Dear Jimmie- Happy 1st Birthday! (part 2)

Dear Jimmie,

Happy 1 year birthday!

This is you right after you were born.

This is you at 1 month.

This is you at 2 months.

This is you at 3 months.

This is you at 4 months.

This is you at 5 months.

This is you at 6 months.

This is you at 7 months.

This is you at 8 months.

This you at 9 months.

This is you at 10 months.

This is you at 11 months.

And this is you today!


Look at how you have grown next to your Rottweiler Puppy!














Look how you've grown in your father's hands!












When your mommy was in the hospital on bedrest one of her favorite cd's she listened to was by Fernando Ortega. Whenever she plays that cd now and the song "Come Thou Fount" comes on, you stop whatever you are doing, sit quietly and listen to the whole thing! So I made a special collage of video clips in honor of your first year- set to your special song.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This month:

You have lost a 1/2 pound. )-: You are 13 lbs 8 ounces. You had a bit of a rough month trying to gain weight because of your g-tube surgery and the stomach flu.

You are 27 1/8 inches long! You've gained 1/8 inch

Your head circumference is 17 inches around!

Your mommy and daddy got some very exciting news today from your awesome OT Dr. C. Your mommy kept your appointment for today even though it’s your birthday. She is very glad she did. After today’s assessment Dr. C. stated that you were doing so well that she doesn’t feel she needs to see you regularly any more. AND in her (very impressive) experience when kids have reached the point you are at with your eating it’s only a matter of a few months (at most) before they start taking in liquids consistently! After delivering this news she smiled and said, “Happy birthday Jimmie!” Your mommy and daddy are so very encouraged and uplifted with this news. What an awesome start to a day that has a lot of mixed emotions that come with the memories. You deserve some high fives Jimmie because you have been through so much and worked so hard for this. So have your mommy and daddy. We are looking forward to seeing this excellent prognosis happen for you in the next few months.

Your diet has expanded a bit this month. The "candida diet" part of this has been relaxed a bit. Some sugar (in very small amounts and mostly natural) has been added. You enjoy fruit smoothies with olive oil and organic teething biscuits among other things.

Physically you are way ahead. You will be walking on your own anytime. You cruise around the furniture and frequently let go to stand all on your own!

Yesterday some of our (me and your mommy's) long time dance students, young women who are very precious to us . . . delivered a surprise during classes. They had picked out a beautiful (lullaby like) song and had choreographed and rehearsed a sweet dance. They performed it for us in honor of Jimmie’s birthday. It was so special and so unbelievably sweet we could not hold in the tears. I’m hoping to post a video of this soon.

You have 112 followers on your blog! That’s 5 more than last month.

Your Faithfulness Video Montage has been viewed 7482 times. That's 772 views this month!

Your "Jimmie's Wonderful World" montage has been viewed 749 times! That's 41 times this month.

Your blog has been viewed 7,924 times this month for a total of 77,201 hits! You have a lot of very cool people who love to check on your progress Jimmie.

This month has had quite a few ups and downs . . .

You attended your uncle Eric’s wedding! You woke up in an unfamiliar church and started screaming. Your mommy was a bridesmaid so your daddy had to take you out. You had fun partying later though.

You had surgery to have a g-tube put into your belly.







This allowed for the NG to come out of your nose and throat. The surgery went well. But you were pretty upset by the whole thing. You were so much more aware and more mature this time, so this procedure and hospitalization seemed to affect you more than in the past.

You got the stomach flu. That was really frustrating for your mommy who has been working so hard to try to get you back on track with your weight gain since your surgery.

You attended another wedding! A long time friend of the family... This time you didn’t scream, but your mommy still held you out in the foyer just in case. You didn’t go to that reception and party- instead you went and hung out with Grandpa Rod.

You also went to the house warming party for your pastor. There were lots of other kids there who loved watching you crawl and play.

I am in such awe that you are already 1 year old Jimmie! What is even more awe inspiring is the details of your first year. We are frequently reminded by doctors, nurses and friends who have experience with micro-preemies how fortunate we truly are. Being born 15 weeks early, more often then not, creates such devastating physical trauma that there is some sort of permanent physical and developmental damage. Sometimes it's hard for me to wrap my head around how this was *not* the case for you. We will never take this for granted. The miracle of your journey is fresh and new to me every morning. It fills me, to the brim with thankfulness and a sense of awe every time I think, speak or write about your life. I would never have chosen this for you, if I could somehow go back and choose for you to be born at term- I would. Obviously, Jimmie that was not possible then and it is not possible now. This is humanity, this is life. I do accept and embrace your journey, I receive the blessings and the growth that it has inspired and I praise God for his faithfulness to work all things together for the good . . . God has been faithful Jimmie, this is good! You are good!

"If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Ps. 139

Jimmie you are fearfully and wonderfully made!

I'll love you forever,
Auntie Amber