He's doing it!

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."

—Psalm 84:11

Since Luke is now officially a walker (after months of cruising and pushing his walker toy) I found this Bible verse to be very appropriate! As much as we anticipated these first independent steps, we anticipate more the day Luke makes the decision to walk blamelessly in a relationship with Jesus. Walk perfectly? No. Walk without stumbling? Definitely not. But walk without blame because he has put his faith in a God that sent his Son to be sin for us.

Luke walking feels like such a huge milestone to us. As we watch him toddle around the room, it reminds us like no other milestone has where he has been, how far he has come and what determination this little boy has. For some reason, these steps towards independence have also impressed upon us the weight of responsibility we carry as his parents, and how I am so thankful that God tells us in James 1:5, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

Now for the visual aid ... Really, is there anything cuter than first steps?

In the spirit of wild hair ...

Keeping in the theme of Luke and his wild hair, here's another picture for you to enjoy:



This was the evening of Rog's birthday dinner down at my mom's house, and here's a couple of pictures of Rog with his really cool birthday present. We can't wait to use it out at NBC camp!




Happy birthday, Roger. We love you!

Serious napping

Even snapping this photo didn't wake him up! Someone was nappin' hard today — check out his wild-man hair ...

Marv the Milkman

Children's Hospital has a current campaign that hopes to support three core areas: Facilities, Uncompensated Care and Research. One way to get involved in this campaign is to share your personal experiences with Children's. The goal is to create a historical archive that honors Children's work for the past 100 years.

Anyway, I was submitting our story and came across the story of one of our favorite people at Children's. Marv the Milkman made our day when we saw him pass our room with his cow apron and hat. He exemplifies why Children's is so wonderful and child-friendly. Click here to read his story ...

4 and 91

When you're a heart mama, those are jump-for-joy numbers.

4 (the number of months until Dr. Stefanelli wants to see us again) + 91 (Luke's oxygen saturation percentage) = A very happy mommy and daddy!

Thank you for your prayers for yesterday's appointment. We are giving God glory for such a great report! After the echo was finished, Dr. Stefanelli came to tell me that he didn't have one concern about Luke's heart after seeing the pictures. Ventricular function was great, no blood flow blockage, etc. He also said that he thinks Luke will just cruise until his next surgery (late summer of 2009 or summer of 2010, depending on his weight and oxygen saturation level).

Dr. Stefanelli didn't need an EKG run, or a chest x-ray on our little man, so after his sat check, blood pressure and weight and height, we headed into the echo room. Kris, our echo tech, is so fantastic. And Luke did much better than I expected. He laid with me on the table and watched the Lion King for about 7 minutes before trying to push the ultrasound wand away. Our nurse Jen got another 6-8 minutes out of him by blowing bubbles. Way to go, team! I know I say it a lot, but I LOVE this office staff. I'm so thankful for them!

So we don't head back until the end of September. We couldn't even schedule an appointment that far out. Unbelievable.

"Let me shout God's name with a praising song,
Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks."
—Psalm 69:30, The Message