Eating the best ice cream ever at Murphy's in Etna, CA. Yes, even better than Marianne's - I think it's the atmosphere and location.

My friend Wendy (we've been friends since the second grade) and Ocean at the Ranch.

Just after Ocean turned 3, I mentioned to Josh that we should probably start looking for a bike. Not too long after, there was a message on our machine that a neighbor had left a bike out in front of our house and thought we might like it since their kids had outgrown it... I love this community! Ocean loves the bike- and is quite good at it.

Update on Selah...

We went to Stanford last week to do a barium dye test on Selah's esophagus and make sure it did not need it to be stretched before she starts eating solids in the next few months. The test went great, they could barely even tell where the surgery had been. We go in a few weeks for a debrief and hopefully hear we do not need to come back anytime soon. What an amazing blessing this has all been. Selah has finally seemed to work most of her kinks out and has become the smiliest baby. Sometimes she looks at me and I think she is going to explode she smiles so big. She has this "spark" about her. What an amazing journey this has been. Thank you Lord for the many was you have chosen to lavish your love on us.

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

Happy Father's Day!!

What more could you want than a hammock to sit on the porch and swings with your girls...?

I just realized that I started the last three blogs with "so". hmmmm... =)

Laminin

So, I got the following in an email the other day. I thought it was very fascinating and I wanted to share it with you. I love to see science and God mix. And I LOVE to see just how detailed our Heavenly Father is.

From a Doctor: 'Laminin'

A couple of days ago I was running on my treadmill watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio! I want to share what I learned.

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is...how He spoke the universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork.

I remember so many times thinking: 'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this?' Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffoldingof basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see....laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already.

But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE. But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since....Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal'' of it. If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see:

Amazing!

The glue that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross!!

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind: 'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, And in him all things HOLD TOGETHER.'

Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin,

Paul penned those words. The Creator knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!

And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together one cell to another....BY THE CROSS!!

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho A Camping We Will Go

So, we got a new tent as we are hoping to go camping sometime soon. Of course, out here in Cali where EVERYONE likes to camp you have to make reservations months in advance.

Happy 3rd Birthday O

So, Ocean's bday was actually last weekend but we sadly had to cancel due to the girls getting a cold. But I still wanted to take this opportunity to brag a little about my girl.

Things I love about Ocean:
1. She is always happy in the morning.
2. She yells hello to so many people off the porch - AND knows ALL of their names.
3. She has an amazing memory.
4. She has an incredible vocabulary.
5. She is never afraid to ask questions - and keep asking if she doesn't quite get it - and keep asking - and keep asking =)
6. She can legitimately pump her legs when swinging.
7. She is not afraid to get messy.
8. She LOVES her friends.
9. She never holds a grudge.
*10. She spent many hours in the hospital lobby not even getting to visit her new baby sister due to a cold and never complained - she just wanted to be with her family- YOU ROCK MY WORLD O!

(secret #11 - I would never tell her this - but my girl can burp on command...something I remember everyone doing in the six grade and never being able to do it.)
The best part is that I don't even know how she learned most of what she knows. She just does it.

Happy Three Months Selah!!!!!

Wow! Where has the time gone. It seems like only yesterday we were driving back and forth to the hospital to visit this little baby we hardly even knew. And today Selah turns 3 months. You know, the more and more I get to know this little girl, and the more I think back to what she went through the more my heart begins to break for her. At the time of all this craziness, we hadn't even begun to bond with her and now I can't imagine going through it at this point. I still think of the mother who was at the hospital with her 3 month old when we were there... she had it way harder than us. Having that bond makes all the difference. Perhaps we wouldn't have been so calm and trusting...yet again, the Lord working things out.
After some hard first months and MANY days filled with ALOT of crying and NO sleep for Selah, we now have this amazing little baby who blesses me with soooooo many smiles. My heart leaps just thinking about it. Today, I couldn't even concentrate at a meeting because Selah was so smiley. I even kept distracting my friends into looking at her with me. What a Joy in my life!!!

Thank you Father, for the many ways you have blessed our family - for trusting us with your children - for allowing us to be apart of something bigger than ourselves and continuing to see us through. May we never forget...

What's in a bag?

One thing I love, is to find a bag or purse that Ocean has been playing with and see what she has packed inside it. What makes a child choose what they do to put in there?
Whenever Josh and I are preparing to go out of town, we make a list to make sure we don't forget anything. Ocean on the other hand has a separate "list" of her own in packing "her suitcase". Of course we all need a sippy cup without a lid, a pair of socks, a gaudy necklace, crayons, and stickers, and a pen for any trip we take.

Quick Flashback

I was looking through the picture folder on our computer the other day- looking for old pics of O and comparing them to Selah - and ran across the last picture before I delivered a few months ago. I couldn't stop looking at just how HUGE I was. I turned to Josh and said, "I know this sounds crazy since I was just there a few months ago, but that is INSANE!" I still can't take my eyes off it.

The Good, The Bad, and the Tired

THE GOOD
So, Friday morning myself and the girls hopped on a plane with my sister to come back east for a visit while my sister was here from Japan and my mom was on Spring Break. We arrived at the airport with more luggage and kids than we had arms for, but managed to make it to the ticket counter. I explained to the ticket man that we wanted to see about getting seats near each other so my sister could help with the kids. As we walked to our gate, I noticed that my two year old had been placed on the row in front of me and my sister was several seats down from me leaving my little girl by herself. I ask my sister, "what was he thinking when he did this..." So at the crowded gate and with a screaming baby, I walked up to the the lady at the counter to see what she wanted me to do. She proceeded to put us all on the same row - not only that but once we got on the plane we realized we were in bulkhead which gave us more room to allow Ocean to play on the floor if needed. The verse "All things worked together for good for those who love the Lord," was screaming in my ear. Here I was frustrated with this ticket man for putting us in crazy seats and yet the Lord totally set that up to give us AMAZING seating. What a reminder for me to stop complaining and expect great things!

THE BAD
After our first flight, we had to book it to the next flight for our last leg. We made it just in time to sit on the airplane for over an hour for a flight that is only 30 minutes. From the time we boarded the plane to the time we took off, Selah cried or rather screamed. Then Ocean had to go to the bathroom and after telling her I couldn't take her to the bathroom I told her to go in her pull-up. Of course, she went poopy as well and now I had to call the flight attendant back to tell him I really needed to change her. Now I had a screaming baby AND we had just stunk up the back of the tiny little plane we were on. Oh, and did I mention that there was NO air- conditioning on the plane while we were waiting. AAAHHHHH!!!

THE TIRED
We arrived at our destination after 10pm to find our luggage did not make it. So, after talking to the airline people we set off around 11pm to find food and then headed off to walmart to get the things we needed for the night. There we met the rest of the town (that's were everyone goes at midnight in the south) and stood in line FOREVER, before finally arriving to my parents house where I then had to get down two kids. I finally crashed around 2am. Sometimes I wonder why I keep doing this to myself. But hey, that's what we do for family!!

Hangin with my Mom...and Smiling!!!

For weeks now, I have been constantly crying and fussing at my mom ALL DAY LONG (without sleeping). I kept trying to tell her I had a rough start, but it seemed to get lost in translation. Anyway, a few days ago I decided enough was enough, and now I only do it now and then like a "normal" baby does. Not only do I hang out without making a fuss, but I even manage to smile at my mom once and awhile. My mom keeps telling me I "have arrived" - arrived at what I'm not sure. All I know is that if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

A little Fun on the Floor

Sleep in Heavenly Peace...

Sorry we haven't updated in a while. Life around here is crazy. I do believe these last few weeks home from the hospital have been harder than the first ones in the NICU. Selah has a hard time sleeping between the hours of 12 noon and 4-8pm. I guess the good part is that after that she sleeps really well at night. (that's my silver lining...) Today (in this picture) I actually got her to sleep for an hour and a half. Most days she bats her eyes for about five minutes and then throws them open as if to say, "I will not go to sleep... I will not go to sleep..." and she does this for HOURS!! I know - "it's a season."

Big Sis and Lil Sis!!