Cole is 1 month old....

Tomorrow, September 29, is Cole's 1 month milestone!! Wow....an entire month has passed since he was born!! He is doing very well...eating and sleeping just like a normal baby...no problems since NICU!! Praise the Lord for our little blessing....he is truly a sweet little bundle of baby!! We are blessed that the Lord chose us to raise him!!

Playdate with "Anna Cake"

4 Years....

This past Sunday, Eric and I packed up and headed off to Jonesboro, Ga....Atlanta basically. He had a youth pastors conference on Monday and we had decided before Cole was born to make a little get away out of it....we came home on Tuesday. It was great to get away....so nice to do nothing!! We had fun eating out, getting to actually have serious conversation without interruptions, laughing at each other over silly things, and just being together....it was very refreshing! Oh, and of course, we took little Cole with us...but the other little ones stayed at home...

Our anniversary is tomorrow....September 18.....another reason why we decided to get away. I was thinking the other day about the things that we have faced in our short 4 years of marriage...the passing of Eric's grandmother, a job change, a move to a different house, a church change, moving a child to college, 3 births, 1 traumatic miscarriage, 6 days in NICU......some of those things happening at the same time....several of them on the list of "most stressful life experiences". The world has created this fantasy, feeling-based idea of marriage...once the feelings are different or perhaps gone the relationship is over....and reality is that some days the "feelings" are there and some days they are just not...we know that we cannot rely on our emotions...they are always changing! But the one thing that we can rely on is our Lord Jesus....and He says that marriage is a commitment...for better or worse...until death do we part. There is nothing better than knowing that your spouse will stand by you no matter what....so on this night before a new milestone in our lives I would like to honor my husband---

Eric, there is no one in this world that I would rather walk through this life with...you are the answer to many, many prayers. I could have never picked for myself a better mate...you complete me in many ways. I look forward to the years ahead of us...Happy Anniversary!! YOU are the man of my dreams and the hero in my life---I love you!!

Ty's First Haircut.....

The first thing that I did when we got home from the hospital was cut Ty's hair....it was almost long enough for a "redneck ponytail"....not even hair gel could get him through another day without a haircut....so I put the booster seat on top of Gracie's helper stool and got my tools out.....and as the red locks fell to the floor...a cute little boy emerged again!!!

A Journey from Birth to Coming Home....

Cole's Story.....

Well, at this time last week I was laying in the hospital preparing myself for the birth of Cole....this week he is here asleep in my bedroom....sleeping peacefully. For any of you that don't know what this past week has been like...I would like to share with you...

After my last labor and delivery being 5 hours long I expected to experience an even shorter labor...but I actually was in labor for 11 1/2 hours! After about 3 pushes, our baby Cole was here...but in not so good condition. To make a long story short, he ended up having fluid in his lungs and he was having to work very hard to breathe. We just spent 6 days in the NICU at East Ridge Hospital....slowly making progress to where we could finally come home. After 37 weeks, this was such an unexpected event for me....I had in fact told people that I expected him to be the healthiest of our babies because he wasn't going to be preterm. Eric and I were shocked and heart broken when the NICU nurses came to tell us that Cole needed special help. It was probably the most "helpless" feeling that I have ever experienced and yet we both had a peace in our hearts that our Heavenly Father was not only looking after us but also taking care of Cole. Some days were harder than others....the time table of recovery was up to Cole....and no one could tell us exactly when we would start to see improvement...we lived for 10am everyday because the doctors would come in and give us the report and the plan for the day. Sometimes the news was good and sometimes it was disappointing. At the same time, the Lord was making fingerprints everywhere that we looked....and those things were comforting to us. Monday our little Cole really "labored" and made some great improvement. They had started antibiotics 48 hours earlier even though every lab test was clear....Tuesday was a little better....and by Wednesday we were nursing for the first time. It was amazing to watch him move from struggling to breathe while resting to breathing well even when he was moving or upset and to go from feeding tube and IV fluids to nursing and taking bottles.
We have been told about people all over the United States who have been praying for us....that has meant the most. I now know just how long those days are as a parent in the NICU.....the Lord has shown Himself in every way...financially, with love from our church family, involving unbelievers around us, even down to providing a room at the hospital for me every night so that I wouldn't have to leave Cole. Last night, I got to have him in the room with me all afternoon and night...something that I am blessed to have been able to experience.
I have so many thoughts tonight of all of the things that the Lord did and so many things that he impressed upon our hearts....I don't think that I will ever be able to get it all out on this page...but I was reading last night in Psalms 94:17-20....a passage that I had circled earlier and it caught my eye again....now it is starred in my Bible as a testimony passage....testimony of Cole's birth.
"If the Lord had not been my help, My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
If I should say, "My foot has slipped," Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up. When my
anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul."

We have several pics of Cole...I will post some soon...tonight I am too tired to wait on the camera to do its thing...thanks Jodi for the meal!!! It was all really good, and you can't get chicken rolls or cheerio treats from the hospital cafeteria!!