Milestone Week!

This was a week of milestones!

For starters, Tuesday was Mercy's FIVE MONTH birthday!!! Can you believe that? The time has truly flown, and this baby girl is GROWING. UP.

We also had an OT visit Tuesday, where Mercy showed us how she can swat at things! Not grabbing yet, but swatting is new and almost there! Proud of that girl!

On Thursday we had a doctor's visit, and Mercy is 9lb 9.5oz! Look at these rolls:

While at the doctor we got two big announcements:

First, it's time to STOP. GIVING. HER. CAFFEINE! Our sleep study will be July 10th and she has to be completely off caffeine for at least two weeks beforehand. This is a really big deal, because if she passes her sleep study, we get to turn in the heart monitor and be completely wire-free permanently! We've been trying to wean ourselves off of the monitor over the last week or so, leaving it off of her when she's awake and we're right by her. It's going to definitely take some getting used to, especially overnight, but we are so so SOOO looking forward to being 'unattached'! Yay!

And second, since Mercy is five months old, we get to start giving her rice cereal!! ...with a SPOON! It's seriously adorable and... interestingly difficult at the same time. I always enjoy seeing her learn new skills, and this has been no exception! Look how precious:

So, we're heading to the beach tomorrow... I had Mercy barricaded on the bed while I folded laundry and packed for the trip. She has this new toy that sings, giggles and lights up when it's touched or moved. She is fascinated by the lights and the mirror, so every time it stopped, I leaned over and touched it for her.

I stepped out of the room briefly and heard the toy start singing! She made it turn on on her own!!! Oh my! I rushed in and she was just smiling in the mirror... and every time the noise stopped, she slung her hand against it to start it up again! She was really getting it! Of course, I couldn't let this happen without  snapping a photo:

I cannot get enough of this kid! I pretty much didn't accomplish anything after that, I just couldn't stop watching her play and learn! Awesome!

Mercy and this fun toy... totally opposite responses to their wants...

Mercy wants to be entertained, and she knows how to get a response. She just has to reach out for it.

The toy, it wants to be reached out to, but it won't do anything until it's touched...

Are you more like Mercy or her toy?

Sometimes we want God to act in our lives so badly, but we don't do anything. We just wait here, hoping He does something because He's God and because we say that we love Him.

Other times, when we need closeness to Him and peace from Him, we talk to Him, we show that we love Him, we reach out to touch Him and enjoy Him. And He acts in our lives! He reveals His peace in ways we will never comprehend. He reveals His glorious beauty and brings us joy even in times of trials.

Often, I find myself waiting. I know that God knows the desires of my heart, and I do love Him, right? ...so I'll just do my own thing, go about my business, and surely He'll eventually act...

I'm just not convinced that's how He asks us to love Him...

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

Psalm 37:3-5

Delight in Him, reach out to Him and enjoy Him. He knows that the greatest need and desire of our hearts is peace in His will, and He has an abundance of that to give out. I know it won't be so difficult to receive when we've devoted ourselves to delighting in HIM alone.

When Mercy has the desire to see those lights blinking and hear that silly music, she has learned just what she needs to do. She reaches out, and delights in what she sees! It draws her back in over and over!

Our God draws us into His heart. He will continually do this as we trust in Him, delight in Him, commit our ways to Him! 

Let's stop saying that we love Him and waiting for Him to act... Instead let's show Him how much we love Him and delight in how He will act and already has acted in our lives! It's good, life changing stuff!

Friends, your prayers for life off of caffeine are much appreciated. It's been three days, still no alarms and we truly believe she has outgrown the apnea and bradycardia. We think we're ready, we feel completely sure she's ready. We'll see, July 10th is a big day!

Thank you, we love you all! ...so so so very much!