The Power Of Prayer

I will admit that I've never been a prayer. I mean, I pray, but I've always been a little uncomfortable with it. I guess I've always had the mindset that God is too busy to listen to me. Sure, I prayed, but without much conviction. Then something happened this year. My sister, Maria, found out that the baby she was carrying had some significant problems. Through the miracle of modern medicine, they found that Gabby was missing part of her brain. Did my sister break down? Nope! She turned to God. I decided that if she could do that, so could I. So, Ben and I started attending church. One of the very first sermons I heard was about how to pray. I can still remember Pastor Jim saying "Talk to God like he's your friend." And then he went on to tell us about all the prayers that God has answered. I kind of thought maybe there was something to this praying thing. So, that night, I prayed. I prayed for my sister and I prayed for Gabby. I prayed to God that He may give Maria and her family the strength to deal with what was coming their way. Maria never let her faith lag. She told me once that she and her husband, John, had put Gabby in God's hands. She knew, with out a doubt, that God had special plans for Gabby. On July 2 Maria gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Despite the odds, Gabby was home with her family in just a few short days.

At that point I knew with all my heart and soul that God heard our prayers. I could feel in in my very soul. It was such an amazing feeling to know that He was there and holding John, Maria, Gabby and their entire family in his hands.
Since then, there have been numerous challenges for Baby Gabby. They are still unsure what her official diagnosis should be. Her neurologist (a man truly sent by God to be the head of Gabby's medical team) believes that it's septo-optic dysplasia, but no one is 100% positive. In the four short months that Gabby has been with us, she has undergone three surgeries for severe glaucoma, and two brain surgeries. The first surgery was to open the tube that helps to drain the fluid that surrounds the brain. Unfortunately, that surgery failed in less than two weeks and Gabby had to undergo another, far more invasive surgery, to have a shunt put in. The shunt runs from her tiny brain down to her stomach. Imagine, if you can, sending your barely four month old baby in for brain surgery, not once but twice!

Whenever Gabby is sick or heading to the hospital for an appointment, surgery or more tests, Maria asks her friends and family to pray for Gabby. I in turn ask my Pastor, my church, and my friend to pray for Gabby and Maria. There have been numerous hurdles in this little baby's life. But EVERY SINGLE time, she comes out on the other side.
I also ask the Lord to give Maria strength. Strength to keep fighting for her baby. Strength to deal with each and every obstacle that comes her way. Strength to fight this battle with out the aid of her parents and siblings close by. Strength to keep her faith and strength to know in her heart of hearts that God has plans for her and for Gabby.
And I know that He hears me. I know that he listens and I know that He indeed gives Maria strength, He guides the doctors and gives them the knowledge they need to help this very special little girl and her very special Mommy. I believe in the power of prayer because I've seen it first hand.

The Downside of Being a Mom

Gasp! What?! Gasp! You mean there IS a downside to being a mom? And that someone will actually talk about it?! Yuppers! Now, don't get me wrong...I love having kids. I love being a Mom..I really do! It's just that sometimes that joy gets hidden in the, dare I say, drudgery of everyday life. My husband regularly works 13 hour days, and if you add in the hour of drive time, that means he's gone 14 hours out of the day. So, I'm alone almost all the time. It's up to me to change all the diapers, make all the meals, do all the dishes, do all the laundry, take care of all the discipline and do all that other not so fun Mom stuff. So, between all those chores, and they are definitely chores, I sort of forget that being a Mom can be fun. There are days when I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose my mind. Take the other day, for instance. I was sick, Adelae was being awful (jumping on the furniture, back talking, etc), Brinna was screaming at the top of her lungs, the dishes needed done, the living room was a disaster, I had two weeks worth of laundry to fold and put away, and it was about 8 hours until Ben came home from work. I sat down in the middle of the mess and cried and cried. Of course, this just made my contacts dry and my eyes puffy, but hey! I felt a little better. At that point, I made a decision. I decided that it's ok if the dishes sit, if we have chicken nuggets for dinner, if the laundry is wrinkled, and the floors aren't vacuumed. What isn't ok is for me to forget that I love being a Mom. It's NOT ok for me to forget to play with my daughters. So, after my good cry, I stuck Brinna in the Moby and we played. We played chase, we hide and seek, we colored, we sang silly songs and we danced. Guess what? The laundry is still there, we've had leftovers for dinner two nights in a row and I JUST finished up those dishes. The world didn't end, my husband didn't leave me, and we've all been in much better moods. Yup! There are downsides to being a Mom, but the good times definitely outweigh the bad!

Introducing Baby Makayla!

The first of my new nieces was born on May 13! My little brother, Louie, is a proud new papa. This is his third, so he's an old hand at this by now. Adelae and I met Makayla last weekend (I know, I'm slow getting this posted!) and she is an absolute doll! Makayla slept most of the time we were there, but that's just fine. It meant I got to get lots and lots of snuggles in. I think our baby already likes Makayla. When I would lay her on my belly, the baby would automatically move to that same spot. I'm pretty sure our new munchkin to be kicked Makayla a few times, but she didn't seem to mind. Adelae did really well with the baby, so that makes me happy. Adelae even held Makayla for awhile.




So, in case you're keeping track, that's one baby down and two to go! By some crazy twist of fate my brother, my sister and I will all have babies this summer. If I did my math right (which is doubtful) we'll have three brand new babies in our family in a matter of 12 weeks!