Praise God!

My heart is so full of happiness this morning for some of my dear friends. For those of you who don't know, we have friends who were expecting twins this spring, but they decided to come at 24 weeks less than a week after Juliet was born. They had two beautiful boys, but one went to be with the Lord on New Year's Eve. The other has been in NICU ever since. There have been some improvements and some drawbacks, but he's been holding on. 

Last night, I received a text from his mom saying that he had an awesome day! He'd had surgery to repair his little heart the day before and did so well. They moved him to a private room last night and during the transfer she was able to hold him like a "normal" baby for the first time. I was sitting at a Pampered Chef party when I got her text and started tearing up when I read this. I started thinking about how many times I get to hold Juliet during the day. The fact that they're basically the same age and this was the first time she got to hold him. I'm so thrilled for her, but also reminded that I need to cherish every second I have with my precious baby girl (not that I don't, it's just always good to have a reminder). 

If all goes well, my friend will get to have skin-to-skin time with her little boy for an hour today. Praying that she gets to. Praying for continued strength for the little guy and can't wait for him to come home and be loved on all day long!

2 Months

I cannot believe it, but Juliet is already 2 months old! The last two months have been the best. She is such a blessing to us and I have a hard time thinking about what our life was like before she was here. She is such a happy, healthy baby and has so many family and friends that love her so much. We had her two month check-up yesterday which meant 3 shots and an oral medication. She cried for sure, but once I was able to pick her up, she calmed right down. She's such a trooper! She has grown 2 inches since she was born, which seems crazy to me! That's an inch a month! No wonder she loves to sleep! So, the official measurements are 24 inches long (92nd %ile), 13 lbs. 12 oz. (96th %ile) and her head is 40 cm (75th %ile). She seems very proportional to me. :) She's starting to really fill out and get cute chubby thighs. I've told her to 'work' the chubby thighs since they won't be as cute when she's older. :) Here are a few pics; her one month and 2 month. I love looking at them and seeing how much she's changed!

She's definitely getting more hair and chunking up! :)

Debt

It is indeed an EPIC day in our home...I just made the final payment to pay off my student loans. This means Joel and I are free of college debt! All we have left are our car and house. Such an amazing feeling! Props to the Dave Ramsey class we took at church a few years ago. It really helped us be disciplined with our money. Yeah!!!

Dedication

Juliet was dedicated at church on Sunday. Joel and I decided to do baby dedication instead of infant baptism, because we see the dedication as our promise to raise her in a Christian home and she can make the decision to be baptized when she's older. :) Here are a few pictures from the day. It was wonderful. 

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

-Deuteronomy 6:4-9

One Month!

My baby girl is already one month old! Wow!

Happy!

My baby girl is already 4 weeks old today and she smiled at me!

God is Able

We had a wonderful service at church yesterday. Our pastor talked about all of the amazing promises from God and how we need to have faith that God will follow through on his promises. We can't just believe in them when it's convenient or makes us comfortable, but at all times. We've been so blessed in our lives and sometimes wonder when the "ball is going to drop". Thanking and praising God for the great things He has done in our lives and praying he continues to bless us, our family and friends. 

We sang this song twice yesterday; one of my favorites, and a great reminder of the awesomeness of our God. 

God Is Able

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." -Psalm 55:22