Our week...

Isn't that the cutest picture of Jacob. These are the kind of smiles that we get all the time around the house. Jacob is pretty content and happy most of the time. In fact, when we left the NICU, one of the doctors told us Jacob has a great disposition and that most kids that have been through what Jacob has been through don't want to be bothered or touched and seem cranky alot. We are truly blessed. :) This week we decorated the Christmas Tree, did some shopping, and spent some time with friends...in addition to the normal routine of therapy appointments. :) It was a great week. Here's some pictures of our fun!

Jacob and Jackson with the Christmas tree. Jacob doesn't seem thrilled in the picture, but he does seem to like the lights. Also, somebody needs to talk to the photographer, because the tree was cut completely off. Hum...I wonder who would do that???? Maybe Jacob is thinking, "Mom, don't you know you're cutting off the top of the tree?"

This is Jacob helping me decorate the tree with his ornament. Last Christmas, before Jacob was born, Papa Bear and Gramma Jo gave us this train with Jacob's name on it. It was a way for us to celebrate his "first" Christmas and to always remember him. When we received the ornament it was bittersweet because it was special, but at that time Jacob's prognosis was not great, and we honestly did not think he would be around to put it on the tree himself one day.


This picture was taken after about 5 hours of Christmas shopping. Ha! He was so tired that he was twitching...or maybe that was because of all the shopping... Who knows???

The latest milestone that Jacob has been working on is standing. For SOOOOOOOOO long he did not put ANY pressure on his legs. When you would hold him up and try to get him to stand, his legs would just bend and he would fall to the ground. We have been working on this since we came home from the hospital and it's finally beginning to pay off. In the picture I am holding his bottom, because otherwise it sticks out and he'll fall. We are so proud of this progress...

Caution: Picture contains 2 CDH miracles...

This picture is of Jacob and Rory. Rory was born about 3 weeks after Jacob with Left Sided CDH. After his surgery he was placed on ECMO for about 7 days and went home 2 days before Jacob. Jeff and I became very close to Jen and her husband Chad because we were able to share the Joys and Struggles of the daily life in the NICU. While we were there, there were two other CDH babies that did not make it home--Heaven became their first home. It's hard to be together and not think about those other babies too.

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a blessed and hopeful day!