Lainey Rose Breitenstein

Lainey has arrived!  Our precious baby girl was born on Friday, March 22nd at 4:48PM after nine hours of labor.  She weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long.  Lainey looks exactly like her big brother did when he was born, and she has been the perfect addition to our family.  We already love her more than words can express!

Here is a slideshow I put together of her birth:

http://web.photodex.com/view/ap9m278

We are all doing well and adjusting to our new life as a family of four.  Big brother Blake has been so good with his little 'sisser' and my heart melts all over the floor when he points to her and say "Lanee!"

Precious moments.  Thank you Lord, for EVERY good thing!!

Lainey Love

My sweet Lainey-love,

This is my first official letter to you, although we’ve been getting to know each other quite intimately for the past nine months while you’ve been busy growing inside my tummy.   Now we’re only two days away from meeting face to face, and I cannot wait to see and touch the little baby whose every stretch, every hiccup, I’ve felt and experienced for the past nine months.  Do you have any idea how loved you are?

Your daddy, big brother and I have all been working hard to get ready to have you join our family.  Your brother Blake has been practicing saying your name, and he loves to sit in your bouncy seat and rock your swing back and forth.  He gives you hugs every night before bed and sometimes you give him a little kick just to say hello :)  He’s even been sleeping with your pink seahorse a few nights to get it ready for you! 

I was sitting in your room earlier today hanging up the last of your clothes, and as I fingered the soft lace on your Easter dress and adjusted the flower headbands waiting for your on your dresser, it hit me all at once that I’m about to have a baby girl.  There is something so very special about that bond between a mama and her daughter, and my sweet girl, I pray that there will never be a day in your life when you don’t feel that love.  I was created to be your mama, and you were created to be my baby girl.  I promise to never forget how special that is.  We were literally hand chosen for one another by the Creator of the Universe.  That’s an incredible love, and an even more incredible gift.

There are so many things I want you to know and so many pieces of wisdom I hope to impart to you throughout your life, but right now I just want to focus on the one that is most important.

Baby girl, from the beginning of time and from the moment you take your first breath, you were crowned a daughter of the King.  It is your birthright, and the most important title you will ever have.  I pray that you will wear that crown proudly, and that you will let it define you in all you do and say.  I pray that God will raise you up as a light in a world that all too often walks in darkness.  Your name, Lainey, literally means a bright light.  We know that this was the name God intended for you; His beautiful, precious little light. 

Daddy and I claimed John 10:10 for you as a life verse that we pray over you each and every day, even now.  “I have come so that you may have life; and have it more abundantly.”  That’s our deepest prayer for you, now and always.  We pray that you may always know abundant, full life in and through the Father of life.  I pray that you will learn to turn to Him when this life lets you down.  I pray that you will grow into a woman of Godly character, understanding that true beauty comes from a pure heart and not from worldly standards.   

Lainey love, I am already so proud to be your mama.  God has answered the cry of our hearts in delivering you into our family, and I know that His plan for your life is great.  I promise to love you with every piece of my heart.  I promise to work each day to be the mama that God intended me to be….for you, and for your big brother.  And I promise that my arms will always be there—to hold you when you’re sad, to squeeze you tight in a warm hug, and to applaud all of your many, many successes.  I promise to be there for it all, and to be the biggest cheerleader of your life.  

I love you sweet girl, and I cannot wait to meet you face to face.

Forever and Always,

Your Mama

Blake Louis: 19 Months

Well little man, you are officially 19 months old, and about to become a big brother!  Your little sister Lainey will be arriving in just three short days, which means your days as an only child are extremely numbered :)

Originally, I was only going to do yearly updates once you hit 12 months, but in the past seven months you have changed so much that I just have to catalog some of the memories.  I’m afraid if I wait until you’re two, the little boy standing in front of me will have already vanished and these special moments will be lost.

So, here’s my little snapshot of you at 19 months:

·    You have the most adorable scrunchy nosed smile, and use it to your full advantage.  If you get in trouble, you’ll just scrunch that nose up and grin at me…knowing full well how cute you are.  You also use that smile when we’re out and about and you’re flirting with people you meet.  You are just so adorable.  Everyone loves you, and everyone comments on how handsome you are.

·    Over the past few months you’ve really gotten into imaginative play!  You’ll sit with your cars on the floor and drive them all over—making sounds for them, having them interact with each other, the whole nine yards.  Your little voice when you’re playing pretend is just so precious to me. 

·    You love to read.  You pull books off your shelves and sit with the giant teddy bear Uncle Tony gave you while you read the books to yourself. You are so expressive with your voice and hand gestures as you read!  Your words are just gibberish, but it’s the most precious thing I have ever heard.  I was so excited to get a video of it a few months ago!

·    You are absolutely in love with Toby and Emma.  You climb all over them and get so excited when I tell you we’re going home to see them.  Emma is more tolerant of you than Toby, but that just seems to encourage you to chase/harass poor Toby even more. 

·    Little man, you have your daddy’s dance moves.  Your shake and wiggle those hips like there’s no tomorrow, and you have this funny little skip-walk/head bob you do when you’re especially happy or in a good mood.  So precious.  I also taught you how to raise the roof in the car, which you love, and I think is pretty hysterical.

·    You are very clean.  You hate to be dirty.  If you’re eating something messy, and it gets on your hands….well, hold the phone.  Your little world stops until you can get a napkin to clean yourself.   You love to help mommy dust, and have a broom at Grandma and Grandpa’s house that you push all around the house.  You’re also very very fond of the vacuum.  You’ll hold the cord for me and follow me around the house as I go.

·    When you do something exciting, or you’re proud of yourself, you clench your fists into tight little balls and wave them by your side while saying “whoa!”  

·    I used gel in your hair for the first time today, and when we got the bottle out I told you I was going to give you a faux-hawk.  Later that day, after you woke up from your nap, you came running to me with the bottle of hair gel asking for a “hock” over and over…but you replaced the ‘h’ with a ‘c’ and it was pretty funny.

·    For a long time you weren’t very verbal, but in the last month your vocabulary has really exploded! Here’s a list of what you can say (I’m sure I’ll leave something out!)

o    Mama/mommy

o    Dada/daddy

o    Lainey

o    baby

o    Grandma (sounds like ‘mama’)

o    Grandpa (sounds like ‘papa’)

o    Tony (sounds like TAW-nee or NAW-nee)

o    Uncle (sometimes)

o     No (this one gets its own bullet point below)

o    Yes (but you only nod your head for yes, you don’t say it)

o    Dog

o    Chip (you call chips ‘chippies” and it is the cutest thing)

o    Up

o    Down

o    Help

o    Hi

o    Bye bye

o    Cookie

o    Uh oh! (you always tell me this when your toys get stuck or something breaks)

o    Whoa!

o    Stuck

o    Seahorse (sounds like saORse when you say it…and if you don’t have him in the car you call for him over and over and over)

o    Water

o    Milk (you call it milk milk)

o    Sit down!  (This one cracks me up, because you must hear me say it to you a million times a day….when you’re climbing on the couch, or the train table, or a multitude of other places.  You will often tell Toby or Emma to sit down while you wag your little index finger at them.)

o    Ouch

o    Church

o    Oh well!

o    On

o    Off

o    Yucky (you love to find ‘yucky’ things on the ground to point out to us)

o    Bubble

o    Banana

·    By far, your favorite word right now is “no”.  Today, daddy called and I asked if you wanted to talk to him.  You looked at me, looked at the phone, and said “no!”  And when you say no, it’s in the sweetest little voice.  It sounds like no-OO with a smile and a sweet shake of the head.  So sweet.   Then later on the way home in the car, daddy asked if you were ready to meet your baby sister.  Your response?  “Uh, no!”  We laughed and laughed, and you thought you were pretty hilarious.  Lately you’ve been saying ‘oh no’ and ‘uh, no!’ (with some attitude) more often that just ‘no’.

·    Your ‘no’ isn’t always so sweet, because if Toby or Emma decide to go after your food or they’re doing something you think they shouldn’t, you’ll run after them wagging your finger saying “NO NO NO NO NO!”  You also like to tell mommy that when I ask you to do something (like lie down for a diaper change) that you definitely do not want to do. 

·    Your happy place is outside.  You love to be outside.  You follow daddy around the backyard, love to watch him work in the yard, and love going for walks and wagon rides.  I’m so excited that summer is coming, because that means we’ll get to spend a lot of time outdoors.  I know you’re excited!

·    You know most of your animal sounds and most of your body parts.  You love to honk mommy and daddy’s noses and have lately become fascinated with nails (mommy painted hers the other day and you thought it was the most interesting thing you’d ever seen)

·    After daddy gets home from work, the two of you will wrestle and play on the floor for hours.  Daddy tickles you and you just laugh and laugh.  I can’t wait to watch you two together every night.  It makes me so happy.

·     You have the most ridiculous fake laugh.  It’s deep and throaty and makes you sound like an old man.  You only do it when you think you’ve been pretty funny and want everyone to know it. 

·    You’ve gotten a little bit better with food, although you are still very picky.  You have learned what it means when I say “take a bite” and will eat bites of your dinner if I bribe you with something better to come.  Hey, I’ll take it!

·    We started time out with you, and in general you’ve gotten pretty good at minding us when we tell you to go there.  You just have to sit until you’re calm, and then come give hugs and say you’re sorry. 

·    In general, you are very well mannered and follow directions very well.  We always get compliments on how well behaved you are when we’re out and about…especially at restaurants!

·    You give the BEST hugs!  They melt my heart.

 

·    You do NOT like bedtime.  As soon as we start the bath water, you run from the room yelling “no no no no no!”  It goes downhill from there.  You refuse to read your bedtime stories because you know what’s coming next….and once we turn out the light, you cling to us like there’s no tomorrow.  It’s not the best part of our day, but we’re just keeping the routine the same and trying to stay consistent…hopefully you’ll move past this phase soon!

·     The carseat is also not your favorite place.  You whine and whine and whine everywhere we go.  You just cannot be confined right now.  I call you my tornado or ‘turbo’ because you are always moving.  I clean up one mess and you’ve already recreated it by the time I turn back around.  Busy, busy, busy!

I’m sure I’m forgetting so many little things, but my love, you are just the sweetest thing daddy and I have ever laid eyes on.  You’re so loving and sweet, and such a big helper!  We love you more than I could ever say.  I can’t wait for you to meet your sister and watch you in your new role as big brother.   I know God created you to be a big brother for this very little girl, and that just blows me away.  God has such big plans for you, little one.  I can't wait to watch them unfold from the front row. 

You and your sister are our greatest blessings.  Never forget that, and never forget that you are loved every moment of every single day. 

All my love, forever and always,

Your Mama

Are You there, God? It's me, Mandy

As I look back on 2012, there are a lot of emotions that I feel in my heart.   

Incredible joy. 

Abundant blessings.

Love. Unconditional love.

Gratitude.

My family has been the recipient of all of these and more over the course of the last year, and we emerge with a deep sense of thanksgiving for the blessings we have seen come to fruition in the past year.  God has been good to our family.  He has walked us through another year, weaving our every circumstance together to form a beautiful tapestry that I could never have knit together on my own.  He is faithful.

And yet I also look back at the year 2012 with a profound sense of the other side of those emotions.  Not every moment is rosy.  We lost a baby this year.  Dear friends said goodbye to loved ones.  Jobs were lost.  Homes were lost.  There were sorrowful moments.  Moments where my heart was literally on the floor.  27 lives were tragically taken in Connecticut.  Moments I literally sank to my knees is disbelief, wondering "Oh Lord....but why??"

This post has been on my heart for a while.  I don't think that question has been far from any of our mind's as we try and comprehend the type of horrific heartache that we have endured as a country, and in some cases, on a very personal level.

It's easy to let the pain of this world overtake us.  It's easy to feel like something has just gone wrong.

Lord have you forgotten us?  Can't you see what is happening down here?  

After Connecticut, I found myself wondering if there had been some sort of mistake.  Was it possible that these circumstances fell somewhere beyond the omnipotent reach of the Father? My heart told me no.  My knowledge of His nature told me no.  But why else would this have happened?  Surely God doesn't desire this.

I think that sometimes, we look at the darkness and forget that it flees in the presence of light. 

I read a blog post a few weeks back that I wish I could find, because I want to give proper credit to what I'm about to write.  I'm paraphrasing the words to some degree, because they resonated so deeply within me.  

I've talked a lot on here about God's panoramic verses our polaroid.  About how all we can see is moments.  That's all we can comprehend.  We literally can't see beyond our circumstances today.  That's human nature.  But God is not bound by the confines of humanity.  He sees eternity.  He sees the whole picture, He knows the pain of today while still being able to rejoice in the joy of tomorrow.  Of a thousand tomorrows. 

Where I see pain, heartache and death, God sees eternal life.  He sees this moment, the one that hurts and tears at my heart, and He reminds me with a whisper that He bled for this.  He died so that we would never have to.  So that the darkness of this world could not overtake us.

I see the pain of people I love.  Sometimes of people I don't even know.  I see unimaginable heartache.  God sees His precious children.  He sees their redemption.  He sees their souls, and He knows exactly how to reach them. 

The more I reflect on these truths, the more my own view starts to change.  He suffered first.  God sent his son to die a horrible death so that our pain would never be permanent.  So that this earth would never be more than a fleeting memory in an ocean of eternal joy.  That's powerful love.

God hasn't forgotten anything.  He tells oceans where to stop.  He commands the wind and the waves.  He tells evil just how far it can go. 

For every circumstance that tears at our hearts, for every tear we cry....He bled for those moments.  He knew they would come.  He is never passive in His approach to His children.  He never looks the other way.  His plan was always life.  He bled for it.
 
Sometimes God redeems us from hardship....and sometimes, he redeems us through hardship.

I think that view of God changes things. 

John 10:10 has become a battle cry for our family.  I used it earlier when I told the story of our twins, and it's been the verse on my heart for the year 2013.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; but I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.

We live in a world where moments are stolen.  Where there is death and destruction and terrible, unimaginable heartache.  And those moments cannot be explained.  I'm never going to understand the why.  I'm never going to be okay with the pain.  But I can understand the redemption.  And I can understand that those stolen moments are just that....moments.  Moments that have already been bled for.  Moments that have already been named, and redeemed.  God is not weak.  He is not distant.  He is the Giver of life.  

Abundant life.  Eternal life.

This year I am choosing to live in abundance.  I know not every moment will be joyful.  I know not every circumstance will bring a smile to my face.  I don't know what hardships my family, or this country, or our world, might face.  But come what may, I am choosing abundant life in and through Jesus Christ.  Circumstances can never change that promise.  Circumstances can never change the eternal significance of who He is, and who we are in Him.  


Lord, help me to live a life that honors You.  A life that allows me to lift my eyes above circumstance and remember that every moment has already been named, and known, by Your mighty hand.  I know You are not passive.  I know Your plan is so much bigger than the moment I'm living in.  Remind me, Lord.  Remind me every single day that You bled for this.  I pray that reminder lights Your holy fire under my feet--to proclaim Your goodness louder, to love deeper, and to be a bold mouthpiece for Your name.  It's not about me.  It's about You, and Your incredible plan for life.  


 

   

The Twins

Everything about our second round of IVF was God-inspired.  Every moment, every injection, every appointment lead up to the moment God revealed the next piece of our puzzle; the next brush stroke in His incredible, masterful design for our family.

I've taken a long time to write the story, partly because the ending wasn't what my human heart would have wanted, and yet the beauty is in the design.  The perfect design.  And it's in those details that this story speaks to the incredible Hand of the Father.  And I can't leave that out.  From the beginning of this journey, we asked only to be His mouthpiece. 

We started the process in March of 2012.  We were hoping for a pregnancy sometime in the summer, but the prospect of adding to our family was so exciting to us that when I called to schedule the appointment (initially thinking of making an appointment in late May) I couldn't resist the first opening they had.

In an earlier blog, I had alluded to the fact that we had taken Blake up to meet our fertility team, and in fact, that was also the day we had our first meeting regarding IVF Round 2.   It was a relatively quick meeting, since this cycle would be different than the first in that our babies were already waiting for us.  The medications were much simpler, the process quicker. 

Adam and I had decided early on to keep this round of IVF quiet.  We told a close group of friends and family prayer warriors, but we made the decision to keep this leg of our journey private; as an intimate walk with our Savior that would give us the opportunity to lean in and respond through obedience.

This decision was very important for us because infertility is a thief.   It robs you of dreams.  It robs you of moments that other women take for granted.  Announcing a pregnancy. The elation you feel after peeing on a stick and seeing two lines. Even joyful intimacy with your husband free of external pressures or expectations.  It's a thief.

But our God is the Redeemer of heartache.  He is the Redeemer of all things that may feel broken or lost within us, and for me, this intimate walk with my Savior was about that redemption.

Keeping our IVF quiet was hard.  I loved the fellowship and support that we'd had the first time around, and I loved looking back on all the moments from that journey that I had shared and cataloged on this blog.  But I also knew that  I needed to be obedient, and I need to trust in wherever God would take us on this road.  I felt like the stakes were higher, in part, because these two babies were waiting for us.  These babies had literally been in our prayers, specifically, for almost an entire year.  I knew I needed to lean in.

The medicated cycle began in May.  I took Lupron to suppress my ovaries, and then Estrace (in varying amounts) to mimic the hormone changes that occur during the first half of a woman's cycle.  Near the end of the process, I began daily injections of progesterone in oil into the muscle (of my behind...I won't go into details there)

We transferred two absolutely perfect day 6 blasts on July 5.

The transfer itself was a beautiful moment.  We were blessed to have the same doctor, our doctor, perform both procedures in both of our IVF cycles.  He knows our family pretty intimately, and we love him dearly for the incredible role he has played in our lives.

The process of unfreezing these babies is tricky, and we had been praying continuously for their safety with anxious hearts.  When the babies were frozen in late 2011, the cells were basically dehydrated.  Freeze-dried, if you will.  This is a natural state that embryos take inside the body, as they travel down the fallopian tubes and enter into the uterus.  On transfer day, the embryo babies are rehydrated, and watched carefully as they expand.  This takes place about two hours before the scheduled transfer, and the hope is that they will be actively expanding by the time it takes place.  This is indicative of a healthy embryo ready to attach and result in a pregnancy.

Once we were checked in and ready for the procedure, the embryologist came in to give the report on our babies.  He told us that one of the embryos had rehydrated beautifully and was expanding and growing and looked absolutely perfect.  He told us the other had begun to expand, but at a much slower rate.  He wasn't sure what kind of odds that baby would have of growing and creating a pregnancy.  We have always been committed to our embryos as babies, and any expansion/cell growth to us is a living human life that is precious and sacred.  We wanted them both, and gave him instructions to prepare them both for the transfer.

After he left, we prayed for them one more time.

A few moments later, the doctor came in and we set up for the procedure.  The very last step in the process is for the embryologist to come in with the babies loaded into the tip of a long, hollow needle.  He hands it off to the doctor, who basically slingshots the babies into the uterus.  As the embryologist handed off the babies, he looked at us and said: "I think they must have been waiting for you--as soon as I was finished talking to you and went back to prepare them for transfer, they both started expanding and growing like crazy"

We cheered.  What a mighty God we serve.

The two week wait was hard.  With Blake, I waited the full two weeks and found out I was pregnant with the blood test administered at OHSU.  They told me not to take a home pregnancy test, and I didn't.  And I hadn't planned to do anything different this time around.

But then there was this thing called redemption.

For me, the harder decision would have been to not follow the rules and choose to take the test.  I was okay with waiting.  I liked that because the results were literally out of my hands.  Taking a home pregnancy test meant facing a huge source of disappointment and hurt, and in doing so, being prepared that the answer--like every time I'd ever taken one in the past--could be no.  I could pee on that stick and see only one line.  And then it would be over.  The hope.  It would be torture to go ahead with the blood test at OHSU knowing that it would show no pregnancy. 

It was at this point that I felt, really felt, the tender love of my Heavenly Father.  I could feel Him whispering to me that He wanted to take this.  He wanted to redeem that hurt.  My heart felt full in the knowledge that He cared, even about this seemingly insignificant hurdle, because He knew how much it had always mattered to me.  And it made me feel so incredibly loved.

I took a test one morning in our guest bathroom.  I hadn't told Adam. 

I remember sitting on top of the toilet, anxiously holding that test in my hands.  I would close my eyes, squeeze them shut, and then pop them open to see if the results had come up.  When the two lines appeared on the screen....my heart soared.  I cried.  I was filled with thanksgiving as I praised my Heavenly Father who knew me so intimately, and cared so deeply that He had taken and redeemed even that detail of my infertility.

I had the joy that morning of running into our bedroom, jumping on top of my sleeping husband, and excitedly waving a positive pregnancy test in his face.  It was the fulfillment of a dream.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; but I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10

Amen.

From that point on, it was a countdown to our first ultrasound.  My blood tests at OHSU had yielded high levels of the pregnancy hormone, much higher than with Blake, so we were anxious and believing that it meant both babies had attached.  From the beginning, we told everyone about them.  That we were pregnant with twins.  Because I was.  We had seen two go in, and we had chosen--since the beginning--to be obedient to the call and believe in expectation that God would deliver our babies.  

He did.  That story I've already told, here and here.  Today I'm 27 weeks pregnant with one of those precious little ones, Lainey Rose Breitenstein.  The other beat us to paradise.  

I will forever cherish the weeks I spent pregnant with both my babies.  Those moments were an incredible gift from the Father.  

Sometimes, I let my mind wander into the future, when I'm walking down streets of gold holding the hands of all my babies--both the ones I met here on this earth and the ones who walk those streets today.  I am such a blessed mama.  This journey through infertility continues to teach me so much about the Father, and with each step, I'm more humbled and amazed with the depths of His love.  

So that's the story of our twins.   

One more puzzle piece falls into place.  This time, a lesson in redemption. 

From Blake

I realize I have a lot of ground to cover on this blog from the last few months....but right now, Blake has something to share :)

Blake Louis: ONE YEAR!

 Blake Louis Breitenstein, you are officially one year old!!! 

The morning of your birthday, daddy and I woke up remembering this same day one year ago as we prepared to check in the hospital and meet our brand new baby boy.  What a difference a year makes. We could never have known then how much joy you would bring into our lives.  We could have never comprehended the love that exists between a parent and a child.  I hope you have spent every single moment of this year feeling that.  We simply adore you, little boy, and this year has been the very best of our lives.

Here's what you've been up to:

·      You are 24.5 pounds and 31 inches long—big boy!  You’re still in the upper 90% for height and the lower 90% for weight. 

·      You are not such a great eater.  You still love bananas, but you refuse to try anything new and often all I can get you to eat in a day are bananas, yogurt, crackers, and maybe some toast.  Other foods you’ll sometimes eat include apples, pears (you love pears from Grandma and Grandpa’s backyard) and grilled cheese!  We try to get you to eat all kinds of other foods—I always make you a mini plate of whatever we’re eating—but so far, no luck.  You used to love avocados, but recently have been refusing them.  That was the ONLY vegetable I could get you to eat!!!  I’m thinking of buying some pureed baby food veggies to see if you’ll take those…you are such a texture kid, just like your mama!

·      You are saying ‘dada/daddy’ now, ‘look’ and ‘this’.  There are some other words we think you might be saying, but it’s hard to be sure.  You’ve said ‘dog’, ‘out’, and ‘up’ a few times…but not consistently.  I’m still waiting for you to say mama!!

·      You are WALKING!  This actually started at 13 months.  You took your first steps in Grandma and Grandpa’s backyard, going from Grandma to me.  After that, you would take about five steps on your own but usually wanted someone to hold your hand.  At first it was both hands, and then you went to one hand…and just tonight you walked down the street on our family walk all by yourself!  So proud of you baby boy :)

·      You are so funny.  You love to talk to us!  You squeal and scream and laugh at yourself and daddy and me.  You’re always busy saying something, and I just love having conversations with you.  I can’t wait for you to start saying even more words!

·      You’ve started having some separation anxiety in the nursery at church, and I’ve also noticed you’ve been a pretty big mama’s boy lately.  You don’t like it when I can’t hold you or play with you, and you do not like it when I have to make dinner and you can’t be right there with me.  I know it won’t last forever, and I’m not gonna lie….I sure do love how much you love me <3 span="span" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  I love you right back, baby boy.

·      You still take two naps a day—one in the morning for about an hour, and one in the afternoon for about 1.5 hours.  You usually do so well with your naps!

·      I went back to work part-time last month teaching kindergarten, and you have been spending your mornings with Grandma!  You love your Grandma, and hate it when I go to pick you up.  You two have so much fun together, and I love seeing how much you love being with your grandparents.

·      Words you understand include: block, ball, outside, up, truck, daddy, mommy, grandma, grandpa…and more I’m sure I’m forgetting.  I think you are so smart when I tell you to go get your truck and you head right over and bring one back to me!

·      You have started to get your groove on—my little dancer boy!  You stand at your little activity table and ‘play’ the piano while you wiggle those hips and bob up and down!  Already taking after your daddy ;)

·      You hate diaper changes.  Hate them.  You scream and I’m pretty sure you think the world is ending.  Hopefully that’s a phase….or we can just potty train early! ;)

·      Since the last time I wrote, we found out that you’re going to be a big brother!  Your little brother or sister will be arriving in March, and we are so excited for you two to meet!  

·      You, my sweet baby boy, have learned the art of tantrum throwing.  You throw yourself on the floor and put your head on the ground while crying your little heart out.  There is just no consoling you.  I guess this is a preview of what is to come at age 2 (...truth be told....I think it's pretty darn cute and funny when you get so mad!)

Little man, you are a charmer.  You've charmed daddy and I with your silly and

sweet personality, and everyone who comes into contact with you instantly falls in

love.  My prayer, today and everyday, is that God will use your sweet heart to do

great things for His kingdom.  You are our little warrior, and just so precious in 

every single way.  I know that in the year ahead we'll see you grow and change far

beyond what we can even comprehend now, and I look forward to each of those

moments with such sweet anticipation.  It is my great honor to be your mama.  I've

never been given a greater blessing.  

Happy FIRST birthday, little love!  

Always and forever,

Your Mama