A Day in the Life of the McGurk Family: February 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Providence Pictures 2-24-2015

We met with the builder today to go over all of our plans. Not much has changed on our home since Saturday. Just has plastic covering the foundation from the rainy/sleety weather. Now we are just waiting for them to drop the wood and it will start being framed!!! Can't wait to see what it looks like next Saturday.

Providence Home Update: 2-21-2015

Look at the progress! They have poured the concrete! We have a driveway to the right and a dirt area on the left for our yard. It's coming together nicely! Kyle is very excited about the forest like area right next to us and across the subdivision. He can't wait to set up his trail camera.

Providence Home Update: 2-14-2015

Happy Valentine's Day From Grandma & Papa!

Thank you for the kiddos Valentine's. They were quite happy with their gifts!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Bye, Bye Mama's Milk...Good Luck in Your New Home

My neighbor friend Carol adopted a sweet young man Keonte from the foster system about 5 years ago. Keonte has a sister that was adopted by another sweet family that live in Austin. That same family has adopted 2 other little girls from the foster system and has recently been given a newborn baby to foster/adopt. This family's heart for suffering, mistreated children is ENORMOUS! There is no way to even measure how big, how much love for Christ they have to just step out in faith and willingly, lovingly take care of, guide and raise these children that others have given up. They are amazing people. Carol told me there story and I immediately admired them. Carol told me how she was going to give up some of her milk supply to this baby so he would have less formula. She asked me if I wanted to donate some of mine. I was like, "well, I need to think about it. I'll talk to Duane & see what he says." My heart was screaming "NO way!" I'm not giving up my milk supply. I worked hard for every ounce and what if I need it? All that ran through my mind. And then I just put it out of my mind. I wasn't giving up my baby's milk that's NOT being used, just sits in my deep freezer waiting to expire. Yeah, no way. Then I saw a picture of the newborn boy, Darius and loved him at first sight. I started to pray about it. And Duane & I came to the conclusion that I'm actively making milk. Sean gets fresh milk everyday. My milk in our deep freezer is set to expire in 1 month. Colostrum about to expire. I felt super selfish. We decided, with God's direction, that we heard this baby's story for a reason. God gave my body all this milk for THIS reason. Use it, give it. So at first I only gave a few baggies, maybe 10. But like I said some of my milk was going to expire in March. So we decided there was only one thing to do, give it all away. So we did. This family drove up from Austin. Spent some time with Carol and then made their way to our home. I met them. Saw their little girls an almost 2 year old and a 1 year old. Then I saw Darius. My heart leaped! Here was the baby that already had some of my milk nourishing his little body. And he was about to receive more. I hugged this family and we started helping them unpack my deep freezer (they bought their own in anticipation of my milk) Then I started to feel panicked as my frozen supply slowly dwindled away. I started to cry. But I knew it was going to be OK. In the end my milk will nourish this little guy for a few months and he will have a healthier start then the one he was originally given. I get picture updates sent to my phone. And this little guy is growing well. God has worked so amazingly in my life. There have been a couple of times that I was worried I wasn't going to make enough milk to sustain Sean. My milk supply has dropped twice. But with a ton of prayer, lactation guidance, massage, hot compresses, good nutrition, hydration, plenty of herbs and determination God has always given my body the ability to feed Sean. I am so grateful to be able to give this milk to such a sweet little blessing. Good luck to Darius and his wonderful family.

Baby Talk

These are pictures of our neighbor friend Carol's baby. His name is Brayden. I think he's about 4 months old. He started jabbering to Sean and Sean answered him. It originally startled Brayden because well, Sean doesn't babble. He growls. But after a second they warmed up to each other.