Tough Crowd.

Levi has no idea that Junebug is a dog.

He just thinks of her as the annoyed older sister who never wants to play or joke or laugh.

He tries to get here to pretend to eat a snack or drink with him and his parents.

He sometimes says "night, night" to her.

He has tried to give her a kiss at least once that I have seen.

It would break our hearts to tell him that she is "just a dog" so we don't.

In the future maybe he will be the middle child, God willing.

For now he can be the younger brother.

Johnny Cash's dogs.

Catch of the Day

Johnny's dogs
by John Fischer 
Yesterday's mention of black and white Christians reminded me of an interview Johnny Cash gave in Rolling Stone magazine after his "American Recordings" came out in 1994.

Towards the end of the interview, Johnny turns the tables on the interviewer by asking him, "Don't you want to ask me about the dogs on my album cover?"

The cover is a black and white photograph of Johnny standing out in a field with a dog on either side of him.

"Ah… yeah… sure, Johnny," said the interviewer, "tell us about the dogs on your cover!"

"Well, you'll notice that one is mostly black with a little white on him, and the other is mostly white, with a little bit of black. That's because even the worst of us has a little bit of good in him, while the best of us still can't seem to shake that bad streak. That's why we all need to be redeemed."

What a simple way of pointing out that our relative goodness or badness is irrelevant to our need for salvation. And what a great way to show how the gospel puts us all at the same level.

It's not how good we are. It's never how good we are. What unites us all is simply our need for Jesus. There are no black and white Christians. Only Johnny Cash's dogs.

Big Day!

Today was a big day. Levi crawled for the first time. Up until this point he has been rolling to and fro, but today in order to knock down a stacking tower I had built he actually went forward. It was a awkward movement because he refused to put his arms into position so they remained tucked under his tummy & his lil face was rubbing against the carpet. Nonetheless he made it to his destination, and we worked our way across the living room in this fashion. Me frantically building, him crawling and knocking down etc... There were tears (mommas), shouts of joy (mommas) and looks of bewilderment (levis). I am overjoyed that the Good Lord has allowed me to stay home with this precious boy, and experience the awe of witnessing the milestones as they happen. Levi also managed to drink out of a straw for the first time today & I can assure you he thinks they are pretty great!

Happy Mother's Day!

Dear Mommy,
Thank you for all that you do for me.
Thank you for rescueing me from the crib
after a long restless nap.
Thank you for playing with me all day,
even when you have a kadrillion other things to do.
Thank you for the kisses.
Thank you for the hugs.
and all those great tasting smoothy thingies.
Thank you for cleaning my nose,
even though I cry a little.
Thank you for all those super funny noises you make all day.
Thank you for tickling me.
and washing me
and holding me
and most of all...
for loving me so much!

xoxoLevi

happy birthday

My baby is 3 months old?! Everyone always told me when I was pregnant that time with your babies flies by, but I never took them literally-yikes they were right!

Nothing and Nobody could have ever prepared me for motherhood. No one told me there was a chance you would not be taking your baby home from the hospital until 10 days had passed, no one told me breast feeding doesn't work for everyone, no one told me the first time your baby smiles at you brings a rush of tears down your face, no one told me how many hours a day you spend making goofy faces & noises just to see one more smile and then realize at 4pm you haven't yet showered, but you are totally okay with that, no one told me how much I would love to watch my husband and my son hang out together, and no one could have told me I would be so full of joy & gratitude to be able to stay at home & watch my little one grow.

Yes, there are long sleepless nights, spit-up incidents you would rather forget, and poo in places you wouldn't have thought possible, but they outweigh sleeping in and eating out every time.

In years prior when I imagined my life as a mother nothing even came close to the reality I live each day. It is such a blessing to have Levi in our lives and the fullness he has added to our family was something unexpected.

Happy Birthday Levi~Mama loves you!!

Baptism!

Theresa and I are getting baptised today!
We've been hemming and hawing for quite a while now.
Finally we're going through with it.
We know it doesn't effect our salvation but a great step for us
to publicly proclaim our faith in Jesus Christ.
That he is the son of God.
Lived, died and resurrected to live again as our Savior.
How awesome is our God!
Pray for us: that we will be protected before, during and after.
Thanks
-r

*New* Album for Levi @ home.

Please check back at Levi James Chapter002 for current photos.
There will always be a link to the right of this blog in the Blogroll.

13 1/2 hours left.

We go home tomorrow.
Levi's antibiotic medicine will be done at 11am tomorrow.
Soon the blemishes on Levi's skin from sticky leads will be a memory.
And his tender foot from IV will be healed enough to tickle.
Soon he will breath real air.
Soon our hands will regain moisture.
Theresa and I can sleep in the same bed.
Levi will have his own crib to sleep in; with no nurses poking him with a tempature gauge, weighing him and messing with his IV foot.
Tomorrow we won't have to weigh his poop.
Theresa won't have to eat the mystery meat from downstairs.

We are thankful for the staff of nurses and pediatricians.
We are so thankful for this room instead of what our other option.
Oddly enough we are thankful for the time we were able to spend together.
Our faith has never been stronger, more resiliant.

Thank God for all the prayers.
From people we don't even know or have ever met.
It does make a difference.

Tomorrow, God willing, we will pack our stuff and load Levi in his carseat.
Drive home to meet Grandma and Junebug the dog.
Whether he cries the whole time or not it will be awsome.

Thank you everyone.
Thank you God.

-royce

One week old today!

8pm today Levi weighed in at 7lbs 11 ounces.
In one week he has gained 8ounces.
that's awsome!
that's also with losing one and a half ounces after birth.
praise God.

We are not out of the hospital yet so please pray for our sanity.

Tami, you are in our prayers.

We can't wait to see everyone and to be seen by...everyone.
-royce

coming home...

Levi and family will be coming home officialy on the 27th!
We can't wait to all be at home together.

coming home...

Levi and family will be coming home officialy on the 27th!

We can't wait to all be at home together.

Putting on the weight.

At last weigh in, yesterday evening, Levi weighed 7lbs 4oz.
That is 1 ounce more than his birth weight!
How amazing is that?
He only dropped 1 1/2 oz. after being born because of his IV.
He's getting more fussy, which means more healthy!

We've Moved!

One of the many awsome nurses taking care of Levi campaigned for us to move upstairs to pediatrics.
There are so many people even at the childbirth center pulling for us.

Now we can all be in the same room all day and night.
Before it was just for feedings and about 15 minutes of cuddle time.
Theresa has been discharged but is still able to stay with him.
He gets better by the day.
Today he ate 76 cc!
Which is 2 1/2 ounces.
Which is 2.5 times a normal large meal.
He does still need to stay in the Isolette but little steps at a time are okay.
It is God's will.

How great thou art.
Thank you everyone for your prayers.
Praise God.

-royce

Levi's Update and Background.

For those who have not heard the background or the latest, let me make an attempt to tell the story.

Levi had some complications with the laboring before birth.
At some point during pregnancy he picked up an infection.
They are not sure where it came from and may never know.
Shortly after Theresa's initial contractions at the hospital there were warning signs that the doctors and nurses were concerned about.
His heart rate was reading "flat" which they thought could be him sleeping.
With no luck waking him up they watched closer.
Abruptly his heart dropped out.
At this point no one was in the room but Theresa and I.

Our hearts dropped too.

We could here the feet of everyone rushing to the room.
They ordered Theresa on all fours and get her head low to try to get more oxygen to her and baby.
At some point his heart came back and dropped and came back again.
The doctor informed us that in order for Levi to survive the birth they needed to perform a C section.

Right now.

Painstakenly we waited for them to ready the surgery room.
Finally I followed Theresa in her bed to surgery.
It was all so surreal.

I had to wait in the hall for them to get her anesthetized.
I sat outside the door and prayed and prayed and prayed.
Jesus was there.
I needed his strength to stay afloat.
Finally they let me in the surgery room and you can see the photos from that on Levi's web album.
He was brought into the nursery for observation, where he is today.


Now Levi is doing good.
With your prayers and his fight.
But needs some recovery time at the nursery.
He is still on antibiotic fluids to kill the infection.
He will need to remain in the nursery until this coming sunday the 27th (if not longer).
So that he can complete his antibiotics and they can observe him closely.
The staff at St. Joseph's has been completely awsome.
Helping us with everything from nursing to changing diapers and everything in between.

Soon we will bring him home and be a complete family!
Praise God!
Sometimes His abundance of Love can be overwhelming.
And so unexplainably amazing.

Please keep praying for Levi's health and recovery.
Please keep praying for Theresa's recovery and comfort and peace of mind.
Thank you all so very much!
God Bless.

-royce

LEVI JAMES ADAMS

Levi is here!

He was born at 3:51 pm
January 16th, 2008
7lbs 3oz.
20 1/4 inches long.

Check his web album for photos.

Levi James

Ps.
Do a slide show and read the captions.