Pray without ceasing!

So just last weekend, I was telling my bible study group that since becoming a mom, I’ve lost the spiritual disciplines that had once been such an important part of my life. And I have NO GOOD reason for it, I just prefer to plop in front of the t.v. or go to bed after putting Olivia down for the night ‘cause I’m just plain tired at the end of the day! So no more was I reading my bible, no more was I praying on a daily basis, no more was I getting my bible study done.

So guess how God is getting my attention? Through my daughter. The one thing I have been trying to be more regular about lately is getting into the practice of prayer before meals. Olivia folds her hands, smiles while I do the praying, and then when we’re done sometimes says “AMEN!” Well this past week, my sweet daughter has been folding her hands at the beginning of the meal, reminding me that we need to pray. She also folds her hands about ¼ of the way through the meal, reminding me that we need to pray some more. And most meals, she folds her hands a third time towards the end of the meal, reminding her mommy that we are to “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thess 5:17)

God knew what He was doing when He gave me THIS little girl.




I’m attaching some photos of our first Valentines weekend together. We had a very special visitor (Uncle John joined us for the weekend), we went to the Children’s Museum with Sara and Molly, and ate lots of food (still one of Olivia’s very favorite things to do, though she is becoming more particular about what she’ll eat!)

3 weeks post surgery...

....and Olivia is doing great! After two weeks of full liquids, and then one week of soft foods, she got to progress to a normal diet today. Life is good! Her little mouth is healing wonderfully according to her surgeon, and each day she is drooling less and less! She hasn't quite figured out how to keep her tongue in her mouth yet though, ever since the surgery it seems to hang out quite often. I guess with no more hole in her mouth, she's having problems figuring out where it goes?!

We go back to the surgeon and also have a speech therapy evaluation in 6 months. They're hoping she will have developed some speech by then, and will determine at that time whether the 2nd palate surgery is needed. She's trying so hard to say words. She'll concentrate on your mouth as you speak to her, and then try to do the same thing. So far, the only thing that comes out are little sounds.

Even though her speech is delayed, her comprehension is amazing! As of tomorrow, we will have been together for 3 months and already she seems to understand most of what I say to her. This morning on the way to daycare, she took her shoe off while in her carseat. I looked back and said, "Olivia, where did you put your shoe?" She smiled and pointed to the floor of the car, the exact spot her shoe landed.



I'm attaching a photo taken on my cell phone the morning she was discharged from the hospital. It's a little fuzzy but you can tell she was ready to go!!