"He's Going To Be a Good Baby"

Things are looking good with Joshua.  He is actually looking a little chubby in his cheeks and chin, and he weighs a whopping 3 lb 3.5 oz (1460 g) tonight.  We had fun together today.  After kangaroo care for over 3 hours (have I ever mentioned how much we love that?) and a good breastmilk feed (4 mL through the NG tube), he looked so content.  He was awake and just looking at me.  In a period of about 10 minutes, he just gave me the googly eyes and smiled about 10-20 times.  Ok, I know babies don't smile this early, and he must have had a big case of gas or something, but to me, he was smiling.  If I had my camera with me, I'd have snapped a bunch of pictures to prove it.  And maybe those googly eyes didn't really have a lot of thought behind them, but I could tell he was thinking, "I love you Mommy!"  "Aaaah, you're the BEST, Mommy!"  It was a fun bonding moment for us.  I caught a glimpse into the future, and I could tell he's going to be a good baby and a sweet boy.  :) 

{A little story behind that:  When Jeremiah was about 2 days old, I told my mom and sister, "I can tell he's going to be a good baby..." This was either right before or during a spell where he cried for hours, and none of us could get him to settle down.  I guess I was a little blinded to that, because I was sure he'd be a "good baby" (whatever that is).  They keep reminding me about the irony of it, how he was inconsolable.  But hey, I was right; he was a great baby!}

Here's a little tidbit from my Moms and Beyond group.  We are studying Jonah, a study by Priscilla Shirer.  In this week's DVD, she started out by saying if you are going through a rough time, know that it is all part of God's master plan for you, and He has a reason for it.  Just remember.  The Enemy would never cause you to go through a situation that will draw you nearer to God and get you on your knees praying, growing closer to the Lord.  Something like that...it's paraphrased.  I thought it was a good point to think about while going through a trial in life.  I know for us, hopefully being on the tail end of this trial, we can look back and see how God has worked in our lives over the past couple of months, and we have matured through the experience and grown closer to God.  That being said, I think we've matured enough, so we're definitely open to the possibility of being done with this lesson!  :) 

Thank you all for continuing to cheer us on through this journey.  We appreciate your thoughts and prayers!