What if?

Although Lincoln still isn't coming home for a few more days, he did pass his car seat test with flying colors tonight. Not only did Lincoln do great with this test, but it was also a dose of reality for us to see him sitting there looking like he was ready to go home. All we could do was look at each other and say, "Wow!"

Over the last several weeks, we've mentioned how grateful we are for this entire experience. We wouldn't change anything that has happened since December 5, 2008 at 2:27 a.m. As we drove home tonight (knowing that Lincoln's hospital stay is coming to an end), we were both struck with one of those "What if?" type of questions. What if we had never met any of the people who have taken care of Lincoln? How would our lives be different? The easy answer is to say that nothing would be different because we wouldn't have known anything else. On the other hand, we realized tonight that our lives are much better because we've had the chance to get to know so many of the doctors and nurses. It's sorta hard to put into words how much we appreciate each of the people on staff in the nicu, but what we can say is that we feel extremely blessed to have met each of them. Over the last seven and a half weeks, we've shared a part of our lives with some very intelligent, talented, and caring people.

A lot of times people make references to angels when they've been through a challenging experience. People often think that angels watch over them through tough times. All I know is that God often places people in our paths to bring us hope and encouragement at the right time and place according to His plan. We believe that God has used each of the doctors and nurses in the nicu in a very special way to bless us. We will definitely miss them...but the good news is that they have an annual reunion for the preemies and their families:-) It will be fun to stay in touch and keep everyone up to date as Lincoln grows up.

God knows way more than we do. He's got a way better plan than we ever will dream of. God knows our little boy from the inside out and top to bottom because, after all...He created Lincoln! Wow, it's still such an awesome fact to just sit and think about all of this. Tonight we had an hour to just sit and stare at Lincoln during his car seat test and it still amazes us that we've been given this gift. Believe it or not, I actually feel like I'm pretty speechless right now. All I can say is that April and I love Lincoln Isaac Brown more than anything in the entire galaxy! Soon we will be bringing him home, but for the last few days of his hospital stay we'll just sit and take it all in.

Here are a few more pictures we'd like to share with you.

Lincoln taking a look at his dog "Belle"