Thank you!!

Brad and I are so thankful for each and everyone one of you that read this blog. We are so thankful for the prayers everyone has prayed for our family. We knew we had wonderful friends and family,but everyone has gone above and beyond to help us the past four weeks. Many people have brought over food, which was a wonderful blessing. My sorority sisters all went together and purchased us a weeks worth of meals, Rick and Deborah brought food and a birthday cake for Brad, my cousins Holly and Jon made us a weeks worth of meals and the Johnsons have fed us numerous times! Everyone has offered to help with Brady so that Brad and I could spend as much time as possible with Cole at the hospital. Sara and Alex came to visit, brought food and Brenna which is always a highlight for us but especially fun for Brady. Kim and Scott and Jared came up this past weekend and played with Brady so that we could get some sleep and go to my friend Erin's wedding (it was a beautiful ceremony). Everyone has showered Cole and Brady with gifts and love and it is humbling to witness everyone's generosity. The cards of congratulations and encouragement that we have received from so many people were wonderful to read at the end of some very long days. We had so many people reach out to us that have had children in the NICU. Parents who have had children in the NICU have an instant bond because we know what it is like to be 100% dependent upon God and the doctors and nurses to care for your child because you can't. We thank all of the NICU parents that have sent us messages of support, but especially our friends the Callahan's. They had triplets at 28 weeks, so they spent a lot of time the exact same NICU that Cole was in. When we would go to visit the babies there, we had no idea that less than a year later we would be there ourselves. They were always willing to answer questions that Brad and I had and to help calm our fears when we didn't know what was going to happen next. Thank you to the doctor's and nurses at Riley North. They are an amazing staff and we will always feel a special connection with them! Thank you to our church who came by weekly to see how we were doing and to check on baby Cole. They prayed for us daily and we can't wait for baby dedication day on May 3rd. When Cole was really sick, both of our parents came up to be with us during that difficult time and we were very thankful for their love and support even though there wasn't much they could do. I was talking to my cousin Holly who has a special needs child and she said she thinks it might be harder for our parents sometimes because they love us and they love the little baby who is sick too. I think I agree with her! I am thankful that Brad's mom could tell by his voice that he needed her here to comfort him and that she dropped everything and came. I don't know what we would have done without my mom those first two weeks. She took 2 weeks off of school to be with us and to help us in every way that she could. She stayed in Cole's room the second night of his life so that Brad could get some sleep. She played with Brady, took and picked him up from day care, and put him to bed many nights because we were at the hospital. She cooked, cleaned, made phone calls for us and many other things. She sat with me in the hospital every day when I couldn't sit in Cole's room because he needed minimum stimulation. She was a shoulder for me to cry on and the best mom ever! Thank you mom and I hope to be as good of a mom to my boys that you are to me! Thank you to everyone and please let us know if we can ever do anything to help you! We can't wait for all of you to meet our little miracle!