home sweet home

We've been home 4 days and our
little patient is doing well!

We've been able to manage her pain
pretty well even though our nights have been,
well, not very restful!
One of the hardest things has been saying
"no" to all the things Miss Gracie WANTS to eat.
It's a pureed diet, baby.
She's downed a lot of ice cream,
yogurt, pureed fruit and
butternut squash (what can i say?) soup
in the last few days!

We'll be back in Charlotte next week
for our first follow-up appt.
It's hard to believe we've taken
this first big step in her surgical process.
God is Fathering us well, and we can't
imagine walking this path without Him.

With Dr. Matthews before he spent
over 2 hours with our baby.

Aunt Rene came to visit!

Papa & Grammie visited & it so happened
to be their 47th wedding anniversary!

"I'm bored Daddy...watch how my foot
can work these controls..."

This is my reaction at home to hearing Mommy say
"Time to clean your mouth!"

Hoping for some sleep tonight...
I'm just sayin'.

We're outta here!

Cleared by the surgeon.
Finishing an IV antibiotic.
Heading Home!

Not a great, restful night,
so we'll be so glad to be
home with everybody &
in our own beds.

THANK YOU THANK YOU
for your encouragement & prayers.

We're in a room after a little
over 2 hr. surgery.
The Dr. was pleased - He was able
to repair 2/3 of the hard palate, so we'll
be back in a few months to bring the rest together.

Gracie is in & out w/ morphine, but
has done so well. She was definitely
glad to see us!

God is soooo good!

She's in the OR!

feelin' FINE after some strong "happy medicine"

our last glimpse

Gracie did great this morning.
She was so calm, and we sensed
God's presence heavily.
She did start signing "home"
and "eat" before they gave her happy medicine.
And H-A-P-P-Y she was...funny stuff.

Thank you for your prayers. We sense them.

This was in this morning's Daily Light reading...
"The beloved of the LORD
shall dwell in safety by Him,
Who shelters him all day long;
and he shall dwell between His shoulders."
Deut. 33:12

You may not understand...

This may not make sense to some,

but we are going to miss

This Face!

Tomorrow is one of the biggest days

of our sweet girly's life so far,

and we are so grateful for God's perfect timing.

Gracie's surgery is scheduled for 8:30 am in Charlotte
and is expected to take around 4 1/2 hours.
Please pray for Dr. Matthews as God
guides his hands, for peace for our
family, for her recovery and pain management,
and that we would see God's glory on display!

We will miss her
smile,
the sound of her "cleft speech",
and her slobbery kisses :),
BUT
we can't wait to see the mouth and palate
fashioned by her Creator through a
skilled surgeon, and to hear more actual words
coming out of that sweet mouth!
As she was prayed over @ church the other day,
the comment was made that this is just the
next step of the story that is
"Gracie".
Last year at this time we were consumed
with planning our trip to bring her home,
and we are thrilled that tomorrow has been part
of God's plan for her from the start.

We will post updates as we can!

"Every day of my life was recorded
in Your book .
Every moment was laid out
before a single day has passed."
Psalm 139:16

"Now glory be to God!
By His mighty power at
work within us, He is able
to accomplish infinitely more
than we would ever dare to
ask or hope."
Ephesians 3:20

Au Revoir Latham!

THIS

little bundle of plastic & metal,

after 4 months of doing it's job

of bringing little Gracie's palate closer,

is outta' here!

Before our trip -

Miss happy pants

I'm back at this doctor's office

for what??!

OK Mom...

this is not as fun as you built it up to be...

We were in Charlotte this afternoon

to have Gracie's Latham appliance removed.

It literally took seconds to be pulled out,

and the ensuing drama of tears was

mainly due to being held down

rather than pain...

though I'm sure it did hurt!

We'll head back on Sunday

to spend the night before

her big surgery day on Monday morning.

We especially want to say

THANK YOU

to everyone who has shown overwhelming

love to our family this week.

Thank you to everyone,

many whom we have never met,

who have left comments of encouragement

and promises of prayer for Gracie.

Those prayers were and are powerful.

Grace's allergy symptoms are gone

and her lungs sound great.

Knowing that so many will be lifting

Gracie and our family up in prayer

next Monday is beyond encouraging.

Thank you to the most incredible

church staff at CrossRoads

for praying over our sweet girl yesterday.

We can't wait to see God's glory at work Monday.

Thank you friends

for cards, phone calls,

emails, help with our other children,

and to the ones who have given sacrificially

to help us out financially...

We are so humbled by your generosity and love.

My sister brought this by today.

A whole lotta'

love wrapped up in a basket

of hospital stay necessities.

Thank you everyone for your part

in Gracie's story.

surgery countdown

Today I'm taking my friend Linn's
Crazy Love Challenge

by asking for your prayers as we

prepare for Gracie's palate surgery!

We'll head to Charlotte Friday for Dr. Matthews

to remove her Latham Appliance,

and then head back on Sunday to be there

for her early morning surgery on the morning of the 26th.

Our biggest prayer this week is for

health. Not only for Gracie, but for our whole family.

Unfortunately

THIS

(that would be pollen)

has reared it's ugly little yellow head around here.

Gracie is sniffling & coughing like the rest of us.

We're boldy asking for healing...

would you please join us?

The Name of Jesus is

"above every other name".

(Philippians 2:9)

We believe the name Jehovah Rapha, the Healer, trumps

allergies

runny noses

coughs

fear

etc.

THANK YOU FRIENDS!

our Easter weekend

We visited the Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock

Erin connecting with her inner Carl Sandburg

Gracie petting a very pregnant goat
we stayed @ a cabin in Brevard where the kids

spent most of their time playing in the stream

we HAD to visit the original O.P. Taylors toy store

coloring eggs

"my first Easter basket!"

happy Resurrection Sunday!

Resurrection Injection

This was played in our Easter service yesterday...

Powerful

Why we celebrate