Our Little Miracle... Elaina Grace (or Elli)

As I was posting the other picture of our girls, the Lord told me that it was time to tell little Elli's miraculous story. To be honest, it has been hard for me to look back at pictures. Most of all, I have struggled with feeling unbelievably vain but the truth is that it is always hard for any mommy to have anything be wrong with their baby. OK - let me catch up anyone who doesn't know about Elli. When she was born, she had a small area that had a lack of pigmentation. We didn't really think a whole lot about it. To be honest, I could barely see it. Then when she was about two months old, red dots started to appear on both cheeks just in front of her ears. I took her into the doctor who had no idea what it was. She did nothing. Finally after her four month check up, the right side starting growing puffy. That was when I took charge. I made my doctor refer us to a dermatologist. He then referred us to a specialist. She ended up having hemangiomas. They are simply extra blood vessels that grow for 2-3 years then regress and reabsorb into the body. They can last from anywhere to 4 to 15 years, but usually go away completely on their own. The complication with hers was that she had them in front of her ear and on her lip. It was possible that she also had them on her voice box. That could be dangerous if it began growing puffy. It could block off her breathing. She then had to go under two different times, one to have a scope which was not very clear. The second time she had to have an MRI. She did have one on her voice box but it was only a red staining, not any puffiness. Thank you Lord. When she was about nine months, the Lord told me she would be healed without a blemish remaining. The six months was a kind of rough to walk through. I knew that Jesus could heal her. I had many people lay hands on her, but really didn't see a whole lot of improvement. Satan kept trying to tell me it was because "I didn't have enough faith". But we knew that was a lie. During those months, God really gave me a revelation of His power and my faith really did grow strong. He showed me that sometimes a mommy needs to be like a momma bear. I knew that once I asked for healing, it was done. But I felt God wanted me to battle the lies Satan was trying to plant. So evey day I would lay hands on her and thank Jesus that she was healed. There were times that I literally felt it shrink under my fingers. What an awesome miracle. Now, it is almost completely gone. The really cool thing is that "normally" the reabsorbing would just be starting. So God is amazing. I think through it all the biggest thing I learned is to just be honest with God. Elli was really not in any physical danger. So I felt "melodramatic" and vain struggling so much when others have much worse situations. But once I could open up to the Lord and tell him that I was hurting for her, he then could come in and heal my heart. Besides, it is not vain to want our little girls to feel lovely. After all, that is what he created them to feel. The pictures are in order. The green PJs in when she is almost a year old. The blue shirt is at a year and a half. The next one is at her two year birthday party. The most recent one with Kayla and Tori was a few weeks ago at the capital. That one really shows that the lumpiness is basically gone. She has some marks still but the doctor told us that would go away last. Thank you Jesus!