I feel so overly blessed in this life! I have five children... wow! So many women can't conceive.. I am truly fortunate to be able to carry all these babies and experience raising them.
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| The older four with my dad at the library :) |
Jacob, my 6 year old, is so smart and such a hard worker. He is in 1st grade, and pushes himself in school and genuinely cares about succeeding. My husband and I are SO proud of him. He's a great brother to his siblings and loves them and protects them. He is a great example for the younger babes to look up to. I love his tender heart. Thinking back to one day of my pregnancy, my husband and I were daydreaming about what Jake would be like... we listed that he would be smart, funny, handsome, have a great personality, and he is everything we imagined.
Leah, one of my 4 year old twins, is so beautiful, sweet, and full of love and life. As I watch her grow, I see so much of my personality in her with the way she thinks, approaches things, and hopes for people's approval. I see the way her mind works.. and I understand her. Sometimes that worries me because I let a bunch of my insecurities drive my life as a child and young adult... but at least I know how to help her and reassure her that she is perfect the way she is. Her soul is beautiful. I love my little animated baby.
Lily, my other 4 year old twin, is gentle, yet completely rambunctious and wild! She is sweet, beautiful, and makes me proud. I could leave her on the bed holding Micah all day, and she would stay put without moving. She is such a little mommy. I can see the love and tenderness in her eyes. She, in many MANY way, is a clone of my sister and best friend, Rachael. She is accident prone and trips over air... but is the most giving child. She likes her independence, but can be a leader whenever she chooses. I felt a deep connection to her the day after she was born and she was having trouble eating and gaining weight... when they threatened to take her to the NICU to oversee her eating, something inside of me pushed an aggressive momma bear out and I refused to let her go there without me trying everything I could to keep her -- she ended up never having to leave me :)
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| My three beauties in their ballet class |
Hannah, my 2 year old, is the little performer of the bunch. She can captivate a room and audience of any age. Her beauty and innocence is amazing and lovely. She is hilarious and extremely intelligent. Her strong will and determination lets me know that I won't have to worry about her when she grows up, which is something my dad always said about me. I know she will be wise and in control. She is such a special little girl.
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| the three girls kissing Micah before bed |
Micah, my 5 month old, blows me away every day. He has completely changed my life. The fact that he has hypoplastic right heart syndrome and tricuspid atresia (his congenital heart disease/defects) is almost portrayed in his life like it doesn't exist. His strength has stirred a new perspective of my own in this world. Micah is beautiful, happy, joyful, content, hilarious, and the most remarkable human being I know. He may not understand anything about his own condition... but I do.. and as I see his face fill with laughter and light up with smiles, the tears fill my eyes because I know how much he has gone through and will continue to face... and I know he will be an optimistic and Godly man.
The five paragraphs above about my children lay out the smallest amount of what I am grateful for in this life. It is simply just too much to list. I could go on and on about how lucky I am... but I'm afraid I would keep you here far longer than you would want.
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| At Micah's dedication to God Sept 2012 :) |
Everything else in my life has also been abundantly blessed. I have a man who has been committed to me for nearly 8 years... and WOW did he have to go through some things with me in order to reap the mature and stable me now haha. He had to watch me grow from an 18 year old teenager to the 26 year old woman I am now, today. I thank you for that, honey.
Our baby boy has his second open heart surgery in only two more weeks... but we are ready. We are prepared for whatever God has laid out for us.
HE is the biggest blessing of all - my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ... I can do ALL things in Christ, who strengthens me... I will not be alone, for He has stayed with me through everything in my life.
Sometimes we face tragedies and hardships, but I firmly believe that anything that we experience in our life can be dealt with and that it doesn't have to defeat us. Finding out my baby almost died and would face three open heart surgeries by the time he was three years old was the biggest shock of my life - but nothing in this world is too big for our God to handle. The peace that we came to about accepting God's control has taken us through the valleys and the peaks. Understanding that we are never alone speaks volumes to me...
As I was breaking down and uncontrollably sobbing in the wake of the news about my baby boy... I had a moment and realization that this "faith" we all talk about as Christians was about to come into play in my life. When you are left with faith as your only avenue in your life, you truly learn what it means. Faith was all I had. And I thank Jesus for saving my soul... and for saving my son's life.
I know this was long... and perhaps most people didn't make it down to the bottom of the page... but this life is such a blessing. I am blessed beyond belief... And no matter what may happen in the future - whether my baby boy is among the 78% of children who make it past age 5 with hypoplastic right heart syndrome and tricuspid atresia... or if he falls among the 22%.... I will trust God and thank Him for the time I was blessed with :)
What are you thankful for, today?
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