All smiles

(I've had a case of bloggers block...no excuses, sorry! Note that if there is "no news, that’s good news”.) Alyssa is 7 months old! What a blessing!!We clearly see that we as a family are being prayed for and the Lord is good! I won't be blogging as much but I will do better at providing updates. Thank you for your continued prayers for our family and Alyssa specifically. Continue to pray for her to remain "healthy" and for good outcomes with her upcoming surgeries. The ins and outs of why I have been absent from writing is more simple than complex I’m spent. Now that we have a feeding pump that is working properly at night for Alyssa, I am able to get to bed at a reasonable time and even with the checks at night I can get a decent night’s sleep. However Alyssa is a baby first of all so aside from any medical issues there are still sleepless or interrupted nights. The day seems to slip by so quickly...We are either out and about at appointments, or home with appointments. When we have a quiet day I try to catch up on phone calls, paperwork or projects that have been put aside (there’s a long list of those). Since I’m not a robot there are days when I just want to “veg-out”. Everyday though as Alyssa tolerates it we do her massaging and exercises, in total we do at least 2 hours. I also have to have cuddle time with her, just letting her sleep on my chest, while I listen and feel her breathe. We can’t forget that we are a family a six and not two so there are many duties for myself, Ed and the older kids. Some days it’s a struggle to turn off the TV and connect with the world and other days I’m scratching items of the to do list like it’s poison ivy!
One key thing that has changed is counting the days that Alyssa has been here with us. I am not counting each day, rather I suppose an exercise in faith I moved to the more typical method of measuring her life in weeks or months. I give thanks everyday for her life and acknowledge the gift of this time. It’s important to trust in the Lord’s sovereignty; counting each day while a great reminder of how special her time is…places limits on God’s ability. God’s grace broadens more than a measure of any day and the symbolism of counting the days came to diminish that for me.

Alyssa at 7 months is now 22 inches long and 11lbs. 9 ounces! She is laughing, smiling, cooing, and mimicking sounds. She’s taken to sucking her thumb, and I’ve found her doing so at night many times. She is getting stronger; she kicks her legs, holds her head up well and is grasping at things with her hands. What an awesome 7 months it has been.