Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Come and listen! Let me tell you what HE has done!!!

"Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD would not have listened;
But God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!"


Psalm 66:16-20

Truly this is my anthem today! I want to shout from the rooftops how GREAT our GOD is!!! He alone answers prayer and can preform miracles beyond what we even ask or imagine! And He has done just that in our little Elliana this weekend...

So what is all the fuss about, you ask?

Well, the same baby who just days ago would not bring anything to her mouth, especially food, has had a dramatic change and is now feeding herself all kinds of things! And waving bye-bye AND clapping AND playing peek-a-boo AND trying to pull herself up AND saying more in sign language!!! WHAT HAPPENED?

Well, in a short answer: GOD.

But a few of the details are as follows.

It all started at the Holt Picnic on Sunday afternoon.
IMG_9617

Elliana got to hang out with some pretty cute kids while we were there.
IMG_9609
IMG_9629
IMG_9621
And she LOVED it.
IMG_9637

And as she sat back and watched her friend Rose devour a yummy cupcake...
IMG_9603

I think she started to feel a bit left out :-)
IMG_9605
IMG_9601
So she started putting things in her mouth. (not sure what that is in the picture, but it's clear that she is putting whatever it is into her mouth!)

As the afternoon went on, another mom noticed her trying to eat some bark that she had found. I was seriously in shock! So this sweet mom grabs a graham cracker and trades her for the bark. She immediately put it straight to her mouth and started chomping down!
IMG_9628
Of course I just happened to have the pictures to prove it! :-)
IMG_9625
IMG_9627
I was so thrilled I could just kiss her! Well, actually I did. As well as this other sweet girl!
IMG_9642
IMG_9644

Now I know that to most anyone this is soooo not a big deal. I mean duh, of course a baby is going to want to feed herself graham crackers right?! What is the big deal?

I'll tell you what the big deal is! In the almost 3 months since Elliana has been with us, she has not eaten ANYTHING by herself. Not one cracker or cheerio- NOTHING. I feed her everything. She never puts anything to her mouth- which is one of the reasons she was assesed at a 5-6 month developmental level.

This is HUGE.

Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, we came home and tried again and over the past two days I have been giving her all sorts of things to try and eat by herself. Wow- she amazes us! She is eating crackers, cookies, pasta, eggs, and fruit bars. And the best part about it... she is sooooo happy!

Yesterday morning:
IMG_9649
And today while we were doing school, instead of her usual fussiness while I try to teach the boys- she was just sitting there chomping down on her crackers just content as can be! Oh yes- you'd better believe this is a big deal! I even got a bit on video just because I was so excited for her!
Check out her cute little noises- like she is saying mmm mmm good! ANd look at how she switches from hand to hand!

So not only is she eating a ton more and happy about it, her tummy problems have seem to almost dissappeared, and in the past two days she has done things she could never do before. She now can say "more" in sign language, plays peek a boo by putting the blanket on her head and taking it off, pulls herself to her knees and can almost get to standing, if you stand her up to the coffee table she can balance by herself, she can clap, says mama and dada almost consistently and has begun to explore more of the house as she crawls around.

Again, I must repeat: she could not do any of these things before.

And last week by the end of the week, I felt so very discouraged about a lot of things. It had been a rough week and I had been praying and honestly felt like I had nothing left. I was done and no idea how I was going to make it through one more week like the one we had just had.
And then Sunday came.
Randy was gracious enough to stay out with Elliana so I could sit in the service that morning. I did not realize it had been over 3 MONTHS since I had sat in church and listened to a message! And I had forgotten how much my weary soul needed the encouragement and fellowship of being in the Word with other believers. As our pastor preached about drinking from the Living Water, I had to finally recognize my thirst and utter dependence on Him to sustain me. I had been relying on my own strength to just make it through the days last week and I was left empty and parched dry. I was ready to be filled with the Spirit again and let Christ live through me.
And I prayed that no matter what this next week would bring, I would trust Him to carry the burden for me. And He has done just that.
And of course it has been much more than that.
DSC01694

Just when we think that there is no way to go on...

He does infinitely abundantly MORE than all we could ask or imagine.


Will you join me in giving Him all the glory and praise for what He has done?!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an AMAZING weekend!!!!!!!! Praise God!

I just want to eat her up she's so stinkin' cute in that video (oh, and it also made me tear up, thanks a lot! LOL!). Look at her chomping on those crackers like a PRO! If her belly was hurting that bad and those 'issues' have now resolved, I am not surprised that she is wanting to explore food more. It was hurting her before, and now it's not. That is absolutely amazing. Now that she's able to 'graze' more on food, I bet her weight will start to pick up in no time! And, what a big girl pulling up and balancing, that is just awesome!!

You are such a good momma having been proactive for her health, and God is so good!

Sorry for the book, I am just so excited for Elliana!

Shelly said...

Our God is amazing! Praising Him with you! Elliana is just too precious!!!

Noel said...

God truly does far beyond what we ever thought, planned or expected. He is so gracious! I'm SO happy for you!

Mary said...

God is so good!!!

What a blessing that she's feeling better and is making such incredible progress! I am so happy to read this post from you. I loved the video of her--beautiful girl!

Our Journey To Eden said...

Wonderful!!! So happy for all of you!

Melissa Marie said...

Praise the Lord!

Melissa said...

I am so excited for you, I almost cried. we've moments like that with Ty and words can't even touch the feelings you must be feeling. I just wrote a similar post about the little things that are SO BIG to us. http://www.thecorkums.com/blog/2009/10/13/gold/

PRAISE GOD!!!!

Carrie said...

Candice, Your pictures are amazing as usual! It was great to witness this milestone for Elliana. In Sydney's words, "She's SO cute!"

Sunnymama said...

Such exciting news! I am trying to lean and trust God right now. We got a referral call about a baby with severe hearing loss. I feel like God is leading us and wants us to take this baby. But I am completely scared. I am trying to just listen to Him and praying for his direction.
Thank your for posting this and encouraging me through Elliana

HighFiveMama said...

Praise the Lord!! God is such an amazing God! To Him be all the glory. She is the cutest thing ever. As we wait for our baby from Korea I so love and hang onto your every post. How much God wants us to desperately cling on to Him each moment of every day. Sometimes we lose that focus when life is happening and we are trying to just "keep our head above water". Then He gently reminds us again that He is here. I just want you to know you are such an encouragement and inspirational women and mom to me. I love your blog. I check it each day to see what is new and to get a glimpse of your precious baby girl!!!!!

Michele said...

Praise God! Oh how I have been praying for your sweet girly. I am so happy to see her finally feeling and doing better. You must feel so much relief for her. I love seeing her chow down on that cracker. She looks like she's lovin' it. OH, what an amazing God we serve!

Leah said...

I am in tears! Wow, wow, wow...praise, praise, praise Jesus!

Thanks for sharing your God story!

Melissa Ens said...

Hallelujah!!! I was so bummed to miss the picnic this year! (Now, even more so cuz I could have met your family!) But we had a church commitment we couldn't skip. But next year we should be there again and can't wait to see what Elianna will be doing by then! What a fabulous miraculous week for you and what a wonderful God we have to come through at just the right time! : )

Mo said...

I am so happy for you guys! She is so precious!

Kim said...

Yay!!! What wonderful progress! I am so happy for all of you!! God is SO good! (and I think you should give yourself alot of that credit too for doing such an amazing job!)

I recognized many of those little babies and kids from the picnic...especially that cupcake devouring Rose!!

Keep the good news coming!

Jenn said...

That's great!!!

Hannah said...

What a wonderful gift from God. I just found your blog today and am thrilled to follow your blog!

Congratulations!!

Joanne said...

that is so wonderful!!! Praise God!
I'm not surprised that it finally kicked in- with her little hurting tummy and all the trauma she's been through, it was just going to take a while. Each day she will do more and more. God gives us the strength that we don't even know is there sometimes and sometimes He shows us his power and love through an itty bitty girl! She's beyond darling and how happy and relieved you must be!

Tyanna said...

Yay, Yay, YAY!!! I am sooooo glad to hear the great strides that Elliana is making! Praise the living God!! YAY!
Hold fast to Hope, Candice!!
HE isn't done amazing you!!

<3 <3
Tyanna

Theprincessandthetot said...

HI Candice! I am so excited to read this post! It sounds like Elliana has had a huge leap and I am so happy for you. I just sent you a PM on the Holt BB, so please check it when you have a chance. Prayers, Rebecca (wolfe99)

Unknown said...

So happy! God knows right when we are about to ket go of the strong thread of hope. At that moment, when we realize He is it, He rescues. Grace and peace to you, my sweet friend. Go kiss your babies! xoxo

Heather said...

SOOOO HAPPY for ALL of you!

De Lucchi Family Treasures said...

Your little girl is adorable! I also have 3 boys and an adopted little girl. Looking forward to get to know you..
God Bless
Jules
xxx

Lucky Mama said...

WAHOOOO!!!!!!! I to have prayed for those milestones with my little man. So I can say a big congratulations to you and your sweet girl. It seems to me that my little man seems to not progress at all then all at once he will have a major developmental jump then back to slow then fast. I think God is trying to teach me patience and that he is in control. Good luck I hope things continue to go well for you.

Kelly said...

WOW! I am so late on this...but YIPEE!!!! What a blessing from God...He truly answers prayers! I am so glad to here about the progress and I KNOW what a weight is lifted when you see progress! :) :) :)
YEAH!!! AGAIN!!! YEAH!!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...