April 25, 2010 by Jen.

Here are some shots of Juliana in her baby dedication dress. She looks like a little Victorian doll in one of the shots. That dress (and bonnet) is what my sisters and I each wore for our own baby dedications.

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April 7, 2010 by Jen.

Juliana’s life was saved by your many prayers and by God’s working through the miracle of modern medicine. The doctors and nurses at University of Maryland Medical Center who worked so hard for our babies were greatly benefitted by funds and research done by the March of Dimes foundation.

In order to raise awareness of the tragedies of prematurity, the March of Dimes hosts walk-a-thons all over the country where individuals can raise money for this very worthy cause. My sisters and brother-in-law will be walking on May 2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee on behalf of Juliana, Zoe, and Eden, and we would love your support! If you would like to contribute to their walk and to saving premature babies, please visit their team site: Payne3. You can learn more about the March of Dimes organization, and even join an event near you at www.marchforbabies.org. We’re hoping that you will be willing to sponsor our family in this walk and donate to an organization that will help families everywhere.

Thank you, each one, for taking the time to come to our blog and post your comments in show of support. Thank you for your many prayers during our difficult time.

Also, to celebrate Juliana’s life and dedicate her to God, we are holding a special baby dedication at the Highland View Church on Sabbath, April 17 at 11 a.m. during the church service. We would be honored if you would like to attend and meet Juliana. It will be her first official outing into public, and we are so thrilled to be able to publicly dedicate her to God. Thank you all for being a part of our journey to this point!

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April 7, 2010 by Jen.

Easter weekend was quite full. Grandpa and Grandpa Minner and Ansley accompanied Juliana and me on her first excursion to Washington DC, where we saw the cherry blossoms in full bloom, and Juliana had her first glimpse of the White House. (Well, I’m not sure she even opened her eyes.)

Our new camera has been very fun. I am learning the settings and playing around with different techniques. Stay tuned for many more fun pictures!

Also, the developmental specialists came to evaluate Juliana yesterday. She weighs 9 lb 4 oz, and she is now 21 inches long! They were very impressed with her. She is functioning right where she should be, according to her adjusted age of nearly 2 months. There are some areas where she is ahead, mainly in her social skills. She makes a lot of eye contact and follows people and voices. She has also started smiling a lot more. We look forward to some more coos and giggles in the weeks to come. Another goal for her is to increase her neck muscles and hold her head up for longer periods of time with more stability. We will be doing a lot of playtime on her tummy to help with this. We are also going to start working on rolling over. We will be helping her learn how this feels, and then hopefully she will start to do it on her own. We are very proud of her progress, as usual. She continues to be a super sweet baby who doesn’t cry very much and smiles more and more.

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April 5, 2010 by Jason.

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April 1, 2010 by Jason.

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