4 Years of Isabella!

I know I said I was going to Blog about last weekend, but I am so late on my Isabella blog! Bad mommy! Well Isabella turned 4 recently! Praise God for our little miracle baby! We prayed for almost four years to have another baby. We had gone to a fertility center and decided to do invitro. After making the decision we found out by our next appointment that we were pregnant! See God does have a zero finance plan, saved us thousands of dollars! Anyway, our precious baby was born with, go figure, lung complications and didn't come home until three weeks after she was born. She was on the ventilator for seven days then had to learn to swallow and eat after. This was the hardest time for us. Manuel and I sat at the hospital staring at her everyday of the three weeks. Analiese was only allowed to look at her through a window and would cry uncontrollably when she left without her sister. She didn't get to meet her sister until right before she came home. Manuel and I prayed fervently through this time for her to be healed completely. Everything is in God's timing. She came home and a month later we found out that the reason she wasn't gaining weight was because she was still having lung complications and was burning all her calories from breathing so hard. She was labeled asthmatic and had to undergo daily medications and breathing treatments four to six times a day. Before turning one we had another scare when she had pneumonia. She stayed in the hospital for a week. Her little life is an awesome testimony of God's grace, love, and promises already. She has been completely healed of her lung problems! She is full of life, loves to run, has a belly laugh like no other, and praise God breathes very well. Turning four is a major milestone for Bella! She already has so many aspirations! She wants to play soccer (and will this year), wants to run track, wants to read more math books, wants to get married and have a baby. This has all been her topic of conversation lately. On her birthday she looked at me and said with a very perplexed "mommy, I thought I was going to be big (pointing to the ceiling) on my birthday". We took her to get her ears pierced on her birthday. We coached her, promised her candy, reassured her, all with the promise that no matter how much it hurt she had to let them do the second ear after the first. She not only didn't cry when they did the first ear, she didn't even flinch. It was so cute she looked so bored. I put together a slide show of her four years. To me every picture is a confirmation that God is in control, He has plans for each life, and no matter how trying our times He is with us! We can trust Him in ALL of our hard times because when we look back we will be able to see how much stronger HE made us through those hardships. Bella is a giggling, walking, and talking example of the miracles God performs everyday. We are all miracles, every life, every breath, and every day! Enjoy the quick version of Bella's four years! It's been fun! I LOVE YOU BABY!