Our big surprise...

While we were in Hawaii my parents called to let us know that Mac's headstone got set in! You may remember that they originally just put in a little index card sized paper that said his name and the date he was buried. Josh and I had decided that we wanted to wait until Mac's first birthday to put in his real headstone, and so Josh's sister and her husband bought us a temporary headstone that could be there in the mean time. I remember how much that meant to me when they gave it to us for Christmas...I was amazed that they would think of us in such a selfless way and help us enjoy our Christmas without Mac.

When my Mom called to let me know that this new one was in- I couldn't help but break down and cry. It is such a huge milestone in our lives. I never thought I'd be in the situation that I am in, but I was so happy to finally have his official headstone. Happy about a headstone?! I couldn't believe it... but I was happier then than I had been this whole year! Something for Mac to have that is all his own. When we went in to design it they threw around some ideas- gave us our options and then sent us home with a rough draft.

Everything that I would suggest, Josh would acknowledge, let me know it was a good idea but... and then he'd shoot out his idea. We did this back and forth for a while when Josh turned to me and said, "Ya know- I haven't done a lot for Mac and I feel like this is the one thing I can do just for him." After that I did not say another word and Josh designed the entire headstone by himself. It was so touching and I had never thought of it that way... Mac's headstone means more to me now than anything- something just for himself that Josh played the main part in. Mac's Birthday is next month, so his Birthday present came in a little early but it was just the boost I needed.