life from 38 inches

JoJo's style is unique:) Brown tights(not leggings) a little belly shirt and sweater. bed head and brown make up.

I found tons of pics where she was just sitting in a chair snapping different shots. And no I didn't know she had the camera.

She was proud of the slickers she put on. 

With love from JoJo

COWBOY UPdate: Gatlyn is on CPAP. Which means he is not on a ventilator at all anymore:):):):):):):):):) God is good, GOD is GREAT!!!

NO ONE else will ever know

the STRENGTH of  my LOVE 

FOR YOU. After all, you're

THE ONLY ONE who knows what 

my HEART sounds like from the inside. 

amazed.

I had to share the cuteness of my girlies and their weekend fun. I also forgot to tell you that JoJo and I went to see Gatlyn on Thanksgiving together. She put some Christmas window clings on his Isolate.

Now onto the little Cowboy that has my heart:)

I am sooooooo happy beyond anything you can imagine that I can say Gatlyn is doing GREAT! He is off the oscillator:) They decided this morning to just see if it would help. See, in my previous post I was saying that he was slowly going up on all his vent settings. Which was true but it wasn't helping with his CO2 settings. It is even weirder because on Sat. night I was asking the nurse if they would ever just try him on the other ventilator to see if it would help. And she didn't really know but it was highly unlikely. Then when I called this morning they were like he had a vent change. . . he is off the oscillator. I was like, WHAT? AWESOME! I was so stoked. I couldn't stop smiling:) 

So, all day today I was just cleaning away and doing laundry trying to make time fly so I could go see him. So we went tonight and OMG, it was the best feeling. I walked in after Jess and he goes, "Do you hear that?" I was like, "What?" and he goes, "exactly."

(The oscillator is really loud and it vibrates Gat Man too:()

He had 4 visitors tonight and was awake for like 45 minutes too!

I got a couple of cute pics of the little fella too!

Uncle Casey and Aunt Carrie

Lazy boy, that thing is there for him to push on and feel womb like. He decided it would serve better as a foot rest.

It is a really hard feeling to explain having Gatlyn in the NICU. But, I honestly feel so much joy with each little improvement he makes. My big sis gave me an article she found, about being a NICU mom. And when she sent it to me I was 20 weeks pregnant with my water broke at home on bed rest. I was just hoping to make it to 23 weeks. At that time I couldn't even think about Gat being here. I didn't want anybody to buy anything for a baby boy. And saying this now is so weird. I just didn't feel like I was going to be fortunate enough to have him here with us. Now, we have our baby boy and I can relate to that article. In which any mom of a healthy full term baby doesn't think about the first breath being a big deal (I was there with my girls, I didn't once think are they living?). And for a premie the first breath can be such a big deal. I cannot wait to be able to go and hold my baby when I want to have him in my arms. Seeing him awake tonight was bittersweet. He could hear our voices and knows my touch. I want him to know my arms and I how I can do the crazy mom bounce when he is upset. I want to do that for him. So for now, I will hold that pacifier in his mouth and rub his head until he is ready and able to be in my arms. I am so thankful that it was/is God's will for Gatlyn to be with us and get strong. This boy is changing me in more ways than one. And it is definitely all for the better. 

We sang an awesome some by Kutless in church today called Amazed. I am amazed at who He is. It is unexplainable how he can keep me together through everything and Gatlyn of course. He is amazing.

Romans 12:12

"Let your hope make you glad.

Be patient in time of trouble

& never stop praying."

weekend blitz

A night in the Schrock's on a Saturday is quite fun. I feel like these are some of the best times! I was feeling pretty crummy all afternoon, therefore I thought maybe going to see Gatlyn would do the trick to get me back on track. It was definitely what I needed:) He was doing pretty good tonight. His vent settings have been slowly rising which is not good though. Pretty sure he had a lot of edema in his little lungs-they are getting a good amount of crud out of his little lungs. I have some pictures to share with you from a good night of fun at the.

The night include movie and popcorn(which we didn't really watch the movie and made a mess with the popcorn). Then I decided it would be fun to make a yarn mess:) Which turned out to be just as fun as I thought it would be. 

I am in the works on another post as well. Hint Gatlyn is making HUGE improvements:)

tis a good one

Jess came home from seeing Gat Man today and all he said was, "He looked awesome!"

Made my night to see Jess confident in his progress. I can't wait to see him tomorrow:) It is getting harder to leave him each day and I always wanna go see him. We love that little fella more than he will ever understand. He never ceases to amaze me. 

Please pray for his little lungs to get back to work. I really want him on the other ventilator so I can hold him again. It was a crazy tease when I got to hold him last time(3 weeks ago). Can't wait to give him a squeeze and kiss him all over. 

Someday everything will

make perfect sense.

So, for now, laugh at the

confusion, smile through

the tears, and keep reminding 

yourself that everything 

happens for a reason.

that time of the year

This is the time of the year where everybody says what they are thankful for. I am extremely thankful this year.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Thessalonians 5:18

So here is a list of what I am thankful for currently. 

In no particular order

-Having the Lord in my heart-

-EVERYBODY in my family who picks us up when we need it-

-Jesse Dean, my one and only-

-JoJo who always keeps me guessing-

 -Rae who surprises me more each day-

-Gat Man, who has me wrapped around his finger-

-My church family-who support is never ending-

-Lacey-no matter how much gets in the way, always makes time for me-

-Our home, that keeps me busy-

-My vehicle, that has yet to fail me-

-Music that inspires me-

-Noodles, because I love them-

-Dr. Pepper that is my main beverage-

-My 20somethin mama readers, you guys rock:)-

I may have missed some but they always can be added later right?

Take time to enjoy your family this Thanksgiving and enjoy each calorie you take in;)

The Mama for sure will!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

WE HERE AT 20SOMETHIN MAMA APPRECIATE 

ALL OF OUR READER SUPPORT.  

surrender.hope.transformation

Surrender, Hope & Transformation= Contentment

Hope has been mind the last week and then when doing my devotional last night transformation was the title. I think having both of these on my mind is great. I have been very hopeful the past week. Although there are still so many things that can go wrong, I feel hopeful. I wasn't sure if I was just being naive and trying not to think about the negative. Then I read my devotional and everything seemed to come together in my head, why I was feeling this way. 

These are some verses that kind of sum it all up. 

First, it is putting all your anxiety/troubles/worries on the Big Guy.

Cast all your anxiety on HIM because HE cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert.

1 Peter 5:7-8

Then having the hope in Him. 

Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. 

Isaiah 49:23

Then to be transformed in multiple ways. I feel hope because my thinking has been transformed. Instead of consistently asking why-I have started to ask what. Not why is this happening to me, but, what are you trying to show/tell. My devotional is call Jesus Lives by Sarah Young. In it she writes from the what God tells her. At first that was hard for me to understand how she can write what God tells her.  And I got a little bit jealous in a way. For someone to be able to have the feeling that God is telling them what to do/write. I have only ever had the feeling one distinct time and I want that again! Amazing. All in the same respect, it is hard to think somebody can say God told me to write this. And, she writes from his viewpoint. I don't know if that makes sense but it does to me. Anyway, back to why I am typing this. I am going to type the part that just really struck home with me when I was reading.

"As the Holy Spirit controls your mind and actions more fully, you become free in Me. You are increasingly released to become the one I created you to be. 

Freedom through surrender sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it? Yet, when My Spirit is controlling your thinking and behavior, you feel more alive, more real, more content!"

I feel that my hope is coming from surrendering. I have to surrender my thoughts. Recognizing there is someone bigger than me that can help more than I can. Also, a lot easier to surrender when Cowboy is improving. I am totally not trying to act like I don't struggle and won't struggle. I know I will and still do. But, having this hope and surrendering like I have been is comforting. I feel content. 

COWBOY UPdate: He has consistently improved this week:) He was given lasix (water pill) to help with the swelling. And he has not been getting as much pain medication and has been tolerating that well. At his biggest he weighed 5lb 7oz and he is back down to 4lb 9oz. So we just keep hoping for some more weight loss. Weird right? Yah, he needs to lose all that fluid. And that means he will be a healthier baby. He needs to lose that fluid so there is not so much pressure on the brain and his little lungs. Please prayer for every little organ in his body to start doing what they need to do. 

When I went to see him last night I couldn't stop smiling. I walked in and was like I feel like I finally have my Gatlyn back. There are no words for the joy I felt sitting there with him last night. 

EVERY DAY MAY

NOT BE

GOOD...

BUT THERE IS

SOMETHING  

GOOD IN

EVERY DAY.

a look in the rearview mirror.

I was looking through the memory card from my phone and found some real treasures. So, you get to see them:)

-Enjoy-

this was saved as BRUCE. which means this is the picture I had for my cousin Bruce's # in my phone...haha

Holy Cow! Great friend Rach and me on the softball bus. Senior year (2007)

Kels & me in the Taurus!

umm....

baby bro chuggin on that root beer.

she's caught in the act.

Cousin Tuck pitching and baby bro batting.

my first child...Kenya RIP

young love

i found a lot of just her...

creepy

OMG so little!

RIP skiddle hopper and what was the other ones name?haha

fun times.

my sweet kenya. lol

what a hottie!

Nappy!!!

We used to have so much fun!

Add caption

3 of a Kind

Best Friends to the end.

I swear I am not on anything.

BRY.

Oh Mother!

I have a lot of picture to the day like this. I think I like what I see!haha

HA

haha sexy ladies!

my big bro!

My monkey baby-JoJo

Smiling doesn't always 
mean you're happy.
It simply means
you are a strong person.