Nickerson News

Three people who I have never met.

Three people who need your prayers.

Three people who although I have never met, are weighing on my heart and mind.

One of the great things about going to Liberty University is that we have this thing I like to call “The Liberty family”. Nate and Tricia also went to Liberty, but I never knew them. I heard about their story through another Liberty couple. We also have a DC alumni group where a prayer request went out about them.

I would urge you to read their story on Nate’s blog. He is very faithful about updating what is going on with Tricia and baby Gwyneth. Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis and is in need of a double lung transplant. Due to her illness, doctors had to take their precious baby girl at only 24 weeks along. Gwyneth was born at only a pound and half. Please join me in lifting us this family in your prayers. Tricia desperately needs a lung transplant and baby Gwyneth needs to grow and become a healthy little girl.

Here is precious Gwyneth. Nate has many more photos on his blog so be sure to check them out.

I believe life happens at the moment of conception. God knows us from day one. Gwyneth was born 24 weeks after conception and look at her…you can’t deny she is a baby. Most babies are still in their mother’s womb for another 3 months, but as you can see for yourself this little miracle shows how amazing our God truly is.
Just to show you how tiny she is…

Pray for this family.

I use to think a 45 minute nap was bad, but now I wish I could get those 45 minutes naps back.

Abel has been a terrible napper ever since he turned 2 weeks old. He woke up from his newborn state and has fought his naps every since. I will give him lots of credit, though, he is an GREAT night sleeper. He sleeps at least 12 hours every night, sometimes 13. And he is so easy to put down. We have a nightly routine and after he gets his bottle and some nurse time in, I put him in his crib wide awake. He looks up at me and gives me a huge smile and I say “ni ni sweet boy”. He gets all excited and gives me more smiles. I leave the room and check in on him 5 minutes later and he is passed out.

Why can’t he do this for his naps? Naps are totally different. He tries to not act tired, but he can’t fool his momma. He has a- what I like to call- his “cue” for when it is time to put him to bed. He takes his hand (usually his right hand) and gently rubs it across his check back to his ear. The more tired he gets the more this happens. I try to rock him to sleep (I know, most moms think you shouldn’t rock your child to sleep). Well, I say they don’t have bad nappers and I will do anything to get him to go to sleep. It is either rock him for 10 minutes or let him scream for over an hr. I just can’t handle the screaming. Call me weak, call me a bad mom, I don’t care. That is just how I feel. Plus, after an hour of screaming he still doesn’t go to sleep. So, I rock my baby! What is the harm in that! I have read a few books on how to get your baby to be a better sleeper. They haven’t worked and I tend to get a bad attitude after I read them. I feel like they are so vague. Abel does have all the symptoms of a bad napper. I have tired EVERYTHING! And nothing works. nada…

Dr. Kim West, the Sleep Lady, says he should be napping 3.5 hours a day for his age. Abel naps a TOTAL of 1.5 hr a day…some days not even that much. I truly envy you moms who have babies that take 2 and 3 hours naps. I can count on my one hand the number of times Abel has taken over a 2 hr nap. I am so jealous when moms tell me their babies take two 2hr naps. Call me a sinner! I am so jealous! I could sew my own curtains and make home made bread if Abel slept that long. I can barely get a shower and eat after his naps are all said and done.

So what am I getting to? Well, it is 2:30 and my mom came and took Abel for a few hours so I can get some work done. PRAISE JESUS for Grandmas! Too bad his other Grandma doesn’t live closer. If I didn’t have a job then I would handle my bad napper a little better, but I have a job that requires me to work from home. If my son slept, I could actually get some work done, but he doesn’t sleep.

Wow, I can’t believe I just ranted and raved for that long. Sorry, if you made it to the end. But any moms out there who have bad nappers know my frustration! Right moms? I used to struggle thinking I was a bad mom because I couldn’t get my baby to take a good nap. But I am realizing he is like this for everybody who watches him. Thank God he is happy even when he is tired. I am blessed in that area. I could have an over tired, grumpy baby. I mean, if he was a great napper,then I would have the perfect baby and God doesn’t make perfect babies.

For enduring this long post, I will leave you with a few photos of the world’s worst napper. But boy do I sure love this bad napper.

This one was taken a few weeks ago, but look at that profile.

My mom found this photo while doing a little photo organizing. She was floored when she realized just how much Abel looks like me when I was little. You be the judge. This photo was taken in July 1980. I was 6 months old.

Lets take a moment and reflect on this photo. Talk about early 80′s. Just look at that carpet! We are wearing dresses my mom made-she doesn’t touch the sewing machine anymore unless she is ask to make something (I just ask her to make me some pillows. Thanks mom!) I love Alison and Kate’s pigtails and the fact that I still have no hair at 6 months (just like Abel). I am dying laughing at Kate’s face in this photo. She doesn’t look at all like she wants to be in this photo. Alison has a pasted on smile and I must be laughing at the guy behind the camera.

If you still aren’t convinced, here is a closer look. (He definitely has his daddy’s lips though and hopefully his brain!)

 

I’ll leave you with a more recent photo of the 3 DeSantis girls. This was taken a few years ago.

Who knew one little leaf could cause so much grief.

Did you know that one leaf can cause your basement to flood? Neither did we until last night. We were just about to make a pot of tea (a nightly ritual that Seth and I share and truly enjoy) and get to work on editing photos for a client. I thought I would put one more load of laundry in before the night ended and I walked downstairs to a watery basement. Your heart falls into your stomach when you see your things lying in a pool of water. I screamed for Seth.

Our washer drains into a sink (why do they design washers like this?). The sink was overflowing and spilling out onto the floor. We immediately thought it was more plumbing problems in this old house of ours. After cleaning up the water with the shop vac (thank God for the shop vac-it saved us last night) we decided we needed to see what was blocking the sink. Seth reached down into the sink full of water and pulled out ONE tiny leaf. We were relieved that it was just a leaf, but then really mad that it was just a leaf that did all this damage. What a night!

I hope you all don’t ever have to see your basement flooded. This wasn’t the first time it has happened to us, but I sure hope it is the last.