17-months!

Sweet, smart, sassy and oh-so-determined to eat this bagel with only three teeth. 

This peanut is 17-months-old today!

what a difference a year makes!

What an incredible difference in a year! One year ago today our Brooklyn had her second open-heart surgery at just five months old. Today she happily played with her sisters, giggled at my kisses, entertained her Nana and Papaw with her silly personality, toddled everywhere and squealed in absolute delight at seeing her daddy for the first time in five days. I often shake my head in amazement at God's faithfulness and graciousness toward us. Thank you, Lord, for our sweet, amazing miracle...and for keeping her through it all.

walking, walking, walking!

So for the last few weeks we've been going to open gym time for toddlers and preschoolers at the local rec center one morning a week so Brooke could get more practice with her walker. We've had the walker since December, and she has slowly progressed from needing help navigating it through the living room to navigating well on her own to nearly running with it in the last couple of weeks as her sister "chases" her. :) So cute! Here's a video of her cruising with the walker just last Thursday...

And here's what happened over the weekend! Woohooo! Such a huge milestone for any little one but especially for our Brooklyn. We have been working hard in physical therapy a few times a month for several months and a lot at home and recently the rec center. So, so exciting! And she has progressed so much even in the last few days. She no longer prefers the scoot, which you see at the end of this video (taken on Sunday afternoon). She'd rather be walking! :) 

rocking, thinking, praying

I often snuggle and rock Brooklyn for a really long time before I put her to bed. I usually pray for her while I'm rocking. Sometimes I pray for others. Sometimes I think back to the hardest days when she was so tiny and things were more uncertain. Sometimes I just listen to her breath and thank God that I get to hold her and enjoy her today. Sometimes I think about, pray for and even cry for those mamas holding their babes in the CICU at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Tonight? Tonight I did all of that. Especially the latter. Will you join me tonight in praying for those babes, those families and those amazing folks caring for them? Often such deep heartache on that 7th floor. 

God, hold them close. You know their needs, and You are bigger than ANY mountain they face.

joy in the grocery

Somebody LOVED Mom's super silly grocery cart driving this afternoon. Simple joys!

OT evaluation

This girl. She's a tough cookie. Our God. Well, He's amazing. Brooke had an OT evaluation today as a follow-up to her six-month eval. She just turned 16 months. She showed the skill level of a 20-month-old. Simply amazing given that research shows heart babies like Brooke often have neurological delays. And she would've "tested" even higher had it not been for her being sassy and refusing to finish a shapes puzzle.

Since her poor circulation prevents her from being out in the cold any longer than absolutely necessary, I brought some snow in yesterday for her to explore. Pretty sure she's over it. And so am I. It really is beautiful, but we're ready for some outdoor fun minus the layers and layers and layers!