My Brother is Home

My brother is home from Iraq. Not for good (yet) but just for a visit. He has to go back August 1, 2007.

Anthony and I went to pick him up on Friday, July 6th at JFK. Joseph stayed home from his summer program and we had LilyRose with us also. My brother only met LilyRose for a few hours when we got home because he left the day after we got home from China. I really didn't sleep the night before, I was so excited. Ralph and I are the typical brother and sister. We get along but we also don't get along, but I couldn't wait to see him. We got to the airport way to early and then we were in the wrong terminal and had to walk to the other side of the airport. LilyRose got carriage sickness. lol Up the hill, down the hill. We finally find where we are suppose to be and wouldn't you know it, the flight is delayed. So we got coffee and Joseph got his Wrestling magazine and LilyRose got crackers and we were good to wait. We really didn't have to wait that long and it gave me time to calm down. When he walked through the doors, I started to scream. Couldn't help myself, didn't realize I missed him that much. He looked up at me and just smiled and laughed. Now of course everyone is looking at us and I'm crying like an ass and trying to take pictures and the stupid camera froze up on me. Boy was I pissed. I didn't know it at the time but Anthony was suppose to be video taping and he got the floor and Ralph's shoes and the back of my head. I was so mad. But I did manage to get some very good video of him and my mother. Anyway, my son was so happy to have his uncle/godfather home. Joseph adores Ralph. It was really funny seeing LilyRose looking up at him. Ralph was loving her. So we get on our way to go home and I think my brother was nervous seeing my mother. I called her to let her know we were close and when we pulled up I jumped out first so I could video tape it and my mother just kept saying his name over and over. She was crying so hard that I don't think she really saw him the first 15 minutes. My brother was all choked up just like the rest of us. After she calmed down she asked him to take out the garbage. Thank god I still had the camera on, because no one would believe it. We were hysterical. So there's Ralph, home one hour from Iraq and he's taking out the trash. PRICELESS

Then we took Ralph home to see his kids. Now, I haven't seen my oldest niece in almost 3 years. My younger niece I saw a handful of times in 3 years. That's a whole other story. So i have my camera ready to catch the homecoming but my younger niece flew out of the house so fast that I missed it. But I have to say I will never forget her face. She cried and was holding onto him so tight that you could see my brother trying to catch his breath. Then my older niece came out and it was very touching. No one said anything to me at all and that was ok. The girls had never seen LilyRose so I told Joseph to take her out of the truck so that they could meet her. We left Ralph at his house and went home. I took a nap because I was so tired and about an hour later I hear my brother telling me to get up. I came out of my room and the girls were here. I was shocked. Ralph is staying here for his time home. He is divorced and his ex and the girls live in the house. My younger niece Daniella has been here everyday. She even slept here a few times. Joseph is having a ball. Daniella and Joseph always got along great. They are very much alike. Christina is 17 now and has a boyfriend and she does her own thing.
I am just surprised that she has been here so much. I didn't know that it bothered me so much not having them in my life. I am just hoping that when Ralph goes back, that Daniella can still come here to hang out. LilyRose loves her like crazy. I saw my ex-sister-in-law for the first time in 3 years the other day and I took LilyRose over to the car to introduce her. We will never be friends, but I want to be civil so that my nieces can come here whenever they want. It's great having everyone together again. My mother is happy to have all of her grandchildren together.

BTW, LilyRose is doing great. She is picking up lots of words now that the tubes are in and she's loving life. My cousin's baby girl turned 1 years old and they had the pony rides and petting zoo. LilyRose was up close and personal with all the animals. She really loved the pony ride though. Wouldn't you know it, my carmera battery died right when it was her turn. I got 1 pic of her on the pony.

LilyRose had her Surgery

LilyRose had her surgery yesterday and all went well.

I was a basket case and didn't sleep at all the night before. We got her up as close to the time we had to leave because LilyRose LOVES to eat. She must have been wondering why she didn't get her milk and then her breakfast. Of course we had a few people come to the hospital with us. My cousin Gina (LilyRose's Godmother) my mother, my son, my brother and his daughter. We always do things big in this family. We had to be there at 8:30 am and she was suppose to go in at 9:30am. They called us in at 9:45 and she went to surgery at 10:15 am. Only one parent was allowed to go into the room and hold her while they put the mask over her face so I made Anthony do that. There was no way that I could watch that happen. I would have passed out. That's my baby and it would have broke my heart. Anthony was crying when he came out. I had to laugh though because he had the white cover up and blue hat that he had to wear to bring her in. He looked really funny. I cried a little when he walked away with her and she's waving bye bye but I really lost it when I went back to the waiting room and my mother started to cry. But no sooner did we sit down they called us back in. As we opened the door to go back to the recovery area, we heard LilyRose flipping out. She was screaming and crying and we took off at a run and boy was I shocked when I saw here. This was NOT my LilyRose. She had this blank look on her face and she was kicking and hitting the nurse. So I took her and she was flipping and hitting and I almost dropped her. So Anthony took her and he was having a hard time holding her too. She was pulling his hair and squeezing his face and she had no idea who we were or where she was. This went on for a 1/2 hour. The nurse told us we could leave, but I was not going anywhere while she was acting like this. The nurse kept telling us that this was normal and that she would snap out of it soon. I was floored. She finally calmed down enough for us to leave. She wouldn't look at anyone in the car and when we got home she sat on the couch with my niece and finally started to be herself. She came into the kitchen and pointed to the cereal cabinet and then she was off to the races. She ate all day long. Finally at 1pm she went down for a 3 hour nap. She got up and ate some more and played and was talking up a storm. She was repeating what we said more then she ever did. The Dr. told me, don't talk loud near her for a few days and I had to laugh at that, we are a loud family. But she was fine and thank god it's done and she's doing great.

I want to thank everyone who has emailed me and called me and wrote here. I really appreciate it all.