my big girl :)

I know I know, I've been slacking in the blog department, forgive me! :) We have been very busy the past few weeks visiting Georgia and sleeping in our own beds! The trip home was lovely, as always. Naysa and I took a red eye leaving San Diego at 10:45 and arriving in Atlanta around 6:00am. I was nervous to fly alone with her, let alone through the night but she did wonderfully :)She slept most of the time and was all smiles when she was awake. We spent the weekend in the mountains with my parents, grandparents and brother. Needless to say Naysa was not short on attention! Sunday I took Naysa to my grandparents church in the mountains as they have all been praying for her since we learned of her encephalocele back in November. It was the first time she has been in one and her love of the hymns tells me it won't be her last! As the preacher took the stage and told us to turn our bibles to Mark 4:38, I continued to read on until I froze upon 4:39. "And he arose , and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace , be still . And the wind ceased , and there was a great calm." Peace, be still...these are the words my mom and I would repeat to ourselves over and over when I was pregnant and we would get overwhelmed about her condition. Even now I say this when I begin to worry about her development or future. I am beginning to believe there is no such thing as coincidence. For us to go to church that day, her first attendance and to have that verse before my eyes..I have no words. I closed my eyes, held her close and thanked God she was here for me to do so. I always love going home. It's funny how much you change over time, a few years ago I couldn't get out of Georgia fast enough, now I count down the days until our next visit. There is something so peaceful and safe about being 'back home'. Not just my family and the town I know like the back of my hand, but the scenery. The lush green trees, the rain, the southern hospitality I've missed. I am so happy that we will only be in San Diego for three years and that Naysa will not have to grow up here, but sad that I don't know where she will! I hope that our moving every few years will not cause a stressful childhood for her. This lifestyle is not for the faint of heart and I hope I am able to give her the strength and tools she will need for it. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. We had a nice visit with friends and family :) There were a lot of people that got to meet her for the first time and to see the love they had for her only through posts and pictures overjoyed my heart. These wonderful people that have hoped, wished and prayed for her were brought to tears when they first looked upon her sweet face..a true miracle, right before their eyes! I felt such a sense of pride of being able to say I am the mother of someone so incredible. Thank you to everyone for your sweet words and genuine love, you will never know how much it means to have such a strong support system. Now for some Naysa updates :) She can roll over! Her arm still gets a little stuck under her belly but she is completely on her tummy and we're working on the arm. She had her first 'solids' when we were visiting and she loved it! My grandma swears she heard Naysa 'say' "nice!" when she was eating some bananas, lol. She is doing SO well on tummy time and lifting her head, a few more seconds each time. We recently had an OT appointment and the therapist said she is very happy with where she is considering all she's been through and has immense hope for the months to come :) She said her core and legs are strong as can be but we need to work on getting her to push up on her arms and gave us some exercises to do at home a few times a day, hopefully soon she will be doing that too! Last night we decided it's time for her to sleep in her own room. We did her normal bedtime routine but instead of the bassinet in our room she went to her crib. She semi woke up around 10, realizing we weren't near and got a little upset but nothing a binky couldn't fix ;) She woke up again at 12:30 crying and pulling her legs into her chest so I pumped them and burped her and solved that little gas problem then she slept the rest of the night until her normal 6:30am feeding! I think that went pretty smoothly for a first night and hoping it continues to get better as we go. I'm having an internal battle about her crib bumpers though. On one hand, I feel I should just take them out but on the other hand I don't want her to bump her head, get arms and legs stuck, etc. She is hooked up to her monitor so it will alarm if she stops breathing or her heart rate drops and the baby monitor is on my nightstand but still! I've seen the mesh bumpers and those could be a good alternative for the arms and legs portion but what about the head bumps? Anyone have advice or solutions? :)