Thank You: To our families

There are not enough words to express to each one of you how much we have appreciated your love, your support, your encouragement and your prayers since August 15th. As you well know, we have experienced every emotion possible while on this journey - shock, devastation, sadness, exhaustion, happiness, excitement, gratefulness and thankfulness. However, through it all every one of you have been there for us. We all came together and I believe have, by far, experienced one of the greatest miracles the Lord has ever performed in our families - the miracle of our precious baby boy, Tristan, being born alive and already making it today, DAY 17. This journey would not have been the same without each one of you being a part of it. Everyone has played a different role, no one's greater or less than the other, just everyone being there for us by giving of their time and their hearts . We thank you and we love you all very much:

• To my Mom & Step-Dad: Thank you, Mom, for every time I called to cry (no matter the hour of day/night), for your daily encouragement, for making Tristan's bow for his tree, for Tristan's 2 "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments, for Tristan's 8 baby outfits, for Tristan's baby blanket, for my beautiful hospital gown and robe, for my beautiful black suit for church, for staying at the hospital 2 nights in a row to take care of me, for all the ice chips you feed me day/night, for all the wash clothes you held on my head when I was so sick, for driving us home from the hospital, and for coming to the house to spend time with Tristan. Thank you, to my step-dad, for coming to the hospital every day, for bringing mom back again at night so that she could take care of me, for all the lunches/dinners you brought to the hospital for Trayc, for all the days you took Tanner out to lunch so he could "get out", for buying the Peterbrooke Chocolate basket for our nurses, for following us home from the hospital with the boys in your car, for taking Tanner to the park last week to play ball and for loving me like I was your own, since I was a little girl.
  

• To my Dad & Step-Mom: Thank you, Dad, for changing your work schedule (last minute) to be in town for 2 weeks, for calling me weekly to make sure I was okay, for all the tears of joy you cried when Tristan was born, for standing by my bedside and holding my hand and for being the Dad every girl needs! and thank you for being an incredible Dad to Trayc with all of your love, personal calls just to him and helping him months ago make the "necessary plans". Thank you, to my step-mom, for buying groceries for 2 weeks so we wouldn't have to leave the house, for hand-preparing 7 nights of dinners, for the weekly cards since August, for Tristan's baby dedication outfit and for loving me like I was your own, since I was a little girl. And thank you to both of you for buying Tristan's 1st birthday cake so that we could have his 1st birthday party!
  

• To my Memaw & Grandaddy: Thank you both for coming to the hospital every day, for reminding me over and over that "Jesus loves you and He will take care of you", for constantly telling me how proud you are of us, for taking Tanner to lunch so he could "get out" of the hospital, for calling me 2xs a day since we've come home and for coming to the house to hold and love your great-grandson.
  

• To my sister Kim (her husband Toby and their children Kaitlyn & T.J.): Thank you SISTER, for all the days/nights I called you crying, for encouraging me, for helping me buy maternity clothes, for staying positive about Tristan all the way to the end, for being in the O.R. with Trayc and I - I never could have made it without you sitting beside me and rubbing my head telling me everything was okay and making sure I stayed awake long enough to see Tristan born, for being at the hospital every day and then going home at night to take care of your children plus Tayden (I know this would be ALOT for most, but as always you do it without any problem, like it's so easy!), for buying groceries, for walking our puppy every day/night, for having the house decorated with flowers and balloons when we came home from the hospital, and for bringing me the FIRST cup of coffee I've had in months!!!! Thank you, Toby, for bringing Kaitlyn and T.J. to the hospital right after Tristan was born and for taking off work 2 days to take care of the children so that Kim could be at the hospital with me. Thank you, my sweet "Katie Kate", for all the times you asked if Tristan was kicking so you could feel my tummy move (it always made me smile), for coming to the hospital to see your new cousin, for all of your sweet prayers you prayed for Tristan (the Lord answered your prayers princess, he's here!!!) for Tristan's cute little blue bear, for the beautiful homecoming flowers in the "pink" vase and for putting up with ALL THESE BOYS in the family, maybe one day you'll have a girl cousin, if not we'll just keep spoiling you!! Thank you, T.J., for all the times you asked when Tristan was coming out of my tummy so that you could play with him (it always made me laugh), for all of your sweet prayers you prayed for Tristan, for buying Tristan's "My First Christmas" Winnie the Pooh outfit and for the beautiful homecoming flowers in the "blue" vase.

• To my Step-Sister Jennifer (her husband, John, and their children Haley, Molly, Aubrey & Jack): Thank you, Jennifer, for leaving your family for a week to come in town for Tristan's birth, for being my "personal" nurse every day, for making sure the doctors/nurses were properly taking care of me, for all of your nursing advice, for constantly assuring me that everything was okay and for coming at the last minute and holding my hand as I laid there crying about Tristan having to be under the Billi-lights and not being able to hold him for 24 hours. Thank you, John, for allowing Jennifer to be here for me, for rearranging your work schedule so that you could take care of the children while she was gone. To my 3 nieces and 1 nephew, thank you for praying for your cousin every night since the beginning.
  

• To Trayc's Mom & Grandma: Thank you, mom, for your weekly cards before Tristan was born, for staying at the hospital with us 2 nights, for the beautiful Trisomy 18 Foundation bracelet with Tristan's birthstones on it, for staying at our house 11 nights to take care of Tristan so that we could sleep, for your daily love and encouragement since we came home from the hospital, for helping me learn all of the feeding tube and apnea monitor procedures, for reading the entire monitor manual and writing out your own notes so that we could better understand them. Thank you, grandma, for coming to the hospital and for spending 2 days/1 night here at our house. And, thanks to both of you for coming all the way from Tennessee, knowing this is a hard trip for you to make.
  

• To Trayc's brother Jason, (his wife Donna, and their children Avery, Taylor, Abbie & Payton): Thank you, Jason, for covering everything at the office so that Trayc can take off time to be with our family. Thank you, Donna, for helping Jason cover everything at the office so that Trayc can be off, for bringing the delicious brownies and muffins to the hospital for everyone and for the fresh fruit, yogurt smoothies and magazines for me. Thank you to my 2 nieces and 2 nephews for coming to the hospital and to the house and daily praying for your new cousin, Tristan . A special thank you to Taylor, for her precious comment on the blog entry on Day 14.

(Pictures provided by our sweet photographer, Peggy McAteer, with the "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" organization)