It’s been too long since I’ve updated you all on Joy Belle’s progress. Since the last time I filled you in on her beautiful feet, she’s said good-bye (finally!) to those casts and hello to her new shoes. With so many big changes in this wee-one’s life, I wasn’t sure how she would adjust, but she’s been amazing.
The day they removed her casts for good, she couldn’t quit grabbing and pinching at her legs. It was so cute. The next day was a bit different, as she was adjusting to basically new limbs and sensitive ones at that. But it didn’t take her long to adjust! If I didn’t mention it before, Joy Belle had been trying to roll over for weeks in those flashy pink casts, with no success. Well in just a few short days of cast free legs, this gal became a rolling machine. It’s as if she’s telling me, “Mommy, don’t worry. I won’t let these braces stop me from anything!”
All in all, I am one extremely grateful mom. We’re finally able to enjoy life’s simplicities – like bath time and cute pants! She’s happy as a clam to have her legs free. And aside from the challenges Justin and I have faced with trying (and failing a dozen or so times) to lace up size 00 shoes on an infant and the times she cries the entire time we lace them up, things have been better than I could’ve hoped or dreamed.
I’m ending with this scripture that just keeps me keeping on and a verse that I read to Joy Belle almost daily. When struggles come our way, when I feel like the day has defeated me, when there have been more tears than laughter in the day, and when my faith waivers – I say to Joy Belle…
Strength and dignity are her clothing; she smiles at the future. Proverbs 31:25
Because (like the casts) this is just another phase in our girl’s road to healing, we can smile at the future. I tell her, “Next summer, you’ll be splashing in the ocean with your toes in the sand.” I say, “In a couple of years, you’re going to be teaching me to snowboard!” Because no matter what disappointment the day may bring me, I can smile at our future. The strength, that only He could give me, promises that and for that, I am so very thankful.
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Lately we’ve been soaking up the little things, like bath time, our new nightly routine, outside fun, and sitting in the Bumbo!
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