Thankful

I am so thankful to be a mother. Not a day goes by that I don't realize the gift that it is to be a mom. I am grateful that God has allowed me to raise His child. Motherhood is something I knew nothing about until I became one. It was definitely a shock to the system, but I honestly don't remember what life was like before being a mom.

Today I am delighted to be Mama to this sweet boy.....

Welcome Baby Fleming!

Late last night we welcomed our newest Nephew into the world.

Hunt Calhoun Fleming
Born at 10:44pm on April 28th
8lbs. 9oz. 21in.

Kelly did such an amazing job! I am so proud of her. Hunt is a DOLL! He has a good amount of hair and it's really light. Here are a few pictures. They aren't very good. I promise more soon!

On Tuesday James got his final measurement and the cranial band was removed!!! We are so proud of him. The folks at Cranial Technologies were absolutely amazing throughout this entire process. They made it so much smoother and enjoyable for us. We are very thankful for them. James was in the band a total of 7 1/2 weeks! Pretty nice compared to what we thought he would be in it for. (10 weeks) It was so cute, they actually gave him a little graduation certificate. We'll have to add that one to the baby book. Below are his before and after pictures side by side. It's pretty amazing to see the change. It's funny, cause I used to not think his head was that bad. I am so glad that we decided to get the band. If I had to do it again with another child I would do it in a heartbeat.

He is RISEN!

I am still feeling full of joy and still singing all the wonderful songs we sang Sunday in church. I woke up so thankful this morning just knowing that Jesus is ALIVE and present in my life and my families. This past week leading up to Easter Sunday I sat and read the story of Christ's death and Resurrection in Luke. (You can find it in all the gospels, but I have always loved Luke) I really wanted to "relive" it and truly remember what Christ went through for us all. I think it is so easy to go through our lives and forget about what He did. We tend to miss what God has done for us. We never even deserved it but yet He still sent his Son to die for our sins. I feel more awake to my sins this past week. Wanting to not continue living in this rut, but to move forward in the freedom that Christ has provided for me. I am so thankful for what he did for us.

We celebrated Easter by going to church and then having a big family lunch which included some dear friends of ours. The kids even had an egg hunt. It was a wonderful day, but I was pooped at the end of it! Enjoy the photos:

Fantastic Friday!

This morning we had an appointment for Buggy's head. I knew that we were getting close to the end, but I had NO clue that we were going to hear what we heard. His wonderful PT, Kathy came in, checked his head (there had been great progress again) and she then told us the best news...that he would only be wearing the band for 10 more days and then she was taking him out of it!!! So on April 26th, we will go in at 9:30 that morning and they will take the final photos of Buggy's head. We will be DONE! When she walked out of the room to make the final adjustments on his band I thought I was going to jump out of my seat and scream with joy. I immediately flashed back to the beginning of this journey. It was scary, unknown and gave me a lot of anxiety. But we made it. I am so proud of James. He will have been in the band for less than 8 weeks. Crazy! Looks like he was as ready as I was for him to be out of it! Ha!

This morning on my way to his appointment all I could think about what God's grace. His grace that he gives me daily. I felt overwhelmed thinking about it. Feeling so undeserving of it, but thankful for it. I was listening to an old CD that I have on our way to his appointment and the song that started playing made me smile. It was one that was sung at our wedding. It is about God's grace. It is one of those songs that makes me want to fall on my knees at the foot of the cross.

Today I am thankful for God's grace and for Buggy's great news.

"Your Grace Still Amazes Me" By: Philips, Craig and Dean

My faithful Father, enduring Friend
Your tender mercy’s like a river with no end
It overwhelms me, covers my sin
Each time I come into Your presence
I stand in wonder once again

CHORUS:
Your grace still amazes me
Your love is still a mystery
Each day I fall on my knees
Your grace still amazes me
‘Cause Your grace still amazes me

Oh, patient Saviour, You make me whole
You are the Author and the Healer of my soul
What can I give You, Lord, what can I say
I know there’s no way to repay You
Only to offer You my praise

It’s deeper, it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher
It’s deeper it’s wider
It’s stronger, it’s higher than anything my eyes can see

7 Months

I cannot believe that we are more than half way closer to Buggy's 1st birthday! My sweet baby is growing up WAY TOO FAST! I sure do love all the fun changes that have been coming lately. I am so thankfully everyday that I get to be here at home witnessing all these changes! Wouldn't want it any other way! A BIG thank you to Manny for that! :)
Month 7 has already brought some fun changes....here are a few of them:

- You not have 2 teeth!
- You have started the beginning stages of army crawling. Right now you just move yourself in a circle
- You talk all the time and make silly noises
- You are growing like crazy....you wear 12 mo clothes and even some 18mo.
- You like to pat Mama and Daddy
- You pinch Mama's arm
- Apparently now that you have two teeth you think that you can bite so you try biting Mama's shoulder often
- You still love bath time but now not only do you sit in the big tub, but you also love playing with your toys.
- You sleep on average 12-13 hours at night and still take an hour morning nap and 2-2 1/2 hr naps in the afternoon! PTL!
- This month we changed you from 5 feedings a day (every 3 hrs) to 4 feedings a day (every 4hrs) And not only do you love the new schedule but so does Mama :)
- You are just a few weeks away from getting your band off. We are so proud of the progress that you have made. You have a beautiful round head now!

Here are some pics of my 7 month old:

Progress on the Band

It's been awhile since I posted any updates on Buggy's head. He has now been in the band for almost 5 weeks. The progress has been amazing. So far he has grow a total of 1cm in the right direction. We noticed a change after the first week, and each week has gotten better and better. At our visit this past week, our PT said that if a child came in to her office today with James' head she would not recommend a band for him! It was very encouraging. She said he should be out of it in no time. We are thinking sometime towards the beginning of May. Which will be great since it's starting to warm up out there! (The band is like a cast almost so it gets hot in there!)
I am posting the original photos that they took of James' head back in February. I also took some pics the other night after bath time so that you can visibly see the difference. It's HUGE!
We are so proud of him. He has done so good with his band and has yet to be annoyed by it. To be honest I think I'll miss it when he doesn't have it on. Especially since crawling is right around the corner and I think it would come in handy if he bumps into things! Ha!
Here is the before photos the doctors office took:


And here are the pics I took of his head the other night. They aren't the greatest cause he wouldn't sit still, but you'll get the drift: