ONE-DERFUL

This is my girl.

She turned one over the weekend.

ONE!

I am so in love with this little soul.

 

I will share more of the party details later, but today I just wanted to share this sweet little face on her first birthday. All dressed up in pink and just about the loveliest little thing this mommy has ever seen.

These are just a few shots of her and that oh so special 'First' Birthday cake. I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first...

But then she got a little encouragement and help from all the her favorite fellas...her brother and cousins.. 

 maybe a little more help than needed...

but once she got the hang of it...

it was pure birthday bliss!

 

 Happy Birthday, to my sweet little girl.

 

Today's Reflection:

Early on, while being pregnant with Lucia we got a call from the Doctor's office asking us to come in for more testing. My nurse told me not to worry, but there were signs that the baby might have Down Syndrome. Scared, Steve and I did the only thing we knew how to do...pray. We prayed for God's guidance and strength. We began to think about what a blessing this child was regardless of how it came. The day we went in for more testing there were a lot of tears as we sat with a genetic counselor and at the end we left knowing two things...one, the chance of Down Syndrome was more unlikely and two, we were having a little girl. I realized how arbitrary hair bows and the color pink became and how beautiful the idea of my little girl still forming, being created by a perfect, loving God was. Regardless of how she comes, she is a blessing. Today, I remember how lucky I am to have her and to hold her and to celebrate how wonderfully made she is!

 

"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something."

-Psalm 139:13-15
 

 

10 MONTHS

I wanted to take a moment to mark this occasion, my girl is 10 months old...10 months stronger, 10 months taller, 10 months smarter, 10 months marked in my heart. She is a spunky little gal, she likes to chat and make farty sounds with her mouth and sing along with me. She's mastered crawling and climbing the stairs and although I tell her she doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, it looks like she's got walking in her sights. She keeps me on my toes, because although she looks very much like her brother she is definitely her own person, a little person I'm in love with. So when she's 30 or 50 or 70 let it be known, that when she was just a wee little one, her momma declared to the world she was in love with her! 

Today's Reflection:

I am a mother of two, that's my current profession, "mothering." I know sometimes it doesn't make sense to people, I know sometimes people want to encourage me to explore my other talents and skills as if I got to this point through circumstance and not by choice. If I'm honest I occasionally let the thought of "am I doing enough" stir inside. Sometimes I get a little taste of fear envisioning an older me, kids out of the house and me searching for direction. Usually that fear is short lived as I have a poopy diaper or crying child to attend to. Lord, you have asked me to do this job, you have placed me here and charged me with this. I know you don't hire everyone for this job, so the fact that you hired me, makes me feel confident that it is not a dead-end job. Most days it is extremely fulfilling and I do love those two little faces, but on the days when it is not as "fun," I will not give-up or let my mind wander to what I could be doing or what others think I should be doing. I will work because I work for you and you are one heck of a boss!

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

-Colossians 3: 23-24

WE ARE HERE

I hope you had a great Memorial Day! We had such a nice weekend, I know I'm a couple days late, but it seemed to have snuck up on us. Life is going at a faster pace right now, by the time we took time to make plans for the holiday weekend we were already in it! However we still had some nice family time and enjoyed the beautiful weekend. Speaking of sneaking up on me, this little darling of mine is just growing more and more everyday. Lucia is now a mobile little thing! We worked on crawling this weekend, with a little encouragement...

and with the instilled confidence and her personal group of cheerleaders she got moving....

In a blink of an eye we are here at this milestone. My fresh little tiny newborn is now a crawling, babbling, laughing girl. The days of a completely dependant baby are quickly fading and my little Lucia is emerging, her personality developing along with these new mobility skills. It makes me want to cry and cheer at the same time, but either way I'm trying to take in all these little moments...

Today's Reflection:

Lord, I am so grateful for these experiences. Thank you for the milestones reached. There are sometimes challenging days in parenting, but you have never left us alone in them and for every challenging day there is easily a dozen beautiful days around the corner and already experienced. Thank you, to you who created this little crawler of mine, who formed her masterfully with those little eyes I love, thank you!

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth."

-Psalm 34:1

5 MONTHS OLD

My precious Lucia,

Today you are 5 months old! I can hardly believe how quickly this time is going by. You are the sweetest little girl I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I am so proud to call you my little girl. When you are older, you won't remember the last 5 months, so I want to write it down so you can have it. You make everyone around you smile and melt, including your Dad and I. You already giggle and laugh and you have many conversations with me (although you don't use words yet, I understand what you're saying!). You think your brother Henry is hilarious (and he is). You cry when you think we've left the room. You like when I sing the Beatles' song 'I've just seen a face' to you. You are incredibly strong and grab just about anything you can, which worries me at times, but also cracks me up when you grab my big nose. You don't have much hair, but don't worry I didn't either when I was your age. You have chunky thighs just like mommy and you smile with your eyes, just like mommy. You show no signs of prejudice, you smile and flash those flirty eyes with all colors and ages. 

Now, tomorrow some of this may change and some may stay the same which is the beauty of watching you grow. I dream of the day when I can hear your sweet little voice say 'mommy'. I dream of the long daily telephone conversations you have with me when you are older, just like I have with your grandma. I dream about braiding your hair and having you pick flowers and put them in your hair. I look forward to having you read this some day and say to me "Wow, you use to be young mom!" 

I want you to always remember, you were created to do great things, you were wonderfully made by a God who loves you and obviously loves me because he blessed me with you!

love,

Your young mom

  

5 months never looked so cute!

LUCY GOOSEY

Before my daughter Lucia was born I had resolved that I would make 'Lucy' her nickname (I'm a big I Love Lucy fan!) I just can't do it though, I know how much her father loves the name Lucia so Lucy just feels like a betrayal to him. When I'm playing with my daughter sometimes the name 'Lucy Goosey' rolls off my tongue and out into the world. I've told my husband that it's becoming a habit and I think it might catch on.  He hates the idea of this. I think to him, 'Lucy Goosey' may one day (perhaps in her teen years) turn into 'Loosey Goosey' and boys may get the wrong idea about his little sweetheart. He's already looking after her reputation. 

How could an angel like this become a 'Loosey Goosey'?

 It's interesting how we get our nicknames. My husband is nicknamed 'Bubba' to his family. We've nicknamed my son 'H.R.' when we don't want him to know we're talking about him. As long as I can remember my nickname has been 'Renabutt'. I'm not even sure what 'Renabutt' means, but it's been attached to me for most of my life. I think  it was given to me by my aunt, who coincidentally calls my sister 'Princess' which makes 'Renabutt' the kind of nickname that could give a girl a complex. But do these nicknames even matter?  Can't a 'Renabutt' grow up to become the loving mother of a sweet little 'Lucy Goosey' and an adorable 'H.R.' married to the love of her life 'Bubba'?

I know that what ever they call me or what ever I call my little girl, it has no real bearing on who she will become or who God wants her to become. So I ask you, what are people calling you these days and who is God calling you to be?

Today's Reflection:

One of my favorite's in the bible is the story of Saul and how God changed his name and the path he was on and made him Paul. See Saul was awful, he was a murderer but God, changed all that, God changed who and what Saul was known for and made him Paul. Paul, was who God called him to be and Paul did some great things!

(you can read Acts 22, to get a taste of Paul's story)

Lord, Thank you for the opportunity to live up to who you created me to be. Thank you for not caring what others call me and giving me the opportunity to be something greater.

OVERFLOWING JOY

My baby Lucia turned 3 months last week.  I can not believe it!  The time has flown by and it's crazy to see how much she has grown already.  She's already in 6 month clothes!  This past Sunday she was dedicated at our church and I am such a proud Mommy!  I told my husband last week how overwhelming my love for her can be.  I think alot about what it means to have a daughter. She already loves chatting with her mommy so I think about the day those "goos" and "gaas" are replaced with real words.  I tell her every  morning that God has a plan for her and I am excited to see what it is.

Here we are praying over our little Lucia.

and no special day is complete with out ice cream!! 

Today's Reflection:

My heart is overflowing with joy, I have so much hope and love for my children.  It is hard not to think, if this love for my children is so unconditional so overwhelming, then how much more is that of the love my heavenly father has for me?

Lord, thank you for the love you give me and have placed in my heart.  

REST AND ONLINE SHOPPING

This morning we woke up and had a congested baby girl.  I hate when my kids get sick, you just want to take all of that pain and discomfort away.  We tried to make her as comfortable as possible and decided today would be a good day to just stay home.

My poor little girl!

It was a "make it work" kind of day.  We were supposed to finish Christmas shopping but since my Lucia was under the weather and not too many days left to shop I resorted to online shopping. While the girls stayed home my boys had a successful little shopping trip of their own.  Since shopping is a tiring sport, tonight will be a pizza and movie night. 'Thomas the Train' for Henry and 'The Help' for mommy!

Can you believe it's almost Christmas!!!

What I'm reflecting on today:

Some days just don't go as planned, I will try to make the most of my days thankfully and joyfully. Lord, keep my daughter safe and healthy, heal her like only you can!