How Time Flies

A week ago, we returned from yet another voyage to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital. This trip was a bit different than those prior for two reasons. One, I had surgery 48 hours before we left, and two, Martin went with me (and mom caravaned down with us after helping with the girls during the surgery).


Our plan was to enjoy a vacation, of sorts, with a little clinic mixed in, thus hopefully distracting Bella from the main reason for our Bay Area visit.


And, how I wish I could say that it worked beautifully.


But - let's not get ahead of ourselves.


The good news is that Bella is thriving - and I do not ever get tired of saying that. Our nephrologist said, as we were preparing to leave, "it is extraordinary that we have not seen you a lot more frequently."


It is extraordinary. It is miraculous. It is a very real and tangible example of how present God is and how He never ceases to surprise us with joy if we allow Him to do so. And even as I type that previous sentence, I must admit to feeling a hint of doubt, which quite honestly, stems from a form of "survivor's guilt".


I have dear friends who lost their son to cancer in between Bella's birth and her kidney transplant. Whenever I look heavenward and and inhale thankfulness to God for Bella's life, for sparing her when there is nothing scientific that allows for her to still be with us, I also exhale remonstration as to why God took Zach home. It is a conundrum to me. It will most likely never be answered in this lifetime.


And yet, one thing of which I am certain, there is no better way to live than in the friction between the explicable and the inexplicable when it comes to faith. It is the perfect formula from which humility and courage, hope and contentment can take root.


So, back to our Bay Area visit and the expectation versus the reality. Because Bella has been so sick, we never experienced the "terrible twos", or "threes", or "fours"...


but we are IN it now.


There is no question that part of what we experienced with Bella that week was her way of working out all the tension, fear, and anxiety that comes with these clinic visits. And I am sure her highly intuitive self could pick up on her Mama's tension around it as well.


And yet, it did not totally subside once we returned home. In many ways, we are glad for this stage, as it proves to us once again that Bella is thriving - she is feeling well enough to be able to push back, vie for her independence.


And at the same time, having a child who goes through a stage meant for a younger age at an older age means Martin and I are in for a unique challenge. We are fortunate to have family friends whose professions are a perfect fit to come alongside us to teach us how to lovingly guide Bella.


We have said it before and I will say it again:


Thank you for being on this journey with us.
Thank you for showing us what Love looks like incarnate.
Thank you for holding up our precious Bella in prayer.


Please enjoy this video below of Bella being, well, unabashedly Bella.


-Carrie

Fall Update

Oh, where does the time go?

I cannot believe I have not blogged since July. Crazy. So, rather than bore you as I know we all have many, many blogs to read these days, here is a brief update.

Bella::

Started Kindergarten this year! This is a huge milestone for us as, when she was born, we were told "she would be lucky to live 'til Kindergarten". So, as expected, it was a very emotional time for me, especially. We were fortunate enough to find a school with a smaller class-size and a great teacher who has loved Bella and encouraged her in who God created her to be.

We did, however, find ourselves in quarantine for three weeks this Fall due to the H1N1 virus. I am not going to get into all of the controversy about the vaccine, but I will say, that when the Infectious Disease doctors from Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford (in the top five Children's hospitals in the world, #1 in pediatric transplant) send us a letter explaining the risk involved in H1N1 vs. a seasonal flu, and how, for kiddos like Bella, it is life-threatening. So, we pulled Bella out of school when H1N1 hit, and she remained quarantined for three weeks until we could get the injectable vaccination, at which time we did not have tuna for two weeks to offset the mercury! ;)

Abeni::

She is now just about 10 months old. She has four teeth. She is standing on her own, crawling all over the house, getting into everything, picking up and eating pieces of food on her own, and babbling like crazy.

The crazy thing is that I find myself calling my sister all the time, completely blown away by my baby's brilliance and premature milestones, only to find that she is hitting every benchmark right on time. ;) For us, it is a bit of a conundrum as we have never had a healthy baby before.

So, this is our little family in a nutshell. I will write more later, but for now, here are some pictures of our girls.