NICU 2

We made it! We made it through yesterday! It was super hard coming home yesterday without them but GREAT news hit last night. Let me set this up first though.

So we get home yesterday and Carrie is taking a nap. I was sitting down and catching up on some things. Trying to remain strong for my wife and trying not to shed tears. I swallowed some big lumps yesterday. I even talked to myself out loud saying, “Get it together. Come on, get it together.” Then Ricky Motes called me to check on Carrie and the girls. Lord knows I didn’t even want to talk about it, but I had to. Let’s just say that Niagra Falls had nothing on this daddy’s tears. I just plopped down on a rug in Zoe and Kara’s room and cried like a woman. But in that moment I learned I had a love in me that I never knew existed. I was reminded that our God loves us even more than that and He has a plan that we just can’t understand!

So as I got off the phone, I began to pray. Thanking God for His glory and His plan. Even though I didn’t like the fact that our little girls are 20 mins away, God has a plan. I know many of you guys were praying and asking for God’s will to be done. Thanks so much! (Remind me when you see us and I will tell you all about how prayer allowed Zoe to be a part of our lives. God size stuff.) So we get to the hospital last night and find out that our girls had been moved to NICU2!

AWESOME! That news made all the events of the day just go away. NICU2 is the next step before going home. But they will still be there for a little while, at least for now. Good thing is, they are not classified as critical as they were.  I love how God answers prayers. Our next prayer is that Zoe and Kara will eat and grow faster than expected. We are so blessed to have prayer warriors, such as you, who surround us on a daily basis. We’re headed back to the hospital today, so don’t forget us in your prayers. Thanks again for all you do! By the way, the picture to the left is of Zoe! That tube is a feeding tube since they only get 2 bottles/day right now. Look at that little face!

Don’t forget to check out the Care Calendar.
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Want to help us out?

Well today is the very first day we came home without our girls. Hard, just doesn’t describe that situation. But God’s will isn’t always easy. We just thought we would be able to bring them home with us when all this began 8 months ago. But it’s okay, we will live.

Quick update:
-They’re both eating from their bottles now. (Huge improvement!)
-Kara is still having trouble breathing. Being a premie, she just forgets to do this from time to time.
-They are gaining weight again.
-They are progressing more and more each day.

Okay, so everyone is asking how can they help. Well here is a perfect way. Click here to go to a planning calendar. This where you can sign up to provide meals each day. Our great friends, the Freemans, have been so nice to set up this idea. There is one problem though. We will be with Zoe and Kara at the hospital each day between 11-1 and between 8-10pm. So when you sign up please try to be flexible. I know it sounds picky but we are traveling parents right now with a couple of really high priorities. Also, if you don’t want to sign up and bring food but still want to do something we will be happy to take restaraunt gift cards. By the way, the more food you bring me (Corey) the more you get to see my girls. No food, no girls! LOL! I’m just kidding!

On a more serious note, seriously, be flexible! I will check the calendar each day to see who is on the schedule. I may have to call and reschedule people from time to time. It just depends on our girls and how available we are. But don’t let that stop you from signing up. We love the support we get from everyone. Thanks for all you do!

We do have many people who are asking how they can help. This is one way you can help. If you need more info or want to know some specifics feel free to call me (Corey) 864-350-7350.

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NICU Events/Progress

Today was another fun filled day in the NICU. After our first battle for our girls with a doctor, we walked away with a tick mark in our win column. (By the way, a father’s rage can’t be explained just experienced.) We never knew how fast you grow to love someone. Pretty cool though! By the way, the girls say that they have a Super Mommy and Daddy! 

“So how are the girls doing?”

Well, we’re glad you asked! They are doing wonderful and progressing very well. They have been taken off of photo-therapy, which is the light that babies lay under to help them with jaundice. They have began eating 11ml of formula every 3 hours. That will increase to 14ml tomorrow at noon. Zoe has not taken a full bottle without assistance yet. But that’s okay. Premies have trouble learning how to suck, swallow and breathe at the same time. This ability is learned and comes in time. On the other hand Kara finished her 11ml bottle tonight, for the first time. And, they are no longer naked. (They are beginning to learn modesty as well. lol) The clothes have allowed them to begin lowering the incubator temps in hopes that the girls can begin regulating their own temperatures. Oh yeah, don’t listen to anyone if they tell you that we almost killed them putting their clothes on. We will just call it a family bonding moment with a little added stress. But all is well in the Smith family tonight!

Carrie and I are doing well. But tomorrow is the hard part for us. We need some prayer. Because tomorrow is the first day in which we will leave our girls here while we go home. I don’t think it has fully registered but I’m sure it will. Pray for our strength and rest. Thanks again for surrounding us with love. Again we are so blessed to be surrounded with so many great people. This has been great time for us and many of you have been a part of this huge event. 

Here are some more pics. Check out Carrie’s Facebook too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe                                                                                    Kara

First Feeding

Yeah, these posts are coming late every night and I anticipate that to be the case for a while. Our days are so full from the time that we wake up ’til the time we go to bed. Though it is super fun, it is super tiring. Good stuff!

But, today started out very well. Carrie was doing so well that she was able to get a shower and move around today. We went down to NICU this morning around 11:30 to hold and feed our girls. Pam Dillashaw was there working and taking care of our girls when she could. Jealously is not allowed. She has worked hard to get to where she is. We’re glad she was there today. 

We held our baby girls very close today as we fed them their very first bottles. They only ate about 5ml (about 2 teaspoons). Then we burped them. And of course their little systems began working very well. They even tooted a little bit. I know it sounds funny and maybe even a little TMI, but that’s progress and toots are very much welcomed.

Overall, all three of my girls are doing very well. Zoe and Kara are eating, breathing, and progressing as expected right now. Just keep us in your prayers. Pray God’s Will!

 

Here is the Smith family altogether. Awwww! How Sweet!

Hello Love

Wow! Can you say wow! I don’t know where begin. Do I begin 9 months ago or do I begin at my 3am wake-up call this morning? I don’t know. So I’ll just write and you just read, and we will see where this goes.

So Zoe and Kara are here. I still get a knot in my throat as I think about ‘em, look at ‘em, feel ‘em and whatever else has to do with them. Carrie is doing fine. She is finally asleep. All of the traffic that today’s events brought has come to a hault and my beautiful wife (best friend in the whole world) is resting.

Never would I have thought that today, May 31, 2009, we would be the proud parents of two beautiful girls. Ironically today, seven years ago, is the day that Carrie and I began dating. (Just hit some brownie points for that lil’ history fact.) God could have designed our lives in no better form or fashion. Perfect bliss! Even though today started out like a tornado and the wake of the storm seemed as if it was going to be rough. It turned out to be the best day Carrie and I will ever experience in our life journey. We count it all joy! We have brought into this world, a couple of God’s creations, that He WILL use to change eternity for His Kingdom. Wow, I’m still blown away!

We will keep this blog updated in the coming days so you can keep up with us. Wait a minute. It’s all about them now! Yep, our lives just changed!

FYI: The girls are in NICU. So, no one is allowed back to see them. Only certain visitors whom we have listed are allowed. Sorry for the red tape, but its for their good. Thanks for understanding! Love you guys and thanks for all your prayers!

So here they are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe Noelle Smith                                                                  Kara Ashlen Smith
Born: 5/31/09                                                                      Born: 5/31/09
10:06 am                                                                                 10:07am
4 lbs. 1 oz.                                                                               4 lbs. 11 oz.
17 inches                                                                                 17 1/4 inches

Radiant Church?

WOW! Super fast and supernatural! How quickly God can work in your life if only you are willing to hand it over with complete abandonment to your own personal preference and will.

Stayed tuned to hear about more about Radiant Church and how God is beginning a new chapter in our lives. Not only is He blessing Carrie and I with two baby girls (Zoe and Kara), we are hearing God’s voice and direction as he unveils a vision that we could have never imagined.

Thanks to all for your prayers and support! Continue to pray for our baby girls and Carrie’s health. All 3 of them are doing great and our prayer is for that to continue. Even though Zoe and Kara may come sooner than we thought! 

The only two constants in life are change and Jesus. It is through change that God challenges His children in order for spiritual growth. It is through a constant relationship with Jesus Christ that gives us the paitience and strength to make it through those changes.

1 Corinthians 2:9

   ”No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him
-1 Corinthians 2:9

I hate to ride on the coat tails of other people. Oh, well! 

During a conversation, Ricky Motes gave me a verse in which blessed his life in a major way. Then later Chris Lewis twittered the same verse. And it wasn’t long after that DJACRIS referenced the same verse in his latest blog post.  I just wanted to display the Grace and Mercy in which God’s children are blessed with. Many of His servants at WAC have served very well this week. In many ways and in hard times I know the question has been asked “WHY?”.

The answer: WAC has yet to see what God has in store for it.

The Catch: What God has prepared for those who LOVE Him.

Love is the meat of this verse. I hear many people say, “I just want God to bless me” or “I just want God to use me”. As His child, that is exactly what He WANTS to do. He wants to bless and use YOU! And it is the actions in LOVE that dictates if He can use you to build His kingdom or not.

We can say we love Chirst all day long. But if our actions do not SCREAM, “GOD I LOVE YOU!”, how can we expect God to move with freedom within our lives? God cannot move as He desires if He is not the top priority in our lives. The fact that there should be no other gods before Him means that if anything else is a bigger priority than God, then sin has entered our heart. And God cannot look on sin or bless sin.

Phillipians 2:12 reminds us that our walk is a constant struggle as we work out our salvation in fear and trembling. Just as in a marriage it is not always easy. But the relationship with God is even harder because Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that we struggle against a level of evilness and wickedness that we just can’t understand at times.

We encourage our fellow servants to press on even when it is hard to understand. We must remember that :

“No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him”
-1 Corinthians 2:9

Carrie’s 28th Birthday!!

Yeah, so right now I’m married to a really hot, sexy, beautiful, did I mention hot pregnant lady! O man she is hot!

Today I was able to share the day with Carrie as we celebrated the day in which God designed her to be a daughter, a friend, my wife, and now a soon to be MOM! We laughed, we reminisced, we dreamed and just had a great time sharing life together. The day started out with a HUGE flippin’ breakfast at Cracker Barrel. (I have to say the Country Boy breakfast with two pork chops, three eggs, grits, hashbrown cassarole, gravy, baked apples, two biscuits topped with apple butter, and a cup of coffee……it’s GREAT! And I ate all of it! She had some french toast.) She wanted to shop so that took us to the Tanger Outlets in Commerce, GA. Then the shopping took us to the Mall of Georgia where we sat and watched people in the food court. Not to mention we saw how humorus God was when he created a few people…lol! We finished the day seeing an IMAX 3D movie. Coolest adventure of the day, considering I have never seen a 3D movie. I was deprived as a child.   What made the movie even better was that we were the only ones in there. That was pretty cool. We laughed out loud and talked as much as we wanted.

The best part was the ride home when she said, “Thank you for my birthday. You’re my bestest friend.” Wow… now that’s what I call a HOMERUN for any man! Not bragging on me, just the ability of my God to know exactly how to build our marriage. I have yet to fully figure her out. That will always be a mystery. But I will say that God has allowed me to know how to make her smile.

I know when God formed me, he knew exactly how to design Carrie for my needs. Likewise, he knew how to design me for Carrie’s needs. (Read Genesis 2:18-The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”) You and your spouse have been designed for each other and God built you both to be suitable for each other. Men, love your wife as Christ loves the church and present her spotless and blameless. You must know what makes her smile. And once you find it, make it happen often. Trust me, it is well worth it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARRIE!!!

Integrity

This week has proved to be very challenging to say the least. With events unfolding in some unimaginable ways and other events taking place in ways that were not expected, integrity became a huge focus. Integrity defined by “coreyology” is nothing more than standing in the gap even when you know the outcome will not be very pleasant. It’s holding your ground in situations that you know are going to cost a little more that you are willing to pay. It’s remaining true in hard conversations that you wish you could sneak out the back door on. Integrity is a virtue of character that is not given but learned over a period of time.

Without doubt I have seen integrity upheld in some of my closest friends this week. Thanks guys for your time, efforts, and willingness to do some tough things in some hard times. Integrity is nothing more than another form of worship. Doing what GOD has called you to do knowing there must be a price to pay. Worship must cost us something! Worship that cost us nothing is a slap in the face of our GOD. What role has integrity played in your worship?

Job became the biblical poster child of integrity. His life as he knew it was dismantled but his faith and integrity remained upright and steadfast in some of life’s most trying storms.  “I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.”–Job 27:5

Our God also builds our character with integrity in many ways of testing our hearts: “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.”–1 Chronicles 29:17

Worship…It must cost us something!

This week has been in its entirety centered around worship. The WAC youth shared on their experience at Big Bear this past Saturday. The way God lead me in worship on Wednesday was amazing. The move of God on the campus of Clemson University at FCA on Thursday blew me away. This week God is definitely asking me where does my spirit line up with His command to worship.

In Deuteronomy 6:13 we are commanded to worship our God and Him only. In Matthew 4:10 Jesus confirms it as He is faced with temptation from satan. And then back in 2 Samuel 24:24 David explains how we are to worship. Let me see if I can explain this point.

• Deuteronomy 6:13-17

God’s command began, that our hearts, souls, minds and bodies may exalt nothing but Him. Putting no other gods before him means things such as the following should not come between us and God: job, money, wife, husband, kids, pride, mothers, fathers, church, position in church, pleasing people, etc. The list goes on and on. But all of those things seem to be good in life. And they are unless they hinder the worship in which we have been commanded to live.

(read 2 Samuel 24:18-24 in context)
The heart of this post is found in 2 Samuel 24:24 when king David is commanded by God to build an altar and worship Him. The servant Araunah was so amazed in the presence of David that he wanted to supply David with the offering to God. But David knew that real worship must cost something!

 Worship defined is not singing, clapping, yelling, raising hands only. It is not some Sunday morning singing. But it is the way we live our lives. Do we live it for ourselves? Sadly, most of the time the answer would have to be yes. God says that our lives are his and he wants us to honor him everyday.

That’s the question. What does your worship cost you? Does it call for you to lay down your pride and ask forgiveness for a sin committed against your brother? Does it mean you lay down your greediness and bless someone financially? Does it mean that you lay down your selfishness and finish a task for your a weary colleague? And in all of these your heart must ask the question why. Why have I done this? The answer should be, “Because I love God, and this is my act of worship to him! What does your worship cost you? God should be valued so much that our worship should cost us everything!