O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,How great Thou art, How great Thou art.Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeurAnd see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Seeing the boys experience spring in its earliest blooming, such words and melody resonate with me. Such moments grab a parents' heart and give it a little squeeze. I love when the daffodils bloom - partly because they are first to welcome spring, along with the crocus. When the daffodils bloom, spring is officially here. There is also something about the sunny yellow blooms that lift the spirits and bring happy thoughts of warm breezes and early spring jackets - heavy coats are thrown aside and the oppressive heat of summer is still far off.

Yesterday we were able to get out and walk after dinner before getting everyone ready for bed. It felt so normal, so free! A neighbor out walking stopped to chat and fussed over all of the boys, especially Gabe, as babies usually attract the most "fuss". She didn't know his history and even though we don't mind sharing, it was also nice just to be the family down the street with the baby in the stroller, like any other.

Gabe is now starting to figure out how to dig in his knees and feet to get around. He doesn't like dragging the G-tube, as he would in the more typical "commando crawl", so he has figured out an interesting way to shift his torso and hips while using his arms, hands, feet and knees to get around. I started yesterday and he is already perfecting his technique. I think he is literally going to 'take off' from here. Even as we clap our hands excitedly and cheer him on, there is a little inward sigh thinking of all that has to be moved up a level to keep it out of reach. We have been preaching to the older boys about keeping their stuff picked up and out of reach for Gabe's safety, now those efforts will be redoubled. Here we go - we have a budding crawler in the house again! I remember the first time Kendrick really took off and we didn't realize he was as good at crawling as he actually was. We went looking for him and found him in the bathroom pulling all of the wipes out of the cannister. We had a good laugh and heaved a sigh of relief that was all he had gotten into. It also made for a good picture. The wipes are currently in the living room, so that one may be recreated without a trip down the hall.

I have two more stories to share, and then i am done for today. First: We received an email and photo from nurse Laura - she delivered a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Over 7 lbs and absolutely beautiful. They named him Jackson Oliver - congrats to Laura, Bob and little Jack. Second: back in the fall we read an obituary for baby Colin from Evansville, born in mid-June. He had died from a heart condition at Riley and we were just sure it was the baby boy of one of the families we had gotten know at Riley. We couldn't remember his last name and the obituary had very few details, aside from what I already posted. I kept thinking it couldn't be him as he had been doing so well the last time I ran into his Dad in the grocery store parking lot, but the facts sure seemed to line up. Today I ran into Colin, Mom and Dad in Target and can't remember the last time I was so happy to see anybody. He had repeat surgery to repair the two holes in his heart back in December and is doing fantastic. He looked great, as did his parents. I told them about the obituary and how happy I was to see them. It doesn't change the fact that another family lost their son, but for a moment I selfishly felt joy and relief for the family we knew. Ok - it is past my bedtime. I have more pictures to post below, but please be patient and give me a day or two. For those of you who print some of the pictures, I will post the two included in this post down below as well.