Say It Isn’t So!

Family and friends-
WHERE HAS TIME GONE?!!
Annalise Hope turned 6 months old today!!!! SIX MONTHS! That’s HALF A YEAR, people!!!!!
The little lady who wasn’t supposed to live longer than 60 minutes has been here with us for 6 months!
I am sitting here trying to summon up all the words… all the thoughts and feelings… that are going through me. Through all the happy tears… I can say that we are blessed beyond measure. We have been given such an incredible gift that has taught us SO much.
I cannot stress enough how thankful I am that God led us down this path and that we have such a Loving Father who is always right there with us.
We knew going into this unexpected journey that God had a plan and a purpose for all of this. We didn’t know how much time we would have with her… We still don’t. (Truth is…. No parent knows that.) We didn’t know that we would have a 6 month old who keeps defying all odds and who keeps reaching milestones that she shouldn’t be without a brain. (Makes you wonder if maybe there is more now than there was before, huh?!? ;))
Six months FLEW by.
But the only thing I can think about is… What if we didn’t believe in a God who always has the perfect plan and ending? What if we would have listened to some of those doctors who implied we abort the baby because there was no hope for her anyways? (HA!!! No hope for our Annalise Hope? Look at us now, doctors!)
I remember being so overwhelmed when we were put on this journey. I remember going to the Lord in prayer more than I ever have in my entire life. I was diving into the Bible and reading books. One of the books that I fumbled through was called Overwhelmed by Perry Noble. (Pretty fitting title, right?!? :p) Anyways… The main thing that I remember from that book is that when we are going through something… We have to shift our focus from our circumstance(s) to Christ. We can’t look to Jesus to change our circumstance(s) though… Because more than likely… He’s just trying to change us. We have to refuse to allow our circumstance(s) to shape our belief system and instead allow our belief system to help us overcome our circumstance(s).
Let me tell you…(and I won’t speak for Kevin on this one but I’m sure he feels the same ;))… but He has definitely changed me. Allowing what I believe in God to rule over any prediction for Annalise has given her life and life more abundantly for that matter.
Just a side note- I’m not saying that, any time you go through a trial/situation/circumstance, if you just believe in our Sovereign Lord and His promises, the best possible outcome is going to happen. For us, our outcome has been extremely good. But it COULD have, very easily, turned out differently. Sometimes, your definition of good isn’t going to be the outcome… It’s always going to be His definition of the perfect plan though and that’s all that matters. 😉
Anyways… Back to Annalise 😉
Annalise has a busy week this week. Tuesday is our normal nurse visit day. Wednesday is her 6 month wells checkup and shots (And hopefully car seat test day!!!). And Thursday is physical therapy day!
This little firecracker of ours is such a happy baby lately. As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she’s smiling. All day long when we play, she’s smiling. Even in her sleep she smiles. She’s beginning to figure out how to smile in different ways too- cutest thing ever!
She has gotten to be so alert and active. She is constantly moving and is now officially ON the move. Even though she can’t lift her head yet, she figured out how to crawl, in her own way of course. She still hasn’t figured out that she can put her arms under her to help but we are working on that! She’s our little inchworm and I am OH so proud! Also, her rolling from back to belly has gotten a whole lot easier! 😉 She no longer aimlessly kicks her legs to get over…. It’s just a quick simple motion now. And because of that… She won’t ever stay on her back! She has officially turned into a tummy sleeper as well (just like her momma and daddy ;)).
She still can’t roll from belly to back though. I don’t think she will be able to do that until she can lift her head a little bit. So once she is on her tummy… She’s just stuck. :p
Annalise is FINALLY finding her voice as well!!! She has been ALOT more vocal in the past week. We will be playing and she will just lay there cooing and making all those adorable baby noises. There have even been a few times where we will say something or ask her something and she makes a noise back as if she is responding!!! Now THAT makes this momma super proud and emotional!
She loves books. And her slinky. 🙂 She is getting so much better at reaching for her toys/books. She loves watching infant stimulation videos and Veggie Tales. 😉 Any toy that moves, sings, and/or lights up is her favorite. ;p She loves being outside and going for walks in her stroller.
We are seriously so proud of her and so amazed at how well she is doing. She has accomplished so much and we can’t wait to see what else she does!
Daddy and I are already SO excited and looking forward to spending some holidays with her (God willing of course ;)). We think she is going to LOVE Christmas because of all the lights! We may already be planning and saving up for presents. 😉
I think that about sums up our life lately. :p As always you can stay more up to date by visiting our Facebook page- Prayers for the Pragels.
And as per usual… We will end with pictures. Today you all get a special treat at the end though. We took a few (and by few I mean like 80- haha!!!) 6 month old photos. I literally just closed my eyes and randomly selected photos to put together in a collage. So instead of bombarding you with 80 some photos, you get 32. 😉
Enjoy!
Thank you Karen (from A Perfect Treasure) for the handmade onesie! Thank you Shannen for all our sparkle bows (LiviLane Shop on Etsy) and Tiffany for the jewelry (LittleMissV Shop on Etsy)!

I will update you all soon!
God bless!

—-Anchoring our hope to the One who has already scripted the perfect ending!—-

Gofundme page- http://www.gofundme.com/hopeforannalise