How God healed Niah and continues to use her

At Niah's 6 month well check up, I brought to my doctor's attention how I could not feel Niah's soft spot. She checked and said it was very small and that was a concern if all of Niah's soft spots were closed. She immediately scheduled a cat scan. Just 2 weeks later we were taking Niah to get the scan and yes it is a very scary thing to even think you have to do a test like this on your child. That night I headed to Springfield with Matthew for a healing conference held by Randy Clark and Bill Johnson. I held my baby girl in my hands and sang through worship praying that everything would be ok. The next day we went to one of the classes on healing and Bill Johnson said lets pray for healing in kids for illness affecting their brain. I held Niah in my hands and just began crying out to the Lord for Niah's head that if anything was wrong that He would fix it. I felt such a peace after that prayer.

We got the cat scan results back and were told all of her soft spots and one of her 4 suture was closed. We got referred to a pediatric neurologist and a plastic surgeon. The neurologist look at the ct scan and told us that when a suture closes it can prevent the brain from growing, cause swelling, and stunt her developmentally. She said she wanted us to see the plastic surgeon and come back in 2 weeks. The plastic surgeon appt. started with a resident coming in saying the suture was closed and usually results in surgery but the doctor would be in to talk to us. Fear came over me, this was my baby and surgery on her skull involving literally sawing her skull apart. The dr. came in and told us, this is the only suture that can close and not necessarily have to have surgery (immediately it was like God said I am in control, prayer answer #1). He was concerned how her head was already growing at a point in the front. He said that it would be based on how her head shape was, how it grew, and her development.

These are Niah's actual CT scans

The first one shows how the suture down her forehead has closed and how the suture following your hairline is starting to close

The next 2 pictures show how her skull is starting to grow at a point or triangle due to the suture closing. You can also see how small her soft spot is where the sutures meet

This last one shows how the back sutures are very defined

These last 2 pictures are what a babies head should look like with all 4 sutures and fontanels (soft spots)

We started making the drive to Columbia about every 3 weeks which is an hour drive. On the 3rd appt. the drs. were alarmed because her head growth had stopped she was not staying in the 12% she was in for head circumference and had dropped down below the 8%. We were just needing her head to grow a cm every 3 weeks and it was behind 2 cm. They wanted us to do another ct scan. I remembered how much Niah hated the scan and I really didn't want her to go through that again so I asked the dr if we could wait through 2 more appts and see what happens. They reluctantly agreed and I felt a peace about my proposal. After the 2nd appt (6 weeks), Niah's head circumference not only grew but she was in the 14% so it grew more than they needed. (God answered our prayers) Still going to see the Drs. for checkups about every 3 weeks, she stayed right on target with her head growth. They finally said why don't you come back in 4 weeks instead of 3. Then after 4 weeks they said why don't you come back in 6 weeks instead of 4. At that appt. they said why don't we just watch her growth on her head when your primary dr. measures it at her well check ups.

Instantly I felt God say it is done! He promised me over 8 months ago that he was going to heal her at that conference we went to right after her ct scan and now the drs are telling me there is no reason for them to keep seeing her. All I can think the whole time going through this even though I was scared was I am so glad I serve a God that is bigger than this!!

Now being released from the drs. for 3 or 4 months just last week, I was at a mall letting Niah play in the mall play area. I started talking to a mom that had a son just a couple months older than Niah. With in 5 minutes she was telling me how the drs. believe one of her son's sutures may be closed and could cause developmental problems. She had no idea I have been there and I saw the exact same drs. as her. I immediately began to share about Niah and let her pour her concerns to me. Her son had not yet had a ct scan and I was able to leave her with God is bigger than this and I would be praying that ct scan showed everything was ok with her son and that his suture was open. I have prayed for that little boy and mom everyday and I am believing that he is healed. I may never see that mom again but I know my God is bigger. I love not only how God heals but how he uses healing to reach out to other people.

Here is my sweet little girl!!

Faith Booster.... God always provides!!

I know that God always provides and I trust Him to help me with almost every big purchase, to make the right decision. I do not want to take for grant it the little things (that are actually huge for me), I love the little things.

I will start with my car. I bought a new car in 2008 (it was a year old) and it was only a year old. We have not had any mechanical issues and have put very little money into it since I got it (which is a blessing in its self) but in Jan. of this year Matthew realized some pretty bad rust in the body. He told me a car is not worth anything if it has rust. Well come to find out cars have a 5 year rust warranty, which neither of us knew. Perfect right, no my car was 16 days out of warranty when we took it to the dealership. The dealership filed a claim with Nissan and they said, sorry we can't honor. I called, nissan and they said sorry I can't honor it. A little stressed about the 4,000 it would cost to fix, Matthew and I prayed about it. I just couldn't let it go, 16 DAYS out of warranty. I decided to start a claim on the BBB. Before, I could even get all the papers signed and back to the BBB, Nissan saw the claim was filed and called me. Nissan not only fixed my car, detailed it, but provided a rental and we didn't spend a penny. That was HUGE, God worked, and saved us 4,000 that we didn't really have. God is not done answering my prayers on my car yet. Currently, I took my car to get my tires rotated and the car aligned. The guy tells me it is almost time for new tires, and I call the Husband (the expert in this field) and say hey they say the tires are worn. The tires were just bought at the beginning of the year with less than 12,000 miles on them. So we ask are they evenly worn, and the man replies yes. We explain how new they are and he says go back to the place you bought them. We bought them online and with some very frustrating moments we find the purchase and talk to the company. The company says call the tire company directly, the tire company say the company you bought them from. Finally, the company we bought them in says, "Send your tires in to us." What buy new tires and mail our tires in, I DO NOT THINK SO. I prayed about it and decided to call the tire company one more time. That was it a case was open and we just had to go to a local dealer. Total savings $700!!

Those are really big things that were huge savings in our lives that God blessed us and gave us favor but there are a million other things.

Today, in fact I sold a bag of my old clothes on craigslist for $45 and then went into the store and bought Niah some winter clothes (she may have not needed all of it but she will look so cute). Total price for the 7 items I bought $50. The great thing was that I had $5 dollars that I found in my pocket! I really always pray before I go to the mall for favor, wisdom in shopping, and great sales. It always works!!

A very small thing that happened the other day that was such a blessing was that I needed to go to the store and it was pouring down rain while I was in town, as soon as I pulled in a car right next to the door pulled out. All mother's that have kids in car seats know what a huge thing that is, to just have to make a small little jot to the door instead of crossing the whole parking lot while caring a baby in the rain.

A huge thing to me maybe not so big to others that I am so thankful for is my child has never had a fever or has been sick except for some minor runny noses (due to teething, I think).

I will not bore you with any more stories but I will tell you how incredibly thankful I am for God's blessings everyday.

I believe that as my husband and I give, God gives back. And I am so completely grateful for His blessings. Some may think this is so cliche to say but I am writing it because I honestly believe that and see it in my life every day.

17 Months and 24 weeks

This week Niah is 17 months old! She is so funny and full of energy. Some of her favorite things to do is cook, "organize" papers, and be outside. Her favorite toys are her kitchen, her car, baby dolls, purses and the golf cart. Her favorite playmate is Kyah (her cousin who is 3 weeks younger). Her vocabulary and comprehension has gone through the roof, at 15 months her vocab was at 30 words and it has close to doubled since then. She is quite sensitive and picks up on the mood in the crowd and gets upset in stressful or upset moods. She does not like anything too loud especially people that are loud. Niah hates it when anyone cries especially Kyah and will cry even louder than the person crying.

Some cute things she has done:

Kyah left yesterday and she has said her name non stop since she left and now I ask her, "Where's Kyah" her reply is, "I don't know" and throwing her hands in the air. Every single time I ask.

I have started talking to her about the baby and I point to the my belly and tell her, "Mommy's Baby" and then I will ask her later where is "Mommy's baby?" to see if she remembered she gets it right half the time. Tonight I said, "where is mommy's baby" instead of telling me she points at her tummy and said, "Niah's Baby." We will have to work on that one :-)

Yesterday in church when my dad (the pastor) got done praying he said, "Amen" and Niah as loud as she possibly could replied with, "Amen."

We absolutely love Niah and she is turning into quite an incredible little girl!!

I was 24 weeks pregnant on Saturday. I have to say this pregnancy has flown by. Now that I am past week 13 I feel great. I never get heartburn and most of the time if I do not look in the mirror I forget I am pregnant. This little guy moves a little bit during the day but gets active in the evening for about an hour. The dr. believes I will have a small baby again,(he does not think I could deliver much bigger of a baby and my biggest prayer is that he will be small. I prayed Niah would be just a little bit bigger than a low birth weight baby which is 5 lbs 8 oz and said I wanted her to be be 5 lbs 10 oz read here Ironically, Niah was 5 lbs 10 oz or not so ironic because God heard my prayer. My prayer is the same, that this baby will be under 6 lbs. I have also added that this baby will be just as good of a baby as Niah or even better (if that is possible.

Chocolate Souffle

I absolutely love Chocolate Souffle. They serve it at the resort we go to in Mexico and a local restaurant use to serve it until they got a new chef. It is such a comforting warm dessert that just melts in your mouth. I have not had the delightful dessert since Januarary so I decided I would make it.

I used a recipe from Food Network for the souffle and the cream sauce I kinda just put together myself.

Ingredients
7 ounces finely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus for preparing the molds
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
8 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Directions

Brush 6 (6-ounce) ramekins with soft butter, then coat with sugar. Put the prepared ramekins in the freezer. (This can be done a day ahead.)

Set an oven rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Put the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set aside.

Combine the egg yolks and warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer or large bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons sugar, and continue beating until ribbons form, about 5 minutes. Very lightly fold the yolks into the chocolate mixture. (Rinse the bowl well, if using for beating the egg whites.)

Remove prepared ramekins from freezer. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer, or large non-reactive bowl, add the lemon juice. Beat on medium until frothy; then gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and increase speed to high. Beat until the whites hold a stiff but not dry peak.

Working quickly, fold about a third of the egg whites into the chocolate to lighten; then fold in remaining whites until blended. Gently ladle or spoon the souffle mixture into the ramekins, and place on a baking sheet. (Level off the surface with a straight edge, scraping any excess mixture back into the bowl.)

Immediately bake until the souffle rises about 1 1/2 inches from the ramekins, and the tops are touched with brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately. It is important to take it out at the right time.

The Cream sauce - You put this sauce in the middle and all around.

Ingredients
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir first 3 ingredients together in a saucepan. Add butter, and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture begins to boil. Cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Serve warm.

This dessert is a little time consuming but well worth the effort and I highly suggest trying it out.
This is a picture of souffle that I had in Mexico

This is souffle that I made last night

Linking up with

Full Plate Thursday

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Confessions and Honesty about having a baby boy

Since I was a little girl, I have loved babies. Up, until my teenage years I use to say that I was going to have a 100 kids. Now, I am a little more realistic and I may not want to have a 100 kids but I do want to have an orphange, private school, or even be a foster mom (God is still working on the details of what exactly it is). I do want several kids, I think I would have 5 or 6 if I have the financial backing and time for them all. So we will see??

Anyways, I never really cared what this baby was or is, just that it is healthy! We went to the dr for the ultrasound and the doctor said, "Do you see that little displacement, (baby was face down so we could not really see a good picture), I think that is a penis." He then said it looks like a boy.

I was excited to have a baby and that this would be the first little boy. Then a couple days later, fear set in. I began to wonder, God, why would you trust me with a boy? I have done countless years of girls and women ministries. I have taught tons of purity conference and classes, I am the girliest of girls. In fact my friend, (Lauren Pachl) jokes that there is no one more lady like than me and I am so prim and proper. I know girls, I know how to teach a girl to stay pure, how to help build her confidence, how to teach a girl to grow in her relationship with the Lord, how to flourish the calling of God in her life, I know GIRLS! The more I thought about it the more I feared, God what were you thinking, this must be a mistake. I hate failing, (like most people), and I want to do everything with 100% of everything I have and so fear took over my mind as I was not sure I could do the task with a 100% excellence. I was never around boys, crude talk is something I despise and have hardly been around, bodily noises is something I am never around, and I am the most unathletic person you can meet. The more I thought about it, the more anxiety I got.

God always knows what he is doing! As I prayed about my inability and lack of knowledge of boys, God laid on my heart, "I always know what I am doing." I may not know alot about boys but God started to reveal to me that I know alot about being a lady and boys (eventually men) need to learn how to treat a girl like a lady. God began to show me the things I do know and how that applies to a boy. That one of the most important thing is to raise a boy in the Lord and show him how to treat a lady. That this world lacks boys/men with pure hearts that respect women and their bodies. That I need to raise a boy that takes responsibility and can take care of himself, I can remember going to college and all of these boys didn't know how to do their laundry, or simple tasks because there mom did it. Nothing against those moms but I believe a boy/man can take responsibility for their own laundry and other task. That even though I have a lack of knowledge of boys, I have a knowledge of what a Godly man is for a women one day and to start there. So several things came to my heart of where to start and I believe I will go from there.

I am not going to lie, I filled my kindle with several books on raising boys to get a little bit more knowledge of the journey I am about to embark but my number one source will be the knowledge that God provides me as I ask Him for wisdom. I have to remember God always knows what he is doing!! I may not be qualified at all of for the job but God will enable me to be the very best mom I can be for this little boy and I will have to rely on him.
This is my cute little girl and I am not sure why she is making that face but probably because she wants to go "bye, bye"

Here I am at 22 or 23 weeks.

Update to a picture

My mom got me a picture on sale at Old Time Pottery. We have all tree pictures in our living room and it went with the pictures great but it had this terrible cheap frame. I had it up for at least 6 months and get tire of looking at the frame. One day at Menards, I bought some rustoleum spray paint and decided I was going to paint it.

This is a before picture:

1. I took all of the staples out that was holding the frame in place. Which was alot harder than it sounds and the staples flew across the room.

2. I painted the frame and let it dry.

3. Instead of stapling it back my husband used some kind of sealant and glued it back together.

4. There you go it looks so much better now in my living. The great thing is that the picture cost $10 and the paint cost $4 so total cost $14 for a picture that matches our house perfectly.

I have been really slow about adding details and decor to my house because I hate spending a ton of money on things I do not need and love when I can find great deals. So It may take me 10 years to get my whole house decorated but slowly I will will get there.

Here is an after picture

Niah is going to have.......

Niah is going to have......

Matthew says we are about 90% sure that is what it is :-)(I will explain in another post)

Lots of projects and going on the King house more blogging hopefully coming soon!!!