Bittersweet

Sunday was a very special day. After almost two years of being friends with Katy online, we met in person. Katy and I are a part of tight knit MSN group... all for girls who are struggling with fertility problems or who struggled trying to conceive and are now parents. For those of you who are regular visitors, you have heard me mention my "group" often. Many of my online friends also have blogs and leave comments here. It's an AMAZING group of women! They were so supportive while I was trying to get pregnant (ready with prayers during month after month of disappointment), throughout my pregnancy (listening to all my worries and cheering me to the finish line), and are now great friends to me as a new mom (offering advice and letting me share baby pictures).

In July, Katy suffered a terrible loss. She was pregnant with twins and at 37 weeks, one of the babies passed in utero. Katy and Steve's daughter Emily has a guardian angel sister, Lauren. Our MSN group was so distraught over the loss of Lauren and grieved with Katy's family. As a group, we sent sympathy flowers and cards. But, we wanted to do something more. So, the girls started donating and WOW! They were extremely generous! We were able to purchase a beautiful memorial stone for Lauren, a huge gift certificate to a local nursery (to be used to purchase a memorial tree), and even a couple of gift cards to local restaurants. As a spokesperson and organizer of the donations... I felt so blessed and overwhelmed at the same time. After all, even though I felt I knew Katy, we had never met in person. That is, until Sunday.

It was a bittersweet meeting... so great to be able to meet Katy, her husband and super cute daughter. But, the hard part came when I gave them the gifts from our MSN group. (sigh) It was the least we could do. But, it just didn't feel like enough. We did have a very nice visit and like I mentioned previously, Isaac and Emily really stole the show. They brought a lot of joy to all of us as we watched them interact. I was able to hold Emily and she even took a nap on me... oh, I miss Isaac being a newborn, falling asleep at the drop of hat! She was precious and has the best chubby cheeks ever! The guys even hit it off... Josh and I hope to keep in touch and hang out with Katy and her family again soon. It was so wonderful to be welcomed into their home.

Me, Isaac, Katy, and Emily
Isaac just loved to look and smile at Emily
Hee, hee.. how cute are they?
Checkin' eachother out
and the BEST picture! Holding hands! :)