Well Check

Happy Sunday everyone! :-) This has been another great week in the life of Sophia :-) She was getting over her cold ... so it was not an easy week ... but it was definitely better than some :-) We got another week of smiles and Sophie giggles and snuggles so we are very happy :-)

Sophia had her first "well check" this week! How nice to go to the doctor, not because she is struggling, but because she lived long enough to need a once-a-year well check! We are happy to report that Sophia is in the 99th percentile for height and the 30th percentile for weight! This is an amazing feat. She's even beating her big brother Max on the charts! Considering most of these kiddos are never even on the chart, this is amazing :-)

Sophia's Family Life This Week...

Jonah on his mission...

Snuggles with Dad (cool thing about this picture, when I pulled out my phone, she smiled intentionally! I didn't even tell her to, she just knew what to do! She's getting so smart!)

Michael and Sarah off to school one morning...

Cool thing about this picture? Sophia has had to wear oxygen all week and she's been ripping it out 100 times a day :-) Which is cool because it's intentional! She has to work extra hard to make intentional movements in between the movements she can't control. But she's persistent and she doesn't give up until she grabs it! :-) Here I captured her working at it....

Sophie and cousin Lucy...

Tickling Sophie...

Thank you's this week:

-Thank you to everyone who reads my blog because we can feel your support and your thoughts and your prayers :-) 

-To my dad for holding Sophia for 3 hours when she was sick, while I took a break :-) 

-To my mom for cleaning my sink :-) 

-To my Step Dad and BIL for helping my husband with the sprinkler line :-) 

-To my mother-in-law for the beautiful Easter outfits :-) 

-To my sister Ahna for watching my kids while I took Sophia to her well check :-) 

-To a phenomenal pediatrician who is so intelligent and understanding. 

-To a great Bishop who gives great advice :-) -To our friends and family for being understanding when we are flaky or have to cancel :-)

-And especially to my husband and children for their patience and love ;-)

Ha! I almost screwed up the first week and forgot to write! Sophia caught the common cold again and it has knocked us off our feet. She's over the worst of it now and we kept her out of the hospital this time. But we are pretty tired ;-) Someone posted this to my group today and I liked it...

 This is what we woke up to this morning. It was beautiful, and totally gone by the time we got home from church.

 Silly Sunday.....

 Sophie on a better day this week. Also, today she actually brought something up to her mouth!

This Time a Year Ago

I expected when Sophia's birthday rolled around I might feel some depression as I remembered this time last year. I anticipated and made room for some possibly sad feelings. So I was surprised when I felt only a few fleeting ones.

I do remember but I don't feel it the same.  This time a year ago we were getting used to a totally new and unexpected life. We were all grieving the loss of a healthy baby sister. I remember the sad little thoughts. It seemed every simple decision had a very heavy connotation. I remember, but it doesn't hurt anymore like it did.

I remember buying Butt Paste for example.  I remember wondering if I should get the big tub or the smaller tube. I made a conscious decision to be optimistic and got the tub. But there was an an underlying pang of wonder. Would we need the whole thing? Well guess what?! We just ran out this morning!!!

Everything has been going so well. We are all doing well and so is Sophia. Life is different than expected, but happy. There is joy in our journey.

https://youtu.be/RiZ3aZQyqx4
(or you tube Sophia Jane-Marie Rasberries)

Writing helps me process my emotions. I hope it's helped people out there who have also been affected by our situation.  I don't feel the need process daily anymore so I will plan to post every Sunday to keep everyone updated ;-) Thank you so much to my kind friends and family who read my blog. I have been so touched by it.

The PCH community ended up losing 3 angel baby's this week. It's a reminder to soak in Sophia every day. I held her a little tighter and spent some extra time kissing her face this week.

Fly high little dragonflies...

Signing off until next Sunday. See you all next week!

Poor little Chase is gone. He's home with Heavenly Father now. He was only home a few hours, he opened his eyes, he smiled, and he was gone. I appreciate your prayers for him. I know they were answered because his mother said she feels "so at peace". I believe Chase is OK now. It is his family that will need continued peace in the coming weeks, months, and years. I'm sure a few more prayers would be appreciated if you don't mind ;-)

Although the good certainly outweighs the bad, I always knew this would be the hardest part of being in a support group. Sweet Chase touched my heart with the pictures and videos his mom shared. Especially bc his beautiful eyelashes remind me of Sophia's. Seeing these kids go makes for a hard day emotionally. Especially in cases like his bc he was otherwise healthy. He wasn't degenerating yet. He just got sick. It brings to the surface my own daughter's mortality. And mine too. However I believe that we are each here to do an appointed work. And our days will not be numbered less.


D&C 122:7-9

".....all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than He? ..... Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore fear not ..... for God shall be with you forever and ever."

Hope for Chase

Please pray for Chase. He's been brought home from the hospital is being put on hospice. I suck at making links so you'll have to copy and paste this into your browser to see it but it's worth it. It's a beautiful video that teaches about PCH.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10213501447824948&id=1063926017

It also corroborates why I'm such a Nazi about germs ;-)

Movie Night

Used the nurse and took these kids out to the movies tonight. It's good to take a break. These kids have made a lot of sacrifices this year. All for a good cause though ;-)

Sophia's Birthday

It was a very special day. A day that wasn't supposed to happen. Sophia had a birthday. Everyone stayed home to celebrate. We started with family breakfast.

Then we spent the day putting up decorations and making cake :-) Max picked out her cake, chocolate cake and strawberry frosting :-) Sarah picked the decorations :-) and Michael and Sarah made a slideshow of her first year :-)

 We ended the night with cake before bed haha ;-) Sophie doesn't like it when we put anything in her mouth, but she did tolerate a tiny smear of frosting on her toothbrush :-)