My Heart: Christ's Home part 2

Please part 1 of this devotional story, which was read to us at our church's Women's Retreat last weekend, before you read this part.  You can find it here.


THE WORKROOM


Before long, He asked, "Do you have a workroom in your home?" Out in the garage of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I was not doing much with it. Once in a while I would play around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn't producing anything substantial.  I led Him out there. He looked over the workbench and said, "Well, this is quite well furnished. What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?" He looked at one or two little toys that I had thrown together on a bench and held one up to me. "Is this the sort of thing you are doing for others in your Christian life?" "Well," I said, "Lord, I know it isn't much, and I really want to do more, but after all, I don't seem to have strength or skill to do more."  “Would you like to do better?" He asked. "Certainly," I replied. "All right. Let me have your hands. Now relax in me and let my Spirit work through you. I know that you are unskilled, clumsy and awkward, but the Holy Spirit is the Master Workman, and if He controls your hands and you heart, He will work through you." Stepping around behind me and putting His strong hands under mine, He held the tools in His skilled fingers and began to work through me. The more I relaxed and trusted Him, the more He was able to do with my life.

THE REC ROOM


He asked me if I had a rec room where I went for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He would not ask about that. There were certain associations and activities that I wanted to keep for myself.  One evening when I was on my way out with some buddies, He stopped me with a glance and asked, "Are you going out?" I replied, "Yes." "Good," He said, “I would like to go with you." "Oh," I answered rather awkwardly." "I don't think, Lord Jesus, that you would really enjoy where we are going. Let's go out together tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at church, but tonight I have another appointment." "I am sorry," He said. "I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you." "Well," I mumbled, slipping out the door, "we will go someplace together tomorrow night." That evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy?  When I returned that evening, there was a light in His room, and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said "Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I can't have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together." Then we went down into the rec room of the house. He transformed it. He brought new friends, new excitement, and new joys. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house ever since.

THE HALL CLOSET


One day I found Him waiting for me at the door. An arresting look was in His eye. As I entered, He said to me, "There is a peculiar odor on the house. Something must be dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet." As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about. There was a small closet up there on the hall landing, just a few feet square. In that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about. Certainly, I did not want Christ to see them. I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from the old life. I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there.  Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed to the door. I was angry. That's the only way I can put it. I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the workroom, and now He was asking me about a little two-by-four closet. I had to give in. "I'll give you the key," I said sadly, but You will have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven't got the strength to do it."  "Just give me the key," He said. "Authorize me to take care of that closet and I will." With trembling fingers I passed the key to Him. He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting in there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was all done in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

TRANSFERRING THE TITLE


A thought came to me. "Lord, is there any chance that You would take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as You did that closet? Would You take the responsibility to keep my life what it ought to be?" His face lit up as He replied, "I'd love to! That is what I want to do. Let me do it through you and for you. That is the way. But, "He added slowly, "I am just a guest. I have no authority to proceed, since the property is not mine." Dropping to my knees, I said, "Lord, You have been a guest and I have been the host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the owner and Master." Running as fast as I could to the strongbox, I took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, location and situation. I eagerly signed the house over to Him alone for time and eternity. "Here," I said. "Here it is, all that I am and all that I have, forever. Now You run the house. I'll remain with You as a servant and friend."

Things are different since Jesus Christ has settled down and has made His home in my heart.


There it is.  I've read it a few times now, and it is something I could blog about till my fingers fall off, but I'm still learning and growing, and building upon my faith and understanding of Jesus, and what he wants from us.  I'm curious about what you all think about this story?  Has it effected you as it did me?  Did it make you think about your relationship, if you are a believer, with Christ?  If I'm going to ask for you thoughts, it's only fair I give mine.  So here goes:

The Study:  The first thing I think of when I reflect on that part, is the TV shows and movies that I watch.  I'm sure Jesus would be unhappy with some of the content.  And I'm ashamed to say that I don't see that area changing either, as I like my Grey's Anatomy, Chelsea Handler, Kill Bill, 300, recently Law Abiding Citizen.

The Dining Room:  the line: [  " If you want food that really satisfies you, do the will of the Father. Stop seeking you own pleasures, desires, and satisfaction. Seek to please Him. That food will satisfy you." ] says it all for me here.  When it comes to volunteering for my church and community, I fail miserably.  I tell myself that I don't have the time to do that stuff, but if I'm really being honest here, I could make the time. If I'm really being honest I would say something like, "I've got better things to do"  Ouch... that hurts to even type out!  I feel like if I stopped wasting some of my time with stuff that doesn't matter, doesn't help people, and doesn't make a real difference in the world - I would have time to do more volunteer work, and though I might miss some of the time-killers that I've grown acustomed to, I would be completely satisfied.

The Living Room:  This part speaks to me the most by far!  I welcomed Jesus into my heart YEARS ago, read my bible (occasionally), go to church (not often enough), absorb our Pastor's sermons, study my faith and grow in it, but when I really face the facts... I have neglected Christ.  There are certainly days where I don't pick up my bible (lots of days there), don't share God's word with my children, and completely forget to speak to my Lord.  I, like I said before, am so busy that I forget all about taking the time to pray.  Praying doesn't have to be a sit down - hands in your lap - head bowed - meditation, it can just be a 5 second, "Dear Lord, Thank you for my amazing family!  Please help me do your work today."  But in all the chaos of life, those 5 seconds can be forgotten about.   I am working on this section particularly!

The Work Room:  I fail here too.  I have tools that I could use to serve God, and to serve my community more, but I don't use them as much as I should.  I love children, and enjoy teaching them, and want to help lead little ones to Jesus, but I do not teach Sunday school at church.  I tell myself that when Connor is a little older and I can trust he'll go to the nursery and not cry the whole time, that I'll teach... we'll see next year if it happens.   I also love to sing, but do not sing in a church choir.  This makes me sad since I haven't sung in a choir since college, and I miss the rush of being a part of a performing choir.  Why I do not make the time to join one of the choral groups at my church I just do not know.

Overall:  I make plenty of excuses for myself, and I'm sick of it.  I've neglected my relationship with Jesus, and I want to make a commitment to Him to meet with him in the Living Room of my heart everyday, even if just for a few minutes.  I want to pray about and reflect on how I feel I can best put my skills and time to use... and follow through.  And I want to remember each time I have a problem I can't seem to handle on my own, to give it to Him and ask him help me solve it, to give me the clarity to tackle the hurdles in my life.  I also need to make a more consious effort to teach my daughters, and soon my son, the word of God and His will as I understand it to be. 

So, in the end, I am a sinner, and what a perfect time of year for me to remember that I am forgiven because I ask to be, because Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sins, and that is so good.

Wishful Wednesdays 3/31/10

It's time for Wishful Wednesdays! I'll put a few of my wishes in the main post, and my hope is that everyone reading will put a few of their wishes in the comments. Wishes both big and small are welcome!!

~ I wish for more sleep, I wish I could make myself go to sleep at a decent time.

~ I wish for healing, comfort, and ease for the people I know that are struggling with illness.

~ I wish Little Man would learn how to say "eat" and "milk" soon so he stops babbling random words at the top of his lungs when he wants something.

Your Turn! :o)

The rest of the story from yesterday will be posted tomorrow.  It doesn't cut and paste real easily and I still have laundrey to fold, so I'll have it up tomorrow!

My Heart: Christ's Home

One of the women at our church's women's retreat last weekend, read this to us.  It spoke to me, and I wanted to share this with you in case it speaks to your heart too.  It is really long, however, so I've decided to break it up into to posts.


My Heart: Christ's Home
by Robert B. Munger

One evening I invited Jesus Christ into my heart. What an entrance He made! It was not a spectacular, emotional thing, but very real. Something happened at the very center of my life. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire on the hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been silence. He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will.  In the joy of this new relationship I said to Jesus Christ, "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be Yours. I want to have You settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything that I have belongs to You.  Let me show you around."

THE STUDY
The first room was the study--the library. In my home this room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is a very important room. In a sense it is the control room of the house. He entered with me and looked around at the books on the bookcase, the magazines upon the table, and the pictures on the walls. As I followed His gaze I became uncomfortable.  Strangely, I had not felt self-conscious about this before, but now that He was there looking at these things I was embarrassed. Some books were there that His eyes were too pure to behold. On the table were a few magazines that a Christian had no business reading. As for the pictures on the walls--the imaginations and thoughts of the mind--some of these were shameful.  Red-faced I turned to Him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs to be cleaned up and made over. Will You help me make it what it ought to be?" "Certainly!" He said. "I'm glad to help you. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and looking at which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out! Now put on the empty shelves the books of the Bible. Fill the library with Scripture and meditate on it day and night. As for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but I have something that will help." He gave me a full-size portrait of Himself. "Hang this centrally," He said, "on the wall of the mind."

THE DINING ROOM


From the study we went into the dining room, the room of appetites and desires. I spent a lot of time and hard work here trying to satisfy my wants. I said to Him, "This is a favorite room. I am quite sure you will be pleased with what we serve."  He seated Himself at the table with me and asked, "What is on the menu for dinner?" "Well," I said, "my favorite dishes: money, academic degrees and stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes." These were the things I liked--secular fare. When the food was placed before Him, He said nothing, but I observed that He did not eat it. I said to Him, "Master, don't You care for this food? What is the trouble?"  He answered, “I have food to eat that you do not know of. If you want food that really satisfies you, do the will of the Father. Stop seeking you own pleasures, desires, and satisfaction. Seek to please Him.  That food will satisfy you."  There at the table He gave me a taste of the joy of doing God's will. What flavor! There is no food like it in the world. It alone satisfies.


THE LIVING ROOM

From the dinning room we walked into the living room. This room was intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa, and a quite atmosphere. He said, "This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quite, and we can fellowship together." Well, as a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ in close companionship. He promised, "I will be here early every morning. Meet Me here, and we will start the day together." So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the living room. He would take a book of the Bible from the case. We would open it and read it together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God's saving truths. My heart sang as He shared the love and grace He had toward me. These were wonderful times. However, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I'm not sure. I thought I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand. It just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss days now and then. Urgent matters would crowd out the quite times of conversation with Jesus. I remember one morning rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the living room and noticed that the door was opened. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, "He is my guest. I invited Him into my heart! He has come as my Savior and Friend, and yet I am neglecting Him." I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With downcast glance, I said, "Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?" "Yes," He said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your friendship. Even if you cannot keep the quite time for your own sake, do it for mine." The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don't let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him.

 

I'll share more of this either tomorrow, along with Wishful Wednesday, or thursday morning.  The rooms of the heart coming up are: The work room, the rec room, the hall closet, and tranferring the title.

Let me know what your thoughts are so far, I'll share mine after the entire story is posted.

To jump to PART 2 click here

My Friday Night

I mentioned last Friday that I was going to a retreat at our church.  I am currently writing this post Friday night, shortly after the first night of the retreat. 

The first night was more of an ice-breaker, get to know eachother a little better, relax, play, eat, sing, and of course pray.  The night started with a prayer, a song, and a table full, and I mean FULL, of food.  There were sloppy joes, veggie pizzas, crackers with dip, fruit (including chocolate covered strawberries) and a large variety of goodies... can we all say AMEN! 

After loading my plate full of a little of almost everything, I sat back down with a table full of really fun ladies.  We all chatted, made new friends, and had a relaxing dinner!  We ate until we were stuffed and the first game started.  We played "Would You Rather", which took a long time considering there were about 50-60 women there tonight.  "Would You Rather" is a game which you have to answer completely impossible questions, like, "would you rather be in a room with 100 wasps for 1 hour, or sleep in a room with 2 rats for 1 week?"  "Would you rather go through life leaving a constant trail of slime, or constant exhast emissions?"  "Would you rather spend the day with molasses in your underwear, or gravel in your underwear?"  Some questions were funny, some were gross, and some were just plain horrifying!

After the game and a break, it was time for the White Elephant Gift game.  We chose a wrapped gift from the table, opened, and passed around them in a circle - listening to all the "left"s and "right"s in the story that was being told - and ended up with what we ended up with.... I ended up with this..

He's my new little friend, he's made out of coconuts, and he gives me splinters everytime I touch him... I may have to rethink this relationship.

Toward the end of the night, and between songs led by our wonderful worship group, one of the women (I'm so sorry, I forgot her name!!) read a devotion that really spoke to me. One of the women said she'd email it to me, as it didn't print out on their printer.  As soon as I get it I will share it with you here.  Also coming up, hopefully tomorrow, if I can put Twilight down long enough to form a coherent post, I will write about Saturday's events.

Have a great Monday!

Running a little late today

Due to a busy weekend, quality time with my family, cleaning, and reading Twilight, today's post will be a bit late... check back later!

She Was Pretty Excited!

Babydoll got a...

New BIKE!

She had outgrown her tricycle, it just wasn't working well for her when we went anywhere other than the flat path in front of our house.  So last weekend we went to Walmart and picked up a cute 12 inch bike with training wheels!  We still need to get her to the store to try on helmets.  This bike will last her a couple summers, then she'll graduate to her big sister's old bike.  Yep, that's right, Sweet Pea got a new bike too!. 

I'm excited about this weekend!  There's a women's retreat at our church Friday night and almost all day Saturday!  For years I've been wanting to do something like this at our church so I could meet more people, but I didn't have the guts to do it by myself.  Our church is really big and I would love to meet more moms, and it would be a great bonus if they have kids with similar ages as our kids!  I know very few people from our church, and nobody that I really get together with, which is silly because Spencer and I both grew up at that church.  We know some great people there, but have lost touch with most of them.  I'm a tad nervous, not knowing what to expect, and I'm a really reserved person, I have trouble putting myself out there to make new friends.  There are lots of ladies signed up for this retreat, so I'm sure it'll be fun.  All I know is the theme is something like Bless This Home.  Maybe I'll have some good retreat stuff to blog about next week!  Until then, have a great weekend!

 

The Fake Mustache

Yesterday Spencer came home with a little stick-on mustache that he got out of a vending machine.  At first Babydoll didn't want to try it on, but eventually she came around and asked for it.

We all got lots of giggles out of that mustache.

Sweet Pea was reluctant to get her picture taken with a mustache, but she also came around. 

Speaking of Sweet Pea, her class is putting on a play, "The Three Billygoats Gruff"! Remember that story?  She got the part of the narrator which was her first pick!  Being an old drama geek myself, I'm so proud:o)

Wishful Wednesdays 3/24/10

It's time for Wishful Wednesdays! I'll put a few of my wishes in the main post, and my hope is that everyone reading will put a few of their wishes in the comments. Wishes both big and small are welcome!!

~ I wish I had a mouse, for my computer that is, I'm tired of using the touch pad.  I had a wireless one from my last computer, but it quit working... and no, it's not the batteries :o)

~ I wish there was a healthy way to do everything I want to do each day.  For instance, I just got done watching Lost, and reading blogs before that, and will probably read blogs after this... but we still have dishes and laundrey to do... and this little thing called sleep.

~ I wish I could make more of a difference in the world, I pray for Him to show me how.



Your turn, please post your wishes in the comments below!

Just A Few Things

I took this photo last when Babydoll, Little Man, and I went for a walk/ride down to Nana's house.  It was actually warm enough for some summer clothes for a little while!  I'm pretty sure this was the time Sweet Pea was at swimming lessons, which is why she wasn't here.

Babydoll isn't sitting on that trike anymore... I'll post about that later this week!

I had a European reader!  Yep, I'm a dork, I took a picture of my stat counter map!  These maps give very generalized locations, so no worries about me showing up with a batch of thanks-for-reading-my-blog-cookies.

And lastly, Babydoll drew a duck!

My poor photo-neglected Sweet Pea, I must make a point to follow her around with the camera more often!

Pump It Up!

The girls went to a birthday party Saturday night at Pump It Up!  The girls had an amazing time!  Babydoll has just recently braved enough of the playland at Burger King to get to the slide.  She has also just recently been comfortable enough to jump on a trampoline while 4 other girls (all around Sweet Pea's age or older) were jumping on it as well, so I was hopefull that she'd be brave enough to play on the inflatables at the party... and she was!!

If you've never been to Pump It Up before, it's a building full of giant party inflatables!  At the begining of the party the kids watch a 5 minute safety video and go over the rules with one of the staff running the party.  Then the group goes to the first room.  The first room we went in had a giant slide, regular bounce house, and an obstacle course.

This is the bottom of the giant slide, this was the first time Babydoll went down, she was freaked out the first time, but after that she was having a great time!

Here's Sweet Pea at the top of the slide, sorry it's so dark!  I barely got any pictures of her because she was darting from inflatable to inflatable!

Here's Babydoll in the obstacle course

Still in the obstacle course!

Here's a shot of one half of the second room we went in!  That thing at the far end has velcro squares on it, and you have to try to run up it with a velcro flag and get it to stick as high up as you can.  In the middle is an obstacle course/slide combo.

Sweet Pea really liked that velcro wall!

On the other end of the room was a round bouncy thing with a raised middle that wobbled.

They had a fantastic time!!!

He No Longer Likes Her

Little Man had his 1-year check up this morning (thursday), it went pretty well.  He's growing at around the same percentile arc that he's been on since he was 2 months old.  He is exactly 20 pounds - 20th percentile, and 29 inches - 25-50th percentile. 

After he was measured, the pediatrician came in to check him over.  I asked her to check his ears for infection, because he's been pulling on and rubbing one of them, and has been pretty whiney (though that has a lot to do with the fact that one of his molars is cutting through).  Sure enough, his left ear is pretty infected, and the right one just has some fluid.  His check up went fine, he's healthy and developing great.

The nurse who had started his appointment and did all the measurments, got lots of smiles from Little Man when she came in the first time.  The second time, however, she was carrying a scary little white basket full of needles and suringes and bandaids and gloves... he remembered what that ment!  He immediately started fussing and climbing up my arm trying to get away from her.  The poor little guy had his hemoglobin checked (finger prick and blood squeezed into a tiny tube), and 3 shots - one in each arm and one leg.  As soon as it was over he started to calm down and ate his cracker while Mommy snuggled him and told him it was ok.  As we were leaving he was smiling again... until we walked past that nurse.  He no longer likes her.

Wacky Week

A couple weeks ago was "Wacky Week" for daycare!  Due to some illnesses, the week didn't really get going until Wednesday, but Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were theme dress-up days.  I've got some great pictures of the daycare kids too, but since I just post pics of my kids... that's all ya get!... Unless you are one of my daycare parents and want to give permission to use their photos on this blog... let me know!

The first day was Pajama Day, because who's not in the mood for Pajama Day on any given day of the week? Sadly, I have no pictures of pajama day.  I do have pictures from Thursday and Friday though!  Thursday was Summer Wear Day!  We were all anxious, ok I was anxious, to break out the T-shirts and shorts and sunglasses... Fun!!

Friday was Wacky Wear, Wacky Hair Day!

Babydoll didn't want wacky hair, but she was WAY into the wacky wear part!

"You talkin to me?  You talking to ME?"

Wishful Wednesdays

I liked "Why Wednesdays" for a while, but eventually felt like every tuesday night I had to sit and think of complaints, and they had to be in "why" format.  So here's the spin off of "Why Wednesdays", called "Wishful Wednesdays"  I'll put a few of my wishes in the main post, and my hope is that everyone reading will put a few of their wishes in the comments.  Wishes both big and small are welcome!!

~ I wish Little Man would pop those molars through, they're making us both a little batty.

~ I wish I had made my Target template sooner, man was that nice to use while shopping.

~ I wish the mud would dry up soon. 

~ I wish those Peanutbutter cup Easter egg things were healthy, since I ate an entire pack between last night and this afternoon!

~ I wish for lots of comments on my blog.. comments are fun to read! ... eh hem... hint... wink... love ya!

~ I wish that all the pregnant ladies that I know that are getting ready to deliver, a safe, smooth, delivery!

Grocery Shopping at Target

I think I've mentioned before that I do most of my shopping at Target, including my grocery shopping.  I have tried shopping at Walmart, and did save a little money, but I usually can't get over the fact that it takes me 3 minutes to get from my garage to the Target Parking lot... so I end up shopping there most of the time!  I've recently started making my grocery list in a Word document while watching TV, and then I just print it off and go to the store.  There has been one very important step missing though, a template designed for my Target with the isle numbers and categories right there for me to plug my list into!  Last time I went grocery shopping I spent some time in each isle writing down everything on the big signs above the isles, so I could go home and make a template on Excel. 

I wanted to be able to create my list without having to remember what was in each isle, and be able to cruise through Target without retracing my steps. So I came up with this.   Feel free to take it and use it and adjust it if your Target it set up differently.  If it doesn't let you adjust it when you save it to your computer, let me know and I'll try and fix it so you can make your adjustments. 

Also if you're interested in a Walmart list, go here. 

Have fun shopping!!   

Little Man's Birthday Party

So Little Man turned ONE and the world didn't end, imagine that!  The build up to his birthday made me a little sad, but the actual day was very happy and we enjoyed celebrating his big day!  We had a morning birthday party with breakfast food, coffee and orange juice.  Normally I plan birthday parties in the afternoon, but that afternoon was the BIG St. Patricks day parade and festivities up at our families cabin.

It all started the night before.  After putting Babydoll and Little Man to bed at 7:00, I got started on making the icing for his cake.  My good friend Jeni taught me how to make the icing and gave me some tips on decorating a cake.  Her buttercream frosting recipes are here.    I spent a few hours making the icing and decorating his cake.  Here's the final product! His name has been taken out of the picture.

After the cake was done it was time to prepare the egg bake.  Once that was all said and done I was completely wiped out!  I cleaned up as much as I could and went to bed, planning to finish up in the morning.  When Spencer and I woke up at 7:10 in the morning we got to work cleaning and decorating.  20 minutes later I knew I wasn't going to get it all done before the party started at 9:00 so I called my mom for some help!  Thanks to my hard working crew of my mom, kids, and Spencer, we managed to get it done (mostly) in time for the party! 

After the family had arrived we ate while Little Man finished his morning nap, then he woke up and ate while we visited.  Finally it was time for presents!  He got lots of fun toys, and new clothes.  We all enjoyed watching him open his presents, he got really excited about a train that made all sorts of fun noises.  I think he really enjoyed having the spotlight for a while, as he's usually competing with two older sisters who tend to hog it :o)

And then it was time for cake, by far the best part of First Birthdays! 

We sang Happy Birthday, helped him blow out the candle, and cut him a great big piece of yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting to dig into!

Before...

After...

Happy Birthday Little Man!!  Here's hoping your second year is even more wonderful than your first!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Little Man!!

My Dear Son

My Dear Son,
While you're sleeping peacefully in your crib, left thumb in mouth, right arm curled around your teddy bear blanky, I'm thinking back on your birth, one year ago.

You were special from the start, you have always been a happy baby!  You're whole 12 months of life we'd constantly get compliments on your temperment, and your smile!  Even from the time you were developing inside me you were special.  My pregnancy with you was wonderful.  Unlike with your sisters, I wasn't overly tired, the morning sickness never got bad enough to make me throw up (previous 2 pregnancies that stuck had me throwing up all the time), I felt good!  You were a mellow little guy in there, you didn't move around a ton, just enough to know you were doing well.  And then about 2 weeks before the date you were "supposed" to be born, the doctor told me you were breach, and my blood pressure was a little high.  BREACH? Pre-eclampsia?  I had thought that after having two prior uneventful and fairly easy labor and deliveries, that you would be a piece of cake (piece of cake as far as labors and deliveries CAN go).  You, on the other hand, wanted to be different.  You didn't want to travel around head down, you didn't want to squeeze through a birth canal, you didn't want to wait patiently for your due date, you wanted to take the shortcut out :o)  So the pre-eclampsia got to the point where it was time to deliver, and you were still butt down, and I was scheduled for a c-section.

I was pretty worried about the whole c-section thing when I heard I would probably need one, but by the time I needed it I was comfortable and looking forward to meeting my baby a little earlier, and without all the pain, and pain, and did I mention pain? 

When they were ready to pull you out, they wheeled over a mirror and I was able to watch you be born!  I didn't know that was an option with a c-section, but was so excited to be able to see your birth!  We had chosen not to find out if you were a boy or girl until you were born, so the anticipation was nearly killing us by the time you were arriving. With you being our last baby, as far as we know of the future, we were hoping for a boy, but knew we wouldn't care the second you were born and we laid eyes on you.   Looking into the mirror at your tiny little hiney coming out I thought I saw a penis, I thought I saw that you were a boy, but my mind was swimming and emotions were flying and I couldn't be sure what I was seeing was true.  I asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?"  My doctor replied, "Can't you see?"  Me, "I'm not sure!"  Doctor, "You have a baby boy!"  The flood of emotion after your baby is born is so amazing, so powerful, it's impossible to describe.  The best I can come up with is "Sheer and ultimate JOY!   

You were born at 2:14 PM on Friday March 13, 2009.  You weighed 8lb 4oz, and were 21.5 inches long!  Biggest baby of the bunch!  I got a few brief moments with you before you were whisked off to the little room next door with your daddy while I tried to get my vomiting under control (yep, held off throughout the pregnancy, but childbirth whether the normal way or not, will still bring the vomit) and while they sewed me up.  I was lieing on the table wondering how you were doing, and trying to feel better, when I heard a baby crying nearby.  I asked, "Is that my baby?" and my doctor smiled and told me that yes, it was my baby.  What was left of my heart melted away! What a glorious sound, your baby's first cry! 

I was pretty happy with my c-section experience.  The only thing that made me sad was not being able to hold him the second he was born.  I missed that with him.  But I try not to look at it that way, I try to see that if I had had a "normal" birth I wouldn't have been able to hold him for several more days, so the hour I had to wait (which flew by since I didn't feel well) wasn't really so bad.  It helped knowing you were with your daddy, and he was holding you, bonding with you, and letting you know you are loved.

Finally after I was taken to my room, our room, Daddy and the nurses brought you to me.  They couldn't have put you in my arms fast enough, I couldn't wait! 

You nursed well right away as I marveled at how God had blessed me with such an amazing family!  I am so thankfull to have you as a son!  The first two nights after the surgery were pretty rough, but I was just so thankfull that you were here, in my arms.  We spent 3 days in the hospital getting to know you, bonding with the newest addition to our family.  Eating Combos and drinking gallons of water and trying to nurse, a lot. 

You had nursed pretty well at first, but when the milk came in you got frustrated and quit on us.  A pediatian, lactation consultant, and 2 nurses telling us to do different things weren't helping and I cried more than I would have liked.  You lost a lot of weight, but not quite enough to require suppliments, so we kept at it and eventually you were drinking enough.  You were also a little jaundiced, but nothing requiring treatment.  You were pooping plenty and the doctors told us that passing all that meconium would help the jaundice.  Just a couple days after we got home, you had gained enough weight that we were able to breath a sigh of relief. 

You were here, you were healthy, you were ours forever, and my world is a better place because of it!

Love,

     Mom