CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

YES, I'M YELLING! (and yes, you have to scroll from bottom to top, or you can just believe she's crawling backwards. Sorry)

How great is our God!! Just know that God is always at work. We don't know what or how He's going to do something. Then, right before your very eyes, when you least expect it, you see His strong and loving hands at work. We thank you Lord for the marvelous opportunity to witness your work, but also to share it with so many that have prayed for this very moment. That all will see that You are King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, and we will give you honor and glory for ever and ever.

I love to swing!

Stephanie is working with Iliana on the platform swing. The exercises on the swing are to help Iliana with her balance and hopefully her vision as well. Iliana enjoyed swinging and did pretty good. She could not have held herself up like this a year ago.

I'm not sure if I've said this already, but Iliana pretty much lost a year of development while on the phenobarb medicine. Although she did improve physically, her cognitive development seemed to stall. So it's as though she did not make any progress in her mental development for a year, in addition to the fact that she was already behind due to her "illness". She is taking notice of things and people more often. Since Dwight adapted the walker to suit her height, she sees something she wants and she goes for it. I FINALLY have to tell the older children to pick up their small toys so that Iliana does not put them in her mouth. She takes things from table tops and the couch. What a joy to have to constantly keep my eye on her because she is going everywhere. She even followed me around in the kitchen the other night while I was getting dinner ready.

Also, I mentioned previously how I look forward to the day Iliana is able to say "I love you mom". Although she didn't say it, her actions last night told me so. I was at a bible study and sat her in front of me on the table when it was over. She looked at me and smiled and put her arms around my neck. I've never had her hug me like that. It's as though she was showing me her love. My friend Doris even commented on how she gave me that hug. Needless to say, it brought tears to my eyes.

Hi! I finally get to go to the beach.

This is the second time, that I can remember, Iliana has been to the beach. We have avoided it for the past 2 years because whenever she gets overheated, she begins to seize. She likes sitting in her chair and playing in the sand. She wasn't actually waving, I just happened to catch her with her hand up. She sits in this chair very well and is very content. As soon as she heard the waves today, she began to mimic their sound. One of the possible side effects of her illness at birth was that she could suffer a loss of hearing. She had her hearing tested last week, and all seems well.
What a wonderful blessing to know that even though she can't speak to me (YET), she knows she is loved because God has allowed her to hear it from me. However, the Lord gives us hope (wink*) that we will hear those I love you's uttered from her lips one day.

Iliana is being fitted with her new braces in this picture. She was able to get them this past Friday. At first, she wouldn't even take a step with them. She would only raise one foot and then bring it back down again, as if to tell me to take them off. It took her some time, but now she does ok with them, we just need to find some bigger shoes that will fit when she has her braces on. She is supposed to wear them all day, except when napping.

Her first time in a rocking chair outside of Cracker Barrel. She sat like a big girl would.

You can see she was enjoying doing things her big sister can.

Iliana has begun her physical therapy sessions at home again. We are blessed to be able to have Stephanie working with her again. I'm looking forward to what Iliana will do in the near future. I would also like to say that Iliana fell out of her crib yesterday. YEAH!! My excitement may come as a surprise to many, so let me first say that Iliana was fine. She complained to me a bit, but was not hurt. You also have to understand that Iliana's crib has been in the highest position possible since she was born. In the past 2 and a half years, there has been no need to reposition her mattress. She wasn't doing anything that would make her fall out. She has finally done it and we thank God for it. Of course, it will now be moved. I do not wish for her to fall out again. Please pray for her time of therapy. Both the therapy for her physical development and the one for her cognitive skills development. She receives one hour a week for each. Please pray for her therapists, Stephanie and Jean, that God would guide their teaching and would reveal to them the path that they should take when teaching her. Please pray the same for Dwight and I. That He would send forth His light and His truth to guide all of those involved in her care.

Iliana has been attempting to get on the couch now.




Iliana has been practicing the downward dog move. She's showing off here.




She's made attempts to crawl and has actually taken 2 crawl steps, but she's mostly interested in doing the above. She tries to stand up, but she can't do that yet. We're working on the crawling, maybe we can have some pictures for you soon.

Iliana will most likely begin school in September of this year. My prayer is that she will be walking by then. If not, we will have to get her a wheelchair and I'm concerned that it will make her regress instead of progress. That's just my theory.

This past week, we celebrated the one year anniversary since her last hospitalization. Praise the Lord! What a marvelous miracle!

Iliana has learned how to get off the couch correctly. Scroll down to see...

Since I couldn't add a video, I had to add all these pictures for you to see how well she is doing. I promise to try and keep you updated as she continues to learn to do new things.

Check out my baby girl!

She was cheering for Reece during his baseball game.

Looking good, right?

Iliana is getting better with her balance. She still will fall, but is able to hold on and stay standing for minutes at a time. She was really tired when i took this picture but she stood for about 5 min all by herself.

She is having some small seizures, about 2-3 a week since she was taken off the Phenobarb, but they have not needed any medical attention. She is laughing a lot, just like she used to before she turned into a zombie due to her meds. She cries more too. I feel like my baby girl who was gone for the last year and a half is back. I've sometimes even thought that she grabs my neck to hug me and that she recognizes me and maybe even has cried for me to hold her. Maybe one day she might even call me mama. I don't know, but I'd like to think so. She has a lot of catching up to do, but with steady baby steps, I believe she could achieve the impossible.

I finally have some new pictures.

All of the children. Iliana is looking like a big girl. She grabbed her baby sister's hand in one picture, but her brother has his finger on his nose, I decided to show this one instead.

She is getting stronger and improving her balance. In the picture following this one, you can see she is turning towards the couch, she didn't fall over when attempting this.

Giving her baby sister a big hug and kiss. Mia liked it!

Iliana is doing well. Her reaction, physical and visual, is improving. She was noticing shadows on the wall yesterday. She can notice people walking into a room not just when they are near her. We are hoping to begin physical therapy sessions at home again this month. Our prayer requests are that she will be able to begin therapy soon and that she will continue improving.

Ok, it's official. Iliana is completely off the Phenobarb(a seizure med). Yeah!!!!!! Please allow me a moment to share with you about her day.
The last time she was given a dose of this medicine was Friday night. Today, she began seizing. She seized more times than she ever has when being weaned off of this medication. I knew this was going to happen so I wasn't surprised. We decided that we were not going to allow it to keep us from going to church. She had a couple of seizures during our time at church and continued to have them consistently throughout the afternoon. I had to call the Neurologist to have some additional, temporary, medicine prescribed to help her through this time. I did not want to, but I had to. My point in being so detailed is that I wanted to say that Dwight and I felt we were doing what God wanted us to do. We have felt led to take her off this medicine completely and the Lord turned the hearts and desire of the Neurologists to align with ours, or really His will.
Reece and Marisa attend a bible study with my mom every week and they shared with me that the lesson this week was how "three men were put in a fire and then there were four and God protected them". For whatever reason I reminded them that the faith of the men was so strong that their primary concern was obeying God, not whether God would save them. Well, I got a dose of my own lesson. This afternoon, those words came back to me. I am powerless when it comes to Iliana having seizures. Anytime she takes a step backwards, it hurts. For me, it feels like I'm being thrown to the fire. Worry takes over. However, today we prayed that God would have His way. Whether He decides to allow her to have a bad day or not, she is His and He can do as He wills. The seizures didn't go away until late in the afternoon, but God was with us every step. I know this because Iliana had at least 10-12 seizures today. Normally she would be tired and sleep all day when she has about 4-5. Today is different, she is alert, responsive, talkative, completely opposite of her normal self on a day like this. She had the energy to take a couple of bites of some cheese bread and chew it correctly. I can even hear her talking and being playful in her room now, and it's 9pm. God continues to be faithful to us and always will be. It's His nature. His word confirms it and to do the opposite, well He wouldn't be God.

God doesn't always keep us from the fire, but He promises to be faithful.

-Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Deutoronomy 7:9

Iliana ate a hamburger for the first time on Friday. She did just eat the hamburger patty, but she would take bites and then chew and swallow. She still has room for improvement with chewing, but she is doing great! Dwight also found her sitting up in her crib one morning. She has never done this before. She will usually just lay there until someone comes to get her. She is making small strides and we praise God for them. We have also taken away one of her medications in the morning, in two weeks we will attempt to take her off the evening dose. If she does well, she can continue on without that particular medicine. She is also reaching up for us when we call for her. We ask her for her "manos", which is Spanish for hands, and she will lift them up for us most of the time. I hope to update you with more on her progress soon.

Just a quick update on Iliana's progress. Iliana continues to gain weight and is actually looking chubbier. Iliana has been initiating standing and walking. She will move her legs on her own when standing, I no longer have to que her each time. Her balance needs A LOT of work, I still have to hold her around her hips to keep her from falling. We are also working on reducing and eventually taking away one of her three seizure meds. Her vision is still not great, she doesn't focus very well. I don't know if she does this out of habit or if there is a problem. I've been told that she has no damage to her eyes. Please pray that if God wills, she will begin to improve her focus. Time is our biggest obstacle at this point. Please pray for Dwight and I as we try to find the time to work with her on a daily basis.

Iliana is a big sister!

I apologize for it taking so long. Here are the pictures from the last day of therapy.

Getting ready to work

I was supposed to be working on my standing, but I was really trying to figure out how I could grab my horse without anyone noticing.

I still don't like crawling too much, but I gave it a try.

I walked all the way to the front door!

My goodbye party. I was surprised!

This was my cake.

Here are the ladies, my friends, that helped me get stronger while I was away.

It has been a long week. We were all trying to recuperate from our trip this past week, so I apologize for not posting the pictures sooner.

What an amazing journey this trip has been. That last day was bittersweet. We were excited to be coming back home, but sad to know that the therapy had come to an end. Iliana has made wonderful progress in the last month. She still doesn't like to get into a crawling position even at home, but she does initiate standing and her attention to people and toys is much improved. God has really worked and continues to do so. I am anxious to see what the next several months will bring as far as her development is concerned. I look forward to reaching milestones that some may have thought as impossible. But we know the bible says that faith in God has the ability to move mountains. He already has removed some tremendous obstacles. He has brought my baby girl from what some said was certain death, to life.

Thank you for your prayers during our time away. Your love and spiritual support for our family has been a tremendous blessing, and I feel that thank you doesn't say enough. May God bless you all.

This is the monkey. I was working on my legs.

I was supposed to only lift my leg, but I thought it would be more fun to try to touch my head with my toes.

I'm not too sure about this one.

Doing my big girl walking.

My Horse!!! Yeah, I get to play!!!

It was the end of the day. I didn't want to work anymore, I just wanted hugs.

Of all the toys, I only want my horse.

Well, one more day to go. We are packed and ready for tomorrow. Marisa has told me several times already that she wants to go home "now". We are all excited to go back to Jacksonville.

Today was a fantastic day. Iliana was tired, but she didn't give in to sleep, she worked hard. As a matter of fact, during her walking she walked about 40 ft. This is about twice as much as normal. We did have to take a lot of breaks in between, but she would always push herself back up and start again. She's a trooper! I pray that tomorrow will go as well as today, if not better. This has been a great 3 weeks. I wanted to mention that just because Iliana may not crawl or walk yet, doesn't mean the therapy wasn't a success. She has changed a lot and in more ways than one. I can't wait for you to see her and see for yourselves. God is good, all the time.

We will see you soon!!!!

I have been unable to post any pictures until today, so here are pictures from Tuesday and Wednesday...

I had to try to keep my balance while sitting

I had to practice my crawling today. They used one of my favorite toys to motivate me, my horse.

I tried hard. I started crying because I didn't want to crawl, I just wanted to play.

I finally got there and grabbed my horse as fast as I could!

How's my sitting?

These are pictures from Tuesday...

This ball reminds me of giant pumpkin

"I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

I was trying to decide what toy to play with.

This is back in our room on Monday night. She sat on the floor for the longest time playing with her horse.

Although our entire purpose for being here these past couple of weeks is to do physical therapy and to make Iliana physically stronger, we are seeing the benefits of this therapy in other areas as well. Iliana is able to track much better with her vision and seems to be more alert of what goes on around her. She seems to enjoy playing with her toys more and is able to play for a longer period of time.

I am amazed at how strong she has become over 2 and a half weeks. God has protected her from illness and seizures. That in itself is proof of God's power. Thank you to all who have faithfully prayed for her during our time in South Florida. We are looking forward to coming back home and continuing to share how God is working in her life.