Happy Birthday Dear Emily!!!

Before you were conceived, I wanted you.
Before you were born, I loved you.
Before you were here an hour, I would die for you.
This is the power of love.

It's so hard to believe that Emily has been with us for two years already! It seems like only yesterday, we were taking her home from the hospital and embarking on a new phase in our journey as a family. I can't even remember what it was like to not have her in our lives. We are so very grateful to have been given charge of this unique and loving little girl and we pray that we are able to nurture her and love her so that she grows up knowing how truly special she is.

Coming home - November 2005

Horsing around with Daddy

Opening up presents with family
Make a wish!Home from the Children's Museum - even had our face painted!

Trick or Treat

Halloween has come and gone and for once there was no snow on the ground! This year, Greg stayed home and handed out candy and I took the girls around. Emily seemed to enjoy herself for the most part and Danica slept through the entire ordeal.

Our panda bear

Our chicken

Our little ladies

The panda and Yoda

8 Hours of Sleep

Oh joy, oh joy!!! Danica slept for 8 straight hours last night and 7 straight hours the night before. From 9:30 last night until 5:30 this morning, then a quick feed and back into bed until 8:30 this morning. I can't tell you how much difference a decent night's sleep can make you feel. This is about the time that Emily started sleeping through the night as well. I hope that this trend continues!

God Bless You Danica Julie

We had Danica's baptism service this past Sunday. It was a wonderful service and our pastor did a great job - his discussion of Danica's baptism verse touched our hearts a great deal. Her verse was from the book of Jeremiah.

Our pastor said this about her verse - "At some point many wonder about their purpose – about how much they are loved. The prophet Jeremiah questioned who he was, and God came to him with these words, in Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” This verse has taken on deeper meaning to Greg and Julie, especially after losing Danica’s twin a few months ago. What a sober reminder of how fragile new life really is. And yet there was confirmation that God was still with them, and they could accept that God’s hand had formed Danica and had set her apart."

We also had a lot of family and friends around to celebrate with us. Greg's sister Janelle was even able to make the trip from Iowa to share in this past weekend with us.

We are grateful for the support of our family and friends who share in our joy with this new little life that we have been charged to care for.

In her baptism gown - made by Great Auntie Linda.

Auntie Janelle holding Danica for the first time.Having lunch with Bennett.
Emily "playing" with Keizer - good thing he's so good natured!

Happy Birthday Dear Greg

Time sure does fly with two little ones to take care of. I am having a hard time getting to the computer these days to update our blog! Danica is still doing well. We had her first doctor's appointment with the pediatrician on Tuesday. She is now 9 pounds 6 and 3/4 ounces and is 21 and a half inches long. Almost back up to her birth weight.

We also got into see a bone specialist on Thursday. He confirmed that he felt one hip was slipping out of place so our poor baby has to wear a brace for the next four weeks to try to correct the problem. She doesn't seem overly bothered by it and I'm getting used to it now. She wears it all of the time except at diaper changes and at bath time. We go back in four weeks and she will have an x-ray taken to see if this has fixed the problem. Hopefully it will be fixed by then.

Greg turned 32 on the 6th. We had family over for a pizza dinner and cake. A few friends also stopped by later in the evening as well. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family this past weekend too - ate way too much yummy turkey! This weekend Danica is being baptized - we will post pictures soon of that.

Ultrasound

So we had Danica's ultrasound done yesterday morning. I must say that the staff and Children's Hospital is pretty darn good. We got in early and Emily was kept busy with all the toys that they had there. The doctor and ultrasound technician were also really good - fast and explained everything to us.

Danica's hips seem to be fine with one small exception - one side has a hip joint that is slightly too shallow. I'm not sure what we will have to do to correct it (if anything) but hopefully we will find out more at her first doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her hips to be okay.

6 Days Old

6 days have passed and already I am seeing changes in my little girl - I am always amazed at how quickly they change in the early stages. I'm trying to enjoy each minute but two kids is so much busier than one that it is much harder to do than it was the first time around. We have been extremely fortunate to have a lot of help from our parents - Emily has spent special time with both sets of grandparents (including a sleepover at her Grandma and Grandpa van Leeuwen's) and my mom and dad have been helping during the day (my mom is off for the next two weeks to help with everything while I recover). I'm still adjusting to having Danica at home - I'm such a routine oriented person that her lack of a schedule throws me for a bit of a loop. I'm sure that the coming weeks will see that change a bit and I will be able to have a bit more of a routine established.

Here are some more pictures:

Coming home from the hospital.

Hanging out with Daddy.
Our little "Buddha".