2 weeks?!

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since Oliver was born and gone! :(

The funeral/graveside service was last Friday. It went really well. Our families were there surrounding us. Rob, his dad, his brother, and my dad got to help carry Oliver's little casket. Our wonderful pastor, Brad, conducted the service. When it was over, we all went out for pizza. As weird as that may sound, it was nice for us to be able to visit with our families and friends, and just unwind.

On Saturday, we had Oliver's memorial/celebration of life service. It was amazing! We sang praises to God, listened to our great small group leaders read Jeremiah 29:11-14 and explain what these verses mean to Rob and I, and how we have challenged/blessed them. Then Brad spoke...it was perfect! He spoke about how Oliver was the perfect name since the name Oliver is derived from Olive and the similarities between our Oliver and the Olive tree. The Olive tree is able to grow in the worst conditions and still produces good fruit, and baby Oliver, like the Olive tree, continued to grow and amaze the doctors despite his condition & touch hundreds of lives. We weren't aware of the meaning behind the name Oliver...Junebug just looked like an Oliver. :) Afterwards, we had a table of his momentos and pictures for people to look at and another table with cake. Yes, we had cake...we were celebrating Oliver's life after all! He is such a miracle!

I'm gonna be honest...this week has been tough! This is our first week of reality. Last week we had family and friends around us most of the time or had planning to do for his funeral and memorial service. The first couple days of this week, we...(er, I) cried many times. I look at his pictures, his little hat, his hand and foot moldings...all of his momentos and it makes me sad, yet happy. I'm glad that I got to carry him, feel him kick, see him move on the ultrasounds, and hear his heart beat...but I'm also glad that we got to see him, hold him, snuggle with him, kiss him, love him before he went to be an angel in Heaven. I'm glad that we have an angel to look over us and that he never had to suffer. That doesn't mean we don't miss him...because we miss him terribly! We wish everyday that we could still hold him, love him, see him. But we take comfort in knowing that he is in Heaven, playing with his angel baby friend Tressel, getting loved on by great-grandparents and Jesus, and watching down on us.

Oliver Matthew Junebug--
You will always be our miracle and you did more for God in your little life than most people do in their long life here on Earth. We miss you so much, but love you even more!
Momma and Daddy

P.S. Rob decided last week to name all Wednesdays "Oliver Days" since Ollie was born on a Wednesday. So next Wednesday, wish someone "Happy Oliver Day"! :)