A Full Swingset and a Good Picture of JCT

HE IS SO STINKIN' CUTE THAT I COULD EAT HIM SLAP UP!!

Well, folks, the swinset is officially full!! I have a man at every station, well, almost. . .

As I stood back admiring my sweet boys, all three swinging side by side, the thought occured to me that all three swings were full of little boy goodness! My heart swelled with pride and love. I tilted my head to the side and let out a satisfied sigh. And, then I made this statement to my boys. . .

"Well, boys the swingset is full. All the swings are taken. Isn't that great!"

No one really seemed as overwhelmingly moved by this fact as I did. They all just continued to swing. Then, JCT motioned over to the little red disc thingy that hangs from a long yellow rope on the very end of the swingset and said. . .

"Nope. Not full yet. We gotta wait for MOSES. He can swing on da rope."

"Moses?" I asked. "Who is Moses?"

"He's really little right now, but when he gets bigger he can swing on da rope!"

Just checking, I asked, "So, who is Moses' mama?"

"YOU!" JCT answered.

That is what I was afraid of.

Which made me wonder if it has occured to JCT that he is our only son not named after an Old Testament hero. Whenever it does occur to him, I will remind him that James is his Daddy's favorite book of the Bible. And, hopefully, that, along with the fact that he was named after his grandfathers, will satisfy him.

OH, ME, I LOVE MY BOYS!!!!

A Full Night of Sleep

Well, it has finally happened. After more than 3 months. . .

I slept for seven straight, uninterrupted hours last night!! I put Elijah to sleep in the Moses Basket at 7:30 so that Erik and I could bathe and put the older two to bed. At 11:00 p.m. little Elijah was still sleeping soundly in the Moses basket, and I was ready for bed. So, I carefully picked him up, took him into our bathroom, changed his diaper and his clothes, nursed him, and put him to sleep for the night. I woke up at 6:45 a.m. to the sweet pitter patter of Joshua's feet coming to climb into bed with Erik and I.

But, the craziest thing is that the child is still asleep. It is 10:21, and he has yet to wake up. I keep going in to check on him. And, yes, he is breathing. He even coughs occasionally. He must be growing? I feel certain that I will hear his sweet cry soon! But, I am celebrating a full night of sleep with a hot cup of coffee and my computer!!

Elijah's Biggest Fans

So, after the "event" of labor is over, there is one more thing that I look forward to greatly, greatly. And, that is introducing my children to their new sibling! Introducing Joshua to JCT was one of my favorite moments of my life. There was instant love, and it made this mommy's heart overflow!!!

As per usual, I was ready! I had special t-shirts made with our last name across the back and 01 on Joshua's, 02 on JCT's, and 03 on Elijah's. We also had a cookie cake ordered to celebrate the day! My boys LOVE cookies from the Cookie Co. with lots of icing!! So, we got a huge cookie cake and asked the Cookie Co. employee to cover. it. with. icing!! When the boys got to the hospital, Elijah was in the nursery for shift change. We gave the boys some cookie cake to celebrate their new little brother's birthday!! They were so excited to meet him, asking every other second when he would be there. They stood at the door and yelled, "Elijah come!!!"

I remember Beth Moore in one of her Bible Studies talking about watching her daughters, Amanda and Melissa, say good-bye to one another when Amanda went overseas to do missions. Beth talked about how it warmed her heart to see her daughters love eachother so much. She compared it to how God must feel when he sees us (the body of Christ) love on our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, I couldn't help but think of that as I watched my boys love on their new little brother. It warmed this little heart to the core.

Here they are checking out his little feet!! They couldn't get over how small they are!!

And, so, now we are home, and the newness is starting to wear off. But, I must say Elijah gets at the very least somewhere around 700 kisses a day from his big brothers. Joshua is gentle and sweet and loving with him. JCT, well lets just say that he loves hard, real hard. He gives probably 675 of the 700 kisses each day, but often they come with a head butt. He loves his little brother, but he has no concept of gentle, none, nada, not one single bit. So, I must keep a close eye on that little rascle! JCT calls Elijah by one of two names, either it is, "My baby" or "My Lijah." I never dreamed that he would be such a sweet big brother! And, Joshua, he is just plain old sweet, like sugar, or sweet tea, or cookie cake with way too much icing!

Deliver me, O Lord!!! :-)

Oh, how I long for the Lord's deliverance!! From this sinful world, but mostly right now, I long for His deliverance of this little one within me!! Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love being pregnant. I love carrying around my pregnant belly and feeling the little one move and grow and stretch inside of me. But, the deliverance takes the cake!! This is what it's all about - meeting the little one that you have carried for so long, the little miracle revealed in all his naked glory!! My brother's wife, Cecilia, gave me this t-shirt when she found out that I was pregnant with Elijah. It is my absolute favorite maternity shirt!!

I am feeling excited and ready!! Well, physically, I am not ready. There is still a lot to be done around our home. But, emotionally, I am ready! I can't wait. No one knows the day or the hour!!!! We just wait expectantly for him to let us know when he is ready, and I love that. I love the surprise!! My boy's "birth" days are 2 of my absolute favorite days that I have ever had the privilege of living!! Driving to the hospital, enduring great pain, all to hear the sweet blessed sound of a newborn crying! I love it, and I can't wait to do it again. Now, I am almost 35 weeks, so I still have a bit of a wait. But, I am feeling the desire welling up within me - the desire to hold him, the desire to see his little wrinkly body.

My body keeps giving me these little signals that things are moving along, that Elijah isn't willing to stay inside me forever. And, that is a good thing! When I feel a little twinge, it reminds me of the reality that lies ahead of me. The reality that this pregnancy will end, and a new little life will emerge! When I gave birth to Joshua, it was magical and wonderful, but there is something neat about consecutive births, too. Let me see if I can explain what I mean by that. . .

When I gave birth to Joshua, it was all new, this journey we were beginning. I didn't realize fully the blessing that had been given to me. Now, I understand that as adorable and wonderful as this infant is, he is and will be so much more. And, as much as I love him on the day of his birth, as much as I may feel that I could not possibly love him more than I do on that day, I will. I will love him more each day. I love each of my children more and more as their personalities and quirks are revealed to me as they grow. And, so my little heart wonders what Elijah will bring to our family. Will he be funny or tender, serious or just plain silly. Will he be a thinker or will he be carefree and layed back? Only God knows this little one He has created. And, only God knows when my day of deliverance will come!!! And, that is great with me.