The DeLucca Family: 03/23/10

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"

The entire day of March 13th, Hannah’s bday was one of these particular moments & we will always remember it!

Our Hannah Banana turned 9, can you believe it? Each year we usually have a little party here at the house or park for her but this year instead of a party we took off on an adventure, we were SeaWorld bound! We had great weather, not too hot or cold with sunshine and pleasant breeze. Both kids were on their best behavior and our Samuelito even took an hour long nap in his stroller while we walked around. We just fully enjoyed ourselves and Hannah most definitely enjoyed her special day. She was stuck to me like glue all day and was so lovey, she said thank you a million times over and I love you prob two million times. She hugged us so many times, it was just very sweet. Sam and I have mentioned several times since just how impressed we were with her behavior & manners while there, not one problem. You should have seen Sam’s face when 40 min into the drive down I realized I forgot to give her the medication…eeks. We were slightly worried but she was fine and we loved spending every min with her. The day was so great that even as we walked to the car I noticed how I didn’t feel the usual tiredness I feel after a theme park and I wasn’t on edge a bit. It truly was just a wonderful day and I was sad for it to end. I had prayed before we left that God would make this a special trip and multiply my energy and patience so that I would have more than enough and He sure did! Thank you Jesus!

We had decided we did not want to rush around in an attempt to see everything and rather wanted to make the day about Hannah. We wanted to enjoy it and not be stressed or frustrated with any part of the day. So, we told Hannah since it was her special day that she could pick where we went and what we did and somehow we managed to see almost everything. When I asked Hannah what her favorite part of the day was she said “spending this much time with you and Sam at the same time and riding Atlantis with Sam”… so yea, that made me realize just how much she loves her time with him. Sammy on the other hand has 2 things he has not stopped talking about. The first would be when we let Hannah sit in the “splash zone” per her request and the whale splashed her with his tail. Sammy was seriously offended by that and each time he retells it he is very serious and uses hand motions and all, he did not like that the whale did that to his Hannah. The second is the fact that the sea lions did not roar, they barked. He was very concerned that they were making wrong choices b/c everyone knows lions roar! He loved riding the rides and he giggled uncontrollably each time, I just can’t put in words how great it is to hear him belly laugh on a ride. I remember on one ride I closed my eyes and while being jerked to and fro I tuned all the commotion out and listened to their laughs.. Hannah’s one of a kind giggle and Sammy’s belly laugh. Just pure joy. Psalms 23:5, my cup runneth over came to mind. Even with all the stress I am under with my program right now I just felt so happy.. no more like giddy and I sure had been needing some giddy.

We did have an awkward moment when in the underwater viewing area we saw 2 dolphins in heat and well, Hannah had many questions. It is fun to do this part of parenting with Sam, to have things come up where neither one of us know quite how to handle it or what to say so we just go with it and jump in together. I am so thankful that he and I are typically on the same page with most everything and I am really thankful for for the man he is. I love that he is willing and desires to be such a huge part of Hannah’s life and went so far out of his way to make it a special day for her, one she will never forget. I fell in love with him all over again when he asked Hannah if she would ride Atlantis (the one she wanted to go on the most all day) with him, just the two of them. They had a great time and he said he had good “bonding” time with her. She was beaming when she got off and teased him the rest of the day b/c apparently right before they went down the big dip he said “Banana, what have you gotten us into??” and then they plummeted to the bottom. She has told EVERYONE, even her teachers at school that. Love it.

I don’t know what the future holds for our little Banana and her siblings. I wish I knew where our lives would take us and what God’s plan for her life is and even if we will be able to remain a large portion of her life, their lives. I certainly pray that we always can be but the fact is things could change at any moment. It is so hard to put our hearts out there like that, knowing that it could all change and she could be taken from us but I have to trust that God has us in her life right now for a reason and will bless all that we have poured into her little life. When they gave us our tickets at SeaWorld they had misprinted hers and it read “Hannah DeLucca” rather than her own last name and she looked up and grinned and said.. now I can call you mommy for the whole day, right! Ugh. It is difficult to navigate those type of situations, but my Jesus seriously puts the perfect words in my mouth in each of those moments. It is such a fine line, we want to show her unconditional love and welcome her into our family but at the same time avoid confusion. That is where God totally steps in and fills in all the gaps. He is working a miracle in her, slowly but surely each day I can see her changing some times it is two steps forward and four giant steps backwards but she is growing, healing, and just blossoming into this great friend of mine. I am so honored to be in her life!

Here’s some video and pics of our special day

Here we had just entered the park.. each got to bring one item inside, Hannah chose her tiara (so everyone would know it was her bday) and as we predicted it stayed on all of 3 min (I should’ve known better). Sammy chose his dolphin (Splashy) from home who he has never cared much for but he sure didn’t pus Splashy down the whole day! We love the names he comes up with for his an-min-mals as he calls them!

Our birthday girl! Here she is all of 9 years old and happy as can be! We sure do love you little Miss Priss!

Waiting for the whale show to begin.. VERY exciting stuff!

Sammy basically had this face the entire show, he was in awe

Sammy was so sweet to care for Hannah after she was soaked. He wouldn’t leave her side, he was so worried about her and tried to help in every way

This is how he spent much of his day.. running with a car in each hand pointing out everything he saw saying “Woa! Mira (look) that!!!” Gotta love his spanglish!

On our “fast” ride together, it is hard to believe my baby is big enough for these things now but so fun to enjoy with him

They loved the “playground in the trees” as Hannah called it, us grown ups hated it and not just me & Sam but all the other poor mommies & daddies who had to climb up in all those nets and were also fearing for their lives and those of their kids (no I kid.. well kind of)

I am so happy b/c we were finally on our way down/out to safety, notice my death grip on my child

Hannah and I rode this Shamu roller coaster while Sammy & Sam rode a ride together. She thought it was “killer”!!

He wanted Splashy to meet the other dolphins

Sammy pet the sing rays! Brave Boy! Hannah bless her heart tried to pet at least 8 or 9 different ones but always jerked her hand up in the end, and never did which we assured her was fine. She is so much like me! ha ha!

We absolutely loved feeding the sea lions and spent quite a while there with them they are just really amazing creatures!

If this isn’t love at first sight! He found this rack of penguins as we exited the penguin encounter (nicely played SeaWorld geniuses, nicely played in deed) and he hugged this poor penguin for several min and showered it in kisses. He told it “ i weally wuv you penguino, come sammy’s house really fun” and we so ALMOST cracked and bought it but we stayed strong!

Sammy was a little worried about Hannah and Sam riding on the Atlantis ride, he waited for each boat that fell down the long ramp and when they finally came he said “wets go get em mommy c’mon” and he was off!

Here is their reunion, it was rather dramatic… Sammy caused quite a scene, he ran at them screaming “Daddy, Hannah Bana, you ok? you ok!!!” and threw himself in Sam’s arms. Poor thing! I think he was really scared for them