Welcome! Nuestra Casa Es Su Casa ...Our house is your house

A glimpse into the life of Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood and their 12 precious blessings. Thank you for visiting; we pray that what we share here may always bring glory to our wonderful God and Saviour. May you praise the Lord with us for the great things He has done and continues to do as we serve Him sharing the gospel here in the little town of Cuidad Insurgentes, BCS Mexico. He alone is good and faithful!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Happy almost 1 week old Samuel and Happy 11th Birthday Elijah!

I just want to say that your prayers for strength for me have been so graciously answered. Today I finally felt a bit more normal :). These past few days have certainly been challenging. The hardest part for me apart from the exhaustion has been going day by day...or more like moment by moment...not really sure what we are doing. It is easy for me to become discouraged or overwhelmed when our days lack order, yet we're still trying to figure out how to best balance our responsibilities at home in addition to caring for/spending time with our Samuel. Sometimes I just want to cry...well, I do cry. But then I feel better and even in the most difficult of days, I've seen the Lord's loving hand caring for our every need. Sometimes the nights are so lonely as I sit awake getting milk to take to our baby in the morning. I can't wait for the day we can bring him home and I can wake up to feed and cuddle with him. I ask the Lord to help me be content; to help me to keep my mind on Him; and I'm just so thankful that He is always with me and there with our little Samuel too. What a friend we have in Jesus! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Samuel continues to do well. The nurses tell me that he's a very good boy :) He had a rough night last night and couldn't keep down any of his food. But he filled his diaper 3 times today as they let his digestive system rest and his x-rays and blood tests came back normal, so they think he just needed to "do his business". They were going to start feeding him again this afternoon and hopefully he will keep it down.
What seems to work best is for Daniel to go up to the NICU in the morning to take up the milk, talk with the nurses/doctor, and spend time with Samuel. Then I try to go up in the afternoon while the younger ones are napping. I took Abigail with me today. She wrote a sweet little letter to her new baby brother to tape up on his bed. Then in the evening, if we have someone to watch the children, Daniel and I go up together...this is my favorite time :) Last night I got to hold him for about an hour; I love to sing to him like I do with all our children as I tuck them in bed for the night.




Yesterday was Elijah's 11th birthday. Elijah is such a sweetheart. He is always willing to help me with whatever I need. He's so good with his baby brothers especially.
Elijah LOVES to read and study and memorize and learn! He loves books! He writes and draws very well and I love hearing him play the piano.
Something that I love about Elijah is how quick he is to take heed to instruction. If we tell him, for example, the importance of washing his hands before eating, he will be looking for a sink and some soap before every meal. If we tell him how good it is to rise early, he'll do it right off the bat.
He loves to make jokes and as corny as some of them are, he always has us laughing.
We wanted to make his birthday special but hadn't had much time to plan. One of the nurses in the NICU who has known Daniel and I since we were children, gave us a gift card to In and Out burger. So we all went out for cheesburgers and fries and Elijah got a chocolate shake too! :) Then, Daniel took all the children bowling. They had so much fun and you should have heard them cheer for each other. They put up the guard rails on the gutters so even the little ones were able to knock down some pins every time. I think I had the most fun just sitting down next to Eliseo and watching. :)
Grandma and Grandpa came over in the evening to watch Elijah open his presents and we had cherry pie for dessert. I'm so thankful the Lord gave us Elijah...little brother to 1, big brother to 10 :)













18 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to both of your precious little guys. I am so glad to hear that you are feeling better and have been able to spend some nice times with Samuel. I will keep praying for your family.
    Summer

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  2. Oh what fun it looks like they all had!! Is Samuel on any oxygen? He is so precious!! We continue to pray for your family!
    Shannon in Iowa

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  3. The pictures of Samuel are just too dear!!

    I'm so glad you're starting to feel a little recovered. Do not forget that you also are dealing with all sorts of post-birth hormones, which can make everything seem worse than they really are. For me, when a really bad wave of emotion hits me, it helps to remember that it's not reality, it's just estrogen, lol. :)

    Happy birthday to Elijah - wow, 11 years old! He'll be a man before you know it! What a joy to see our children grow in wisdom and stature!!

    Thank you for the update. Please do try to rest as much as you can!

    Grace,
    The Wilsons in VA

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  4. I'm SO glad to hear things are going well and that your strength is slowly coming back!! What a sweet row of kids heading into the bowling alley:):)

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  5. Samuel is SO adorable! Congratulations again! And Happy Belated Birthday to Elijah! What a blessing you are to your family.

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  6. Oh, so glad you are feeling better! Samuel looked like he was just soaking up your kiss in his picture - he looks so contented in your arms. Happy birthday to Elijah!! What a fun birthday!!

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  7. Little Samuel looks just like his siblings!

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  8. Happy Birthday to your son! Sounds like he had a great birthday!
    Love the picture of you and your baby, so precious. Praying for you, for you to grow in contentment, to enjoy the precious moments you get to spend with your children everyday. Continued prayers for your healing and recovery, and for your sweet baby.

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  9. Happy Birthday to Elijah! What fun to go to In and Out. When we lived in CA we loved to go there. I am praying for you as Samuel is in the NICU. I know how hard it is to not have your baby home with you. I'll pray for extra strength for you and Daniel and the children.

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  10. You know I don't think there's a time when I've read your updates that I haven't cried, as your Mama heart speaks to mine. We are thrilled you're doing better. We continue to pray for your strength daily and we know you'll be up and around before to long. Oh the joy of just being able to get up and do laundry or wash dishes with engery and smiles :-)

    Samuel, oh my, he's beautiful. What loving pictures of you two. How precious that time must be for you both~

    Happy Birthday Elijah. We miss In and Out. Yummy burgers!! What a special day for you~

    ~Cinnamon

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  11. How very special it is to see such precious pictures of little Samuel. He definitely looks like a little Lockwood! :)

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  12. Jaynee -- I read your blog a lot but don't post much. I just want to tell you I've been praying for you and your family daily and am so happy to hear things seem to be as good as they can be! The photos of you and Samuel brought tears to my eyes -- tears of joy! And they really put into perspective just how tiny he is! He is beautiful, and I continue to pray for the day he can come home with you and the family! Thanks for bearing your soul and sharing your life with us!

    Karen in Seattle

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  13. Happy birthday Elijah! What a blessing you are to your family.

    In the second picture of Jaynee and Samuel, you can definately tell he is one of yours. What joy that he is doing so well. I know pumping and taking milk is not easy, but you are giving him the best you can right now. Be encouraged that he is able to have your milk. What a blessing. May you continue to grow in strength each and every day.

    Bowling is such fun. It is amazing how much fun the littles have. It is great that you could all go.

    Keeping you all in our prayers.
    Cindy in Canada

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  14. Happy Birthday to Elijah!!! Mercy's 3rd is today and Andrews 13th is Sat. so alot of BD's here too!! Samuel is so sweet and tiny as I can see you holding him! May the Lord grant him to come home soon!! Still praying....
    Cindy

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  15. I'm glad you're feeling better. But please remember you deserve and need to rest & recoop.
    Samuel is gorgeous,he looks just like his brothers!

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  16. Happy Birthday to Elijah.What a very precious baby your family has.Looks like you have been having a lot of fun.

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  17. still praying! SUCH precious pictures..thanks for sharing!!

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  18. Happy (a bit late) Birthday to Elijah!!

    You had me (and a few others I see) in tears with your posts. Your heart shines so much through what you write. Through all of this as I've prayed for you and your family, I think I'm the one who's been blessed!!

    -Laura

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