Brienna's Growing Up

I wanted to post this short news alert for everyone:

Today Brienna moved up to the Toddler II class! She loves the teachers and gets along well with the rest of the class. I have to admit that I was a little worried about her - I thought we'd have to start all over again with the crying fits every morning. But to my surprise she was just fine. In fact, when I dropped her off this morning she walked into her class, took off her coat, and even gave me a kiss before I left her there. My first kiss bye-bye!!!

Man, I love being a mom!!

The First Snow

All week we were told that Hickory was going to get hit with a nasty mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Last night we went to bed and there was nothing going on. When we woke up at five o'clock, there was snow on the ground and it was still falling! Around nine o'clock Mom and I took Brienna outside in the snow. It was the first snow since we moved into the house. Last year we had a light covering that didn't even last a full day (so it doesn't count).

Brienna helps Omi get ready for the snow adventure by holding onto Omi's shoe.

I had to take a picture from the side - for the first time Brienna's clothes stay on (she finally has a butt thanks to layering!!)

Brienna was so cute in her new little snow suit that Omi bought her earlier this ear. It's like she knew we were going to get at least one good snow this year - and we haven't had a decent snow fall in several years! How is it that grandparents know stuff like this? It took a little while to get Brienna into the snow, but once she was out of the garage and in the snow, her little personality was glowing. She took a couple of nose-dives and a couple of butt-busters. But Omi was always there to pick her up and put her back on her feet. Brienna loved going out in the yard and helping Omi move snow!

These moments are great and I am so glad I didn't miss out on this one!

God Still Answers Prayer

Most of you know that when Ellie was born she failed the hearing test in her left ear. The nurses tested her over ten times during the two days we were at the hospital. We were told that this is quite common because of fluid build-up in the ear. Everyone said it was nothing to worry about at the time, and before we left on the 23rd, we had a retest scheduled for this afternoon.

Momma went with me to the hospital for the retest. She held Ellie close while the nurse put all the wires onto Ellie. The test is actually really neat. Because babies can't tell you when they actually hear a noise, the nurse tapes a plastic cup to Ellie's ear and two patched to her head (one on her forehead and the other on the back of her neck at the bottom of her skull). The patches detect brain activity during the time that the sound is traveling from the cup to Ellie's inner ear. How cool is that?

Well, Ellie passed her test the first time today. I can honestly say that I wasn't worried. The only way I can say that is because I had honestly put her in the Lord's hands and I was determined not to take on a burden I wasn't equipped to carry. Our church family, both mine and Patrick's families, and our friends had been praying since we brought her home from the hospital. If that wasn't enough prayer behind us to petition the Lord for a positive result, I was perfectly content to walk with her through whatever she would face.

On a more personal note: I would like to thank each and every one of you who did hold our family up in prayer as we faced this obstacle. It was hard waiting for today to come, but your prayers got us through. We love you all so very much and thank the Lord for you!