Happy Birthday to my youngest, Joshua Ryan Thalken who turns 1 today!!!!!!!
Joshua is SUCH an Amazing gift straight from Heaven!! One year ago at 6:47pm Michael and I were blessed by God with our youngest son, Joshua Ryan! Who was named after Michael & I older brothers, so he would carry on the Family names of the first born sons on both sides the Briscoes & Thalkens. Joshua was born premature at 3lbs 12 oz & 16in. long with a head full of blonde curly hair. Michael and I arrived at the hospital around 8pm and were greeted by his grandparents who showed us many pictures and answered all of our questions. Because he was premature and very sick they would not let us in to the NICU see him, so we just starred at those pictures and brought them to life in our minds(pictures really do tell a thousand words in moments like that.) It was a beautiful night that we welcomed Joshua into this world, but we did have a long road ahead of all of us.
Joshua got very sick and had developed NEC(in short a disease that was killing his intestines) the longer he went without surgery the more intestines he would loose. So they did an emergency surgery on him when he was just 3 days old. The docs said he had lost a lot and because he was so young gestational they weren't hopeful he would make it.
Well, their 1st mistake was that they didn't know the Great Physician had His hand on Joshua. Second mistake was they were talking to a family who were strong prayer warriors and had just witnessed a miracle of Jesus' healing power(aka a medical mystery..lol)on Joshua's very own mother's intestines :) And I knew as well as my family, that God had given me that miracle just 1 month shy of this operation after 17 years of battling with it, so that our faith would be strengthened for this! Third mistake was that the biological Grandfather was best friends with a Gut Surgeon, Dr.Vaughn at Cooks who just happens to be the best and on top of his medical background he was also a very strong believer! So the doctors made the medical call that Joshua needed the best, and so he was transported to Cooks in Ft. Worth where Dr. Vaughn stepped in and did Joshua's second surgery. I got to meet him afterward and he said he was praying for Joshua but already knows that he is a miracle!
On October 20th, Joshua was scheduled for his 3rd surgery which was a re-constructive surgery(this was a tell all kind of surgery- after this one we would know exactly how much of his intestines he had lost and how serious of condition he was in). Michael and I received a call which we thought was an update call; but to our surprise we were told they were going to let us be there when he came out of surgery and see him for the 1st time!!!! Oh the EMOTIONS that were flying... I was so excited to finally be able to meet my baby, yet this was a big day for him and he was undergoing a major surgery! You can imagine how we both felt that day...We got to the hospital as soon as we could and were greeted by a wonderful staff who showed us the ropes to the NICU and little did we know this would be our new home.
No words could describe that moment so here are some pictures...
That was an overwhelming, emotional day for me, as we had already seen a lot of pictures of this baby and our hearts had already accepted him as ours, but up until that moment we hadn't got to see him in person, touch him, talk to him, smell him, and just BE with him. Oh it was amazing and he was absolutely beautiful to us even though his tiny body was covered in tubes and bandages. However, waiting those 10days and having the anticipation we had for his healing was SO worth it because we felt the closest we ever had to the Father's Heart and were overwhelmed by His Peace and Love for us!!!
Joshua's 3rd surgery was successful; they ended up removing over half of his intestines, but did not have to touch his bowels(amazing report and total answer to prayer). We ended up spending the first 3 months of Joshua's life at Cooks. In that time he ended up having 5 surgeries total; one on a valve in his heart, and 4 on this intestines. Joshua had many other complications, but the Lord saw our whole family through this, and in the end Joshua has a miraculous testimony and is such a blessing to us. His dr. Vaughn was right to say Joshua is a true miracle!!
The adoption was finalized on March 6th,2008! However, We were truly blessed to be given complete guardianship over Joshua on Oct.20th. So from the 1st day we met him (he was 10 days old) we were able to hold his tiny hand through everything, praying over him and giving him the love he needed. I can't begin to tell you that loving Joshua and having him in our lives this year has truly been an out of this world experience, I feel like we have a little angel sent straight from heaven, in our lives now! He IS such a JOY and brings it alive in Michael, Gavyn, & I everyday!
Here is Joshy the day he was born-
And Joshy at 1 years old!
He is starting to pull up on everything and walk along furniture. He is not happy just sitting in one place, but he loves to push his little walker thing around the house. Still no teeth but LOVES food and eats anything and everything!! So much so that I told Michael if we gave him food for his birthday present it would for sure be his favorite gift :) He says "dada" and I think Gavyn has got him to say "buba" a couple times too. We are really enjoying him right now and I cant wait to see what this next year holds for him :O)Here are some pics throuought Joshy's 1st year!
1 month old
1st christmas
Joshua Ryan with the uncles he's named after
Mothers day
Joshua's Life is a beautiful testimony of God's Beauty and Love!! Joshua is a very special little boy who I think is one of God's favorites :) And I'm not just saying that because I am his mother but b/c I have witnessed the Hand of the Lord on His Life NUMEROUS times already in his 1st year of life! Now because I am his mother, I will tell you that I am humbled and honored that God chose Michael & I to be his parents and not a day goes by that I don't reflect on the beauty of that!
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