"Normal" Didn't Last Long

OK....I know I have been missing in action. Here is the deal:


On July 10, My cousin and his fiance had a beautiful baby girl!!! Her name is Merissa. The mom and dad are Tim and Andrea. Merissa is one of the most beautiful baby girls I have EVER seen. If you don't believe me, just gaze upon this vision of loveliness:



















Not me silly, the baby!!!



Anyway, everything was wonderful and we were all on cloud nine Thursday all day long. My cousin, Tim, is in his 40's and this is his first baby!! You can understand why we all had chill bumps from the excitement of this little blessing!



By the way, there are six of us cousins (three boys and three girls). My mom had only one brother. We are all more like siblings than cousins. We are a very close-knit family.



Friday morning, Andrea (Baby Merissa's mom) had some very serious complications develop. Long story short, we almost lost her three times and now she is in another hospital where she is getting intensive care, on a ventilator, and fighting for her life.



Things have improved a little and Andrea is now alert enough to nod her head and squeeze a hand. She has not seen Merissa since the day she was born.





We are all taking care of the sweet little baby girl and trying to help Timmy in any way we can.




Merissa has no shortage of baby sitters. In fact, we have trouble giving her to the next person when our turn is up!





Here is a picture of my baby (6 year old Austin) holding her:

Here she is with her aunt Tricia:

Here is my mom holding Merissa:

Here she is on the VERY rare occasion when no one is holding her:
PLEASE, I beg of you to pray for Andrea, Timmy and Merissa. The precious little girl needs her mommy and her daddy needs some rest from running back and forth to the hospital. Andrea deserves the blessed feeling of cuddling her newborn bundle of joy and spending time bonding with her new family.



Miranda and Brian are Andrea's two older children and they miss their mom as well. Here they are holding their new baby sister:

Just get on your knees for this family and pray for the gift of healing and health. I will keep you posted as time allows, I promise!

I told ya, "Normal" really doesn't exist around my house, didn't I?

I am off to the hospital to visit Andrea. Then, over to Timmy's house to hold baby Merissa. I am going to give her a kiss from her mom and enjoy the feeling of cuddling her little self all I can.

Love and blessings,
Starr