Faith's Monumental Visit to South Dakota

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When I received my niece, Sydnee's graduation announcement in the mail, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to visit my brother and his family for the first time at their home in Spearfish. I also thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see Mount Rushmore, which I had never seen before!  My nephew in Nebraska was graduating that same weekend, and my sister Dawn and I tried to put together a plan where we could go to both of their graduation receptions. I knew though, that Faith would feel left out and would want to go, too. I also knew it was going to be difficult to find someone to look after Faith over Memorial Day weekend.  Our finalized plan involved Dawn traveling to South Dakota with me and Faith and then her flying to Nebraska by herself. Faith and I would then drive back to Bismarck by ourselves.  3 adventurous travelers  I must admit, as the trip got closer, I started to get a little anxious about how Faith was going to do with so much drivi...
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Growing Girl

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Everywhere we go, people who know Faith comment, "I can't believe how much she's grown this summer." We can't believe it either! We just weighed her the other day, and she weighs 48 pounds. 48 pounds!! 

That's so unbelievable to me as her weight has been an issue for so long but finally, she is starting to fill out more and she even has a roll in her tummy! I also tried to measure her while she was lying down and as far as I could tell, she's about 47 inches tall - almost four feet!

It won't be long before she doesn't fit in this swing anymore!

Rob and I have had to make adjustments in the way that we carry her and bring her from room to room. We have to remember her legs are longer, so we have to sort of turn sideways when we carry her into the bathroom or into her room. Every once in a while, we forget how long she is and bump her feet on the wall or the doorway. This summer we have had to adjust her chair and need to adjust her stander as well.

Just out of curiosity I looked in my baby book to see what my measurements were when I was her age. When I was seven, I only weighed 45 pounds. I was scrawny due to my heart condition. But I was taller than Faith - I was 49 inches tall which made me look really skinny.

While I am thankful Faith is growing, it forces me to think about our future when I may not be able to lift her at all. My cardiologist told me at one time I should probably not lift her when she gets to be 60 pounds or so. At one time 60 pounds seemed a long way off, but not anymore! 

I need to remember to take it one day at a time and to replace anxiety with prayer. God has given me so much strength to enable me to look after my daughter. I know he will continue to give me the strength I need as my daughter continues to be a growing girl.

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