Accountability - first post from Living on a prayer blog

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  - Hebrews 10:25

Recently some amazing ladies from our church decided to get real about how we often neglect to spend real time in God's word each day.  It was refreshing to know that not only do we all struggle with this but to know that we all want to help each other.  This is one of the jobs of the body of Christ, to hold each other accountable.  I'm so thankful for the amazing women God has put in my life.  

So we started an accountability group on facebook.  Several of us are reading the same books in the Bible while others are reading something else.  We are encouraging each other and not judging.  It's a safe environment to share the real struggle of our daily walk with God.  

I'm so excited about this new group and I hope all of us build stronger relationships with God and with each other.  

Returning to blogging

I'm making my return to blogging.  Here's hoping I stick with it more this time.  How about a family update to start?  We now have 5 children, but only 4 are currently in our home.  Our one daughter is still living in an orphanage in Haiti.  She officially became a part of our family in January but we still need to wait for immigration to approve her travel to the US.  Jacob is growing up so fast.  It's hard to believe he is 10.  Only a few more years until we hit the teenage years.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Haley is 7 going on 17.  She is a sweetheart.  Jonas is already 4 and loves preschool.  He's doing great and amazes me every day.  Anna, my baby, is 3.  She's growing up way too fast!  We are finally diaper free in our house, going on a year now of that, and loving it!  Last year we added our puppy Samson a few months after a tough loss when we lost Toby to cancer.

I recently started a new blog that I will share posts from there on here while I'm getting it started and building my reader list.  It's called Living On A Prayer.  I'm hoping to share my thoughts on life as a mom of 5.  I'll share books I love and tips I've learned.  I hope you'll all check it out.  I have also been writing for preemie101.  It's been great to share what I learned having a preemie.  I will share links on here and on my new blog when I have articles featured on their site.

Keep an eye out for my first post on my new blog.  And feel free to send suggestions for things you'd like to see me post about.  I'm always open to suggestions.

the potty training wars

So last week Haley decided it was time to start potty training. My first reaction was..."um you are only 16 months and are way to small". My second reaction was "why is the world would I say no to you if you want to use the potty". So thus we began potty training Haley before Jacob is even fully trained! Since Thursday she has done really well. Usually only have #2 accidents as we have not had success with that one yet and a few #1 accidents. I had to order her special cloth training pants since the ones in the store are too small and so is any underwear I found. Today has not been a good day though. I guess that's to be expected though. I also think she's not feeling well today. She's been wanted to be held a lot today which is not like her and she's not telling me before or after she goes in her diaper. Yesterday she was telling me before and we had a really great day!

In other super awesome news!!!!! Jacob asked Jesus into his life today! I couldn't be happier. I told him the angels were dancing and happy too!

When he was this age

So I thought I would share a picture of Jacob when he was 16 months and then a picture of Haley who will be 16 months on Monday. Do they look a like?

I will soon be returning

Very soon I will be returning from my blog hiatus from this site. I have decided that Haley's carepages must come to an end some day and there's no better time than her first birthday. I will be able to still keep everyone informed on her progress and all hers and Jacob's milestones on this site. In just 8 days we will be celebrating Haley's first birthday! Just as with Jacob it is bittersweet for me. I'm so proud of both of them for all they have learned and endured. I'm excited that they are growing up. I am also sad they are growing up. I wish they could stay innocent and small forever. I don't ever want them to see the bad in this world. I wish they could always have that child like faith. I don't ever want to let go. The thought of Jacob going to school is exciting and scary. I know he'll do great and will be safe but it's hard not to worry.

I plan to post my last carepages update on Haley's birthday which I will also post on here as the transition. I don't know how many of our readers on carepages will want to continue to follow our family updates but I will offer it. Please pray for no rain on Saturday, it's Haley's party and I really want a beautiful day where we can be outside and just enjoy our little miracle!

Life after the NICU and March for Babies

It has been a long time since I've posted on here. Most of you have followed Haley's story on her Carepages site. So I will keep this brief. Haley is doing so well. She is now 13 lbs 5 oz! She eats baby cereal and some veggies. She's tried peas, green beans, and carrots so far. She loved them all! She really enjoys eating and is so easy to feed unlike Jacob was. Jacob was an easy kid for most things but eating was always tough. Haley is a good eater, but the rest of the stuff is tough with her. We will be trying sleep training very soon. I'm borrowing a book from a friend and I really hope it works for her. She's been getting much better at night and is only up a 1 or 2 times now ( but still has those nights where she's up ever 2 hours too so nothing is really consistant yet ). Her napping has not been good at all though. I know I need to get her sleeping in her own room in her crib and that will help because Jacob wont wake her up but then she gets scared when she wakes up and no one is around. We'll get it figured out eventually. This weekend was the March for Babies. It was hot but no rain so it was good. We all made it the full 6 miles although some were doubtful. Haley only cried for the last 1/2 mile probably from being hot and hungry. Here are a few pictures from the walk.

precious pictures

While Haley was in the NICU the March of Dimes arranged to have a photographer come in and take pictures of who ever wanted to have their baby's pictures taken. We were so excited and the pictures came out great. It's hard to believe she was once that small ( actually smaller ). This first one if my favorite by far. I love how she is looking up at me.

Kangaroo care ( skin to skin holding ) was so important for Haley's development. It helped her to relax and it helped us bond. Dan was even able to do it and he enjoyed it as well. Our body heat kept her warm while she was away from her heated incubator.

peeking at mommy


Love


Tiny feet

Stop signs
Stop signs is a term used a lot in the NICU. We attended a class on reading our preemies signals. Stop signs are an important one. It's how the baby tells us they have had enough or are over stimulated. It means stop and leave me a lone for a while. Haley used hers a lot. She was a trouble maker in the NICU. She actually earned the nick name Houdini. She was always trying to get the CPAP and leads and feeding tube out and rolling around in the incubator. Her fiestiness got her out of there in 5 weeks. I don't think anyone expected that.