Rest In Peace, Nicole

A few years back, I blogged about a high school classmate, Nicole, who was battling breast cancer.  You can read those blogs here, here and here.  Since I last blogged, Nicole's cancer went into remission, and then came back with a vengeance.  In June, the cancer had spread to her brain with over 16 tumors.  And while her optimism and faith shined through, her body could not keep up.  She fought the cancer once again with chemo and with gama knife surgery.  In late August, the cancer debilitated her drastically when it spread to her spinal fluid.  She attended the Denver Race for the Cure in late September and was given an award.  Nicole passed away on Sunday, October 20, 2013.  She now rests in peace with no cancer.

She leaves her husband and her 4 1/2 year old daughter.  For me, this is the hardest part.  Her daughter.  Her daughter, the same age as my Cecilia.  Her daughter only has a mommy in heaven.  I know that her daughter will be raised with a wonderful family around her, and her daddy will take great care of her, but no one can replace her mommy.

Jon and I attended the funeral for Nicole on Saturday the 26th.  It was a beautiful tribute to Nicole.  Nicole planned every detail of her funeral, and it was clear that she was present.  She wanted a celebration in pink, and the church was filled with pink.  There was easily over 500 people present.  We recognized many classmates that came to show support and say goodbye.  The funeral was attended by local news anchors and other media professionals that have been apart of her story from the begining, including the author of this article, which was read during the funeral.

Nicole will be missed by so many people.  It is so hard to believe that she is really gone.

Rest in peace, Nicole.

That Busy Weekend In October...

That weekend that my Uncle Dan married Tanya, and Nora got Baptized, ya, it was a busy one.  There are a few pictures that I wanted to be sure made it into the blog, along with some short narratives.  First, Nora met her God Parents for the first time that weekend, and her Uncle Pete too.  She also met the rest of her extended family, including all of my Uncles.  Some of them she was thrilled with, others not so much.  I really adore the pictures of Nora with my grandparents.

Uncle Pat and Aunt Sarah flew in on Friday and spent some time with the big girls while I went to get a haircut.  The day before, the girls and I read "Amelia Bedelia" which ends with a delicious lemon meringue pie.  I told the girls that Uncle Pat likes to make pie, and so they became relentlessly insistent that he make a lemon pie with them on Friday.  It was really quite adorable.

Saturday morning of the events we had just my family over for breakfast.  It was so nice to spend time with the Ambrose clan, even if it was just a few hours.  This meal also lead us to have to open our last wedding gift- yes, Jon and I's last wedding gift from over 8 years ago.  It was the silverware in reserve.  We had a crowd large enough to warrant it, and to our surprise, it even came with a really nice wooden tray for storing them in the drawer.

 
Uncle Pete also got a check up from the big girls while he was here.

Nora's Baptism

Nora was baptized on October 13, 2013.  It was a beautiful ceremony with Fr. Christopher Gama.  Fr. Chris was just ordained in May, and Jon and I were able to attend his ordination because it was held at our church.  We also had Fr. Chris over for dinner shortly before he was ordained.  He is a wonderful man, priest, and friend.  We were honored to have him come up from Colorado Springs to baptize our Nora.  We were also honored to have about 75 family and friends join us to celebrate.  Including her Uncle Pete, and her Godparents, Uncle Pat & Aunt Sarah who all flew in for the weekend.

Nora is the 54th baby to wear the baptismal gown, followed by her sisters Cecilia, and Lilly Jeanne.  Her Godparents did a great job dressing her.  Its all part of the tradition.

Nora cried and screamed through the entire ceremony.  Despite me trying to feed her just before we started.  I did the mom dance/bounce from start to finish.  Of course, just as we finished she fell asleep.  She was baptized among family and friends, and it was a beautiful way to welcome her into our Catholic faith.  We celebrated with a small reception at the church afterwards.

 

My New Aunt Tanya and Uncle Dan

I could not be more thrilled for my Uncle Dan.  He married a wonderful woman on October 12th, Tanya.  She's my new Aunt :)  The wedding was in Colorado Springs and it was beautiful and fun in just the right proportions.  The ceremony was beautiful.  My favorite part was that Dan and Tanya memorized their vows and did not need any prompts and did not have to read them.

All of my out of town uncles and all of my siblings were here for the weekend to celebrate, and it was so good to be all together.  It was also Nora's first wedding.  She was a champ, although, she did just want some space at one point, and was happy to not have anyone holding her for a few minutes.  

We had a fun time dancing.  Cecilia tore up the dance floor!  The girls had so much fun.  I think this could be the first wedding they will remember.  They are still talking about it.

The boys were charged with decorating the getaway car, and they had way to much fun with it.  Tanya was not so thrilled when they left the reception to head out.  The car was complete with glitter bombs (glitter in the air vents and in the visors), whoopee cushions, and Marvin Gaye's "Let's get it on" playing very loudly via CD and protected by mouse trap to prevent to bride and groom from changing the volume or the music selection.

Nora at 1 Month

Can we talk about how strong this baby is??  Seriously.  She was holding her head up on day one for a few seconds.  She now holds her head up as if she is already two months old.  She is also insistent that she stand up.  Future athlete??

 

 She's been a wonderful blessing around here.  She is overall, a pretty good baby.  Or, maybe its just that we are more experienced this time around.  She loves to eat, and I'm a fire hydrant, so she has plenty to eat and sometimes to much.  She is pushing 11lbs. now.  Chunk.  Her cheeks are amazing, they are huge!  She is sleeping well also.  She is fussy only in the evenings from about 7-9pm and then she will sleep from about 9:30-2:30, and then eat again at 5am.  

Her sisters love her soooo much.  They love to hold her, kiss her, look at her, sing to her, talk to her, read her stories, and they always want to know where she is.

Nora hates strongly dislikes her car seat.  If she is sleeping when I put her in, we are good to go.  If she is awake, she is guaranteed to cry until she gets taken out, even if it's a 45 minute drive.  She has the same affinity for the bath.  She has graduated to bathing in the big tub with her sister Lilly Jeanne, because one bath is easier for mom and dad than two.

Nora is one of the most alert babies I've ever met.  When she is awake, she likes to look all around her and see what is going on.  She is going to be a thumb sucker too.  She has found her thumb once or twice already, but she still clenches her fists too much to find it all the time.

Have I mentioned how much hair she has??  She has a ton!  And it seems to be lightening a bit in color, but not in length or thickness.  AND, it is curly!  Don't ask me where that came from because I have no idea.  Her eyes are amazingly blue right now.  And I know, I know, babies eye color will change and is not set for like 4-6 months, but her eyes are more blue than her sisters' ever were.  We will see...

Nora's first Trip to Mamma & Pops'

The last weekend in September we headed up to Mamma & Pops' house.  As always it was so nice to get away.  It was Nora's first trip up too, and she was a champ.  We enjoyed fresh chicken eggs, and relaxing.  We also went to our favorite playground up there and Cecilia showed off her new swing skills.  I love that my parents are young enough to really play with their granddaughters.  It makes my heart happy.  The colors were starting to change up there too, and it was gorgeous!