Superhero Gavin

Tonight, I want to introduce you all to one of the strongest little boys in the world. Gavin Leong. I have had the pleasure of knowing Kate Leong since we were both pregnant in 2007. Our boys were born 10 days apart. Kate and her family are the strongest people I know. They have been through so much. Tonight, Gavin has earned his wings. Gavin has been through so much in the last 5 years, he had the strength of a superhero.

Tonight I am sad to say, Kate and Ed are waiting with Gavin, as they keep his heart beating with the ventilator for the transplant team. Kate and Ed have made the impossible decision by any parent, and have chosen to donate his organs.

There is so much I could say about Gavin, Kate, Ed and his little brother Brian. However I am struggling to find the words tonight. Today was Kate's Birthday, I can not wrap my head around letting my son walk with Jesus on my birthday. Gavin has surely passed his superhero strength to his mom and the rest of his family. Since the words will not come, I am simply going to post this of Gavin, followed by a quote from Kate's Blog. Please visit Chasing Rainbow's to follow Kate's Journey.

And tonight, I ask you to wish Kate a Happy Birthday, by honoring their wishes of showing your tribute to Gavin in your own way. The following is from her blog/FB today. Happy Birthday Kate, Gavin has truly touched us all. 

"Ed and I will be announcing our choices for "in lieu of flowers" donations to honor Gavin in a few days, but today is my birthday and this is all about me. I've come up with a special, totally FREE way to honor my sweet son who could inspire the most profound emotion without ever saying a word. I'm asking you to help someone... document it with words and or a photo... and place it on the Chasing Rainbows Facebook Page. Then be sure to check the page often to get inspired by the outpouring of love. Here are some great ideas for you... Find a special needs classroom in your community. These are usually low funded and always looking for donations. Perhaps you have toys your kids don't play with anymore that could be used in the classroom or during therapy. Random crayons that are laying around. I know we always needed rug gripper to place under Gavin's behind when he sat - that's a good need. Do you know a special needs Mom in your neighborhood? Church? School? Tell her you'd like to make dinner for her family. What night would work? Then tell her the only requirement is they have to give a "cheers toast" to Gavin during dinner. Help someone struggling to unload groceries into their car in the rain. Donate clothes to a women's shelter. Check with your local children's hospital for volunteer opportunities - even if it's just for two hours of your life. Save all of your magazines and bring a big stash to your local hospital. You have no idea how helpful that is to parents who spend days, weeks or months (as I did when Gavin was a baby) sitting in their child's hospital room. These are just some ideas... be creative! And think of Gavin when you do it. Share his story with the person you are blessing. Tell them that Gavin Leong changed the world with little acts of courage, determination and a sweet smile... without ever saying a word. And then ask them to pay it forward to honor his legacy. This would be the best birthday gift you could give me. There is no time frame - you could post something today or a year from now or five years from now. Thank you for helping me to honor my amazing little boy. And feel free to share this anywhere you want! "

And the planning starts

Minneapolis, MN... One of the few places in the country I haven't been, let alone thought of going to. I honestly don't have an earths clue what is in MN.

So far the consensus is, we will spend part of the week in the city, shopping and doing girl stuff (haha!) Then we will go out to the country, where Kyle and I will get married on the end of the dock at sunset. (Love it!)

How ironic that my birth buddy, Kari, suggested that we get married on the dock at sunset! Let me back up. Kari has probably been one of the girls I've been closest to... Ok, so there isn't any probably about it. She and I were birth buddies. When the board first started, and through our pregnancies, there were about 100 of us. It was too hard for everyone to keep track of what was going on with each other, so we had a birth buddy. One person who had our email/phone number that we would call if anything were happening with our pregnancy, or the inevitable--we went into labor! She and I have been through some up's and down's together. Sticking together through each of our personal struggles, relationship issues, helping each other when our husband(her)/fiance(me) went through some pretty terrible times. Shes been there on days that I just don't want to deal with it anymore. On the days that I wish that Kyle would "stop thinking like a (now former) addict". Shes been there with me tears and all. I love that girl. (I love them all, but you get what I'm saying).

Regardless, how she came up with the idea that we get married on the end of the dock at sunset, I'll never know. Being the local girl from MN she has probably a million different places we could get married there.

One of mine & Kyle's favorite things to do, when we go visit his dad at the lake is sit on the dock, around sunset and enjoy each other's company... well, he likes to fish too, I just have to get lucky to catch something!!! Some of my favorite times with Kyle, have been at the lake, (or the river) where we have danced by the light of the moonlight, listened to the water, or simply watched the reflections over the water. Getting married on the end of the dock?

Perfect in my book.

August 26, 2011

That was the other crucial day. That was the day I met Kyle. I really don't even know where to begin writing this post. Kyle has changed my life forever. After moving to Missouri, to leave a past of heartbreak and pain (physical and emotional) behind...Finding love...true love at 29, just 4 months after leaving an abusive marriage is not what I imagined doing. But that's exactly what I did. Bored on the computer (yes it starts with the computer...) I decided one Friday night that I was bored. My son had just left for a 12 week stay with his dad in NY. I knew all of 5 people here in Springfield Missouri. So I went online and found a guy who was just looking to have some fun one friday night. We got together, he was a bad boy, a country boy... But he didn't lie about a thing. He was blatantly honest with me, and said "You don't want to fall in love with me, I'm an asshole."

Well, he was honest! =)

But somewhere between the late night fishing trips, driving down dirt roads and dancing in the moonlight, I fell in love with this boy from the midwest. ;-)

We have been through our ups and downs. We have been through our fights, loss of jobs, moving, pregnancy, miscarriage, swimming in the rivers, fishing with a pole made out of a stick, dancing on dirt roads, sleeping under the stars, camping on the river, learning these southern ways, drug addiction, rehab, custody battles, our divorces from our ex'sand so so much more.

He has taught me that it is ok to laugh, cry, giggle, snuggle, sleep in, stay up late, play in the rain, play in the mud, try new things and so much more.

We have talked about getting married, dreamed about it. We are more like husband and wife now, than many other couples are. We decided that even with the past, how bad we were both hurt physically and emotionally in our last relationships, that we would get married in 2014. When the girls on the board talked about a group vacation in 2014, I only thought it perfect that we say "I do" with the man who has changed my life and my outlook on love, is the girls who changed my outlook on life.

These are some very special 40 women, who extended their hearts to me in my time of need the most. When I was unable to speak with my oldest two children, a custody battle with my son's father, and learning how to live 1,000 miles away from everything I knew--they were there for me. When no one else was, they were.

When I was at my lowest points in life, these girls, while they were preparing for babies of their own, helped me get ready for the baby that we were not prepared for. These girls made blankets, sent clothes, bottles, diapers, recieving blankets, socks, bibs and everything else you can imagine... So I had what I needed for my son. Because of his difficult pregnancy, I was unable to work, and made it difficult to get the things I needed, for our new arrival. Finally after months of preterm labor, not knowing if we would even make it to 26 weeks, being on large doses of Procardia to prevent labor, we welcomed our little boy, born at 35 weeks into the world. That is just what my experiences were in the first 9 months of knowing them. After the births of our babies, we have gone through just as many ups and downs together. Stay tuned to get to know us more... and hear the blog of planning a vacation for group of mommies, plan my wedding & who knows what else you will get... these are some pretty unpredictable mommies we are talking about.

Just Getting Started

August 2014. The day I get married. Also when I get to meet these girls...I call them my sisters, they are more than that. They know my deep dark secrets. In January 2012, I got two pink lines on my pregnancy test. Little did I know, those two pink lines in addition to joining a group on facebook, would change my life forever. My "October 2012 baby" is now rolling over, bouncing, giggling, eating baby foods, laughing, playing and more. Through the last 15 months, we have been through everything together. The good times, the bad times and everything in between. We have been through relationship problems, happy times, struggles, holiday's, inlaws, custody disputes, drug addictions, finanial strains, celebrations, big moments for our babies (or kids or anything else!!!) but more importantly, these are girls that know where I'm coming from. Back in early 2012, we posted this, because in my previous "Birth Group" there ended up being a bunch of drama.

"I can noooooooooot deal with drama..... can we promise to each other that even years down the road and you are having a conversation with someone and you have a difference in opinion on something, or don't like the way a person said something to you/about you, we wont just say "I don't like what this person says" and block them? Lets make sure we are big girls on this board, know that we are going to have differences.. we are a family. Now, while things are good, lets make that promise to each other...we are GOING to have differences, lets not start blocking each other, yelling and hating one another just because of something stupid. Anyone agree??"

15 months later, we have stuck by this "idea",  the "idea" of always being there for each other no matter what. I will take you through my story, and the story of these other fabulous women that I call my sisters. By August 2014, we will be getting ready for my wedding, and the vacation of a lifetime. Meeting these girls who know what makes me tick, what causes my tears to flow, and how to make me laugh.

In this blog I will take you through a journey, with 40 of the best friend's a girl could ever ask for.... At the end, I will be married to my soul mate, and have the vacation of a lifetime with these girls, and their babies who mean more to me than anything in the world.