Day 26

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! We don’t have too much going on around here today; Seton is still sleeping so it is pretty quite around our house. Today I would like to pray for Seton’s voice and talking skills. I know… I know he is only 11 months old. J I do not expect him to tell me a story, not yet at least. He is finding new tones in his voice and really enjoys talking to Daddy. I would like to pray that he understands what we are saying so that one day he will be able to have a conversation with us. Right now he does a lot of one syllable grunting and cuing, sometimes he gets a good 2 syllable grunt (ugh-umm) out there especially when he is talking with Zane. He also likes to sing (or make sounds) when I have music on. 

In order to speak, you also have to have good use of your tongue and facial muscles, so please pray for these too.

Here are a few pictures

Sitting in my new high chair

Not enjoying my rice cereal

He was too tired to open his eyes for me

Thanks for your prayers

~Shawna~

¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

 ³¹ Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.³² There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

 ³³ After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him,“Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵ At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

 ³⁶ Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷ People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Mark 7:31-37

Day 25

Today’s prayer request is for Seton’s motor control. He is getting a little bit better at getting his hand up to his mouth, but sometimes it is really hard for him. This morning he kept trying to suck on his hand and he kept hitting and scratching himself on the cheek and the ear instead. Please pray that his motor skills be activated and operated to perfection in every way.

If you don’t mind say an extra prayer for Zane and I that we will fight off these colds that are trying to catch up to us.

Today is MY DAY! So I am off to snuggle with my little sugar bear and watch the snow melt.

~Shawna~

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

¹ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

 ⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”But they remained silent.

 ⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man,“Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Mark 3:1-5

Day 24

As each day comes and we get closer and closer to Seton’s birthday, I am amazed! Amazed that God has blessed us with such an incredible boy, amazed that God chose us to be his parents, amazed that Seton is doing so well, AMAZED! Thank you LORD!

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.                         2 Corinthians 9:15

Today I feel like we should pray for complete healing. Please pray that Seton’s entire body be healed from the top of his head to the tips of toes.

Have a blessed Sunday!

~Shawna~

Day 23

Today our prayer request is sleep, again. Seton has reverted back to on a good night only sleeping for about 45 – 60 minutes without needing attention; on a bad night he needs us every 5-15 minutes. Around Thanksgiving he was sleeping for 5-6 hours without needing attention. He even had one night where we did not touch him for 9 hours. Usually when he wakes up and needs attention he needs one of two things; either he has coughed and needs us to suction his mouth and nose, or he needs to have his clothes changed because his feeding button has leaked and his entire mid section is wet, he very rarely needs his diaper changed at night…thanks to him being big enough for night time diapers! Those are amazing!

When Seton is waking each hour he does not get good rest and is tired all day, so we get to keep a grumpy boy awake all day and does not want to do any of his therapy…which makes it hard to learn new things. Zane and I (and anyone that is helping us) do not get any sleep either. During this cold and flu season, everyone around us is sick or has sick kiddos…we are trying so hard not to get sick again this season and expose Seton to another illness. It is really wearing us down, we need more sleep.

Thank you for your prayers for all of us.

~Shawna~

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.

Psalm 62:1 

Day 22

Today’s prayer request is simple PEACE. This is what my devotional Destined to Reign Devotional by Joseph Prince touched on today. He said that the Hebrew word (Isaiah 53:5) for “peace” means completeness, soundness, health and prosperity. Sounds like something I pray for everyone in my life, especially Seton. I want him to be complete, sound, healthy, and prosper in life or be peaceful in life. Simple but complex all at the same time… So many people wish or hope for these things and who wouldn’t want them, right. The good news is we already have them…they are ours thanks to Jesus dying on the cross. All we have to do is ask for them and accept them. Thank you Lord!

Today we are asking God to give Seton PEACE, to heal his body completely, protect him from other illnesses and take away all his pain.

I pray for PEACE over each one of you and your homes. Have a great weekend!

~Shawna~

But he was pierced by our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

Oh, and if you are looking for a good daily devotional I highly recommend this one.

Destined to Reign Devotional by Joseph Prince

Day 21

Seton is 11 months old today! I honestly can not believe it for many reasons; I was not sure he would still be here; we were told by so many people that he would not be, and it feels like it has only been a few weeks since we were sitting up at BSA waiting on the clock so we could go hold our sweet boy in the NICU. In the past year, we have felt a world of emotions, some I did not even know I was capable of feeling. Now we are planning a Birthday Party for a ONE year old! How exciting!!

Tuesday night I fed Seton some rice cereal for the first time! I do not have his high-chair put together yet, since he obviously has not needed it yet. So I held him in my lap and tried to feed him…it went pretty well for a first time. I am not sure that he ever swallowed any but he did play with it in his mouth and moved his tongue toward the spoon a few times. Seton had it all over his hands and face and I had some on my shoulder, overall not as messy as I was expecting. J Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy I wanted to get his first reaction to the taste…

First taste of Rice Cereal

Today’s prayer request is that his desire to eat by mouth increases and his ability to swallow properly will increase also.  

~Shawna~

Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4

Day 20

Sorry for the delay this morning…Seton woke up at 3:00am this morning and then every 10-15 minutes after that coughing and crying out in pain. Pain that I am guessing is related to teething. So guess what…

We are going to pray for all pain in Seton’s body to be relieved and never return again. Pain that interrupts his sleep and is not relieved by Tylenol or orajel is what bothers me the most because as a mother you feel helpless. All you can do is pray for sweet baby to for the pain to disappear so he calm down and get some good sleep, which I did over and over and over last night. 

Thank you all for your prayers, again sorry this is late and brief this morning I am running on little sleep.

~Shawna~

¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Exodus 14:13-14