Our family

Boy has our world changed. It is amazing how one little girl can completely flip our world upside down. God has brought K into our lives and I am thankful every day for the opportunity to be her mother. Parenthood is definitely not easy, but I highly recommend it to anyone! She is a blessing from heaven and I can't imagine what my life was like before she was put in it. Hopefully, we will be getting a better picture than this, but it is rather hard to get to a photographer for some strange reason. Thank you again for the prayers. God has given us a miracle and we are just amazed that we were chosen for this awesome adventure.

More Pics

K Hanging Out With Mamma G

Here she is hanging out with Mamma G while wearing a brand new outfit from Grandaddy & Grandmom (Name pending). Have you ever noticed that the first grandchild of each family decides what the grandparents will be called? For this reason we will wait to see what K is going to call Grandaddy & Grandmom.

Uncle Eric and our little rose

As you can clearly see, Uncle Eric was a great hit with K. He truly has the magic touch when it comes to knocking out K. They enjoyed snuggling quite a bit this week and I know that she will miss sleeping on him during the day. I have a sneaky suspicion that Uncle Eric will miss her more.

mamma and pappa g

Mamma and Pappa G are bonding with K. They are obviously in love. Who wouldn't be?

Daddy and the girls

Nate and the girls are enjoying a naptime. T and K snuggle up to daddy and he obviously loves every minute of it. Of course, he also enjoyed the naptime as well.

Mommy's words

Today I am going to attempt to blog. Never done this before so we will see what happens. K is a wonderful baby girl, as many of you have already seen. She is the light of our lives and I don't know how we ever did without her. The sleepless nights and the crazy schedules are worth it when she smiles and makes her little chirping noises. She is my baby bird (she makes an adorable bird face when she is hungry). God has given us a gift and no matter what is down the road I know that He will provide us with the strength to stand. His providence is the reason we are able to say that it will be well with our souls. Your prayers and comments have provided both Nate and myself with inspiration and encouragement. This is a trying time, but we are enjoying the joys of parenthood. This site has been an outlet and we plan to continue sharing our story and our adorable pictures with you. May God bless each of you today and know that He does give strength to those who are His own.

Some More K Pics

Pic of K

Here is K getting ready to go to the surgeon yesterday. Isn't she cute as a button. Christa and I love the little hat she is wearing. She is so tiny we had to borrow some premie clothing from our neighbor across the street. As you can see in the picture, it is even big on her. One of the favorite things we are borrowing is the pink hat with the two knots on top.

Update on K

We went to the surgeon today at Northside. The picture above is K after we got home about 7:30. She is worn out from all of the happenings. I wanted to let everyone know what the surgeon had to say about K's right forearm and hand.

1. She has in fact suffered from Amniotic Band Syndrome.
2. The band is still wrapped around her right forearm and will need to be removed in two stages. The first is to remove half of the band and graft skin in the place where it is. This will take place in six months barring any unforeseen complications. The second is to remove the second half of the band in another surgery three to four months after the first surgery.
3. The damage from the amniotic band is extensive and leaves little to no hope of reconstruction barring a miracle (which God can do). There is a part of the wrist that showed up in the x-ray, but the hand and all the bones we can feel in her hand are nothing more than cartilage and likely will never be anything more than that. She has no motor skills with her wrist or her fingers. Her fingers are fused to her palm and this is good because it will prevent infection from happening in her hand.
4. There is a good possibility that at some point in the next year and a half that she may have to have her forearm amputated.
5. If she has to have her forearm amputated she will be fitted with an artificial arm. The great news is that technology is advancing quickly and there are arms that have been developed in labs that have working fingers that run off of the very same process as our natural limbs do. He told me that it is not quite as fancy as the ones seen in Star Wars (like the one Luke Skywalker had), but the function is much greater than what is currently available. These will be available somewhere within the next five to fifteen years.

K handled the doctor well. She had to have some x-rays taken and I went with her for that. It was something that was not pleasant because I had to hold her down for that. She seemed to enjoy the car ride to Northside because she slept the WHOLE time. It was great! Now she is plum tuckered out from all of the excitement and sleeping even more.

Now about Christa and I. We are doing well. We are actually surprised about how well we are doing. We thought it would be much more difficult for us to handle the news of today, but we had tried to prepare ourselves for the worse case scenario. We have learned several things that we noted earlier when discussing today.
1. K will never know the difference of having a hand and we are very thankful for that.
2. Mom and Dad have already learned so much from this beautiful little girl and she is only four days old. We look forward to everything that she is going to teach us over a greater period of time.
3. K will be a stronger person in the long run by going through all of what she will have to experience.
4. We can see how God is using her to change our lives and we know that God will do the same through her to others. It seems to us that this is part of God's plan. He has made clear to us that He is in control and He does have a plan. We have a great peace in this. I truly believe that God is going to be able to use this situation for not only us to share the love of Jesus Christ but for her to do the same in the future.
5. We don't know that we have ever been better than we are at the present time. We truly have peace that surpasses all understanding. We thank Jesus for that because without Him we could not have the peace that we do in the midst of this situation.

Well, I had better go. Thank you for all of your prayers.

In Christ Jesus,
Nate

My Own Thinker

The Joy of Parenthood

Well, K is such a doll. Parenthood is a great thing. I never knew how deep the emotions and love for a child could be. I am currently watching her sleep in her swing and it is very cute. She is sleeping peacefully (Witch after the past two nights is a tremendous blessing). I was able to catch a few winks earlier so I have now put myself on baby duty so I can enjoy some good q/t with my baby girl.

I am looking forward to the meeting with the surgeon tomorrow, but I am not expecting any miracles. I tend to do this so that I don't get my hopes let down. I try to prepair for the worst and hope for the best. I know everything is going to be okay so I am trying not to think about it too much until we speak with the surgeon. The more I have read I am encouraged about K not having an abnormal life because of her forearm and hand, but it is still not easy for dad to deal with (or mom for that matter). Hearing from so many friends from all over has helped out a lot. You never know how many people truly care for you until a trial comes into your life. We know we are loved and so is K.

I have to be careful in how much I classify K's arm and hand as a trial. Please don't read into my statements about it being a trial as her being some sort of letdown or burden. She is by no means either. I am so full of joy and love. I am so excited about my daughter and the more I live through the experiance of Kendall and her unique arm I become more excited about what life will bring to her. I have the utmost confidence that God is going to use her in some great ways. I believe she will be stronger for it. I know some things in life will not be as easy, but I also know that God is going to carry her through those times. In many ways I have gone from asking God why to thanking Him for this opportunity to be appart of K's life. All one really has to do to find themselves doing the same thing is hold her for a few miniutes, watch her face, and look into her eyes. I look forward to raising her .

Gotta go! K is hungry and I need to wake up mommy.

Some More of K and Dad

Some Pictures Of K

It Was Inevitable

We knew it would only be a matter of time. Kendall found her thumb. It is so cute to watch her.

Appointment with Surgeon

We are going to a hand surgeon on Friday afternoon in Northside to find out more information on K's condition. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Trusting God Through the Hardships of Life

A couple months ago I preached a sermon entitled "Trusting God Through the Hardships of Life." It was focused on Job 13:15 and the life of Job. I have walked through some tough situations and walked alongside many as they go through the hardships of life. Job states in 13:15 "though He slay me, I will trust in Him." What an example for us! I shared with my church that we must trust God through whatever situation we encounter because He is in control. I have never really struggled with enacting this principle in my life (at least since I have known Jesus), but I had never faced some of the tougher hardships of life personally as many others do each day. I was reminded of this last week.

This past week I went to www.desiringgod.org, the website for the ministry of John Piper. I had not visited the site in a few weeks and the first thing I noticed was an announcement about John Piper being diagnosed with prostate cancer. I read it and was unable to finish it without having tears run from my eyes. I was astonished with how fully John Piper is trusting God through his current hardship in life and the example that he is setting. The thought that came to my mind was that I hope I will do the same if I ever find myself in those shoes.

I do not find myself in shoes like those of John Piper or Job, but over the past two days I have found myself facing the toughest hardship I have ever faced in my life. It is a crazy mix of emotions for both Christa and I as we have been greatly blessed with a beautiful baby girl, but have found in her what very well may be the greatest lesson of our lives. We must trust God and not lean on our own strength, our own understanding, or anyone else's. The reason for this is that our beautiful girl was born and we have learned that she has suffered from Amniotic Band Syndrome. Her right forearm and hand are maldeveloped and we do not know what will be able to be done. She is truly beautiful and is very healthy. She is a great baby who eats and goes to sleep without a fuss!

Christa and I find ourselves in a great hardship of life. We have a beautiful baby girl who we could not possibly love any more than we do and we find ourselves helpless. Mom and dad cannot protect her from this. Mom and dad cannot fix it and make it better. As Christa's mom has said, I am a fix-it man and I cannot fix it. We cannot protect her from this. It is out of our hands. We can only take her to doctors and see what they can do. While there is promise because K's forearm and hand do have some bone structure and there is good circulation, there is the anticipation that she will never have a normal functioning right arm and hand (these are the assumptions of an ignorant parent). For parents who love their child the pain that is felt cannot be expressed. In many ways we do not know how to deal with the pain, emotions, fears, and everything else that comes with this situation. Probably the toughest aspect for both Christa and I to handle is the uncertainty in which we find ourselves. There is a great fear of what we do not know. Our lives have been turned upside down.

So, we find ourselves facing uncertainty and falling on our faces in prayer. We cry with joy and thanksgiving while we also cry from heartache for our baby and fear. Our trust is placed in Jesus. Only He is sovereign. Only He can give us what we need. Only He can protect K from this cruel world. Only He can give the doctors the ability to help with her arm and hand. Only God. In Him we place our trust as we once again have found out that we are truly inadequate. We know He does have a sovereign plan that works together for the good of those who love Him. What we must do is learn what God wants us to learn. We must look to His purpose rather than our worldly desires. John Piper said in regard to his cancer:

"This news has, of course, been good for me. The most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stupor of worldliness. The news of cancer has a wonderfully blasting effect on both. I thank God for that. The times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet."

Everything happens for a purpose and for the good of those who love Him. Our trust, hope, and faith are placed in this. While we do not understand why things happen the way they do, we are thankful for them. We could not love our K any more and we are so thankful that the Lord has entrusted her to us for the purpose of raising her in the truth and ways of our Lord and Savior. While I look at her and watch her peacfully sleep I know that in ways she will teach Christa and I more than we will ever be able to teach her. What a precious gift she is! As I look at her it rings true that in these times with Christ in these days have been unusually sweet in regard to our self-reliance and the stupor of our worldliness.

Please be in prayer for our family as we seek the Lord's will and seek to walk through this hardship in faith. It is not easy, but we know He will lead, guide and provide every step of the way.

In Christ Jesus,

Nate

My Little Girl

So Cute!

Home

We have made it home. Still tired. K was welcomed by T (our dog). T was very excited so she seems to not mind having a baby in the house. We are very glad because we could not imagine having to get rid of T. K is sleeping well and did not seem to mind the car ride home. She also likes her swing. That is a blessing because she went right to sleep when put in it.

Such a beautiful girl

Mom and baby are doing well. We are all tired and hopefully going to get some rest. Thankfully, Grandpa and Grandma W are here to help take care of K. They arrived at the hospital an hour and a half after K was born. They are such a great help, encouragement and we are so thankful that they are here.

Welcome Our Little Rose

Well, KRG was born on January 16 at 12:19 am. She is a beautiful baby girl who weighs 5lbs 15oz. She is 18 3/4 in long. So beautiful! See.