Pirate Girl

Thank you for your prayers.....Grace is doing GREAT with her eye patch!  The first time she wore it, I made sure that I could be right with her for the time she needed to wear it because I was sure it would not go well. We watched Dora, and she didn't move for the first 15 minutes!  Then after that she played and she hardly touched the eye patch.  I was amazed, but I know it's because God hears our prayers and answers us.  Just another reminder in my life that He is with us.  He cares about every little detail.

Here are some cute pics of my pirate girl!  :)

Grace's Mimi came for a visit this weekend and Grace wound up getting sick with double ear infections!  :(  Grace fell asleep with her eye patch on.  Poor girl!

Big Things

Big things are going on at our house!

We have a big girl who is learning new things everyday.

She learned this today.  :)

This is a baby step, but I know this is just the beginning!  I am beyond excited!

The Lord himself goes before you

Grace had a follow up appointment with her eye doctor today.  I really wasn't expecting it to be a big deal, just a "she looks great, see you back in six months" type of appointment, but Dr. M is concerned that Grace's right eye is lazy.  It seems minimal (he had a hard time being able to really tell if it was in fact lazy), and when he asked me about it, I just told him that I hadn't wanted to notice one more problem.  We have to patch her left eye 30 minutes to one hour daily.  I know it's not a big deal really, compared to having no vision or needing surgery, but it's just one more thing that Grace will have to endure that she won't like.  One more "to do" to add to our already really long to do list.  It reminded me yet again that my child can never be just "normal".

I'm bummed.  I'll be better tomorrow, but today I'm just bummed.  And then because all of this was unexpected news, I didn't ask him anything...like what did he think about her vision overall.

Disappointing day.  Disappointing news.

But on the plus side, I got to hold my baby!  I've been sick, so I haven't touched her since Saturday night, and I was just dying to kiss her sweet cheeks!  I tried not to get too close, but I loved just taking care of her today.

Plus, my new book came in, "A Different Dream for My Child," by Jolene Philo.  I'm so excited about reading it, I've already read the intro and the first two (short) chapters.

Thank you, God, for good things today.

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  Deuteronomy 31:8

HOPE

Recently, I was asked to be a panelist at our state's medical center on the topic of "Hope for the Hopeless."  Along with other moms of miracles and a very dear friend, I talked about Grace's story and how we found hope during our "hopeless" medical situation.  Here is a link to the article about our discussion, which highlights two sweet babies, Battley and Hayden.  I was blessed and honored to be a panelist, as I always LOVE sharing my miracle baby Grace's story!

Ok-and here are some pictures of my sweet girl!  :)

Baby's First Snow!

We woke up to SNOW today!  This is a BIG deal...it rarely snows in MS.  Grace is out of school today, so we are celebrating and snuggling today.  :)

Happy girl!

Cheese!

Cinnamon rolls to celebrate our snow day - yum!

Second Post of the Day

So...this deserves a second post today.  :)

School Prayer Requests

Hey friends!  I just wanted to post a few prayer requests I have for Grace regarding school.  As always, THANK YOU for joining with us in praying for our special girl, our precious gift from God!

Nearly every day, Grace starts crying as soon as we exit the interstate to go to her school.  Sometimes it's milder, but many days she is screaming by the time we get to her classroom.  I'm not sure why she does this, and we give her as much comfort and reassurance as possible.  Chad mostly takes her to school, so he has experienced this much more than I have, but this is concerning for us.  We want Grace to know she can trust her teachers and friends, as well as love the people of her school, because they love her so much!

Also, Grace has yet to drink any liquids while she is at school.  She won't take her bottle, and she won't drink at snack time or lunch time.  I know they work with her on this, but she just refuses.  What can I say, she is one feisty girl!

Overall, she is adjusting well to school, but of course these issues are concerning.  Please continue to pray for her adjustment.

We love her school so much, and they do an amazing job working with all the kids and loving on them.  We are so thankful for The Little Lighthouse!  And we are thankful for YOU for joining with us in prayer!

Walker

GRACE GOT HER WALKER IN PT THIS PAST WEEK!!!!!  I am SOOOO excited!  I can't believe we are starting to work on walking.  Blows my mind.  I am SO thankful to God for the accomplishments Grace has been able to make in her life.  She was predicted to not even know she was in this world.  Remember?  And now she is working to WALK!  Wow-thank you God for your grace in our lives.  Thank you for teaching us through our child about Your love for us and Your perfect plan.  I choose to follow You.

Here are some pictures.  Right now, we are just trying to get Grace used to standing in her walker.  :) :) :)

And here are some random pictures from this winter that I love.  Thank you for your continued prayers for our precious girl!

Happy 2013!

We had a good and busy holiday season, but Happy New Year!!!  I wanted to look back at some memorable moments from this past year and compare with pictures, so here it goes!

Christmas 2011 - 9 months old

Grace's 1st birthday!

October 2012 - 19 months old - 2 year anniversary of Grace's diagnosis - MIRACLE!!!!!

First day of school October 30, 2012

Christmas 2012 - 21 months old - what a difference a year makes!  This time last year, Grace couldn't even sit on her own.  Now she is crawling everywhere and exploring!  We praise You, God!

Just a quick recap of the past few weeks...we had Thanksgiving in Magee with Chad's family.  They are so fun and they adore Grace.  It was sad to have to celebrate without the patriarch of the family, Pawpaw Walker, but I know that he had a much greater celebration in Heaven!  We had many parties between Thanksgiving and Christmas, including Grace's school's Christmas pajama party, TLLH volunteer party to honor our amazing volunteers, our Sunday school Christmas party, etc.  Grace even went to see Santa with her friend Walker.  We celebrated Christmas with Chad's immediate family early and then celebrated with my family Christmas day.  This year was even more fun with Grace, and I imagine next year will be even better!  Grace's favorite gifts she received were her activity cube and her electronic books.  We celebrated New Year's Eve with Chad's family out at the cabin and then I worked New Year's Day.  It has been an amazing year full of joy and hope and miracles.  We praise You, God, our Father and Creator.  I know 2013 will be even better!  :)