~~21 weeks~~

Wow! Today makes 21 weeks ago, in a little over an hour, that our precious miracle became a part of our family of five! He has made such tremendous gains that we were told would not come to be. God is so good! This was a CRAZY BUSY week for us! I went back to work on Tuesday, and that was a huge adjustment having been out since March 12th! 21 weeks on vacation makes it hard to get back into it. Actually, I sort of enjoyed being back on a routine. I'm sure I'll change my mind about that really soon! Three days of preplanning and one day with students in no way compares to how a full week with students will be! Gonna need lots of prayers this week! :)

Okay, so those of you who know me know that I tell on myself. We ran into his pediatrician at the grocery store this week. I just went ahead and told on myself for feeding him baby food....which she had told me not to start at our last appointment. She laughed and said it was fine. I asked if I could do it more than once a day and she said it was fine. I admitted that I'd been giving him juice, too, which she also laughingly said was okay. I guess since it hasn't killed him, it must all be okay. :) He LOVES to eat and to drink his juice!

Reed is now eating baby food twice a day....most days....when we don't run out of time. :) He is still having cereal in all bottles. We have not found anything so far that he does not like, which is wonderful! He is still developing the skill of eating from a spoon, but does really well considering his age.

The girls both had great first days at school, but were glad to have a weekend following the first day. :) We are expecting FANTASTIC years for both of them.

Wayne will take over the duty of taking Reed to his doctors' appointments since I have no leave except for the days we were given for this year, which I need to save in case of sickness with any of the three children. Reed has a five-month check-up on August 17th, which we are anxiously awaiting to get OFFICIAL growth information.

God has blessed us with an uneventful week, for which we are always thankful. Reed continues to thrive and grow, and all the glory goes to God who decided to let us keep the sick premature baby that I delivered. We thank God for this every day. As school has begun, it requires much more time management and prioritizing. The biggest lesson I learned through my preemie adventure was that my babies (and Wayne) are my PRIORITIES. God has blessed me with this precious little family of five, and I am to always put them first. For so many years, my job was top priority. However, when my life was in turmoil with Reed's delivery, my job went on without me. God opened my eyes to see that my priorities were wrong. My children and husband will be first and foremost before any job from now on. I know many people who shared in our journey took away a different moment of enlightenment, but I also hope that our journey with Reed reminded all of you to make sure you put your family first. It can all be gone in the blink of an eye....and your job (or whatever you have put as your first priority) will go on without you.

Tonight I thank God for opening my eyes to see that I needed to rearrange my priorities and focus on what really matters....FAMILY. We don't have all of eternity to mold our children into the people we want them to grow up to be.....those years of molding and rearing are very short in reality, and we need to make the most of every second. Have you been blessed today? Have you taken time to thank God for the blessings He showers upon you?

Love to all,