A year of awesome...

A year ago today we were anxious, scared, excited, worried...basically full of every single emotion you have when you go to deliver a baby, but dialed up about 100 times.  We didn't know for sure if Ollie Faith had Down Syndrome & we didn't know for sure how bad her heart truly was & what kind of hospital stay was ahead of us.  And trust me we tried to pray all of the above away - we asked for a big miracle.  We received an even bigger one.

She was born February 10th at 8:23 PM weighing in at 7 pounds 10.8 ounces and 20 inches long.  She was much larger than her anticipated size of 5 1/2 pounds.  Further proof that multiple ultrasounds are never 100% accurate.

We took her home on Valentine's day.  She had a longer hospital stay because of jaundice, but we finally brought her home waiting for heart failure to kick in.  She did have the bonus chromosome & her heart defect was certainly present - the ultrasounds did have those parts right.

She was perfect & even more perfect was our family together again & Aubrie and Everett loving on their baby sister.

In March she was in full blown heart failure, but oh her personality certainly out shined any medical issues she had.

In April we celebrated Easter & the love that Jesus has for us.  Church was always our safe haven when the nerves took over facing open heart surgery.  Oh how we love our church and thank God daily for putting it in our lives.

In May we snuggled a lot & prepared for open heart surgery.  I cried a lot too.

We passed out 3,000 prayer cards - they were all over the nation, in various countries too, & spread like wildfire through our community.  Everyone loved on Ollie Faith & us.  The prayers were overwhelming & gave us strength during some very tough days filled with worry.

I took lots of pictures of that sweet scarless chest before.

June 9th she had open heart surgery.  Words can't describe the feelings we had that day or leading up to it.  It was hard, but it was worth it.  She was worth it.

Holding her for the first time on day 3 was just as good as the day she was born, probably even better.

After we went home on day 5, life has been wonderful.  

We celebrate every milestone in a big way.

We slow down and savor the kisses, hugs, and smiles.

We soak up our little girl also known as Tiny.  She is a ray of sunshine in our home.

We used to fear the unknown.  We used to fear Down Syndrome.

Now we know Ollie is a baby, and she just happens to rock an extra chromosome.  We also have gained a new community of friends with families and kiddos just like ours - it's fantastic!

She decided her personality was just too big for 46 chromosomes, so God went all out and gave her a little extra.

and that extra has made all the difference in our lives!

So today we celebrate what has most definitely been one of the craziest roller coasters of our lives.  We had our hands up on the way down screaming all the way, and when we pulled into the station, we had big smiles on our face & proclaimed that was one awesome ride.

We have now walked the walk..  And we can most definitely say our life has been blessed in the biggest ways.  Thank you God for this little girl!  She is going to change everyone she meets for the better & she started with our family of 5 first.

And thank you friends - thank you for the cards, love, support, and most of all prayers.  We couldn't have went through this journey without you & you truly mean the world to our family!!  Thank you time and time again!!

Stay tuned - birthday party post will be up in a few days - tonight we are living high on life like hogs on cabbage!  There is birthday cake being served tonight!!