One Big Giraffe!

Welcome to all of you visiting from Lynnette's blog

  I'm honored to be the featured blogger today!I hope you enjoy your peak inside my world.____________________________________ My sister, Ricky, has been wanting to get Eli this big giraffe for a while now...and two weeks ago she placed the order.  Look what arrived yesterday:

WE LOVE IT!  It's the perfect addition to Eli's giraffe room. So, today is the perfect day to tell the story of giraffes in our life! When I was pregnant, I decorated the nursery with Little Suzy's Zoo.  After finding out it was a boy, I thought, "Hmm....it needs to be a little more 'boyish'....so, I decided to use orange, green, blue and yellow as the accent colors in his room.  I love bright colors and was excited to use this citrus palette!One of the characters in the set was a Giraffe named Patches.  I thought he was cute, and couldn't think of anyone else who collected giraffes or decorated with giraffes, so that became my focus!I started collecting everything orange and giraffe I could find.It was a very fun treasure hunt....and I found way more than I expected.His nursery was adorable:

THEN ELI WAS BORN.

Life changed forever that night.

Our baby was on a ventilator, we weren't sure if he was going to live.

The Neonatologist that saved Eli's life that night came back to visit us later, and she was wearing a shirt with GIRAFFES on it!  I told her that we collect giraffes for Eli and that it was interesting she had giraffes on her shirt the night she saved him!  She said she went on a trip to Africa and the giraffes were her favorite part!

Kindred spirits, we were!

After two weeks in the NICU here in our community, they decided to LifeFlight him to Seattle Children's Hospital's IICU.  My husband rode on the plane with Eli.  I drove over.

When I got there, I called Lonnie to find out where to go, and

He says, "You want to come in the GIRAFFE entrance - so park in that garage."

I said, "You're kidding?  It's called the giraffe entrance?"

He said, "Yes, that's the main entrance to the hospital."

We thought that was pretty cool!

So, then later that day we went across the street to check into the Ronald McDonald House.

We got room 102, I believe. 

We walked in and put our stuff down, and as I looked around the room, I saw not one, but TWO pictures of GIRAFFES on the walls!

As I shared this story with a christian friend later, she reminded me that it wasn't coincidence!

GOD IS IN THE DETAILS OF OUR LIVES!

If we just look for him, we'll see his love for us everywhere!

Ever since then, giraffes pop up all the time, and give comfort in times of need.

Since the hospital has the Giraffe entrance, Giraffe Gift Shop, and whole Giraffe Wing....

their gift shop carries LOTS of giraffes.  So, that is why whenever Eli has to go to Seattle Children's Hospital for anything we always buy him a giraffe!

It's been a wonderful blessing to us to see God in so many details of Eli's life.

Thanks for reading our story!

It means the world to me for people to "get to know" my son!