Justice Wayne Blakey - In Memorium

I have a friend that I knew in high school in the Swing Choir.  We lost touch after high school but like many other people had discovered each other again via a social network, FaceBook.  A couple of years ago we both found out at the same time we were expecting.  Our due dates were within about a week from each other in December of '08.  September of '08 she had her little boy. 12.5 weeks early.  I believe he was just 2 lbs. 5 oz.  Miraculously he was sent home Christmas Eve, however on continuous oxygen, but doing well.

He grew like any other baby should.  A few months behind of course, but right on or ahead of his corrective age considering how early he was.  Throughout his baby months he had gone in an out of the hospital for respiratory issues.  This last holiday season he had to go in for several weeks but like a trooper was able to eventually go home...still on oxygen.  He was crawling, eating table food, laughing, teasing, doing those things toddlers do.  I had followed his mother throughout this journey since she was 7 weeks pregnant.  After all, we were pregnant at the same time, both with boys.  I learned so much about this boy, as if I actually knew him.  I followed his growth; I followed his trials because his mother was so good about journaling (posting) events good and bad in his life.

On May 10 of this year he was admitted into the hospital.  Apparently because of being sick with a cold.  Anytime you have a child with a comprimised immune system a cold is call for an E.R. visit.  It would be the last time he would be admitted.  Last Monday his osats (oxygen saturation numbers) were the best they've ever been.  He was thriving!  But our Heavenly Father had other plans for this little miracle.  Thursday he took a turn for the worse.  They couldn't keep his osats up at all.  And little Justic passed away in his loving mother's arms.  He was 20 months old.

When I first read her blog I was in utter disbelief.  My thoughts immediately turned to my little Emery.  Guilt washed over me as I have this little boy who is healthy and well.  I wanted badly for my friend to have the same.  The following day was a huge downer day for me.  Hard to function normally.  Every time I looked at Emery I thought of my friend and the feelings would start all over again.  So today is a little bit better.  Because I think of where her boy is now and how he is free to play and well and whole, just waiting for his mother to finish raising him in her due time.  The Blakey family is truly lucky to have had this precious little boy in their lives and they were obviously worthy to have him as the Father trusted them to care for him while he was here.

Here are a couple of pictures.  One obviously of the boy and the other a picture of what I believe he's doing at this moment.

Emery's Dropping Hints

Not a veggie fan, huh Emery? Point well taken.

Inspiring Music

This is a little video I made the other week.  It's a song called Dream of the Forgotten Child by David Lanz.  All of my music I play is David Lanz music.  This song I especially like for two reasons.  One, my father loved this piece and loved me playing it.  It was his personal favorite.  And two, the story behind this song.  The video I made is a little cheesy, but all the words in this video that I've added are David Lanz' personal words that inspired this song he wrote.  I hope you all enjoy it.  Oh, and incidentally, I'm not the one playing the song in the video.  This is David Lanz playing =]

Fishermen in my Family

Glenn took Darius and his friend fishing early this morning.  They just got back and look at what Darius caught by himself!

It's a 17" Bass

Emery wanted some fun with the fish too.  It's nearly as big as he is!

Ah... Emery and his Easily Amused Mind

Here's a funny little video I took the other day when I heard Emery in the kitchen.  This is the cause of his laughter I heard.  Cute!


The little drawer at the bottom of the freezer was slightly sticking out preventing him from being able to shut the door all the way.  Apparently he thought this to be funny.  That's my boy!

Sweet Little One

Naomi is quickly approaching 3 months old this Sunday, the 25th.  How fast time flies!  I remember the whirlwind delivery I had nearly 4 weeks before her due date.  The other day I thought I'd get the camera out and take a few snaps of her for something more current.  (Yes, that is a Minnie Mouse clippy)

Hope you like 'em!

Full of Fun Emery

Emery has brought so much fun to our family.  He makes us laugh daily with the silliness that he has.  I wish I had my camera attached to me 24/7 so I could catch the most hilarious moments with him.  But it's not a reality to do that so you just have to deal with the ones I am able to get by running to the next room to grab my camera.  We had so much fun at the playground in Riverdale/Washington Terrace.  The weather was perfect for playing in last week.  Here are some fun shots of him lately.

Everytime we put him up in the structure he'd gravitate towards this wheel.  See the concentration?  Wonder what he was racing off too!

He was always all full of smiles!

Chocolate pudding!!  Oh, and a muffin pizza =]  Incidentally, this was right before he decided to dump the rest of the pudding on his tray and smear it all over.  Can you believe he didn't get a speck on the chair?

It's tough being 17 months old.  So tuckered out from all that play and fun.  Sleep well, little fella'.

Some Videos

Okay, so I finally figured out how to post a video on here, so pardon me on all the videos I have, but I have to play catch-up now.  Hope you like all the little shorts!

Naomi's Blessing

Yesterday was a fun-filled day at the Johnson residence.  We had Naomi's blessing.  There were three babies being blessed (all girls).  They, for some reason, chose ours to be first.  Which was too bad because a dear friend of ours missed the circle by nano-seconds!  Had we been second he would have made it :(  I feel super bad for him.  But all in all, it went very well.  Except Naomi was a little ticked off at me for not feeding her right before (which was my plan).  But so many people came to it I got all caught up in chatting.  I hadn't seen some of them for a long time.

I was lucky to have it recorded so I could transcribe it for my mother who is on her mission in Australia.  Afterward we had a feast and so many were able to join us in chatting and having fun!  Here's some pictures from the day... (the little girl in the red dress is a friend)...

Naomi Pics

Here's a couple of more recent pictures of Naomi. =]

Winter Fun with Emery

I had these pictures a while ago, but with the new baby, lots of illnesses 'n' all, it's been a little crazy around here.  So here's a peek at Emery's first real encounter with the snow (once he finally learned how to walk).