So I am obviously VERY BEHIND on this blogging thing! Oh well, I will just aim to journal important milestones in this crazy Justice household. I think Hannah's 6 month birthday qualifies as an important milestone...agreed?
On Friday, September 16th, our little sweet pea reached the 1/2 year mark. So much has happened in these past 6 months, and the time has flown by. It is incredible to remember where we were on March 16th - after the the most painful yet rewarding experiences of our lives (labor that was), we had this miracle of life that was just perfect. And then she was very sick, and I had a broken pelvis....but the Good Lord healed both of us. And then, and then, and then.....and NOW she is almost crawling and sitting up, eating rice cereal (albeit, very messily), gooing and gaaing, and totally manipulating daddy and I with her sweet cries and smiles. She sleeps awesome at night, 12 hours at least (7 pm to 7 or 8 am). She is a good eater, although she loves to spit and is starting to prefer the bottle over slow poke mommy. We are still exclusively breast feeding (and hope to for one year), but the pump has become my best friend as of late.
Hannah loves to grab anything and everything in sight and pull it to her mouth. I really don't mind it though - the more germs the better for her immune system! She LOVES to suck her thumb, which is a huge blessing because it helps her sleep at night. Dallas and Daytona love her more each day and would lick her little face off if we let them. She never sits still and needs constant attention. She seems to portray more and more of my qualities (ie. strawberry blond hair, big dumbo ears (poor little girl), her "long and leanness", a bit of a fussy tummy, and oh yes, that not sitting still thing). I was hoping she would take on more of daddy's traits (ie. being patient, chill, and having a very amiable tummy). But I can't say I am sad that she does not have his stature :-). Hannah checked out perfectly at her 6 month well visit and her numbers are (drum roll please)....
26.5 inches long (75th Percentile)
14.5 pounds heavy (25th Percentile)
42 centimeters round (50th Percentile)
Like I said....long and lean! She doesn't really have a roll on her - although many people have complimented her buff arms (no joke, this girl has muscles already). We hope that with the introduction of solids, she will put on some more weight. I think she might be a picky eater (anyone else know someone like that? Ugh, I know, I know) as she spit out her first bite of avocado and will NOT eat rice cereal mixed with water (it must be milk). If this girl is not going to be an athlete, she is going to ROCK at grabbing things off of the top shelf. We are incredibly proud of our sweet Hannah and wake up each day excited to see what new thing she will do next. Parents all around have been telling me since day one to cherish this time because it goes so fast....I am really starting to believe them now.
Well, amidst all of the wonderfulness that is Hannah, we have also experienced some challenging times lately as many of you know. In February, we came to Charlotte with high hopes for Steve's career in the NFL. The day we arrived I was miraculously blessed with the opportunity to continue my personal training business and it is still kicking strong with more clients than ever. The same day I was blessed with that opportunity, Steve hit the ground running to prepare to make the Panther's 53-man roster for the 2010-2011 season. He gave everything he had to achieve that goal, and was truly excelling at camp in August. However, for some reason that we can't yet understand, God allowed him to re injure his back. The Panthers have actually treated Steve very well to this point, as they placed him on Injured Reserve with the caveat that once he is healthy, he will be released. He has been going into work every day and like always, gives his honest best at getting healthy. While his pain is substantially less than what it was, he is still not fully recovered and is kind of "stuck".
Based on the latest meetings that Steve has had with the team and his agent, we expect the Panthers to release Steve sometime this week. If this happens, we will file an injury grievance so that Steve can still be compensated while he heals. We are not sure if it will just take more time or surgery, but we hope and pray that the neutral doctor that the NFL Players Association chooses will fix Steve's injury, one way or the other. This process has been long and tedious and has really tested our patience and strength. But anyone who knows Steve knows the good, honest, and humble heart that he has. He is such a wonderful husband and father and I cannot express in words how proud I am of him for all that he has accomplished. We have no idea what the future holds, and honestly, we crawl on our knees through each day, asking God for comfort, peace, and protection. He always answers this prayer, and He always gives us hope for tomorrow. Will Steve retire from football? What will he do if he does retire? We really aren't prepared to answer these questions, as God has not given us a peace about the possible answers. All we know is that Steve needs to get healthy, and then we will worry about the rest.
I don't know why we have had to endure some very hard times during our first year of marriage. And if I am honest, I sometimes get very angry about it. But then I fall flat on my face again and again when I consider all that we have both externally and internally in our lives. We are so fortunate and I am a punk to focus on what we don't have, when everything we really need (each other, our friends and family, a roof, and daily bread) is right here...right now. All we have to do is look into our sweet baby's eyes and we see Him. He is right here, He has never left, and He never will.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We love living in Charlotte and have made some great friends here. Hopefully we can get more involved in our church soon as Hannah gets older and might actually let us sit though a service without being "buzzed" by the nursery :-). Our neighbors that we met yesterday told us about some "secret" biking and running trails that are hidden behind our houses - I am super excited to go explore those soon! Hannah loves to hike and be outdoors (via the baby bjorn of course)...I guess that might be another trait that she is getting from someone she knows?
We will keep you posted on Steve's status. For now, we will be enjoying the coming of fall in beautiful NC ... there is nothing like it on this earth.
We love ya'll!
The Justice Clan
