The day I have been waiting for...

... its been a hard 16.5 weeks!  Don't get me wrong, I would never change them for a minute!  It has been such a learning experience and has caused both Mike and I to grow closer to each other and to rely more on the Lord and prayer.  Believe me when I say last week I was at my wits end... I was on my knees praying for SOMETHING to help Mackenzie sleep.  She has taken 45 minute (or less) naps since she has been about 3 weeks old.  She has been active since day 1 - always looking around, kicking and interested!  I must have read 4+ books, 25+ blogs and googles "how to get past the 40 minute intruder" at least 100+ times.

At long last Mackenzie out grew her swaddle, last week we woke up at 2:30am to her crying so I looked at the monitor and AH! she was on her STOMACH.  I ran to her and flipped her over and thats when the 'no more swaddle' rule started.  She had been trying to roll for a couple weeks but had been unsuccessful... with her arms down it made it easier for her to flip.  So we began the no swaddle... with 1 or 2 nights of waking up every 20, 30, 40 minutes it was bad... she hated the swaddle but it helped her sleep so much.  I called the pediatrician and she said that we could just begin to not swaddle and let her cry a little bit.  Since we had tried pretty much all other methods we agreed and started.  This happened last Thursday.. night one she cried for 30 minutes (so sad), night two Kyla got to put her to bed and she cried again for 30 minutes, night three Nana Kathy got to put her to bed and she cried for 6 minutes... night four was last night and she cried for 5 minutes!

This is the best part...... today Mackenzie took three naps and they were all over an hour and a half.  This is the day I had looked forward to, googled, prayed about, talked about, cried about.... for the past two months!  I am so overjoyed that she is sleeping SO much better.  She can sleep in just her onesie, a sleep sack or her zippy!  My favorite is the zippy because she can still use her arms and roll but they are covered and she can suck her hand through the fabric AND she can't scratch her face!!!

From David Crowders song, My Beloved "I see the light, oh thank you God I see the light!"  There is always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark, how depressing, how long, how sad or frustrating..
Now I know not everyday will go this way, there will be weeks of her growth spurts, fussy times, teething and who knows what else but its days like today I can thank God and remember that he does answer prayer, he does come through, its just on HIS timing and in HIS way.

Last year at this time we had just found out that we conceived Mackenzie.  It is amazing how much can change in just 1 year!  It was about this time two years ago we had conceived and did not yet know we would lose the baby.. we thank God for Mackenzie daily and live in expectation that He answers prayers and loves us beyond our comprehension.  There is no place in Him that we cannot find peace.

Mackenzie in her new cowgirl Zippy!

Love, Alisha & Mackenzie