Birthdays!!

This week has been a week of milestones for 2 of my children.

Tuesday, Bryson Douglas turned 5 years old!! That sounds way too old! I remember the day we brought him home, and it feels like it was just yesterday. He was our firstborn, and his chubby cheeks and orange hair captivated our hearts from the first time we laid eyes on him. I knew he was going to be a handful. He fought sleep and nearly wore me out eating every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. And I guess between all that eating and his strong will, he just grew so quickly and did everything so early! He has caused me to experience every emotion possible, I think. I have to admit, he's even made me angry and frustrated at times...I hope that doesn't make me a bad mommy. :) But most of all, I have a great sense of pride and amazement as I watch him grow, learn, and become a kind little boy. Everyday there's some new challenge he presents as I think we conquer one bad habit or behavior and another one seems to start, but there's also some new thing he says or does that makes me smile and completely overshadows the negatives.


Here are a few things I want to remember always about this stage of Bryson's life:
1. He's a very loving big brother. He takes this role very seriously, and I love how he is so compassionate with Avery and worries about his well-being.
2. He loves to be read to, and he will remain completely still and obedient as long as one reads to him.
3. His favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, and he calls the marshmallows "mushrooms." I can't bring myself to correct him!
4. He's obsessed with the story of Jonah. Every fish he sees looks like a whale to him. He acts out the story over and over again with his stuffed shark and stuffed Larry the cucumber. He has me hold Larry sometimes as he tells the story and plays the shark. He even will find the book of Jonah in the Bible and stare at it or ask us to read it to him, and he loves to listen to the book of Jonah on Phillip's Bible To-Go MP3 player. Guess what the theme of his bday party is tomorrow? You guessed it! I'm not kidding when I use the word "obsessed."
5. He will play outside as long as he possibly can, especially when he can play in dirt. I often catch him sneaking out the front door in his underware. Sometimes I make him come get dressed; sometimes I have bigger fish to fry and just shrug my shoulders. My neighbors probably think we're crazy! There he'll be by the side of the house playing in a dirt pile with his trains, talking to himself all the while!
6. He wants to be a farmer when he grows up to plant gardens and milk cows.
7. He writes songs these days. He'll say, "Mom, I wrote a song." And of course I say, "Can I hear it?" In his sweet voice he'll sing; sometimes it's about how much he loves me and his family or sometimes it's about Jesus. One of my favorites went something like, "Jesus died on the cross, oh- oh- ohhhh, Jesus died on the cross, Oh poor, old , sad Jesus." :)
8. I love how he tells me I'm his best friend and he's never going to leave me. I tease him sometimes about how he's growing too quickly or how one day he's gonna grow up and leave me, and he gets all serious and vows to take me with him wherever he goes. He even tried to outsmart me one day when I insisted he eat all of his food. He said, "But Mom, you want me to stay your little boy forever, so I just will quit eating so I won't grow."


The other "birthday" is our newest edition, Miss Emerson Rose. She is one month old today. She has stolen our hearts and brought new life to our already busy family.

Here are a few things I want to remember about her at 1 month old.
1. She has gotten to be quite the little pig. She wants to eat just about all the time, and I usually feed her. :) Which means she's already 10 pounds!
2. She has the loudest cry of my 3 kids. She has this high pitched scream that makes Avery stare and clap his hands in frustration and Bryson cover his eyes and say, "Make it stop!" When she's not screaming, she does a lot of unladylike grunting.
3. She is a little spoiled and loves to be held.
4. I dress her up pretty much every day. I'm sure the fun will eventually wear off, but for now, I'm having a ball!
5. Last, but certainly now least, her hair is looking a little more red everyday. Yes, it appears I may have won the gene-lottery once again and gotten myself another red-head. What are the chances of that??



Until next time...
Bethany

And Then We Were Five...

I still have a hard time believing that we have THREE kids now! Phillip and I were talking the other day about how it seems surreal to think that 9 years ago it was just the two of us, and now we wonder what in the world we did with all that time and money back then. :) Now the little people officially out number the adults in the house. Oh, how our lives have changed!

We have been blessed, that's for sure! Sometimes I have to force myself to not let my mind get the best of me and make me forget that. It's been especially hard lately. I think having a new baby in the house just highlights more of Avery's special needs. We kept a little boy the other night who is just 2 months older than Avery, and he and Bryson were playing outside together, pushing each other on the swing set, laughing, arguing, and doing all the typical stuff 3 and 4 year olds do. I couldn't help but look out the window and think, "This is how it's supposed to be for Bryson and Avery." Instead, Avery was sitting in the house on the living room rug with his basket of toys. Sometimes life can seem unfair, but I know that God doesn't make mistakes! And every time Avery gets poked by a needle, we hear how low his blood counts are, or he has to get blood products, which is pretty much weekly these days, I find myself praying that God will just let us keep him however different he may be. I hear about all these other kids who are sick, and it makes my heart so heavy. Just recently, I've been thinking about a little girl from KY who was just diagnosed with leukemia. My heart goes out to that family, and I'm reminded again how I'm not the only one with a broken heart and that God is mindful of all of these precious children.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18

We just scheduled an appointment with a GI doc from Cincinnati, and we're really hoping he may be able to shed some light on Avery's swallowing issues. He is interested in food so much more than what he used to be, but he just chokes and coughs up horrible amounts of mucus anytime we attempt to feed him anything beyond a thin puree. If we could figure out the cause and work toward a solution, it would be such a blessing to be able improve this area of Avery's life!

My oldest, Bryson, has a big birthday coming up in a week and a half. I can't believe he's going to be 5! I'm so proud of the little boy that he has become. Yes, he has some rough edges that we're still working on, some days more than others, but he is such a smart, funny, sweet little guy. I've been making plans for his party lately. I asked him what kind of party he wanted, thinking he'd say Thomas the Train or Veggie Tales or something like that. Instead, he said he wanted a Bible story party with Jonah and the Whale and Daniel in the Lion's Den. So, we've narrowed it to a Jonah and the Whale party. Of course he had to pick something that party stores don't carry decorations for, but I've found some cute things online. And Monday, we have his registration for school. He's going to be starting the Young 5's program. We debated Kindergarten, but since his birthday is so late and with Avery possibly getting a transplant in the near future, we decided Young 5's would be most appropriate for him. Avery will be starting the special education preschool program too, so they'll be in the same building. That will make me feel better about them leaving me!

I feel like most of my time these days has been spent feeding/changing Miss Emerson. I forgot how demanding such a little person can be. But, I'm enjoying her so much, even if I am a little sleep deprived. Some nights she does better than others, but I love just holding her close and smelling that baby smell. I know it will seem like the blink of an eye before my baby is no longer a baby.

Here's a few more photos of our baby girl!





~Bethany