Hope's Birthday Celebration

Here are some pictures from Hope's Birthday. She got cake 2 times in one day. She was in heaven. Thank you to everyone for the gifts and cards.

Hope's Birthday Celebration

Today we just had a family day. We did everything that Hope wanted to. As you can imagine, it was very relaxing. The older kids were more excited than Hope.

Hope's First Birthday

What a year it has been! We put this collage together to help us remember what Hope had to battle in her first month on this earth! She truly was blessed by all your prayers and has turned into a wonderful and healthy baby girl! If you have continued to follow the blog, you know that she is very healthy and has no problems!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE!!!

Another First

Hope decided to climb the steps between our basement and our entryway last night. I guess she doesn't realize that she is not quite a year old yet, or that she was born two months early and really shouldn't be achieving this feat yet. When she got to the top, she was all smiles and was extremely proud of herself. It looks like we might have a fearless little girl on our hands.

Thanks Camden for taking such great pictures!

Crazy Bounce

Yesterday we went to Crazy Bounce in Holland with the Dondits and the Saurs. The kids (and the adults too) had a great time playing on all of the inflatables together. After playing, we all went to Ruby Tuesday and had a wonderful lunch filled with lots of laughs. It was a fun afternoon spent with good friends.

One Year Ago

One year ago today, our lives forever changed. I was admitted into the hospital after having my water break in my 30th week of pregnancy. Needless to say, it was an extremely emotional day for our family. We definitely shed many tears that day as we worried about the precious baby that we weren't expecting until March. Our tears gave way to prayers and "hope" as we welcomed each new day that I was in the hospital and celebrated the additional time our unborn baby was being given to grow and thrive before birth.

During this time we were surrounded by countless individuals that loved us, supported us, encouraged us, cared for us and for Ryann and Camden. We will never be able to thank everyone enough for all that you did and for all that you meant and continue to mean to our family.

We were blessed with an incredible group of doctors and nurses that took care of everything we needed and put up with Brent's constant jokes about foot massages. Dr. Roberts came to see us each day, and we feel so honored that he delivered all three of our children, our greatest gifts. The nurses on 4 Center are amazing. We would not have felt as comfortable on January 3rd last year, or the days that followed, without them.

We could not have gotten through this time without our family members and friends who stepped in and took care of Ryann and Camden and anything else that we needed. We are so blessed to have the families and friends that we do!

My husband is such a wonderful person. He has always been my rock, and was even more so during that time last January and February. He filled the long days at the hospital with laughter and conversation and celebrated each day that passed right along with me. I couldn't ask for a better man to share my life with.

As I look at Hope today and watch her pulling herself up on everything, and as I watch her smile and listen to her giggle and "talk" to us, I know that it was all worth it. Our family of 5 is incredible, and we wouldn't want it any other way.

Happy New Year

We want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year! May it be filled with many blessings, and much happiness, friendship and love! We look forward to a wonderful 2007!