Category: General Family News

Saturday Night with Micah

Posted on by Becky

Tonight was the first time Micah didn’t cry at all for his bath! He used to cry as soon as his feet touched the water. Then he got over that, and would start crying when I poured water on his head to wash what little hair he has. And, until tonight, he always cried (at some point) during the transfer-to-baby-bath-towel-and-getting-dressed process. Until tonight.

I could hardly believe it. He almost seemed to enjoy his bath! He is growing up.

Before he went to bed, I was nursing him and he kept looking up and catching my eye with the biggest smile his little face could contain! I could hardly stop laughing, which meant he could hardly stop smiling. . . so of course he couldn’t concentrate on nursing. It was the sweetest moment!

I hugged him and told him he was the little boy I’d always wanted. I told him that I pray that he will grow up to love God with all of his heart and I pray that we will be great friends some day when he is all grown up. I told him I’m sorry for the things I’m sure I will do that may drive wedges between us, and I told him to know through it all how deeply he is loved–by God, and by Mom & Dad.

I had to look away, or he would never stop smiling, and he would never finish nursing!? . . . My precious little Micah-man. . .

Memories of Mara

Posted on by Becky

We went to Mercer’s Cafe the other day. We love Mercer’s! I will always remember it, especially, since it’s the place we went to celebrate on Sunday, November 18, 2007, the day we found out I was pregnant with Micah. It’s a great little local breakfast cafe, one we both enjoy! Daniel loves the coffee. I love the atmosphere.

This particular day was not special. Just wanted a good breakfast without having to cook, since our house is still in boxes and we have two small children.

We walked in–Mara, first, as a guy held the door for her. She was really booking it! She knew where she was going, and the guy holding the door gave her this look of surprise as she ran past him. We barely sat down, when a waitress walked by. Mara whirled around in her seat and shouted, “WAH-wah!” [water]

We looked at our 20-month-old daughter in amazement, and I said, “Mara, say ‘please’!”

I guess she always hears us order water from the waitress after we sit down, and she didn’t see any need to wait around!

Of course, she wanted to pray after we ordered our food and it didn’t come right away! She holds out both hands (we hold hands when we pray), then bows her head and says “Oy, oy, oy, oy” in a hushed tone.

Then she’s making friends with the cops that are sitting next to us, and the two older ladies behind us.? There’s not a shy bone in her body!

. . .

Tonight was so incredibly special. I don’t even think I can express it adequately. It was the first time Mara seemed to do something for something else, at her own expense.

The glider rocker is in Micah’s room, so before Mara goes to bed, I take her in Micah’s room to rock her and sing to her. Unfortunately, Micah cries (SCREAMS!) for several hours–usually right at Mara’s bedtime. So while I’m singing soft bedtime songs, Micah is screaming at the top of his lungs in the cradle next to us. Mara was tired. She was leaning on my chest, sucking her thumb. But after one or two songs, she sat straight up and said intently, “Min-uh! Min-uh!” [Micah! Micah!]

Then “THL-loor! THL-loor!” [Floor is one of her new favorite words, and this time she was asking to get down on the floor.]

So I let her get down and she stood by the cradle, saying, “Min-uh! Min-uh! Min-uh, nur!” [nurse] She was very intense, nodding her head and squinting her eyes, as if desperately hoping I would understand. She wanted to get down on the “thloor” so Micah could nurse. She knows that makes him quiet . . . My heart really melted, and I just looked at her for a couple of seconds. I couldn’t believe she was sacrificing her own time with me, for Micah! Then she started making the “fish” face, demonstrating “nursing,” in case I didn’t understand!

I picked up Micah, sat back down, and let him nurse, and that calmed him down right away.

“Min-uh! Min-uh! Nur!” She beamed a huge smile . . . I want to always remember.

“How Rich Is My Condition . . .”

Posted on by Becky

? When my heart is lonely, discouraged, or melancholy, the truths of the great hymns of the past speak peace to my soul.

“Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” by Henry Francis Lyte

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.
Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.
Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father”; I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.
Man may trouble and distress me, ’twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.
Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?
Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Momentous Events

Posted on by Becky

Last week was full of momentous events!

First of all, we are homeowners again! We bought a 3-bedroom rowhome. Before we move in, we are taking out the carpet, re-doing the hardwood floors, painting, installing a shower in the bathroom downstairs, installing a dishwasher, purchasing a washer and dryer . . . So we will be busy. But we are excited!

Mara and Micah will each have their own bedroom! There is a basement which can be used as a family room. A 3-foot pool in the backyard (which I want to keep for the kids–Daniel thinks I’m crazy and we will not have time for it.)

The living room is HUGE!! There is room for our couch, loveseat, coffee table, chair, the piano–WOW!! I was beginning to wonder if that was possible!! We love having a large living area because we love being able to have people over. God has left us here on earth to serve other people. Hopefully we will be able to have family over–and friends from church and soon friends from our block! We loved that about our old house in South Carolina, and as we purchase this home, we ask God to help us use this home to bring glory to His name through loving others and sharing it with them.

Second, Mara has discontinued her morning nap! This is monumental, because now Mommy has only the afternoon nap in which to accomplish anything requiring solitude! LOL!! Life has (once again) changed forever! It seems like the time was right, since she had begun crying every time I put her in the crib, and just laying there or playing in her crib during both her naps. The first day, I took Mara to Liberty Lands Park to let her play and keep her from getting too sleepy before lunch. The second day she & Daddy went to his parent’s house while I took Micah for his 2 month check-up with Dr. Kantor.

Which brings me to the 3rd momentous event: The pediatrician has taken Micah off the caffeine! After reading the monitor download results from Jefferson, the pediatrician confirmed that Micah has had no true apnea/brady episodes since coming home from the hospital over a month ago. Hopefully, coming off the caffeine will help Micah sleep better and also lessen his reflux issues. . . I truly hope this will help! He screams for hours every day and struggles to sleep like a normal baby. If all goes well, and the September download is perfect too, Micah can come off the monitor altogether in October! Coming off the monitor will mark the “end” of the whole preemie saga.? I for one can’t wait!

Well, after those three events of the week, there is not much more excitment to report! 🙂

2 Under 2 Visit the Pediatric Ophthamologist

Posted on by Becky

Yesterday Mara & Micah both had appointments with the pediatric ophthamologist. Overall the eye appts went fine. It was my 1st experience taking both children out for an appointment where we had to wait about an hour–of course, right at lunchtime.

Mara was okay at first, because I told her the dr was going to look at her eyes. She kept saying “Eye! Eye!” and pressing one eyelid shut . . . But when we got in there, and the dr was prying her eyelids open while she lay on my lap and putting 3 kinds of drops in them, she was screaming. It didn’t help that Micah was screaming from the stroller too. And when the dr turned off the lights and shone his headlamp into Micah‘s dilated eyes, Mara freaked and started yelling, “Light! Light! Light!” through her tears. The doctor said, “Say ‘bye-bye’! Say ‘bye-bye’!” which of course frustrated her, because that was exactly what she wanted.

I saw Breanna & her mom again (Breanna was Micah‘s little roommate in the NICU). Did I mention how I feel like God is allowing our paths to continue crossing for a reason?? . . . Anyway, Breanna has passed Micah in weight and length!! at 7 lbs 4 ozs and 20-1/4 inches! I was so happy!!! She has the chubbiest cheeks and she looks soooo healthy. She was 10 weeks premature, and struggled more than Micah to learn to eat, so this is encouraging. She is also not on a monitor and sleeping through most of the night! So she is doing fabulous! Connie said she lost my number, so I reached for one of the business cards on the counter to write my number down for her. . . I wasn’t prepared for the response of the receptionist, who snapped, “Did you just TAKE one of our business cards?!?!?!. . . Here! give that to me. I’ll give you a scrap piece of paper.” . . . wow. . .

I was like “I’m sorry.” Daniel said he would have laid a quarter on the desk and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you guys are so hard up for money. Here’s a quarter–it should buy you four more business cards!” :-)? . . . oh well. . .

Then there was Alex, the 2-year-old boy in the waiting room. He was climbing in Mara’s seat (in the double stroller) and standing on the chair next to me trying to pat Micah in his car seat. . . so I’m saying ‘please don’t touch the baby.’ Finally his dad/grandpa called him and he ran across the waiting room, got on a chair and started jumping. Mara (seeing this) began yelling, “Bad! Bad! Bad!” and “spanking” herself on her rear end w her hand (indicating what she thought should be happening to the errant child) . . . fortunately, her “bad” still sounds more like a bleating sheep at this point, so I’m sitting there saying enthusiastically, “Hey! Mara! Let’s read a book!” 🙂

On the bright side, Micah‘s eyes continue to develop as a normal (full-term) baby’s eyes would, and he just has one more appt in 3 weeks. The dr believes that Mara’s “strabismus” has cleared up!! which is good–basically meaning her eyes are tracking together now, no need for a patch or surgery. 🙂 However, he said that she will be near-sighted as she grows up (like me–not Daniel’s perfect vision). So he wants to see her again when she turns 3. . . . she will be my little red-headed, freckled girl with glasses. . . oh my. . .