Tears...

Ethan Andrew Lees was only given a glimpse of this mortal life. He is the son of my dear sister. He was due July 27th. On July 11th my sister started feeling contractions. She was admitted to the hospital that night. My mother received a frantic call from her telling us that the news wasn't good and that my parents needed to hurry down to the hospital. We were all upset but tried to remain calm as we did not know the details. We had a quick family prayer before my mother and father left to see her.

At about 12:30am we had heard that there was a 99% chance that little Ethan was gone. Matt, Joe, and I waited up until about 5:00am to hear more news. I had a dream that night that everything would be ok. However, when I awoke from the dream I realized that my parents had not called and that only meant one thing...

Ethan was blessed and given a name by his father that evening with all of my siblings but two present. It was heartbreaking and I still find myself weeping. The only thing that gives our family comfort is knowing that we will see him again. Knowing, that my sister will get to raise him, just not in this life. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the chance to have eternal families. Without this knowledge, my life and outlook would be bleak.

I have realized now that everyday with my family is precious. I need to value every moment that passes by because I do not know what will happen next.

Ethan, Sadie, Bethany, & Jared... I love you and will continue to pray for you!

Baby Tears

We never heard your first tiny cry,
never wiped the teardrops from your eyes.
And though our hearts grieve, and we are bereft
we carry your teardrops, they are all we have left...
We carry them with us, tucked next to our hearty
our memory with us always, we are never apart.

I found this poem online and loved it!

A Quick Glance at Us

Isn't he the cutest! We finally had some family photos taken.

I love doing these montages of our family. I made one last year for our desk top and thought we needed an updated one. Actually, it was Matt's idea but I put it together. I love our little family! It looks like we have come a long way!

Little Baby Joshua posing for his pictures.

This is one of my favorite family ones that we had taken. I only wish he would of smiled but the photographer was probably too goofy for him to take serious. Those people can be crazy sometimes.

New Photos of Joshua

So I know everyone thinks their baby is the cutest but I honestly believe that my little guy is. He just laughs and plays with me all day! We took family photos last week and finally got them back! I love looking at our new little family.

Joshua now weights 18.6 lbs and can grab his feet, sit really well, and is starting to want to crawl. Crawling was something I never thought would happen because he HATES to be on his stomach but he is learning and we're fighting through his hatred.

Joshua is still a horrible sleeper but I guess there could be worse things. I am just glad he is so healthy and strong. I love my little boy!