One month later!

I know it has been quite a while since we posted.... So much going on... Summer is in full swing and we are having a blast. It is so hard to believe that exactly a month ago, Catherine was hooked to all of the equipment in NICU post surgery in Cincinnati with Amanda and I. Sarah Elizabeth and Stuart were in Mississippi with family. It is amazing how much incredible the last four weeks have been as we settle back into a routine... if there is one with three children all under five. God has been so good to us. And as many of you remark as we see you back home, "I followed the caringbridge site daily - praying, waiting for the updates... it seemed everything always turned out to be best case scenario - it always seemed to be good news!" We could not agree more! We feel so blessed to be home together happy, healthy, and completely secure in God's grace. At the same time, it is so easy now to look back and see just how God carried us through Sarah Elizabeth's chemo and Catherine's surgery and stay in NICU that all along His perfect will was being done.

Catherine is doing great! She has been a great baby - sleeping and eating well! She has been perfectly content sleeping through errands, an overnight MOPS retreat with Amanda, a day at the water park at Dollywood Splash Country, church, countless trips to the pool while Sarah Elizabeth and Stuart swim, and even a 4th of July firework display! Catherine has dodged the bullet with a rough fever and stomach virus that hit Sarah Elizabeth and Stuart pretty hard!

Amanda and I have overwhelmingly busy... just getting caught back up. I still feel behind with work. We realized that we have taken very few pictures... some of that can be attributed to it being the third child - while a lot of it can be simply living in the moment (a valuable lesson that I know God was teaching me through our trials). So, we will make an effort to get some additional pictures added soon!

Where do I begin with Sarah Elizabeth and Stuart? Wow, they are growing up so fast before my very eyes. I measure their height on the inside of our pantry door. The last measurement date was 3-11-8. I measured them both this morning before church - they both had grown over an inch in less than four months (almost two inches for SE)! Even more - they seem to be so maturing so quickly. Two weeks ago they both attended our church VBS (Sarah Elizabeth's 3rd this summer!). We purchased the cd with music from the week. It is amazing to hear them belt out the lyrics to "OOOOOooooh wanna be more like Jesus... OOOOOoooo wanna be more like HIM!" To take it one step further.. today at church - Stuart was in the nursery, Amanda stepped out of worship to nurse Catherine - leaving me with Sarah Elizabeth as the Lord's Supper was served. Sarah Elizabeth turned to me and said, "let's talk about this bread - broken body - wine - blood... stuff" It turned into one hundred questions - all of them legit, solid, to the point... and quite honestly, very humbling. She was so in tune with everything happening. It was not the most reverent Lord's Supper I had experienced but most definitely one I will never forget!

Well, we will do a better job of updating! We look forward to the rest of the summer as the countdown to Kindergarten rapidly approaches!

God Bless!