Dear Jimmie,
Happy 24 Month Birthday!!
This you right after you were born.
And this is you today!
Look at how you have grown next to your Rottweiler Puppy!
Look at how you've grown in your father's hands!
You are 32 1/2 inches tall!
You have 125 followers on your blog Jimmie!
Your "Faithfulness" Video Montage has been viewed 15,288 times. That's 391 times this month!
Your "Jimmie's Wonderful World" Montage has been viewed 1016 times. And your "High Places" Video Montage has been viewed 752 times!
Your blog has been viewed 2,877 times this month for a total of 123,378 hits! You have a lot of very cool people who love to check on your progress Jimmie.
Your "Jimmie's Wonderful World" Montage has been viewed 1016 times. And your "High Places" Video Montage has been viewed 752 times!
Your blog has been viewed 2,877 times this month for a total of 123,378 hits! You have a lot of very cool people who love to check on your progress Jimmie.
You were evaluated by a physical therapist this week Jimmie. Your momma wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything major with your legs and feet that need therapy. Your ankles roll inward so your momma is working on getting some special insoles for your shoes. Other than that everything looks great!
You are working on cutting your 2 year old molars this month. You have felt pretty rough at times and this has caused your eating to be very "up and down". We will all be very happy when you are done cutting teeth!
Vast improvements have been made with your sleeping issues this month. Your momma found this book:
She has been doing everything recommended and for the last week or so you have been sleeping in your crib in your own room 11 hours a night. You are still early in your "sleep training" so things are not totally settled , but compared to the excessive puking and crying for hours on end things are AMAZINGLY better! If your day is too full then your nights are unsettled with multiple wakings, but you are able to self soothe and go back to sleep with no trauma.
You are still struggling with speech, although your language development is going well with signing. You have about 33 signs and you are putting them together. You have become a little more verbal this month and you seem more ready to copy sounds. Your speech team has decided to go with speech therapy 2 times a week soon. They will be operating like you have Apraxia. You are coming up on a season of hard work with speech. I know you will overcome!!!
One of your favorite things to do lately is work on cars like your daddy and your Grandpa Gravitt. You are so smart Jimmie!!
You are enjoying using your fingers to work little things. This shows good development of your fine motor skills.
Your mommy and daddy are working on being very consistent with discipline. You understand pretty much everything they ask of you. You do a pretty good job of picking up your toys!
We had a very fun little birthday celebration for you Jimmie.
I'm going to save that for a different blog and let you write a blog about it. (-:
Jimmie I started this blog as a way to keep family and friends informed about the situation with your momma while she was still pregnant with you. It turned into an outlet for me. It was therapeutic to write and a comfort to know people were reading and praying. Then after you were born this blog evolved into your story. And again it was a comfort to know many dear ones were lifting you up in prayer. After you came home from the NICU I considered quitting, but I couldn't stop. So many people love you and enjoy reading about your progress, but more than that I love writing about you.
While you were still in your momma's tummy we made plans and dreamed about after you were born. We planned for you stay at my house with Cole and McKenna as much as once a week while your mom was teaching. I was so excited to bond with you like that. For you to be very close with your cousins. After your birth I knew that was not going to happen... And although giving up all of our plans and dreams of "normalcy" has hurt, the joy of witnessing you live and the miracles surrounding you have filled me with joy!
I don't get to see you very often Jimmie. During "cold and flu" season I see you "maybe" once a month. Writing this blog helps fill that hole in my heart made by your physical absence in our lives.
Most of all though- I am writing this blog for you. You have endured a lot of pain and trauma in your young life. The day you were born was supposed to be the most exciting and glorious days of your momma and daddy's life. This is what I wrote 2 years ago about that day:
"Now as to how Rachael is doing? I believe this will answer how Justin and the rest of us are doing as well. It is really hard for me to communicate but I’ll try and hopefully it’ll be close to the truth/reality. She is absolutely devastated and grateful. Yesterday was one of the worst and best days of her life. We were all hoping and believing for so much more time for baby Jimmie and it all happened so fast I think there is some shock. She is scared and hopeful. Most of all just completely overwhelmed beyond words. Many many tears . . . We don’t understand why this has happened to them. After what happened with their firstborn the pain is really intense about again not having the birth experience for your child that you hoped, prayed and dreamed for. We trust God though. We trust him to be with us in our pain and our joy. We are so grateful that she had the month that she did. We realize this could have happened 4 even 2 weeks ago and he wouldn’t have had the fighting chance that he has. And for that we praise God for helping her get this far. "
Now Jimmie when you have a birthday we are all so joyous we are almost giddy. Your Ma says she feels like a kid on Christmas morning when it's time to celebrate your birthday.
I hope that some day Jimmie you will read this blog and that you will know how much you are loved. That is what I want you to know most of all. Through all of your "ups and downs", through all of your momma and daddy's up's and downs", through all of the things that happened to you that were out of our control. Through every situation where "hindsight was 20/20" you were loved! You are loved. For love is the power that overcomes any tragedy.
I will love you forever,
Auntie Amber
I love the contrast of the two photos in the header...it is beautiful. Thank you, Amber, for keeping the blog going. I know it has meant a lot to many people including us. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". This is a story of faith.
ReplyDeleteHappy 2nd b-day Jimmie!! We are so thankful for you!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad to hear that he is sleeping so much better now. Another answer to prayer! The picture of him working with his tools is so adorable! He is so cute and so smart! Thanks so much for the updates Amber!
Amber, I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. I don't think there has ever been a little boy more loved than Jimmie. Thanks for sharing him with us. And thank God for loving him so dearly.
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