Reconnecting with Family

I've taken another long break from writing, however unintentionally!  Like everyone, we've had a million things going on, some of which I hope to share soon in a future post!  

On Sunday, I got to have dinner and spend a couple of hours with my Aunt Pat and cousin Cindy, neither of whom I've seen in almost 15 years!  It's safe to say we've had some interesting and challenging family dynamics on both my mom and dad's sides over the years, falling in and out of touch with aunts, uncles, cousins and even my half brother and half sister.  Say what you will about social media, but without it, I may not have reconnected with several family members this year, including Pat and Cindy.  

Lucky for me, they were in Nashville (from the Louisville area) for a show at The Ryman and were willing to drive in early to meet and have dinner.  The time we spent together was one of the best times I've had in a long time and it was priceless finally getting to introduce Sophie to more of her family from my dad's side.  You can see from our smiles that we really enjoyed seeing each other. 

We've had some sad news recently about my half brother, Robbie, as he was diagnosed recently with terminal lung cancer.  It is difficult to think about him suffering in much the same way my dad suffered with lung cancer before he passed away in November 1998 and I ask for those reading this who pray to offer prayers for his comfort.  Although I haven't seen Robbie in years, I hear from Pat and Cindy that he looks a lot like my dad and that's not surprising given that I remember him looking like a younger version of him the last time we saw each other.  This is yet another situation that reminds me that we don't have all the time in the world to do things or reach out to people.  I always assumed there would be time to reconnect with Robbie and my half sister, Missy, if we all felt like that was what we wanted. 

On a much happier note, the last few weekends have been full of fun family adventures, including taking Sophie to her very first show, Disney on Ice.  She managed to come home with just a little bit of swag and has especially enjoyed torturing Sparky and Lucy with her magic wand. 

We also had a fun birthday party for a little girl turning three at The Painted Cupcake in Green Hills.  I had no idea they had a party room, but it was something different and the little girls all seemed to have a great time decorating little pizzas and cupcakes and coloring.  Sophie wore her crown all weekend!

Last, but definitely not least, things are going well at almost 28 weeks with Baby Powell #2!  Sophie continues to be excited about being a big sister and talks a lot about all the ways she wants to help her baby brother.  She's also named him... Daddy.  With both pregnancies, we've been with the Vanderbilt Women's Health OB group.  We absolutely love our provider, Dr. Hemingway, but after our last appointment when we brought Sophie with us, we walked away even happier.  Dr. Hemingway embraced having Sophie in the room with us and even allowed her to help find the baby's heartbeat.  Sophie had already declared she wants to be a "princess doctor" when she's older, so you can imagine how excited she was!  I debated whether or not to share this picture, but I love it and it was such a happy moment! 

 Happy Friday and until next time!