Harper Loves Her Brothers

This just happened yesterday and after, I thought I should share it with you all.  We have pictures of the boys hanging over the changing table in Harper's room - it was Joshua and Caleb's room first and we just can't take them down.  She points to them a lot and smiles and jibber-jabbers.  Yesterday as I was changing her she pointed and said what sounded like "Baby Joshua and Caleb." At first I thought I just heard what I wanted to hear, but Billie - who was in her room down the hall- said "It sounded like she said 'Joshua and Caleb!" And then later in the day I was changing her again and Matt was talking to her and she pointed at the pictures and again said "Baby Joshua and Caleb!" Matt just looked at me and said "Did she just...?" I was like "Yes, I really think that is exactly what she is saying." What is so funny, is he was asking her at the time "Harper, who's your favorite man in this house?" Ever since we brought her home I have felt like I see recognition in her eyes when she sees their picture.  I am sure I am wishing some of that, but she always smiles at them and points to them and jibber-jabbers at them.  I guess I just find it comforting that before she was born she knew them, and that maybe they had a part in her early success when it was so hard and almost impossible for her to survive.  There were so many times in the beginning that she was on the brink, heart rate disastrously low, O2 levels in the tank, nurses bagging her and pleading with her "Come on, Harper!" I like to think they were there cheering her on telling her to quit clamping down, to allow the precious oxygen into her lungs. All of this is to say, Harper loves her brothers and they will always be an important part of our family and of our lives.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to be their mommy, and it was yesterday when Harper was pointing at them that I felt a little more like I am their mommy.

To update you on Harper's progress - she is up to 15 pounds 4 oz! Not walking yet, but crawling everywhere, pulling up and cruising.  She has three teeth, and three more on the way.  She says about 6-10 words, sleeps through the night, waves, claps, dances, knows 6 different signs, feeds herself and just last night took a sippy cup for the first time! She is developing in leaps and bounds, she may be a little delayed still but she is catching up quickly.  She is still tiny, but she is growing and with the way she is now eating solid foods I am sure she will continue to make strides here.  She doesn't want to be spoon fed, little Miss Independent wants to feed herself.  She will eat almost anything she can pick up and put in her mouth, though, unless it is meat or a green vegetable.  She will, however, eat Tuna! We are still working on the veggies, but she will at least eat spinach and any orange veggie so that is a huge improvement.  She will devour any fruit or grain.  She still chokes a lot, but I have calmed down and we just work through most of them without assistance.  She is so happy all of the time, she is just a real pleasure and blessing.

Billie is doing great in middle school! She got 4 A's and 3 B's on her report card.  She had a rough start finding her place and making friends, but now she has settled in and is enjoying it much more.  Soccer season is almost over, she is playing for the middle school and she loves it and loves her team mates.  They have a big tournament this weekend and then the season is over.  She is maturing so much, the changes she has made this year (6th grade) remind me of the changes she made in Kindergarten.  It was like she went to school a baby one day, and came home a little girl back then. She went to 6th grade a little girl and has turned into a young woman right before my eyes.  Wednesday night we had company over to watch game one of the World Series.  I had made dinner and had everyone eat while I put the baby to bed.  As I was rocking Harper, I could hear someone doing the dishes and assumed it was Matt. I was so surprised when I walked out of the nursery and saw Billie at the sink!  She had taken it upon herself to do the dinner dishes, no one asked her to do it, she just did it because she wanted to.  It was so sweet and such a wonderful surprise for this momma! I am so proud of her. 

 Matt and I are good, but  we are each having surgery in the coming month and can use your prayers.  Matt has a shoulder surgery and I have to have my hernia repaired again because it has failed. Matt will be down for about two weeks, or at least in a sling for two weeks and then he should be feeling much better.   He has had a lot of pain from his shoulder and he is actually looking forward to getting relief from that pain. Please pray that all goes well with the surgery and he gets great results.  He loves to golf, and if his shoulder pain continues or worsens, he will have to give it up and that would break his heart.  I will have a longer recovery, but it has to be done so I am just going to suck it up and do it.  Please pray I am not it the extreme pain I was in with the last hernia surgery, and that this one doesn't fail.  They are going in surgically this time instead of laparoscopic like last time, and they will not just be putting in the mesh but they will be putting in an additional mesh and also pulling the muscles together to close the hole. Sounds miserable to me, that's why when he offered this option the first time around I chose the other laparoscopic option instead.  Of course, hind sight being what it is, I wish I had just gone this route back in January when I had the original hernia surgery. Hopefully I will be back to myself in 4-6 weeks, only better because the hernia will be repaired once and for all.

Thanks for you love, prayers, and support ~ Crystal