Leo, Our Little Lion Man

      Two things that I want to say on here. One. As we prepare to move into our house, we are repeatedly reminded of how the Lord provides. Many of you gave to us financially right after Leo was born. It was such a humbling experience to not have to worry about finances during that time. We were able to save much of what was given to us then and it really impacted us being able to put money down on this house. We see the Lord provide through you. We are humbled by the reality that we can't do this on our own. But God did not create us to be alone. Can I get an amen?!     So we wanted to come back to this and say a really clear "thank you" for being the loving hands of Jesus in your generosity to us. It's uncomfortable in a way, and comforting in a way.  We could not have moved into this house without it. Thanks for helping us get into a bigger space and a space to call our own.  We are excited for Leo to have his own room, our nurse to have more space, and for room f

      Let's pretend we are face to face and we both have time and I am able to answer this question fully.     Nighttime nursing started and....wow. It's going well! It's a good thing! But...whoa. It's really hard. We both feel confident about our nurse. We feel comfortable with her. But laying in bed and hearing when Leo is awake--coughing, gagging, crying--and not going to him is SO hard. The first night I was awake for the whole time that Leo was awake. And, personally, I find it difficult to navigate communicating with our nurse. She and Leo need to learn each other. She is not me. Not everything will be exactly the same. But I also know him the best and I am bringing her in to it. I don't know if I'm accurately communicating this but it's just complicated. I find it difficult to tell someone what to do. However, I also don't want my fear of someone to keep me from getting my kid what he needs. But this has also shown me that I need to let go of cont

      Remember that sickness I told you about? I'm thankful to say that Brad is back to work and I have not experienced more than a sore throat. Leo got stuffy and a cough. However.     Leo has had really bad nights this week. We had one good night, but the overnight feed was set to a lower rate so he got significantly less food . Trying to figure out what he's feeling and what he needs is hard. Trying to help him be comfortable but also not wanting him to get too little food for too many days in a row. I'm not sure if that made sense. My mind is going a little bazerk. He's clearly agitated by something during the nights. He's had a fever at times. He arches really hard and even if I hold him to try and help him relax, it doesn't stop the arching. His hash movements instigate more puking (also maybe he feels nauseous).      Anytime Leo gets sick it's stressful in its own way. We have seen him get over covid and colds before. However, the toll on us comes wit

  We chose a nighttime nurse! Apparently she was quick so tell the agency that she wanted to work with us. And we were quick to say "yes" to her. She was the first one that I met with. This is still a whole new world to us. We have a lot to learn and a lot that we can't expect, we just have to experience. Inviting someone into our home to watch our kid while we sleep is an intimidating thing, but necessary and we know that God is over this. We really feel that God has intervened in each medical person who has joined Leo's team and we feel confident that He is allowing this as well. I don't mean to over-spiritualize it, but we are stepping out in faith.       Our nurse is an older woman, originally from Kenya, who has been in nighttime nursing for 10 years. She was easy for me to talk to. She asked questions about Leo's care. I felt comfortable expressing the care I desire for him. And the best part was how she interacted with Leo. She was making noises at him,