I Believe in Miracles

In Biblical times people were witness to many miracles.  They saw lepers healed, blind eyes see, and the dead raised.  We know that Peter walked on water.  That a paralyzed man was made to walk.  And we wonder why we don't see those same miracles today.  Is God still in the business of preforming miracles?

I know it can be a touchy subject and I find myself cautious around it, but I do believe in current day miracles.  I've seen them and lived them.  And I promised I wouldn't forget.

Mankind is supposed to learn from our mistakes.  We are reminded of what our parents did wrong, so we don't make the same mistake.  We say things like "don't let history repeat itself".  But we often neglect to remember the things that went so right.  We will wipe our foreheads, say, "woah, that was close" and move on forgetting all about it.  The Bible tells us to remember God's miracles.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord, yes, I will remember

your miracles of long ago.  Psalm 77:11

Remember the wonders he has preformed, his miracles,

and the rulings he has given... Psalm 105:5

I remember my biggest miracle.  And I remember it often.  It causes me to praise the God who is merciful and kind, and who rescued me.  And I'm not talking about almost failing Anatomy and Physiology my senior year of college... but that was a close one!

I find myself reflecting back on what happened and shuddering at what could have happened.  My little girl had a good chance (a really good chance) of having a mental and physical disability.  I was told to expect it.  When the doctors talked about her, they assumed she already had it.  They told me she'd never have children and would be very different from other kids.  She'd look different, learn slowly and those were the easy parts.   

It was a miracle that after her amniocentesis was studied she was found to be perfect.  Perfect!

We rejoiced in that moment, and rejoice still.  We remember.

When I look at her birth, and realize we both could have died, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude.  My placenta abruption and early delivery were not expected.  The efforts to stop labor were ignored by my body.  We were told to expect anything with the baby.  Underdeveloped lungs, complications from her already present cystic hygroma, and a long hospital stay.

It was a miracle she came out crying, 5 pounds large and needing only 5 days in the NICU. 

She is a miracle.  All I have to do is look at her face, and I see God's goodness.  He rescued her and me.  

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning,

great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

East-Ahhhh

Another Easter come and gone.  This year was markedly different from last year.  Last year we had a baby mound, lying around - smiling and being sweet.  This year we have a walking, gibberish talking, real food eating, egg stealing, personality princess.  It's awesome!

Dying eggs with daddy the night before Easter.

She likes to take his hat off, and put it on her head.

 The difference a year makes is amazing!

Andrey on Easter Sunday 2011.

Andrey on Easter Sunday 2012.

Holy baby growth batman!

 We enjoyed a huge meal with family and friends, and then played in the grass.  She loves to be outside and will stand at the back door, signing "please" while pointing out.  I know, she's a genius.

And so, this Easter is over.  A day we celebrate our main man Jesus and his miraculous resurrection.  A day in which my heart is full.

Old School

Littleton has a historic museum - with a lot of animals, open space, and legit old buildings.  They have preserved an entire working farm from way back in the day.  And it's free!  So Bri and Jaimo met us there to play in the wind.  We saw baby lambs, turkeys, cows, sheep and chickens.  

Andrey and Jaimo walking out of the school house.

Goose poop shoes.

We named this boy Pete - Jaimo loved the bird!

The girls!

Spring has sprung!

I love doing things like this with my friends.  Bri and I talked about living in that time period, and are so glad to live in an age with tampons, contacts and cell phones!

Blue Eyes, Big Lips

...and crazy hair.

So Close, Yet So Far Away

We left her.  For the first time.  And we survived!

We dropped Andrey off with my parents, and headed for Manitou Springs.  It was hot, and beautiful there.  We were lazy, had a few drinks and only talked about Andrey 356 times.

There is a massive arcade in the small downtown area - and when Nate saw Skee Ball he knew where we'd spend our money.  I love Skee Ball!  Any time there is a chance to play it, I'm desperate to show my skills.  And I do have skills.  I beat Nate in 8 out of 10 games.  Loser!

He cried on this bench after he lost.

Which in turn made us go looking for wine.  We found it at a cute little hole-in-the-wall.  We ordered some cheese we couldn't pronounce and chatted with the owner.

We tried to quiz each other with some Trivial Pursuit cards, and tired out quickly.  Must have been the wine.  It couldn't have had anything to do with us not knowing the answers...

That evening we had dinner at our hotel's fancy pants restaurant.  We sat outside on big cushy chairs and each ordered a margarita.

The came dessert and only my guilt prevented me from eating all my mini creme brulees.  Delish!

Less than 24 hours later we we leaving our hotel and heading home.  We proved we can leave our girl, and then agreed we didn't want to do it again, for a while.

Next up, we're heading to Greece!

Maybe when she's 15.