Happy Birthday Grandma Mary!

First time Grandma Mary held Olivia. Dec 2007
Her birthday is tomorrow April 8th!!! Leave your well wishes here. :)

My Thoughts on Prayer

Over the last few years, I have struggled a lot with the reasons for prayer. I'm sure I have shared this once before. I know WHY we pray, but I don't know why we pray for specific things. If those things aren't God's will, why do we pray for them? I grew up always believing that you only have to ask and you shall receive. After the premature birth of my children and the death of my son. . . how can that be true? I don't know how many times I prayed for my children both before and after I got pregnant. Is praying going to change God's mind? And if it can. . .what did I do wrong when I prayed on my children's behalf? Did I not get enough people to pray? Did I not pray correctly? Did I pray right for Olivia, but not for Logan? It is our human nature to rely on God to "take away" our hardships. Anyone who has been through an excrutiatingly painful time knows that isn't true. HE doesn't take away difficult times. . .but HE does help you through it. Does HE give you more than you can handle? YES. But, HE doesn't give you more than HE can handle.

Why am I talking about this tonight? I don't know. A few weeks ago, I realized something. I was getting so frustrated with Olivia's lack of eating and her struggles with oral sensitivity. It seemed no one could help me and I didn't know what to do. I realized that never once had I prayed about it. Now, don't get me wrong. I pray. I pray prayers of thanksgiving. . .I pray for strength. . .I pray for peace, I pray for others, but I still struggle when praying for specific things. I put that aside and I just asked God to help Olivia eat better so that she can grow big and strong. I asked God to help me know how to help her and to relieve the stress that it causes me. Then, while sick. . .she didn't eat for 5 days. :) However, after that. . .it's as if something clicked and she learned that food is okay to eat and swallow. And, not just every once in awhile with pizza or ice cream cake. (Sometimes she didn't even want to eat that.) Now, she is eating on a fairly consistent basis. She may never be a great eater, but she is coming such a long way. Is it because of my prayer? I don't know. Maybe that unknown is why we pray for specific things. It doesn't hurt to let God know what you feel that you need. Don't we want our children to let us know what they want even though there is no possible way that you could give it to them? They may not understand it, but you know what is best. So does our Father. . .no matter how painful that may be at times. But still. . . .pray.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - Update

Monday, April 5, 2010 - Update

This past week has been amazing! Why? Olivia is eating. . .actually eating. I don't know what has changed, but she's eating better than she has in her entire life. Please pray that this isn't short lived. I can't tell you what a relief it brings to our whole family. What a change! What an answer to prayer!

Olivia's First Easter Egg Hunt

We spent the day over at Grandma and Grandpa Glunt's house. After a fabulous lunch, we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and then had an Easter egg hunt. It was Olivia's first Easter egg hunt and I didn't know how much she'd understand. She did amazing and collected 14 eggs! And, I don't think she could have looked any cuter doing it.

Alex and Katie and their swing "invention."

We get to hunt for eggs??

I found one!

Oooh, there's another!

And another. . .

Do you see all of my pretty eggs?

I picked them myself.

Here's another one.

And another one.

I'm good at this.

Now, let's see what I got!

Happy Easter!

An Afternoon At The Park

What can I say? My girl LOVES to slide!!

Friday, April 2, 2010 - Update

Olivia and the Easter Bunny

Just wanted to show you a quick picture of Olivia. Olivia did not enjoy visiting with the Easter Bunny. Apparently the thought of a large, walking bunny rabbit kinda creeped her out. You can not, however, notice her extreme displeasure in this picture. :) Anyway, two out of the three of us are on antibiotics (yes, I'm still holding strong. . .) Olivia is experiencing antibiotic induced daddy-ria (as she calls it.) Ryan has a bad sinus infection. Hopefully, everyone is in top-notch shape by this weekend.

Thursday, April 1, 2010 - Update

My husband's attempt at being artsy :)

The more I looked at this picture, the more I liked it. It's not the first time God provided a beautiful vision of pink when it seemed nothing else remained. It reminded me of how thankful I am for my little girl. She continues to bring us such joy.