time..we've been feeling the prayers! Please keep them coming!


P.S. Please excuse all of the random old pictures. This post was very hard to write, but the pictures made me happy..thus, the randomness of the pictures. :)

Weekend Recap

We had a wonderful weekend spent with family! Derek's mom & Patrick drove up from Georgia on Friday and arrived after we had eaten dinner. We sat around the kitchen and talked for a few hours and enjoyed catching up with one another. They even brought a little something for Baby Smith....
After opening up the doctor bag, we found the cutest onesie/scrubs, surgical cap, & booties you ever laid your eyes on!!

Is this not the cutest thing ever?!?!

On Saturday, we spent the day with Derek's mom's side of the family celebrating one of Derek's uncle's 60th birthday. There was beautiful weather, yummy food, and great company! Here's the birthday boy and his siblings (Derek's mom is in the middle).
Our visitors had to had out early this morning, but not before a yummy breakfast at IHOP! I can't even remember the last time I ate at an IHOP! For those of you who may not know, I typically have an aversion to typical breakfasty-type items like eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. But recently, they've been sounding better to me. I've even let Derek make a big breakfast for us a couple times in the past few weeks, but today was our first time going out for a big breakfast since we've been married! And it was delish! :)

We had such a wonderful weekend with family...it's got us really looking forward to having everyone in town next month!

Friday Favorites

5. Belly Bands! I had gotten a black belly band a looong time ago and never really used it until the past 2 weeks or so...and now I'm wearing the heck out of it! I got a new white one this week, and of course I've already broken it in!
4. Derek's schedule. Although I'm very jealous of Derek's schedule these days, it's definitely benefiting me! He strategically planned radiology to be his last rotation b/c it is pretty slack in comparison to the others...and "pretty slack" is probably the biggest understatement of the year. Although I'm jealous of his daily afternoon naps, I'm oh so very thankful for all of the things on our to-do list that he's been accomplishing! :)
3. Ben & Jerry's :) While we were at Target last weekend, I was looking in the freezer section at ice cream (despite the fact that we already had a wide array of ice cream novelties in our freezer at home). And low and behold, what did I find?! A scrumptious pint of Ben & Jerry's cake batter ice cream on CLEARANCE for $1.52!!! No clue why it was on clearance (a few other flavors were discounted as well)..but it tasted even better because of the price!
2. Having things to look forward to. Derek & I bought tickets a while back for the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, and we are really looking forward to this! We can't wait for lots of laughs when we go next weekend!
1. Family time! Derek's mom & step-dad are coming into town for a quick visit this weekend, and we can't wait to see them! It's going to be a great weekend!

Happy Friday, Everyone!

One Month To Go!

It's hard to believe that Derek will have his graduation & promotion ceremonies in just one month! We mailed out announcements last week to some of our family & friends, so we figured we should announce the big news to our bloggy friends as well!
We're starting to get really excited because lots of our family are coming up to help us celebrate, so it'll be a really special time! And we get a little more excited each time someone emails or calls us to give us their travel itinerary. In case anyone hasn't decided on their plans yet, here's some information that might help. As of now, it sounds like most people will be spending a long weekend with us to celebrate! We CAN'T WAIT to see everyone! :)

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

These are the sweet people that I get the privilege of spending my days with!

Even when I'm stressed to the max with paperwork or having a bad day, these kids can turn that all around in a heart beat. One of my sweet boys (in the 2nd row from the bottom, and 2nd from the right) ran into my room today, pulled the sleeve of his shirt up at warp speed, and announced: "I GREW A MUSCLE LAST NIGHT!" I heart five and six year-olds.

Philadelphia Trip!

Sarah and I returned home yesterday after an excellent weekend in Philadelphia. We decided that this would likely be one of the last times that we would live close enough to drive to Philadelphia, and we wanted to take a quick vacation before things get crazy with graduation. Here's a breakdown of our trip:

Sarah was on Spring Break last week, so I took a half day on Thursday and we left at about 2pm for the first road trip in the CR-V. Traffic was pretty bad in DC, Baltimore, Wilmington(Delaware), and in the suburbs of Philadelphia so it took us about 4 hours & 15 minutes to get there when it should only take about 2 hours & 45 minutes. We were also caught off guard by how many tolls we had to pay on I-95. I think it was about $11 in tolls on the way up. We passed several commercialized rest areas on the way. Neither of us had ever seen anything like it. It was a big rest area between the northbound and southbound lanes so drivers going each way had access to about 3 gas stations and 5 fast food restaurants. It was quite a sight! We also got to see the ports and shipyards in Baltimore and Philadelphia while driving in. We arrived at the hotel with the help of CR-V's Navigation a little after 6pm and checked in. After taking our luggage up to our room, we started to explore the city. Our hotel was right by the historical sights in "Olde City," so we had to do a little bit of walking before we found the Hard Rock Cafe. We had a nice dinner in "Center City," which is what people in Philadelphia call downtown, before walking back to the hotel.
Friday was our day to visit all of the sights that required tickets. We started the day off at the U.S. Mint because it was only open on Friday, and I wanted to be sure that we were able to see it before the crowds got bad. There were a lot of "fluff" exhibits, but I did learn that the U.S. Mint also makes the Purple Heart awards in addition to coins. The machines weren't running, but we did see the huge 4x4x4 foot bins that were full of pennies and ready to be shipped. Next we had tickets to Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed. It was pretty cool to stand in the same room with much of the same furniture that the Founding Fathers used over 200 years ago! We also learned some neat facts like where the term "stand trial" comes from. In Independence Hall is a courtroom with a metal cell in the middle where the defendant would literally have to stand for the entire trial. Congress Hall is adjacent to Independence Hall, so we toured the location of the first congress and senate. Again we learned an interesting fact. I always thought that the Senate was refered to as the "Upper House" solely as a reference to higher status, but in Congress Hall the senate actually met in an upstairs room in the building.
After Indepenence Hall we went on our Ride the Ducks tour. It was a lot of fun to ride around the city in the WWII cargo vehicle, but the best part was when we splashed down into the Delaware River! We floated down to Penn's Landing and where the Battleship New Jersey is now permanently docked. After an hour and a half of vibrations, diesel smell, and kids quacking constantly we went back to the hotel for a break before heading out for the evening. We ate dinner at one of the official cheesesteak places called Sonny's. I had it the classic way with cheese whiz and onions, and it was very tasty!
After dinner we went to the first home preseason game of the season that was in Philadelphia's Citizen Bank Park. There was quite a turnout for a preseason game! The ballpark is very nice, and their concession stands were great! We left a little early to beat the rush, but all of Philadelphia's sports arenas are in the same complex so we got stuck in a little traffic from the Flyers hockey game that had just ended.
Saturday was a much more relaxing and slow-paced day for us as we had no other firm places to go or times to be there. We started off the day by visiting the Liberty Bell, and I'm glad we did that first as the crowds were much more intense than they had been on Friday. You can see all the people in the background of our pictures below and if you want a group picture you have to pretty much go around to the backside of the bell as there is pushing and shoving to get a picture with the crack!
After visiting the Liberty Bell, we toured the National Constitution Center which has tons of interactive exhibits on the making and contents of the Constitution. It was educational and very interesting. Did you know that no delagates from Rhode Island were present to sign the document and Thomas Jefferson and James Adams didn't sign as they were overseas serving as diplomats? I also thought is was interesting that there were only 6 people who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, most notably Benjamin Franklin.
After the Constitution Center we walked over to Betsy Ross's house and explored more of the city. We saw several of these Philly Phanatic statues around the city which have been decorated by local artists, much like we do in Athens with the Bulldogs.

Sarah can only do so much walking before she begins to get hungry, so we stopped off at an oldtimey ice cream parlor for a treat. We visited Franklin Fountain for an excellent sundae and as you can tell by the line, we had a lot of company.
One of the final things we saw was the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier and payed our respects to the men who gave their lives for our country's freedom. It was a very nice memorial with an eternal flame inside Washington Square Park.
We had a nice dinner on Saturday night and checked out of the hotel at about 10am on Sunday before driving home. The trip home was much quicker since there was no traffic, and there were only two tolls this time for a cumulative total of $18 or so during the trip (not that I was counting). We got home about 2pm yesterday and spent the day catching up on various chores before beginning our work week.

All in all, we had a great vacation together! Thanks for checking in with us, and let us know if you have any questions or comments about the trip!

Happy Easter!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Philadelphia..full of sight-seeing, yummy food, beautiful weather, people-watching, and lots of together time! We both had a great time, but we're exhausted from walking all over the city! We'll have details & pictures from our vacay up on the blog soon, but we just wanted to stop by quickly to wish you...
Although we enjoyed our day together, we certainly missed our families on this special day. (And I really missed having me some yummy ham & hashbrown taters!!) We are so looking forward to Easter next year..we'll be able to spend it with family since we'll be living so much closer to them, and there will be one more basket from the Easter Bunny! :)

Happy Easter to you & your family!

17 Weeks

Here's a little pregnancy update for you! :)

How far along: 17 weeks & 1 day to be exact!

Weight Gain: I was pretty sure I had gained a pound or two, and that fact was confirmed at my doctor's appointment this week! I have officially gained 1.5 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Not yet...but it's starting to get hard to keep my jeans buttoned! I picked out a belly band a few weeks ago but haven't needed it yet..but I might have to start wearing it with my jeans soon!

Sleep: I had been reading in my pregnancy books all the reasons why I should be sleeping on my side now, and heaven forbid that I roll over onto my back or stomach...but I was very relieved to learn at my doctor's appointment that I am a-okay to continue sleeping on my back for a couple more months!

Movement: Not yet! My doctor told me I should begin to feel some movement soon as first-time moms usually start to feel it between 18-20 weeks.

Food cravings: None, but Derek finds it quite amusing that I'm starting to "branch out" at restaurants these days. I'm one of those people who has one favorite meal/entree at each restaurant that we frequent..so I'm very predictable..Derek could order for me no matter where I go because he always knows exactly what I'm going to get! But that has started to change a bit recently!

Symptoms: I never did have any morning sickness..thank goodness! My only current pregnancy symptoms are my frequent trips to the bathroom and occasional headaches.

Gender: Our little baby was doing lots of squirming during our ultrasound this week, so nothing is confirmed yet...but Derek got a pretty good look and seems pretty sure we're having a girl! Our next ultrasound is scheduled for April 21st, so we'll know for sure then!

What I miss: Nothing..I am really enjoying being pregnant!

Best moment this week: Getting to see our sweet baby again via ultrasound & hear his/her heartbeat...technology is so amazing!

What I'm looking forward to: Feeling our baby move for the 1st time!

Milestones: As we were preparing for our trip to Philadelphia last night, it occurred to me that this could very well be our very last vacation/trip as a family of 2!