Special Day

Jeffrey was baptized in the Presbyterian church but grew up Methodist where infant baptism/christening is the norm. Therefore, Caroline's baptism has been very important to him since she was born. I grew up Southern Baptist and we got "dunked" following a profession of faith at an older age. So, infant baptism was not something I had put a whole lot of thought into until recently (the past 20 or so months). Don't worry- I won't go into a great theological discussion here.

Caroline was baptized in the church we have recently joined, Lawndale Presbyterian, and it was such a special, sweet time. We feel so blessed to have found this church and for Caroline to have the opportunity to grow in her faith in such a place.
Wonderful cake by Kelli Phipps!

Caroline with GiGi & Sassy (she hadn't seen GiGi for a few days, can you tell?)
Papaw and JoJo (Jeffrey's grandparents came to Tupelo for the baptism. We had the best time and loved having them here!!


Caroline with all the men - my dad (Papa), Jeffrey, Pop (Jeff's dad), and Papaw

Caroline Update (19 months in a few paragraphs)

Caroline is 21 months old now. And our little Caroline is a fighter. She has defied the odds that swirled in our heads for months after we heard them and read them on paper - 85-95% chance of severe mental retardation; "will be great if he/she SITS UP BY 3 YEARS OLD;" probability of death. She is alive and well! She has not had a seizure since November 2009, and she is meeting developmental milestones at a great pace. Her fine motor skills and social skills are pretty much on target. Her verbal skills are a little behind, but we are trying to get her ruled into speech therapy. Her greatest challenge is that she does not walk independently at this point...but she is getting closer everyday! She is cruising on furniture and is poised for takeoff!

Now, we do not know what the future holds for her as far as learning challenges, etc., but who does know what the future holds? The Lord has a special plan for His child, and His grace and mercy have been plentiful in ways that we could not have dreamed possible. We were blessed early with two therapists who work weekly with Caroline. Neither usually have openings for new patients, but just the time we needed them, they both had an opening! Isn't that amazing? Both "our" OT and PT are the most patient and loving people I have ever met. Caroline goes through periods of time where she is resistant to therapy, but they work with her through it without one iota of frustration. And many times, Camille or Misty have probably wanted to bill me for a counseling session. They have seen me at some of my most vulnerable times throughout this process. I really think they love her and care for Caroline (they must to deal with me, some of you might be thinking:)!) - see, when I say we are blessed, I do not mean it lightly.

Most importantly, Caroline is happy! She loves to laugh and has the cutest laugh I've ever heard. I am loving watching her explore and learn..and even test her boundaries.

Guess What? I have a blog!

Sometimes I have conversations with myself (usually just in my head and not out loud) and wonder if other people are anywhere near as scatterbrained as I am. I don't even know if scatterbrained is the right word, but whatever the label is, "it" is embarrassing.

Today someone (Aletha Mims, hopefully you won't mind me saying) reminded me that I have a blog. That's right. I had totally forgotten that I had ever started this thing back in 2009. In fact, it had so totally slipped my mind that I was even contemplating starting a (new) blog. All I can say is WOW...and be glad that I do have a blog that I can just pick right back up with.

So much has changed since my last post in August 2009. Caroline was 2 months old and our world had not yet been turned on its head with the diagnosis of Infantile Spasms and the subsequent hospital stay, doctors visits, tests, terrible statistics, prognoses, injections, pills, and month after month of physical and occupational therapy. Oh, I don't like to remember the months where we existed on autopilot and our strength was GONE. The Lord's strength was, indeed, made perfect in our weakness, for there is no other way to explain how someone like me got through such an exacting, gut-wrenching, soul-stripping period of time.

More about how Caroline is doing now (GREAT!) in another post...

One Month Old

Well, when I started this blog, I promised myself that I would be totally honest about all aspects of motherhood. I certainly don't want anyone to think that I am being negative or that I'm not loving being a mom, but I want to being reflective of my experience. I have been so appreciative of the people who have been "real" with me about their mom experiences. It has made me feel more normal (if such a thing exists). With that being said, last night might have been the worst night we've had since Caroline was born. Starting at 2 o'clock, Caroline was wide awake and fussing. The fussing became more and more intense until it was full-on crying. There were moments where my efforts at consoling her seemed to work and she was lulled into a newborn whine, but they were few and far between. Jeffrey woke up at 4:30 a.m. wondering what was going on and tried to help me calm her down by walking her around the house. She did calm down for a few minutes, but, again, it was short-lived. When Jeffrey left for work at 8, I wondered how in the world I was going to make it through the day with a crying baby that I could not help. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. At that time, I thought she would surely go to sleep in the next few minutes or at least hours. Well, at 12:30 p.m. she FINALLY went to sleep with my holding her for about 2 hours. She is now back asleep, but seems to be sleeping pretty restlessly. I keep checking her for fever and other signs of sickness, but she doesn't even seem to be having stomach pain. I'm really at a loss!

She is 1 month old today. She has changed SO much and come so far since her birth. She follows us with her eyes and is so active with her limbs. She holds her head up when she is on her tummy, and she even moves it from one side to the other. Who knew babies did that at such a young age! She loves playing on the play mat she borrowed from Cora Beth and Joseph Sheffield. What a wonderful toy. Right now her favorite toy on the mat is the rattle elephant. She bats it with her hand and smiles and "talks" to it. We spend so much time just watching her.

Out and About

I admit that I'm a bit anxious about getting out with Caroline. We made our first trip by ourselves to my parents' house (Papa and Gigi's) on Tuesday. I was a nervous wreck the entire drive. I didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before stopping to make sure she was okay in her carseat. She just looks so uncomfortable in that thing. Of course, she was fine and we made it without incident. Caroline spent the morning with Gigi so I could run some errands and have lunch with a friend. Then Caroline got to spend time with her cousins, Anna Claire and Summer. I think she was a little overwhelmed with the all the action as she did not really sleep at all during the day. She was restless through the evening, but slept okay that night (thank goodness!).
Today, she and I had another outing - a public one! We went to lunch with Tracy and Ellie, Jennie Bradford, Emily, Leslie, Miley, and Rebecca. She fussed for a little bit until I figured out that she was absolutely burning up in her carseat. I felt like an awful mom, and I'm sure that won't be the last time I'll feel like that. Once I rectified the situation, she was a doll. She just took in the scenery at the restaurant and didn't make a peep. Such a fun time! Earlier that morning, Jeffrey had taken her to work so I could go to a new member meeting for Tupelo Woman's Club. He said she slept the entire time, so he was able to get almost an hour of work done. She has definitely had a full day!

Welcome to the World Baby Girl!

Caroline Whitley Strunk was born on July 7th, 2009. We were so excited to finally meet her! I didn't get to meet her until the 8th because of the complications she suffered as a result of the traumatic birth she experienced. I'm sure I'll post more about that later, but for now I'll leave it at that. She will be one month old this Friday. We've loved every minute of her being here - even the hours she's spent screaming. Who knew a tiny little thing could scream SO loud? Thank goodness for us and for her, she is usually happy (or sleeping/eating). She is the most beautiful baby we've ever seen!