Day 5- 3/20/20

I was teaching HS choir in Bellevue 13 years ago when my water broke during a small group ensemble practice.  Literally...  I remember kids in the group grabbing a blanket off the grand piano so I could wrap myself in it!  LOL!  If you ever had any fear teaching, it is peeing your pants in front of HS students.. or worse... MS!  Little did we know that Ms. Amelia Ruley broke a hole in my amniotic fluid sack only to somehow plug it. They sent us home.....  At 2:30 am, we drove back to Dubuque and our first child was born a little after 7:00 pm. 

A COVID-19 pandemic is not really the way we thought her big teen birthday would look like, but here we are killing it like champs!  LOL.  We made terariums together.  Mia designed her own birthday cake and decorated it herself.  It took a couple hours, but she completed it!  The kitchen was a disaster, but she was in love with her creation!  We celebrated with us and Grandma Karen next door.   Mia taught her the art of snapchat.  Grandma Karen made her famous lasagna. 

We had some great video chats with Grandma Cindy who shares the same birthday!!!!  We sang and blew out the candles "together" virtually. 

We also video chatted with Uncle Matt, Aunt Bridget, Abby, Olivia, and Alex.  The kids had fun playing the games on Facebook messenger video chat.  It was nice to see all our family today. 

I found today to be a little emotional.  I have a lot of family and friends in health care.  It is unreal that the WHOLE world is being affected by this right now.  It's not supposed to be this way, but here we are.  It is not in my control, but I am thankful today for everyone who is following the guidelines, video calling, for all people working to keep food on tables, truck drivers, mail carriers, people helping people who cant leave their homes, and our healthcare people for trying to help as much as they can with minimal gear.  God bless everyone! 

Love - The Ruley’s