Memories and MIilestones

The boys are taking their afternoon nap.

My house is a mess again still.

I have a To Do List as long as a six year old's birthday wish list.

Motherhood continues to teach me so much about God's love for me, selflessness and the Gospel.

There are days when I fear that a blink will cause me to miss a precious moment.  I can get caught up in regrets of not charting growth, not taking enough pictures or not writing down every memory and milestone.

{...and I hear the bedroom door open and little feet approaching...}

There are days when the laundry, cleaning, dirty diapers and constant food preparation threatens to overwhelm my tired mind.  I can get caught up in the things that need to be done.


There are days when the cuteness just threatens to overwhelm me.

Today is one of those days. 

Jeremiah was playing with some toys and found the small Chick-fil-A cow.  He studied it for a brief moment before looking up at me and saying, "Fry.  Fry?"  He knows Chick-fil-A.

Jeremiah loves to greet Joshua after nap time.  I will throw him up on our bed and they will lay together for a few moments while they are waking up.  Jeremiah says the cutest, "Hi, baby.  Hi, baby.  Hi, baby." Over and over.  And over. 

Jeremiah also says, "Hi, baby," anytime when he sees Joshua.  So. Cute.

Joshua has always been the most smiley baby.  He was about four weeks old when he first smiled.

Joshua is starting to reach out for things- like the blender (when it is kneading dough), the flat iron (when he is in the Moby wrap as I am fixing my hair) and everything else he is looking at.  He is starting, too, to reach out towards my face.  He looks at me, gives me the biggest smile and then tries to touch my face.

Joshua has always loved sleeping on his belly.  He arches his back after nursing and I know he is ready to sleep. 

Oh, such precious times these are.

And I look at the soft faces of these boys and try to picture them as men.

As husbands.

Fathers.

I realize that my role is vital and yet, oh, so fleeting. 

What do they see in me?  Facebook?  A clean house?  Or Christ?

Meeting Joshua: Part 4

Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 if you missed them.

The Junior High students seemed more energetic than usual.  And loud.

Contraction.

We were in the middle of the game for the evening.  I glanced at my phone's clock: 7:35PM.  The next one came at 7:45PM.  The music for youth group was just starting and I sat down to time it.  The contraction lasted about a minute and was, what I considered, about average in strength.  The next contraction came. 7:55PM.  Three contractions at 10 minutes apart.  I told Joel I had a couple contractions just so he knew, but that I would be fine through his lesson.

8:10.  8:17.  8:30.

Ok, they are getting some rhythm to them and are strong contractions, but nothing to write home about just yet.

We finished youth group, I got Jeremiah from the nursery and we chatted with our youth leaders a bit.  The contractions were still coming at a steady and rhythmic pace and I started getting a bit anxious.

It's snowing outside, I thought, and it's supposed to snow a lot all through the night.  We need to get home.

I barely remember the conversation we had with our friend and I knew it was something serious, but I also knew I needed to get home.  We needed to call Joel's sister, my mom and get our bags packed.  I started telling Joel we needed to get going.  Another contraction.  No, seriously, we need to go.  I gave him a pleading look and he knew right away what I meant by it.

We were out of the church a little after 9:00 and the roads were already a slippery snow ridden mess.  We had to drive super slow and it took us twice as long to get home as it usually did.  Joel and I decided to have his sister head over sooner rather than later since the roads were getting worse and she could stay the night with us.  I called her and she said she would be over as soon as she could.  I began to get Jeremiah ready for bed; Joel started packing his bag. 

Contraction after contraction.  They were getting stronger and closer together.  They were not as strong or as close together to warrant going to the hospital, but we knew the snow was a major factor.  Go to the hospital now before the weather gets any worse or wait and go to the hospital who knows when with over a foot of snow on the ground?  We also live near one of the worst interstate combinations and the thought of going with snow and rush hour traffic sounded rather unpleasant.

I knew that going to the hospital in early labor would mean the nurses might get too pushy (no pun intended, ha.) if I was not further along than they wanted.  I knew if I went in they would start pressing me to get labor going at the speed they thought best.  It was best to get to the hospital.  I'd deal with the nurses, I guess.

Joel's sister arrived at 10:30.  Jeremiah was in bed.  We talked for a bit as I finished packing my bag.  The contractions were getting hard and I had to stop with each one to breathe through them.  I gave my sister-in-law the run down on Jeremiah and she said that she hoped to get the next day off because of the snow.

We left home at 11:45PM.  The roads were a slushy, slippery mess and it took us 15 minutes longer to get to the hospital than normal.  The contractions were difficult to manage on the way, but nothing like the pain I had experienced in the car ride with Jeremiah.  We arrived at the hospital, with snow abounding, and I started the check-in process while Joel parked.


I am here, again, already?  The last time I sat in this chair I got it all wet.  Hahaha.  I let the memories flood back through my mind as the receptionist asked me a bunch of questions.  My mom arrived with my sister as I was finishing and we headed up to labor and delivery!  I turned down the wheelchair since I was feeling great- I wanted to keep the contractions coming!

I am here, again, already? The last time I walked these halls we had welcomed our firstborn son into our home. Who will we meet this time?