9 Pounds

WOW...I can't believe how far Hope has come in such a short amount of time.  When we brought her home from the hospital on October 28th, she weighed a little over 6 pounds...not much more than when she was born.  In 2 months she has gained almost 3 pounds and she has grown in so many other ways.  She is smiling like crazy now, she is grabbing for things, she is following us with her eyes, she is trying to roll over...she can go from her back to her side real well.  So many little things everyday that give us so much joy and happiness that it is hard to describe.  The boys love her so much and they can keep her entertained just by smiling at her.  Jerry even brings her his toys and tries to get her to play with them.  We are all so blessed!

The boys decided to build a snowman.  We really didn't have all that much snow, so they improvised and used a garbage can to create the snowman.  They loved it and he is quite the snowman.

Very Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year.  We sure did!  Our scare earlier this week was nothing and we just spent a couple hours at the cardiologists having her confirm that Hope looked fine.  It was a wonderful appointment and put our minds at ease for the holidays.

Our whole family had a wonderful weekend with family for Christmas.  Santa stopped by on Christmas eve because he knew we would not be able to visit him and get pictures taken.  We even took Hope to Jerry's mom and dad's house for Christmas eve.  It was great being with family...Hope was her normal cranky self because it was her cranky time of the day.  The boys were thrilled to spend time with their cousins opening presents and playing with all their new toys.  Christmas morning was wonderful.  My mom came over to watch the boys open their presents and help cook.  It was perfect because Jerry is finally old enough to understand Santa and was really excited to see what Santa left for him.  The rest of the family came over all day and it was great having everyone with us for Christmas.

We are so thankful this year and God has provided so much for us this year.  It has been hard, but it has also been truly rewarding.  We want to thank everyone for all the help, prayers, and support this past year.  I know we are going to rely on everyone again next year.

Love, health, and happiness to everyone!

Christmas Pictures and Nerves

First things first...Christmas pictures.  I am not sending cards this year because I just don't have time.  I am posting them here for everyone to see and hopefully I will have more time next year.

OK...now for my nerves.  The physical therapist came today and noticed that Hope is looking 'dusky'.  I wasn't too concerned because she didn't seem concerned and the home health nurse didn't seem concerned.  Now, though I am concerned and I contacted the nurses and am taking Hope to see the on-call cardiologist tomorrow.  I am so scared that they are going to find something wrong  and that we will need to spend Christmas at the hospital.  I am crying my heart  out as I write this because I am looking forward to Christmas this year with Hope at home and the boys being old enough to really enjoy it.  I don't want to think about tomorrow, but I can't seem to think about anything else. I am so worried that something may be wrong with Hope and I am also worried about not having a wonderful Christmas with my boys.  They have been through so much this year and I wanted them to be able to really enjoy Christmas.

Please say an extra prayer for Hope today and tomorrow morning.  Please pray that I am worrying for nothing and that she is fine.  All thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.