5 Putnals: What an INTERESTING 18 months!!!

WOW!!! What an INTERESTING (to say the least) 18 months we've had! Does busy even begin to touch on our life in the past 18 months??? Eighteen months ago at 8:30ish tonight, my world was turned upside down. My 29-week baby boy was ripped from my body and given NO chance of survival. Eighteen months ago today, God showed up and showed out in Tifton, Georgia! Thank YOU, Lord!!! He took a very premature, very sick baby boy from a very undeserving mommy and showed people all over this country that HE was still in control. I am eternally grateful for the modern day miracle that terrorizes my house 24 hours a day!!! What did we do before Reed was a part of our family??? We must have been some very boring people, because he has surely shown us what it means to LIVE! We have been blessed with each milestone being met right on time or even early. Once he started walking, he RAN! He is table-fed, and LOVES him some food! We haven't been able to find anything that this boy won't eat! Eat??? ALL day long!!! He has finally surpassed the 20 pound mark! Woohoo!!! We have so much to be thankful for with our little man.....every day! Every day we have with him is a gift to us after being told he wouldn't survive his ambulance ride to Macon 18 months ago tonight. We are so undeserving of the honor of parenting this miracle baby.

In addition to running after the Energizer bunny, of course we have been busy with surgeries. Thankfully, I saw my surgeon on Monday, and things are progressing as expected. I have to wear the brace at work until the 26th, when I see him again. My unsteadiness is very normal, as I have never actually stood on a "real" knee before now. We are still anxiously awaiting a donor bone...... The damage continues to worsen each day while waiting for the femur bone graft. My surgeon said Monday that we'll be doing a total reconstruction on the right leg if a donor bone isn't found SOON. The downer on Monday came when he checked Sara's knees...... When I found out about my knee problem, I asked what the chance was that my kids would have the same problem. The chances were very SLIM..... Yep, you guessed it, Sara has the same problem and will be facing knee surgery in the next five years or so. We will have Anna checked when she turns11 or so, as well.

Many have commented that they don't know how I've managed to stay happy and upbeat in all of the calamities of the knee surgeries. I can honestly tell you that I would not be able to stay positive had I not gone through my life-changing journey with Reed. My survival during Reed's oh-so-scary journey depended on me focusing only on my blessings.....the positives.....the baby steps of progress that he made each time I walked into the NNICU to visit him. Had I not experienced this journey with Reed, I could very easily have been very angry and bitter at all the setbacks that have come with my knee surgeries.

Life is so much more enjoyable when we focus only on the good things. Looking for blessings (no matter how small they may be) takes the focus off of the negatives that can so easily encompass our every second of life. It's so easy to look at all that seems to be going wrong. It takes effort to find blessings in the storms of life, but it makes it so much easier to weather these storms.

Chasing after a very busy 18-month-old, being a taxi driver to two very active girls, working full time, and, of course, physical therapy three times a week ALL prevent me from being able to update our blog as frequently as I'd like. I will have to update soon, though, because we are having 18-month pics made on Sunday!!! Even though I'm not posting daily, I'm still counting my blessings each and every day. Are you???? If you find yourself forgetting, find a friend to hold you accountable. Email, text, or tell your blessings to someone each day.... You'll find that focusing on the good is so much easier.