Pretty Flowers

Just wanted to post these pretty flowers that James brought home from church on Sunday night. I just love looking at them!

Recipes

So what is something you just love to have? I have a few favorite recipes for dinner that I just love to have and tonight we are having one of them! It's spinach stuffed shells! I got this recipe from my friend Rachel just a couple weeks ago. She brought it over for dinner for James and I one night and I told her it was super yummy and I needed the recipe! My parents are coming over too. Hopefully they will enjoy it just as much as James and I do! My neices and nephews even liked it when they were here a couple weeks ago. I wasn't sure they would like it......spinach.....little kids...... I know I didn't like spinach as a kid and probably would never have tried to eat this if my mom made it. But man oh man is it ever tasty!! If you would like to try it...let me know and I can give you the recipe. Or have you over for dinner some night!

Wisconsin...

Ok, first off, I have no idea if I spelled Wisconsin correctly........
James got final word yesterday that his boss got work in Wisconsin and guess who they are sending to do the job??? Yup, that's right...they are sending James! He will be gone for probably 2 weeks. Not sure when he is going yet but could be next week already that he leaves. So Faith and I will be home by ourselves for awhile. Although the thought has crossed my mind to move in with my parents in their new house for awhile. It's also crossed my mind that maybe I will take a road trip to visit my friend Shanna and her husband Dave for a few days. Not really sure what I will be up to while he is gone. I'm not looking forward to having him gone for so long. If anyone has any suggestions....let me know!

Favorites....

So I was thinking last night about all my favorite things. Some old and some new. Here they are: (in no particular order)

-hearing Faith's diaper make noise when she moves around
-holding Faith
-watching Faith sleep
-Johnson's Bedtime Bath products (if you've never tried them for your little one, you HAVE TOO! they are FANTASTIC!!!)
-country music
-the smell of fresh cut grass in the summer
-camp fires
-Ludington
-anything to do with horses
-spending time with family and friends
-Applebee's Mudslide (hmmmmmmm...i could go for one right now!!)
-being online
-playing euchre
-sleeping when the windows are open in the house

I'm sure I have more favorites, but this is all that came to my mind quickly. What are your favorites?

Ever Wonder????

Ever wonder what your friends from high school are up to these days? I was thinking tonight that I wish I knew where some of my old friends were, how they are doing, and what's new with them. I know for me, life has been crazy....good and bad. I've done a lot of growing up these past few years (or at least I like to think I have!) and I think I've done pretty well handling life's challenges and joys that have come my way. Of course I know that I couldn't have gotten thru what I have without God. I have really grown a lot closer to him since my grandmother died in 2004. I have learned to lean on Him in the good and the bad. And now that I am a mom, I hope and pray that I can raise my daughter in the fear and knowledge of Him and that she will someday take God as her personal Lord and Savior. I know that James and I will have our struggles raising her and any future children we may have, but just knowing that we can take everything to God and he will help us through everything makes me at peace. I know that everything will be just fine.

Just Some Pictures....

Where does the time go???

Goodness, I can't believe it's Thursday already! This week has just been going by quickly! We have had visitors every night this week. Sure has made the week go fast!
Faith continues to do well with everything. Her naughty mommy took her off her heart monitor last weekend and Care Linc came today to do a download on it and then the doctors will decide if she can stay off it or not. We are praying that she will be able to. No fun for her to be hooked up to that. Or for us for that matter! She has been more awake during the day so that is fun for me. I sit and talk to her, play with her on her play mat, and will just sit and stare at her. She's just so beautiful!
James has been busy with work. He's putting in 40+ hours a week. And from the sounds of it, they aren't going to slow down anytime soon either!
If anyone would like to stop by, please call us first. That would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Quick Update

Just wanted to post a quick update:
Faith is doing really well. She had a doctor's appointment today and she now weighs 6 pounds 4 ounces! We are so happy!! She is changing so fast already. Her cute little face is pudging out and she's becoming more active. She will just move her arms and legs all the time! It's so fun watching her sleep because she makes such cute little faces! We just love our little Faith Marie!

Family Fun

We had our sister-in-law Susie and 4 kids, Abigail, Joshua, Chole, and Josiah, stay with us from Tuesday until today. It's amazing how quickly they have grown up. They live in New Mexico so we don't see them often. The kids just loved Faith. They thought she was very cute. Susie brought a bouncer that she used with her kids and Faith just loves it. Granted she is still pretty little to be in it, but she falls right to sleep. Aunt Susie had the touch with feeding Faith. Got a few tips from Susie so that has helped a lot. Susie and I had a Mom's Night Out last night. We went to Applebee's and had some delicious appetizers and adult beverages. Man they have good Mud Slides! That was my first drink since being pregnant. I could go for another one and soon! LOL Plus it felt good to just be out and chat. We were there for over 2 hours! Time sure flies by when you're having a good time!

Tube??? What tube???

We are so happy to annouce that Faith no longer has a feeding tube in! I took it out yesterday and she has taken her all her bottle for 36 hours now! We are so happy that she has learned to do that. She sure looks more beautiful without that silly tape on her face!

Tummy Time

Here are a few pictures of her during her tummy time Sunday morning. She trys to roll over already. She gets her hips and legs rolled over but can't get her top half rolled over. It's so cute watching her do that. Plus I love it when she sticks her little diaper buns up in the air! She's just so precious!

Going Home Pictures

I got the pictures downloaded finally! Never thought they would download.

Here we are saying goodbye to Chris, Katy, and Andrew. (Andrew is now home too! He came home yesterday!!!)

Here is Faith and Andrew saying bye to each other. They are looking forward to future playdates.

Here she is all ready to go home in her car seat! She sure is tiny in there!

She's Home!!!

James and I brought home Faith Friday evening. Sure is so nice having our daughter home. Friday night was a bit rough trying to get a routine down but last night went a lot smoother. She is doing pretty good. She's not doing as well on her feedings as we were hoping but in time she will improve and then we can take out her feeding tube. She is also hooked to a heart monitor which we're hoping and praying will only be on for a couple of weeks. She's only had 2 alarms on it and it was because she spit up and got upset. Other than that she's been alarm free! We're praying she can stay that way!

(i'm having troube uploading pic's right now so check back soon for pic's!)

Friday

Faith is coming home on Friday! We are so excited and thankful. She is making progress every day. This morning she took out her feeding tube by herself, silly girl! She has taken all her feedings so far by bottle so they haven't had the need to put the tube back in. So we are praying that she will continue to take her bottle so it will not have to be put back in. It would be answer to prayers. If it has to go back in, I know it's for the best. She weighed in tonight at 5 pounds 6 ounces so she is gaining every night! That is also something to be thankful for. Thanks to everyone for their prayers. We are so grateful for such loving family and friends.

Faith and Andrew

Here are pictures of Faith and her buddy Andrew. They are best buds in the Neonatal.

She's Coming Home!!!

Yes, that's right! Faith is coming home! The doctor gave us the ok to have her home. She isn't taking a full bottle at all her feedings so she would still have the feeding tube. However, the doctor did say that we can wait a few more days and see if she improves on bottle feeding before she goes and I think that is what James and I are going to do. We want her to be doing well with her bottle feedings so we don't always have to end up feeding the rest thru her tube. But by the end of the week she will be home, with or without the feeding tube! We are thinking either Friday or Saturday we will take her home. Just have to talk it over a bit more with the doctor. We are so excited!

Faith's beautiful pictures

Here are some pictures of Faith and her progress. She is doing so great and we are thankful to God for her continued strength and growth. We give God all the glory, honor and praise for her achievements.

Look at my beautiful dress I am in today. It is so comfortable and I love the bonnet!!



WOW! That tastes so so good daddy!! I need some more of that:)

I love you mommy!! Faith

Faith is doing Well

James and I spent pretty much all day up at the hospital today. She did really well on her feedings while we were there. Her 2pm feeding she took 20mls, 5pm and 8pm feedings she took 40mls. (feedings are out of 45mls). She weighed in tonight at 5 pounds 2 oz! She is getting bigger!!!! We are hoping and praying she continues to do well tonight with her feedings. It is frusterating leaving your baby in someone else's care that just doesn't seem to care if your baby eats by bottle of thru their feeding tube. Today has been a bad day for nurses. We are not the only parents that feel this way either. Faith's buddy Andrew, his parents feel this way too. We talk with them daily about our concerns and praises. They are great people. So hopefully we will get a good report tomorrow when we are at the hospital that she did great on her feedings! We are hoping she gets to come home this up coming week!

Getting Closer

Faith continues to progress. She is having a hard time catching on to bottle feeding. She will take about half of her bottle and then falls asleep. It tires her out. The doctors aren't concerned as they say she is still too young to be fully catching on and are happy with what she's doing already. They are thinking that next week (she'll be 36 weeks gestational) that she'll catch on and start drinking the entire bottle at her feedings. We are praying that is true because then that means she'll get to come home! It's been just a little over 3 weeks that she's been there. Sure is a long time! Please keep her in your prayers!

YES!!!!

We are so happy that Faith took her ENTIRE BOTTLE TONIGHT!!!! That is 1 bottle down and 2 more days worth to go!!! She has been doing really well with her last couple of feedings so we are hoping and praying that she continues to do well so she can come home! She just needs to drink from a bottle only for at least 2 days. Probably will still be awhile as she's still little but she's getting there!!