Wordless Wednesday - 28 weeks (aka huge pregnant woman)

Just several pics from Christmas. It actually snowed Christmas Eve so we had a white Christmas!! Papa even spent the night because he went to Christmas Eve services with us. It was just raining when we left. We ate chili and looked outside and it was snowing. Snowing hard. The wind was blowing it everywhere. So Papa slept on the spare bed in Garrett's room and was here for Christmas morning! The kids opened presents then went outside. Sean is from Minnesota so the fact that we did not have a sled was just odd for him, but he used the lid to our recycle can and they had a blast. He then pulled out his ice skates and tried to ice skate on our street. It sorta worked! Ha! He also had a goal of staying in his PJ's for Christmas so he did all of this in his PJ pants! Ha! So all in all it was a great Christmas. I would be lying if I did not say I had a few "I wish" moments, but I really do have so much to be thankful for. Yes, I wish, but I also have to trust.

Snuggie Christmas

Hope you all had a snuggie Christmas! I will post more pics of our white Christmas soon! (Seriously, that NEVER happens in Arkansas!)

Wordless Wednesday - Guard Dog

Evan's Tree

Several months ago Children's had a ceremony for the children who had passed away at the hospital. Becca made an ornament for me with Evan's name and date of birth and death on the back. So I had her make a few more with the intention of having a tree just for Evan this year. G&G have trees in their rooms so I thought it might be nice for Evan to have his own. The tree is just an extra tree I already had. When I went to get one for him, it was too late. I want a white tree with white lights and everywhere I went, they were out. So next year... Anyway, I had Becca paint a passage from Psalms 139 on the ornaments. That passage is very important to me because of Evan's trisomy 13. It is very important for me to remember that God created him that way. I have no idea the reason why, and I probably will not know why until I am on my knees before God one day, but He created Evan this way. The photos do not do justice to the beautiful ornaments. I am just not that great at indoor pictures. They are brown and blue, like his room and the side are painted with stripes to match his name ornament. The Willow Tree ornament was sent to us from another family who had a child with Trisomy 13. There are also some plain brown balls with blue ribbon.

She is 12

Really, she should not be 12 yet. She was just a little girl yesterday, I promise. Now we are a year away from teenager. In 6 years we will be getting her ready to go to college? Really? Time needs to stop. I love watching her grow, but she needs to grow a little more slowly. (in the top pic she was 5. That was 7 years ago. Seven. years.)

Church Christmas Program

Two years ago Gracie had a solo at the school Christmas program. The last verse to Silent Night. I posted it about it here. She looks so little there! Anyway. She had a really hard time, but when it came time to actually sing, she nailed it. She did not attempt to sing in public again until we started to plan Evan's service. Sean wanted her to sing. She sings at home all. the. time. We have all the "Sing It" Wii games and it is very common to hear Gracie singing Disney songs. I was very hesitant because she had such a hard time at the school program and I thought her brothers funeral would just be too hard. He asked her, she agreed. She worked with our music leader and sang "How Great is Our God" for Evan. She sang beautifully, without the slightest hint of anxiety.

So, it was really fun to see her sing with the band in "big" church this Sunday. So many people have told me how comfortable she looked and how much fun she looked like she was having. What a difference two years make! Ha! She really loved it! Anyway, I am very proud of my girl. My boy did great also! He did more posing for me and my camera than actually singing, but he was cute in his reindeer tie.

One Year and One Day

It has been one year and one day since I wrote this post about Faith (poor little boy, we REALLY thought he was a girl!). One year since we first found out that there could be a problem. At the time we were told hypoplastic left heart, we later found out it was Double Outlet Right Ventricle with a Ventricle Septal Defect. Trisomy 13 trumped it all though. Evan also would have been 9 months old yesterday. I don't really know why I am posting all this except it seems significant somehow. We started this journey one year and one day ago. We went to the doc very excited about our ultrasound and seeing our baby. We came home crawled in bed, held each other and cried. I am so not the person I was a year ago. When your world is rocked to its core it changes you in so many ways. Just thought I would share.

Wordless Wednesday - Gingerbread House