NICU reunion

 Thank you Deanna of Printsess Photography for this pic!

Went to the NICU reunion today. I had mixed feelings going back. Moments of sadness that we are members of this club and moments of joy that my baby girl could participate in everything and her body did not hold her back. It could have but God has healed her.

I brought a perfect 3 1/2 old to this festival. No one would know the difference between her and a child that was healthy at birth. Some children, you could tell that they have had an uphill battle to heal and need continued healing. Why did God bless us with a healthy child with no lingering health problems? Why does God choose to not bless others or at least allow them to still struggle in this way? Why does God allow some to be healed in heaven?

We were interviewed by a reporter today. He was asking me what my feelings were when I finally got to lay eyes on my baby girl for the first time. I had the feeling, he wanted me to say that I was utterly devastated and crushed. But I was not. I knew the Christ loves her and continues to love her more than I could ever love her and He will decide the best place for her. I knew that Christ was holding her in His arms comforting her.

What did I actually feel?

When I first laid eyes on her, I took a deep breath because she had so many wires and tubes. My feelings were feeling of love and being proud of her. I felt so proud of my baby girl for being a fighter. I felt it was important to let her know that I was there by her side and I that I loved her and I was so, so proud of her continuing to fight to live.

The Prince

Matthew my sweet, sweet baby has turned into quite a little prince during our two week hotel adventure. We have a one bedroom suite at a Residence Inn Marriott. I highly recommend this hotel by the way. They provide a hot breakfast every day which they change up four of the hot items daily. They also provide a dinner, Monday through Thursday, all complimentary.

Prior to leaving I had been trying to get Matthew on at least on nap per day. He doesn't nap on a consistent basis. If he does take a nap, he cries for twenty minutes and sleeps for thirty minutes. At the hotel, we are living in such close quarters, I don't want to disrupt Sophia's nap, so he will nurse and nap on my lap for about the length of her nap - 2 to 3 hours. He is so spoiled!!

He is also getting up in the middle of the night too. The other night he woke up around 2 am and after I fed him, he would not go back to sleep quietly. I did not want him to wake up Sophia, so he slept in our bed. Rob and I did not get a lot of sleep that night. I was afraid I was going to squish him.

The prince also has a had ton of veggies fries when we travel or before dinner. I think when we get home is going to go through veggie fry withdrawals.

His sweet demeanor has not changed though. He still loves giving us tons of wet gummy kisses!

The hotel laundry room

Our hotel has a very nice laundry room which is conveniently on the same floor as our room. I took Matthew and Sophia with me to put the laundry in the washer. As I was putting the laundry in the washers, Sophia and I were making small talk with a guy who was folding his clothes.
Sophia, who notices everything says, "My daddy has the same underwear like you."
I could of died laughing but I was trying to keep it to a smile.
The guy, who has small children of his own, replied with, "Yes, I think a lot of people have these, they are very comfortable."
Oh my goodness!!! Hilarious.

On the road to salvation...

The other night, Sophia was having trouble going to sleep. She kept saying I want Jesus. Okay, let's pray to Jesus. We prayed to Jesus, thanking Him for our day and all the people in our lives. When we were doing praying, Sophia still said she wanted Jesus. We have talked about Christ dying for our sins and living in our heart but she is a little young. I asked her if she wanted Jesus to live in her heart and she said no. Sophia: "I want my heart empty." I asked her what she wanted to fill her heart with. Without any hesitation, she said, "Candy!". I guess the Holy Spirit still has work to do.

All smiles and giggles

I know boys are supposed to be made out of puppy dog tails and snails, but Matthew might be an exception to this.