Hello!! Video

Here's a short video from our recent beach trip.  Maggie may... be saying "Hello".  This is our crazy family, please excuse the belly button!

Silence.

I have been in a bit of a fog lately.  Just not really myself.

I think it has to do with Maggie's silence.  Other than her normal cry, an occasional fit or a squeal of happiness, Maggie is very quiet.  She plays with out making any sound sometimes.  This weekend Maggie broke her silence several times though.  Chuck was playing with her and saying Hello to her over and over.  Then, Maggie said "hello". Just out of nowhere.  So we kept saying Hello to her and she said Hello about four more times.  If I didn't have it on video I would not have believed it !  She was very vocal at the beach and I really thought I saw an improvement.  But, now that we are back home Maggie is back to her silence.  Nothing.

The good news is that Maggie is hearing normally now with her bone conduction hearing aid.  The folks at The Hear Center in Birmingham were impressed with how well she turned to sound.  She has improved so much on listening and finding sounds.  She can be anywhere in the house and if I call her name, she will try to find me.  Thank you Lord for this miracle !!  They also said it can sometimes take a year for the brain to process sound and turn it into talking.  So, Maggie just needs more time and I need a healthy dose of patience.  Sometimes, I wonder if she will ever talk and I get very sad thinking of never hearing her sweet voice say Momma or I wuv you.  Sometimes it seems the mountains are just too big and my faith is just too small.

More Exciting news !!! Maggie is eating.... Pizza, biscuits, chicken, grits, rice, burritos, and eggs.  Yeah !!!  She is still taking four bottles a day, but we are decreasing the rice cereal in them and will slowly wean her off.    She loves her bottles, so this will not be fun.  Maggie is also eating baby food too and loves yogurt.

Beach !

It's a little windy outside !!

Wish You Were Here.

Finally ! We are at The Beach, relaxing and having a good ol' time.  April is by far the best time to go the beach with children.  The weather is so nice.  Not too hot, not too cool.  Perfect.  No need for a huge canopy to hide from the blinding sun or cranky kids that are just too hot.  The water is very cool though.  But, my children don't seem to mind.  In fact, they swam all day in the chilly Gulf.  Brrrrr

So this is Maggie's first time to play on the beautiful white beaches of Gulf Shores.  Did she like it ?  Well, not really at first.  I put her feet in the sand and she did not like it !  She was not sure why there was white grainy stuff all over her legs and she wanted to sit in my lap with her feet far, far away form the sand.  Then, Maggie slowly grew to like the sand ( not love it yet).  She really loved the (cold) ocean though and wanted to just keep walking into the waves.  She also loved the way the wet sand felt and had no problem playing near the water.

Of course, no trip to the Gulf is complete without a visit to LuLu's and some fried shrimp.  By the time we ate, Maggie was so worn out from the sun.  She hung in there like the trooper she is and even ate little bites of french fries and fried fish.  She has been a very adventurous eater lately and we are so thankful for this all important milestone.   We are also so very, very, very thankful for our dear friends who are sharing their gorgeous condo with us.  We are feeling very pampered and relaxed and we needed that. 

Plans.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, 

plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

I am often reminded of the verse when I look at Maggie.  Only God knows the plans for her Life.  And, as we still ride the roller coaster of doctors visits and more tests, this verse comforts me and reminds me of God's HAND on Maggie's life.  She is the sweetest little girl and loves to be outside. She even loves grass now and thinks Charlie the dog is so funny !

Maggie had a CT this morning to see if she is a candidate for a Cochlear Implant.  Everything went very good and Maggie was such a trooper !  Her CT showed that her left ear has normal structures.  Next, she needs to have another ABR ( auditory brain response test) with sedation just to make 100 % sure she has no hearing in that ear before she can get a cochlear implant.  If all looks good, Maggie will have surgery soon and will be hearing out of her left ear !  We still have a lot of reading and research to do on Cochlear Implants to make sure this is something that will benefit Maggie and not harm her.  All of this is so new to us and we are certainly overwhelmed at times with the technology and therapy that is involved with a hearing impaired child.  We are learning so much each day and praying for wisdom.  But, when Maggie wraps her arms around me and squeezes tight, smiling and laughing, any worries I have are gone and I am reminded of what a complete blessing our sweet, beautiful little girl is.  

New Life

                                                  The Garden Tomb -  Jerusalem, Israel
Because of Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection, we have New Life and Hope.
 Easter is a time for us to reflect on his resurrection and celebrate that He is Risen ! Praise God  !!!

We also celebrate Maggie's new life with us and how much she has changed and blossomed, just like the spring flowers we are starting to see bloom.  Praise God !!!
My dear friend Monica left this sweet comment and I wanted to share it:
      
        "Our sweet Maggie is so adorable! Love the basket! I was just thinking how precious Easter is to ALL of us, but thinking that the NEW life that came with the resurrection and understanding the resurrection power has forever changed Maggie's life. She more so than the rest of us can understand what it is like to be without hope and held captive, but to be raised from death to a NEW life. "She once was lost, but now she is found, she once was deaf, but now she can hear, she once was imprisoned and now she has been resurrected to a NEW life ALL because of the power of Jesus Christ and HIS amazing love. Rejoicing with your precious family this Easter. So much to celebrate."

Of course, we also celebrate Easter with new Easter clothes and white, clean shoes.

Happy Easter to you all and we pray you have NEW LIFE in Jesus Christ !

Happy Easter !

Love

l

Love in the Home

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,
but have not love, I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but
have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not godliness.
Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love is present through the trials. Love reprimands, reproves, and is
responsive. Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs
with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.
Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection. Now I
glory in God's perfection of my child. As a mother, there is much I
must teach my child, but the greatest of all is love.