Happy New Year!!

Its been too long since dad has posted something. I figured, to start the new year off, it would be a good idea to start on the right page. I just put 2 very excited girls down for naps so we can go to the hotel this afternoon when they wake up. I might have to bend the rules on this deal due to some wispering that I hear upstairs. They might be able to go to the hotel after they lay down for a little while. We're going to Shiphewana (no idea how thats spelled) to spend a couple days with the Berens for Christmas. That is always a pretty good time. However, that means 2 days without seeing my baby girl.

Melanie continues to do well. The hospital has been a very busy place. Ive never seen so many new faces before. I know last night alone there was 8 babies born into the NICU. That makes things a little crazy. The days of being alone in our room in NIM are over. Thats ok though. We are tightly cramped in this room with 2 babies and a couple of very nice sets of parents. I just met one couple last night, and the other couple, we met at our Christmas meal at the hospital.

I was doing a little reflecting this morning on the way home from church. We had a really good sermon, and one thing that really struck me was Gods grace given to His people. Grace.....just so happens to be Melanies middle name....interesting. Gods grace is everywhere present in this hospital. The people that are there and gone in a few days we dont get to know, but there are many who we've come to know over the past couple months that portray Gods grace in them in abundance. So many people...a little bit different stories, but same topic....the love of their children. So many that could say, "why me, why did God put me here, how am I ever gonna be able to get through this...????". But they dont. Sure we've all thought it here already, but it doesnt get said. Its amazing how much God blesses us in trials such as this. So many people with loving and caring hearts, and they are all the same. The dads show up, some with baseball caps, some with tshirts, some with sweatshirts...there are Notre Dame fans, Michigan fans, State fans, Lions fans (I dont know why) Tigers fans, Packer fans, John Deere fans, the obvious Iowa fans...ok maybe there is only one of those :), and some who arent fans of sports at all. And then there are the moms...they show up, some dressed up pretty, some dressed comfortable, most who need to find the nursing station (I call it the milking parlor) every couple of hours carrying their little 80 ml bottles of breast milk like trophies. Some of the parents look a little worried, some look wore out and tired, but all of them can work out a smile and a 'hello, how is your baby?' after you get to know them for the 1st time. None of us ever thought we would be there when we found out we were expecting, but we all ended up there....litereally hundreds of us. And for the most part, there isnt a lot of complaining. Lots of tears, everyone being on thier own emotional roller coaster for one reason or another, but all with one purpose....to do everything they can to take home a healthy baby...or two...and sometimes three. Not all of these babies make it...and that...thats the hardest part. Our hearts go to them every time we see them. Some had multiple babies, and not all of them survived.

But one thing stares me in the face everytime I get to know someone. Each individual parent who is there, never thought they would make it through. Each parent wondered how in the world am I going to be able to do all of this extra stuff...the driving, being away from home for so long, and watching our little ones fight harder for thier lives, than we've fought for most things that are important in our lives. Watching thier monitors, watching them getting poked with IVs and blood draws, seeing all of thier wires and tubes going into thier noses and mouths. God's grace is the only thing that gives us strength. The only time we think we cant do it, is the same time that we think that we are in charge of everything. What an amazing God we serve.

I use this as kind of a joke every once in a while. It says in the Bible that God will never give us more than we can handle. Some times I think about that, and I think that myself and God arent communicating enough about my shoulder size. He thinks Im bigger than I am at times, but then, I realize that His grace has carried me this far. I think Heather posted a comment about the poem "Footprints" yesterday (If it was her...huh...thanks Heather, I will find you today :) Shes been through far more than we have in the NICU. That is an amazing poem. If you havent looked at it lately, please do. Everyone tells us we are doing so well through this whole situation, and I think the best answer to that is, there is only one set of footprints in our lives right now. God is carrying us the whole way.

So as we look to the new year, many of us are going to have trials...and great joys. And we need to react the same way through both of them. God is in charge and we need to praise Him for all he has given us. Our calling is to serve our great Creator in all things.

With that, I will leave you with a couple of pictures from Miss Melanie GRACE. She is growing, and getting new clothes all the time. Nurse Liza picked out the cutest hat last night for her...however, she gets to grow into it. Liza is great at picking out clothes, however she doesnt have a great handle on Melanies head size :) (LOVE YA LIZA!!) We laughed pretty hard last night after seeing her in this one. Its so cute though, so we kept it.



All is well here. Hope you all get to spend some extra time with family and friends over this holiday. Thank you again for all of your prayers. A couple more weeks and we might have pictures of Melanie in her big girl bed at home instead of this one!!!!!