** note: more pictures will be added to this post soon **
Well, without further adieu… I present to you,
the Segerstrom family’s 2012 Year in Review…
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| Baby #3. Boy or Girl? We never find out! |
In late January we discovered, much to our surprise and joy, that we were expecting our 3rd child!! Audrey was just 7 months old at the time. Derek started working with livestock; calves to be more precise. Farm boy that he is, this was a nice job opportunity for him.
Fast forward to spring. In May I got to watch my baby brother, Taylor Ryan Carr, graduate from high school. This was a huge accomplishment for him. A few years ago he was very seriously injured during football practice. He was knocked unconscious and temporarily paralyzed for a number of hours. This injury caused major damage, but multiple doctors could never find out where. He would become very ill off and on, and usually school-related events would trigger the illness. He missed a ton of school and had to work very, very hard to catch up. I will never forget watching him walk across the stage to receive his diploma. I was standing in a hallway quieting a fussy Audrey. As he walked past, I waved excitedly. He waved back, a little embarrassed. Later he told me that a police officer on duty thought Taylor was waving at him, so he gave my brother a big, cheesy thumbs up! Ha ha I love it!!
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| I was very proud of Taylor on this day. |
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| Calves at about 4 months old |
Our family took on a fun project! Derek bought 7 calves from work and we began the process of raising them for meat. There was one calf that we are particularly fond of, we call him Brownie. Now he is fully grown and he is the sweetest, most playful thing! He's like a 1000 pound dog, he just wants to be petted and scratched on his head. He will come right up to us at the fence. When all 7 were young, Derek used to run around their pasture and they would chase him. It was quite the scene! As of January 15, 2013 five of the seven, now steers, were taken to the sale barn and sold. We have Brownie and his friend left to butcher sometime this spring. It will be hard because we've grown so attached. I know we'll never get another steer like Brownie. I'll miss that big lug, but I'm sure I'll appreciate not having to buy ground beef from the store for the next year or so!
At the end of May, we as a family traveled to New Bern, North Carolina for our second serving of Eight Days of Hope! This is a Christ-centered ministry that we love and support. It’s an all volunteer organization that aides in disaster relief throughout the US (eightdaysofhope.com). Homes and lives needed help being rebuilt after Hurricane Irene hit the area in fall 2011. We drove straight through, 25 hours in the car with Derek and I driving/sleeping in shifts. I was 6 months pregnant.
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| Atlantic Beach, North Carolina |
After EDOH9, we decided to revisit Amory, Mississippi, our home away from home. This was the location of our first missions trip with Eight Days in 2011. We had so many special people there that we wanted to see again. We also celebrated my 27th birthday while in Amory.
June was a hustle and bustle kind of month. Audrey celebrated her 1st birthday!!! In our household, the first b-day is a big deal! We do a themed party. Her theme was ladybugs (“Our little lady is turning one!”). I handmade the invitations and little lady bug pins for everyone to wear. We use one of those photo albums that have an area where you can write text next to the photos as a guestbook. Each guest/family gets their photo taken and slipped into the space next to where they signed their names. Everyone had to wear bug antennae for their photo, of course! It’s really fun to look back and SEE who was there.
Why not redo your whole kitchen eight days before you’re expecting a houseful of guests for a birthday party?! We did!! Thankfully, the project was completed at the last minute, as that is the Segerstrom way. I’ll also do a separate post going into more detail on this remodel job. For now, enjoy the before and after photos!!
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| Happy Anniversary to my hunk of a husband! ;] |
In June, Derek and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. L’amore!! Because we were a broke, young couple with two children and one on the way, we just enjoyed our day at home. We actually babysat our niece! How romantic! I fed the kids chicken nuggets while we love birds enjoyed stuffed pork chops!
In July, Roen turned 3. Raise your hand if your children have too many toys! Mine do! We asked him if, instead of gifts, he would be willing to accept birthday cards with a little money donation inside to send chickens to poor families in Asia? As he just got 15 chickens for Christmas, of course he said yes!! We celebrated his birthday at our favorite family restaurant. He loved his cake. By adding green food coloring to the frosting and throwing on some small farm toys I became his cake-decorating heroine!! He still talks about it to this day. Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles gave enough money for Roen to donate 5 pairs of poultry to Asian families! This was done through Gospel For Asia (gfa.org), another ministry we love. These chickens will be delivered by national pastors who will also share the love of Jesus Christ with the fams. Not only will they receive a food and income source, but they’ll also receive the Bread of Life!! :]
In July we also said goodbye to my grandmother, Cleo Carr. She lived to be in her mid-80s and she loved the Lord. She was a very important member of the Carr family, and we were sad to see her go, but we’re thankful she is now with the King of Kings!
Derek celebrated his 25th birthday. He’s still my hero and the love of my life!
September.. can we skip this part? It’s true when they say one phone call can change your life forever. The day started off innocent enough. It was September 20, 2012, my due date, I was 40 weeks pregnant. Derek got off early from work and we were enjoying some time together as a family. Then came the call…
I think the most difficult thing my husband has ever had to do in his entire life was to tell me, his wife, that my baby brother.. the brother that I just watched graduate from high school… the brother that was just at our house a few weeks earlier reading a book to my son.. that baby brother was “no longer with us.” I lost it. I immediately thought of a car accident. My husband said, “he committed suicide.” I was in absolute, complete shock. I wish you could have known my brother. This was not him. He would never do something like this to himself or to us! But he did, and we’re all left wondering why?! No one knew what he was struggling with. The memories are so vivid from this day and the days that followed, it’s almost like they happened yesterday. I have so many unanswered questions and so many regrets… the pain is so deep. This is the very, very condensed version of the story. The whole of it is too difficult to share like this, too personal. This post may seem a little.. I don’t know what. There’s just no way to express the hurt. Our whole family has been devastated. What would I do without Jesus Christ?! I’m so, so thankful that I can get strength from Him whenever I need it, and I need it every day.
I think the most difficult thing my husband has ever had to do in his entire life was to tell me, his wife, that my baby brother.. the brother that I just watched graduate from high school… the brother that was just at our house a few weeks earlier reading a book to my son.. that baby brother was “no longer with us.” I lost it. I immediately thought of a car accident. My husband said, “he committed suicide.” I was in absolute, complete shock. I wish you could have known my brother. This was not him. He would never do something like this to himself or to us! But he did, and we’re all left wondering why?! No one knew what he was struggling with. The memories are so vivid from this day and the days that followed, it’s almost like they happened yesterday. I have so many unanswered questions and so many regrets… the pain is so deep. This is the very, very condensed version of the story. The whole of it is too difficult to share like this, too personal. This post may seem a little.. I don’t know what. There’s just no way to express the hurt. Our whole family has been devastated. What would I do without Jesus Christ?! I’m so, so thankful that I can get strength from Him whenever I need it, and I need it every day.
I wanted to be with my family and just cry with them. But like I said, I was due with a baby at any time. Have you ever prayed that your baby would just come? Well, I was praying the exact opposite. I was praying, “God, please don’t let my baby come!” Not now. I needed to mourn, I needed to grieve, I needed to attend Taylor’s visitation and funeral.
Four days after my brother passed away, I was taken to the hospital, very much in labor. At 9:01 am on September 24, 2012, Hannah Grace arrived by c-section. She weighed 7lbs. 14oz. and was 19 ½ inches long. She had a head of long black hair. She was absolutely beautiful. She was our sunshine after the rain. Her name comes from Hannah in the Bible, a woman I greatly admire. Grace was Taylor’s favorite name for a girl. We thought it was a nice way to honor someone we loved and miss so much. Both of her names mean “Grace of God.” How fitting – we doubly needed God’s grace during this very difficult time and He provided it through a tiny baby, once again.
Hannah was born on a Monday. Taylor’s visitation was the next day. I was not able to attend. I wanted to be there because I wanted to see my brother one last time. The funeral was going to be closed-casket.
Amazingly enough, I was discharged late Tuesday night. How many mothers get out of the hospital one day after a cesarean surgery? God worked everything out so I could make it to his funeral on Wednesday morning. I didn’t even have any pain. This was my third c-section, I know there is pain involved! I rode in a wheelchair and held my newborn daughter. My poor daughter who would never get to know her wonderful uncle. That really breaks my heart. Can you imagine your little brother’s casket being wheeled down the aisle RIGHT next to you? It’s the worst feeling. The whole experience was traumatizing, to say the least.
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| Taylor, we love you & miss you so much. |
Thanksgiving was difficult. Christmas was even harder. Dad, Loretta, and Taylor’s girlfriend, Demi, did make it very special, though. They blessed us with gifts that will never be forgotten. For Dad and Loretta, we made a stepping stone with all three of our children’s’ hand prints pressed into it with the words, “We love you Taylor.” They can place it in the rock garden they’re making in his memory. We’re going to make another to leave at his grave site this spring.
Such a sad ending. 2012 was a year I’ll never forget, but I really, really would like to. Please, do me a favor. Love everyone you know like you’ll never see them again. Be there for others when they need you. Just be a friend. Love your family and let them know how much you love them..
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