11 months

Sophie is 11 months old today.  It's hard to believe that in one month we will be celebrating her first birthday.  In some ways this year seems to have flown by and at the same time dragged on.  She is such joy in our lives.  I have truly never seen such a content, happy baby.  She is so good at entertaining herself and also loves to be played with.  Kayla and Madelyn love to play with her and make her laugh.  She wants sooooo bad to crawl and is making progress with rocking on her knees, but I think it will be awhile before she's mobile.  Her physical therapist has us working to build muscle tone in her hips so she'll have the strength to move those legs and get where she wants to go!  For now she sits happily, turns in a complete circle, and scoots where she wants to go.  In some ways it is a blessing for me b/c as soon as she is mobile my life will change with having to chase her around!

We are spending this week at the Outer Banks with my family.  My mom and stepdad rented a beautiful oceanfront house for all of us.  It's wonderful being with everyone and the kids are having a great time, as are we.  I remember last fall when my mom told me she was booking this trip and in the midst of Sophie's health issues I told her "There is no way we will be able to go.  We won't be able to do things like that anymore."  My mom insisted that we would be able to go, but I didn't believe her a all.  I was foreseeing a future of constant doctors and ER visits as Sophie was having daily seizures that we couldn't get under control.  It's amazing how God has led us through this past year.  Sophie is doing fantastic and we would've never imagined that we'd be here at the beach just relaxing and having a great time when we were going through all of that last year.  My mom was right though and it is a blessing to spend this week with my family. 

Tonight I'll be making cornbread (a favorite of ours) to celebrate and Friday is a big deal for us too.  That will be Sophie's last dose of Phenobarbital which is a seizure medicine she has been on every day of her life.  We will have successfully weaned her off of two seizure medicines and if all continues well then we'll start weaning her off the last one on November.  God is good!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -James 1:17

New Blog Name

I've been wanting to re-name my blog for awhile.  It started out as a way for people to stay informed about Sophie's health and has served its purpose for that.  In the past months as she has been doing so well I feel like it has moved toward being a way for us to update about our whole family.  I struggled with what to re-name it and the other night it came to me.  I was praying before going to sleep and the word "footprints" came to me.  I thought of the "Footprints in the Sand" poem which has always been a favorite of mine.  I feel like "Footprints of Faith" sums up our journey with Sophie in the past 10 months and our future as a family of five.  We have become so secure in the past year that God has a plan for of our family and where we are headed.  There is such comfort in that.  It's like a weight lifted to not have worry about where I'm headed because He knows and has always known.  I can relax and enjoy living knowing that He carries me through the good times and the bad times.  His plan usually makes sense in retropect.  And the parts that don't make sense will someday when we see Him face to face. 

Footprints in the Sand
by Mary Stevenson

One night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most, you should leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."