BIG NEWS

My nephew Justin asked Jesus into his heart last night! We are very excited! (Jordan the bear asked Jesus into his heart too just for the record).
Justin is now on a mission to share the love of Jesus with all his unsaved friends so they can know Jesus too!

We Rejoice!

Elia Jane: 3 Weeks Old

Elia was three weeks old yesterday! She is our joy and our delight! Our thanks to all of you for welcoming her home with love! We are excited that Elia will be meeting both sets of grandparents in the next two weeks!

Foot Rubs

Elia receives her first foot rub from Taylor, the master foot rubber in the house.

Prayer Room Outing

Word cannot explain how it feels to walk in the prayer room with a newborn, knowing that this is the environment that she will come to know and love. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to raise a little one here in this place. Last night the set was a "Worship with the Word" and there was a sweet presence of the Lord. Elia was so content and so peaceful. She only let out one squalk, and that of course was in a moment of silence in the room!

Meet the Cousins

Elia's first outing to visit her Kansas City Cousins!

New Pants from Nana

Sorry Nana, I love the pants, but they are a little too big still!
Love,
Elia Jane

Happier than Words Can Express

The Cloud Family of LAHOP

We were so blessed to meet Rick and Cyndi Cloud of Monroe, LA who hosted us our last few nights in Louisiana. Along with their daughters, Jennifer and Julie, and Jennifer's fiance Francois, they run LAHOP.

We are honored to call them friends!

Falling In Love with Elia

We're HOME!

Photos to follow I promise!
Just a quick note to let you all know we arrived home this morning at 1;30AM. The kids were wide awake awaiting the arrival of their baby sister. They are smitten! We were up til 3AM loving on Elia. Isabelle gave her 2AM feeding. I'm pretty sure that was a once only thing, but it sure was fun!

She was greeted this morning by three happy siblings who took turns feeding her, burping her, bathing her, and just plain gazing upon her beauty! John and I are grateful for our two weeks of bonding time, because the kids are having their turn now! And we are loving every minute of it!

Elia by the way will be on INSIDE EDITION tonight at 6:30PM (central time).

LAHOP

We made it to LAHOP in Monroe, LA yesterday early afternoon! We are so blessed to be resting here in the presence of God. LAHOP is run by Rick and Cyndi Cloud and their daughters Jennifer and Julie. They purchased a small house a few blocks from their own where the house of prayer resides. Whether through live worship sets, recorded music, or the KC-IHOP webcast, LAHOP maintains the sweet presence of the Lord 24/7. We are blessed to be sleeping in a lovely bedroom just off of the prayer room.

As I write, John is playing a set and Elia is sitting at his feet in her car seat soaking up the beauty and goodness of the Lord. Last night John played awhile before bed. I was giving Elia her bottle in the PR just before he sat down to sing. The minute he started playing/singing, she pulled away from her bottle and turned her head wide eyed to listen to her daddy.

What an honor it is to be resting here today! We long to return home to Nick, Taylor, and Isabelle who are eagerly waiting to meet their new sister, but we are blessed to be waiting her at LAHOP. God is so good!

Baby's Day Out

Elia is out of the hospital! We were discharged bright and early, before lunch! Her first day out was full... nap with mom and dad, bath time, and dinner out! We're all about to crash now and enjoy a quiet evening and the first of many "interrupted sleeps"! Blessings to you all for following our journey.

We're headed to Monroe, LA to LAHOP, Louisiana House of Prayer, where we will actually get to stay at "the house of prayer" (it's housed in a home that has bedrooms available for guests!" Pretty cool

We may not have the opportunity to blog again til we get home! Pray our paperwork comes back so that we can travel home with our little bundle on Monday!

Big Day for the Little Lady

Big News #1: Our little lady will get discharged on Saturday morning! Yippee!!! We are so excited. We still have to remain in Louisiana however until our paperwork goes through allowing us to leave the state. Pray that it goes quickly!!! Elia is very healthy and very happy! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!




Big News #2: We just happened to be in the NICU tonight when "INSIDE EDITION" was on the floor doing a story on the 13 nurses on the unit that are all expecting babies! They needed a "baby" to be in one of the shots, and Miss Elia Jane got to star in her first performance! We'll be sure to let you know when the story airs!

Bath Time

Today we got moved to a "Growing Up" room. We now have a window and can pretty much just do with our girl as we please! We even had her all unhooked from her monitors for about an hour tonight to give her a bath and her bottle and enjoy her "unplugged". And yes, I know I look tired. I am! Happy and Tired!

Elia Jane is One Week Old Today!

Quick Update with Pictures to Come

Thank you to everyone for their prayers for Elia. She had a terrific day today. The doctor said that if all continues to go well, she'll take her "Car Seat Challenge" again on Friday. (For those of you not aware, Miss Elia failed her first Car Seat Challenge on Sunday).... It's much like the Driver's Test, and she does get a retake!!! Basically she has to be a good girl and sit in her car seat for 2 hours without having her heartrate or breathing rate dip! Pray for the little darlin! It's a test I'm sure none of us would want to take!!!!

Anyway, if she does well, she will graduate! Saturday evening then we (momma and daddy) will stay in the "Rooming In" suite, with Elia overnight at the hospital. We'll have nurses available for questions should we need them, but it's basically just to ease the minds of parents bring home children from the NICU!

If the adoption paper work has made it's way from MO to LA by then, we'll be able to leave the state, and should be home on Monday afternoon!

Love to all of you!
Off to give the little miss her bath and bedtime bottle. We'll be back with pictures!

For Isabelle and Elia

Isabelle,
We found Easter dresses for you and Elia today! What do you think darlin'?
You'll both look so pretty!



For those of you who haven't caught on yet, PINK is not Isabelle's favorite color, and she's having a fit that I'm dressing Elia in PINK!

Just for Isabelle

Doesn't she look pretty in pink?

Five Days Old

We finally found a hat that fit the tiny girl's head!

Elia has been officially diagnosed with severe reflux. She is on two medications that should help eleviate her symptoms. She has to have several "good days" where the reflux doesn't cause her oxygen level and heart rate to dip before she can be discharged. Please pray for complete healing!

Four Days Old