Just laugh out loud & count your many blessings!

I have sat down some many time to post this blog post and I have failed so many times. I would type, get a phone call, type, feed Lyric, type, make dinner, type feed Lyric, type, change a diaper, type, have playtime, type, feed Lyric, type, pick up the house, type...etc, etc, etc... you get the idea! For some reason I could never finish my post so this morning I realized, maybe I wasn't suppose to finish that post, maybe I needed to just write it all out so that I felt heard. You see the post I was working on was just a bunch of complaining, not really beneficial to anyone. So instead to remind myself how blessed I am here are some of the things that are going good in my life.
1. Amazing God that loves me & only wants the best for me!
2. Super awesome husband, who tells me that I'm amazing!
3. A beautiful daughter that lights up every part of me :-)
4. Amazing family (many of whom have taken time out of their busy lives to be a blessing in ours)
5. Wonderful friends who are always praying so fervently!
Top 5 anyways!

I had what I thought to be a very rough start to this week... Sunday we get up & we're leaving for church as we get in the car I realized that there are cd's in my seat so I ask Trav if he got in the car last night to which he said no. Then I remembered that I had put some cash in the car in case of an emergency (stupid I know) but we never know when we might be going to the hospital & I wanted it put aside just in case... well Saturday we ran to target to get diapers & when we got home Trav grabbed Lyric & I got the diapers... yes that's right we forgot to lock the doors! Something I over do & it drives everyone nuts but that is just what I do, anyways Saturday night someone got in our car & took our emergency money... not just a small amount but MY MONEY! They left everything cd's, GPS, everything but took our money. As Sunday went on I found myself becoming consumed with thoughts of how in the heck do we pay for everything? Who would do that? Why? Last night I was talking with my Mom just crying over the fact that it was gone (I think this was more of the straw that broke the camels back & that I really just needed a good cry) but my Mom said this & it made me realize something.. she said that Satan is working overtime to rob the joy of each day & blessing!
WOW... after all the faith that I have had to exercise he got me over money?!??!?
So I realized as I thought of all that God has done for me, I AM BLESSED!

He allowed me to be a stay at home mom & I know now that I could not have kept my job & #1. We could not of had her in a daycare because she can't get sick (never really an option for us anyways) #2. It would have been almost impossible to take all this time off work! #3. There is no way that I could have left her with anyone... I love her too much :-)

We switched over to Travis' insurance 2 weeks before we found out so they couldn't say it was a pre-existing condition that we were aware of before September 14th.

The fact that there was no real reason for Lyric to have a murmur but because she did the doctor was able to make a proper diagnoses. The doctor said that had she not heard the murmur she would have sent us home & Lyric's lungs could of had some serious damage if it was to go untreated.

Our marriage has been strengthened (yet again) by what seems impossible to handle but by the grace of God & tons of grace for each other we are making it through this. (Thanks Amy for the words of wisdom!!)

Our appreciation for life & the fact that it is a gift & that our lives are GOD'S! He wants to prosper us & to grow us into fully devoted followers of Christ.

The strength in my own personal walk with God & the understanding of what He must feel as a parent to see His child hurting & struggling. He makes hard decisions for us and it is ALWAYS for our good!!

You see I can focus on the fact the someone robbed us of our money but I will not let that circumstance rob me of my JOY! Thank you Lord for my blessings!!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James 1:17

My most favorite good & perfect gift from above :-)

Today

Today has been a rough one... no real reason just a bunch of little thing that seem to pile up & make one go crazy. Lyric's cough is awful, she won't eat by the bottle very much so we tube feed most of it, she hasn't pooped since Sunday and is a bit fussy because she is so uncomfortable, she threw up again tonight, didn't go to sleep to good because she had a tummy ache, Travis is sick, & I have a ton of unfinished projects... in a nutshell ROUGH DAY! I'm asking for prayer... I know this too shall pass! Thank you!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5

How He Loves

I'm so thankful! I can't even begin to express my thanks to the God who has given me so much. I think of my amazing husband, daughter, family, friends... etc... & I feel overwhelmed with LOVE & GRACE!

Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld His love from me!
Psalm 66:20

"How He Loves"
David Crowder Band

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
And all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me

Oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy
And all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Oh how He loves us, oh
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us
Oh how He loves
Oh how He loves

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking
Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about, the way…

That He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves


Just a reminder in case you needed it today :-)

Updates on Lyric

I know that Lyric's defect is very common & is by no means life threatening I say this because I am not wanting to make this into more than it is but I also want to say that as her parents this is a very scary time. Anytime your baby is not well I think it is hardest on the parents. The procedure that Lyric will be undergoing is open heart surgery, something that I don't think is so common & YES it is very scary for us. We know God has a plan in all of this & for that we are so thankful!

We started a blog for Lyric so that as the surgery approches my sister (Randi) can keep our family & friends who do live close updated. Thank you for all the prayers!

http://www.lyricelise.blogspot.com/

We went into the cardiologist yesterday because Lyric's cough had become worse and her weight gain was not going so well. After an EKG,
echo & chest xray they decided to admit Lyric into the hospital for monitoring & to place a feeding tube to help Lyric gain weight. Despite everything we tried at home she hasn't been able to get above 8lbs 4oz and is now back down to 8lbs 2oz. As her mom this was very hard... doing everything I could think of and still not being able to fix her... feeling like maybe I wasn't doing enough. The doctors reassured us that we tried everything possible to help Lyric gain weight but her heart is having to work so hard to keep up, let alone put on weight. The first feeding tube did not go in so great (Lyric couldn't stop gagging & turned so white after screaming for what seemed like forever) the nurse had to pull it out and then a couple hours later they tried again and it went in with ease! Other than rubbing her eyes & nose when she is tired she doesn't seem to mind it! They have started her on two additional medication making a total of three, one every 8 hours & the other two at morning & night. This may sound crazy considering we've known about Lyric's V.S.D. for a month now but it all became very real yesterday as they were placing monitors all over Lyric's chest, back & feet... then came the feeding tube and it broke my heart. I know this is nothing compared to what lies ahead so I very quickly pulled myself together, calmed down and was able to rest once again in the fact that she is God's and He has her whole being in His hands! God is good & we're so thankful for all the ways we have seen His hand guiding and protecting us in this chapter of our lives.
Please be praying for Lyric over the next couple days & weeks. She will be here in the hospital until they feel she moving forward if no change is seen in her weight they will be moving up her surgery date. We will most likely be going home with the feeding tube & this is scary to me but I know it maybe Lyric's best bet for getting bigger before her surgery! Thank you again for the love & prayers! We feel so honored to have such support! God is good all the time and all the time God is GOOD!

Please check www.Taylor--made.blogspot.com for updates as I'm sure my sister will do a better than I at keeping everyone posted over the next couple weeks!