Easter

Happy Easter!

This is such a special holiday to our family. I was reading a book last night to Blaze about "Easter coming" and how people welcomed Jesus into town shouting "HOSANA!" It's so wonderful to share that with your child for the first time. It gives a new perspective about what God did for us--He sent His only son to die for me. It's even more incredible to me now that I have a son. I watched him recover from medical procedures, got frustrated over the unfairness of it, his innocence...that's nothing compared to what the Father and Jesus went through. What a loving God we serve!

We are going to celebrate Easter with my mom this weekend. We're looking forward to it! It's been awhile since we were in Nevada. The Gilzows are having a big Egg Hunt and dinner this weekend in Columbia. We were sorry to miss that. We're hoping they have a wonderful time!!!

Blaze is just a delight. Every day is something new. We found out this week how much he LOVES having his teeth brushed. I think he would allow us to brush them for hours, if only we would. It must feel good on his ever increasing tooth filled mouth. He has, thankfully, been such a happy guy since that last front tooth pushed through! Whew! I'm hoping we're completely done teething for awhile.

Blaze is also learning to sleep through the night. We're doing a 2 week trial where we're letting him just cry should he wake up in the night. He's already doing much better sleeping the night away. Last night when I put him to bed he didn't fuss at all. He laid there and acted like he was going to go to sleep. I turned on the video monitor and a few minutes later checked it...he was sitting up in bed, banging two cloth blocks together. The blocks have bells inside them, so he was having fun quietly making noise. He would lay down and rest a bit, then pop up again and play. It was so cute. He has to get everything just right to go to sleep. After he went to sleep a very strong rain storm hit our area. Rain just pummeled his side of the house and knocked against his window...and he just slept right through. The thunder didn't even make him move. It was wonderful.

Speaking of wonderful...there is a lady in my office whose son is just a couple of months older than Blaze. We're getting some wonderful clothes from him! Blaze has several pairs of shoes now and lots of clothes in his closet. We were given so many clothes from the baby showers, this was the fewest clothes we had in any size right now, so it was nice to get that boost! It's such a blessing! Thank you for sharing!!!

We do have some things we would appreciate prayer over. We have such a sweet friend to our family, Connie Lytle. Her father passed away this past Wednesday, her brother found him, started having some medical issues himself, admitted into the hospital and had to have brain surgery on Thursday. Please pray for their family at this time. Obviously that is a lot to have to deal with.

Please pray, too, for Joel Seabrook. He was born with an enlarged heart in February. Heart babies make up a small community and this little guy grips my heart. His family attends church where Pastor Jim & Judy Locke are now. Andrew & Rebecca Gerwitz are a couple I met after Blaze's second surgery. They were touring the CICU, preparing for the birth of their son, Drew, who also has HLHS. Drew was due this week and I haven't heard how they're doing, but please pray for them, as well.

Tim will be meeting with a specialist on 4/27/09 to discuss an upcoming procedure. He will be having an upper endoscopy done sometime. We'll learn more about the date after the 27th.

Please pray about my work situation. We're short staffed right now and trying to help a lot of hurting and frustrated folks. It's so hard to see so many people struggling. We do have a new person starting Monday, so hopefully things will ease a bit.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers! We're so blessed to have you!