What a blessing!

When we were in the NICU, a family donated books to the patients that were there.  We were lucky enough to get one of those books, and on the inside, it had a tag that showed it was in honor of another child who had "graduated" from the NICU earlier that year.  Immediately, I knew I wanted to do this for families one day in honor of our miracle baby, Addie.


Let me back track and say this... the day after Addie was born, my meds had finally started to wear off from the four previous days, and I was coming to grips with what was happening.  I remember contemplating and wondering if my baby would survive.  That is a feeling that no one wants to have.  I had gone from pregnancy heaven to a living hell in a matter of days.  Seriously. As I slowly walked through the NICU to Addie's bedside, I distinctly remember the shadow boxes that were on display on the walls that showed babies who were born at 24 weeks, 26 weeks, 28 weeks... but it also showed them years later.  They were happy, healthy, and beautiful!  Those pictures made me realize that this was not the end.  This was not a tragedy.  This was not time for me to have a pity party.  I remember God showing me that this would indeed be our little family's finest hour.  He had a plan for my sweet baby who was attached to beeping monitors, struggling to learn how to breathe in the little Giraffe (incubator).  It was my job to step up, be strong, and show her that I was her Mama.  Eric and I both had incredibly strong parents, and now it was our turn.

Ok, back to the fun stuff. :) Thankfully, my Mama has a memory like a steel trap, and she helped us put the plans in motion a few months ago. :)  We raised money to buy 61 books for NICU patients!  That is awesome!  We are so thankful to our family and friends who donated so we could use this project to encourage families who are spending their first Christmases with their babies in the NICU.  We wanted to show them exactly what those shadow boxes showed us.  There is hope. :)

Eric, Addie, and I traveled back to Baptist this past Wednesday to play Santa. :)  I must say that the drive was pretty hard... so many memories, sights, and smells flooded us.  The only thing that made it okay was looking in the backseat and seeing my baby there.  In the car.  With us. :)  Anyway, we made sure to go on a day that Carly was working.  We were so happy to see her!

 We love Nurse Carly!

 Daddy and Addie getting ready to deliver!

 Sweet girl and her Mama!  To say I'm enjoying my holiday vacation with this baby is an understatement. :)

 Needless to say, Addie loved the attention she got as we walked through the NICU!  She can work a crowd!  I know it was an encouragement to the Mommies we saw... to see where Addie is today.  I remember seeing babies when we were there and hearing stories and thinking, "Ok.  Addie can do this.  We can do this." :)

 Dr. Rojas!  Now, I know he takes care of a gazillion babies, but he really makes you feel like he remembers you and your story.  We have never felt like Addie was "just another baby."  That is one of our favorite things about him. :)

 Nurse Leanne... she was the day shift Charge Nurse when we were there.  She is a hoot!  We could always count on her to make us smile!

I love this picture! :)  It has been ordered to be framed at our house... and at your house, too, Carly! :)

As you can see, it was a lot of fun for us to do this as a family!  We will go back around her 1st birthday (next month... eek!) and deliver the rest of the books.  This will definitely be an annual tradition, so if you would like to help out next time, let me know! :)  You'd be surprised how such a small gesture can make the day of a parent whose baby is fighting for his or her life. :)

NICU Mini-Reunion :)

This past Saturday was so much fun for us!  We got to travel to Lebanon for a 1st birthday party that was definitely a celebration of life!  Sweet Johannah was across from Addie in the NICU, and she is such a precious miracle!  We had such a great time visiting with Jojo's family and Cooper's family (he was by us in the NICU, too!) outside of the hospital!  It is hard to believe that a year has passed since we were all sitting by our babies' bedsides talking, praying, and wishing for the days when we would all be home with our children. :)  God is so good.

 Johannah and Addie meet again!

 Pretty birthday girl!

 My favorite little man, Cooper!

 Jojo and her cake... she looks like she's going to blow out the candle!

 Addie reaching for Cooper! :)

 Trying to taste him :) ha

 Addie and Jojo "talking."  They had a special bond in the NICU... they copied each other all the time!  One would scoot to the bottom of the bed... then the other would do the same.  If one had her hands up, so did the other one!  It was so funny to watch them!

 The paparazzi took lots of pictures of these three miracles!

 I just love them all!

 We tried to get a shot of them on their tummies, but Addie was having nothing to do with it!  This picture cracks me up!  She hates... and I mean HATES... tummy time!  Obviously.

 Here's sweet Cooper.  He was born in November of 2009.  He is the oldest of the three and definitely the most handsome. :)  Yes, he is really that cute in person!

 Sweet Johannah was born in December of 2009.  She is just adorable!  Her beautiful eyelashes are amazing!

...and the baby of the bunch, Addie.  I think I can say that she is the loudest. :)  ...and, in my opinion, the cutest! ha

I am SO thankful we had the chance to get together with these families!  They are such a blessing to us!  Can't wait for the next gathering!

Fun NICU tradition!

Addie was so excited to be reunited with her NICU family!  The Baptist NICU holds a "birthday bash" each August for all NICU graduates.  It was a great time, and we loved showing off our preemie and getting to see how well the others we know are doing!  In my opinion, it's just another way to show off what kind of miracles our God can perform! :)  This picture is one of my favorites... we love our favorite Nurse Carly!

This is a picture of Addie with the neonatologist who took care of her on Day One.  He was waiting in the delivery room early that morning to swoop her off into the NICU... he is the one who brought her over to me in the delivery room and said, "Look real quick!" so I could take a peek at her sweet teeny face before they took her away... Dr. Rojas will always hold a special place in our hearts.  He is an incredible doctor and man, and he took very good care of our baby girl. :)

 

 Sweet Cooper and Addie... he has come such a long way!  It was awesome to see him doing so well!  We spent hours talking to his Mom and Dad during our days in the NICU... and we still keep in touch through facebook and texting.  I'll always be thankful for their friendship!  Oh, and can you tell Cooper was excited about the pictures?! :) ha

This picture is so sweet... Johannah was right beside us when we were in the intensive part of the NICU.  We also spent many, many hours talking with her sweet parents who we now consider friends of ours.  It's amazing how close you become with people who are experiencing the same things you are.  We may not live near them, but when we saw them at the party, we picked up right where we left off!  It was so great to see little Jojo doing so well! :)  AND they like to put fancy bows in her hair, too!! :) ha

Here are the daddies with their babies... Johannah (who is about 3 weeks older than Addie) and her dad, Joe, Addie and Eric, and Cooper (Addie's valentine :) who is almost 2 months older than Addie) and his dad, Kevin.  Again, these two families were such a great support to us!  We are so thankful God had our paths cross.

The Titans' cheerleaders came, too!  Addie loved them! :)

My girl and me... the party made us re-realize (is that a word?!) how blessed we are!

 Daddy and his baby girl.  Love these two!

Needless to say, we are already looking forward to next year!  We can't wait to see Johannah, Cooper, and Addie running around the room! :)

Happy 2 months, Addie!

Well, folks... our baby girl is 2 months old! :)

Addie has had a busy few days!  She has been rockin' out on the bottle!  She is almost finished with her two month vaccinations, and, as you can see from this picture below, she passed her car seat test!

 We were so excited to see her in her car seat when we got to the hospital on Sunday!  She looks so tiny in that big ole thing!

Keep in mind that she has the "snuzzler" inside of the seat, and she still has a while to go before she fills it completely!  Sweet little thing...

 She's practicing her peek-a-boo skills. :)

Addie weighs 5 pounds, 5 1/4 ounces now!  I love this picture of her little diaper booty!  That is a preemie diaper even though it looks more like Depends. :) This was actually the day before her birthday, and she weighed 5 lbs, 4 1/2 oz. that day.

Addie is 18 1/2 inches long, too!  Here's a great shot of her all stretched out on the scale!  She has crazy hair... Mommy had just given her a bath. :)

 Here is the little angel on the scale next to her 2 month sign!  It's fun to see how much she's grown since her 1 month old pictures! :)

Addie is eating 40 mLs of Mommy's milk every three hours.  She's been taking all bottles for the past few days (which is a big deal!).  She is very close to coming home... we are praying she continues moving in the right direction this week!

Addie is still very, VERY adorable! :)  This is one of my favorite outfits!  The good news is that it's a newborn sized outfit!  She has outgrown some of her preemie clothes... sniff! sniff! :( ...so we've moved on up to some newborn clothes!  I am very glad she's growing so well, but I am kinda sad that she'll never be that small again. :(

Sweet Addie,

You are the light of our lives, precious girl!  We have loved watching you grow and learn so much in just your short two months.  We can see your personality coming to life, and it is so sweet!  You make us smile every single day!  Hopefully, we'll be rocking you in our arms at our house soon!  You're going to LOVE your room! :)

We love you more than you'll ever know!

Mommy and Daddy

8 weeks

This is about how we feel around here.  We are tired.  We are weary.  We are mentally, physically, and emotionally drained.

Yet, all the while, deep down in the deepest parts of our souls, we are thankful.  We have discovered more about ourselves in the past 8 weeks of Addie's life than we have ever imagined.  Here are a few of the lessons we have learned:

-True love.  We know a certain kind of love with each other (Eric and me), but loving your child is a whole other kind of love!  I've heard that from so many people through the years, but experiencing it for yourself is an experience like no other.  I still catch myself looking at her and thinking, "Holy cow!  She's ours!  We get to keep her!" :)

-God is amazing.  He has blessed us beyond belief in the past, and He has helped us grow closer to Him through this season of our lives.  We have no clue why Addie came early, but we've learned to rest in knowing that He's got a plan.

-It's okay to cry.  I can't tell you how many times I've broken down over the past 8 weeks.  I have good days and not-so-good days.  I've been through a plethora (love that word :) of emotions... elated, overjoyed, exhausted, angry, sad, depressed... the list goes on and on.  I've learned to not hold everything in... I feel so much better after a good cry. :)

-Patience.  I will be the first to admit that I'm not very good at this one.  It's been especially hard these past few days.  This past week was by far one of the most difficult.  We are so close to bringing her home... we pray for patience over and over each day.  God has renewed our strength today (thankfully), and we are content in waiting for His perfect timing.

There are other things I could bore you with (ha), but instead, I will show you some pics of our sweetie!  Way more exciting!  She has changed a lot lately... getting cuter if you ask me. :)

Ah, the bottle.  We have struggled with this little thing.  Thank the Lord she is catching on here lately!  We are praying the trend continues so we can bring our little girl home with us! :)

Addie is growing like a weed!  She is up to 5 pounds, 2 3/4 ounces tonight!  We measured her right after we took this picture... she is close to 19 inches now. :)

Her little face is adorable!  Her cheeks are filling out and she makes cute faces from time to time!  We know she probably doesn't have much control over her face muscles, but they sure are precious! :)

We could look at her all. day. long.  Enough said. :)

...and she smells so, so sweet!  Sometimes when we get home from the hospital, I can smell her on my clothes.  Makes me melt... and miss her. :(

She is so kissable!  We kiss her at least a thousand times when we are there! :)  ...and somehow it's still not enough!

She is a major cuddle bug!  After she eats, she loves to curl up on our chests and fall asleep.  Can't wait to do that all the time when she's home with us!

Addie is just amazing.  That's all there is to it!  We are so thankful she's ours! :)

Thoughts

Tonight I'm thinking of my little girl...

I'm wondering what she's doing right now.

I'm wondering if she is missing us like we're missing her.

I am dreaming of the day that I won't have to wonder how she is.

I'll just walk into the next room or look over to her bassinet and see how she's doing.

I actually can't wait to have sleepless nights with her.

I look forward to warming bottles and washing clothes and changing diapers.

I'm looking forward to her cries waking me up in the wee hours of the morning.

I can't wait to see her little booty in her own little bed.

I am looking forward to not having to drive to see her each day.

If I don't see I-65 North for a few months (or a lot of months), I will be just fine.

I'm excited to not have to fill my car up with gas every couple of days.

I will miss the lady that sits in the booth that leads to the Mid-State Parking Garage.  

Well, okay, I'll be okay without her each day... I'll send her a card.

I'm watching a show about lottery winners.

If I won the lottery, I would build more NICUs so people didn't have to travel very far to visit their preemies.

I certainly wouldn't mind filling up the gas tank in my car.

Now I'm thinking about this precious baby again.

Our "coming home day" is so close I can taste it.

I want to put her car seat in our car so badly.

I actually feel a little jealous when I see mommies walking around with their babies.  Is that bad?

Then I am convicted.  God reminds me that I am SO blessed to have Addie.

The jealousy goes away.

Now I'm thinking about my little girl again.

My little pea in a pod. 

And I'm smiling. :)