6 Months and a Year

   I am delighting in being the mother of a son. As a little girl I used to pray that God would only give me daughters. Though I did have a brother he lived on this earth for only a couple of days so I was raised with two sisters and I knew nothing about boys. After a few years of marriage I starting actually wanting a boy, not because I didn't want more girls but because I really thought a boy might not be so bad after all ;). I prayed again and told God that I would take whatever he had for me joyfully. After three girls I figured that God had heard my prayer as a child and we would always have girls, haha :). It wouldn't have been a problem but at that point I really felt that God had a boy for us and even told Lee so. With Andrew I knew he was a boy and I will never forget that ultrasound. When his little face showed up on the screen I "saw" a boy, even though the ultrasound technician had yet to prove it. I am so humbled to share the responsibility with my husband of raising this little man in the ways of the LORD. To train him in the way he should go and help him to be a mighty arrow in the hand of our God. It has been an experience completely different than with our girls, even in ways that I never imagined! One thing that has really hit me is that when I am sitting gazing at him, like all mothers do at their babies, I can't picture his future in the same way I could with our daughters. I don't truly know what it is like to be a husband and a father! When I tell him I love you so much!!! I know that he will never "know" how I love him because he will never know how a mother loves. He will, Lord willing, be a Daddy and, while I'm sure a father's love is just as strong as a mother's I'm also sure it must be a "different" love. I feel somewhat adequate to prepare my daughters for marriage and motherhood but the role of priest/provider/protector seems so daunting to me! I am so glad that God made me a nurturer, I would never say it is an "easy" calling but I feel much more suited for it! And I am so glad that He gave me a wonderful husband to lead our young son into godly manhood.
   It has been a wonderful six months! Andrew now has four teeth, sits up confidently, and imitates some of the oddest sounds! I imagine he will be an early talker. He also scoots, already. If you put him sitting up on a smooth surface he will push with his little legs until he gets to something he wants. He can also do it while he's lying down which makes diaper changes really interesting! Especially since we've switched to cloth diapers (which is going wonderfully by the way and we're saving at least $50 dollars a month between Andrew and Bethani!). He had his first solid food the other day and now he has had a couple bites of a mashed up banana, a couple bites of baby cereal, a teething cookie...loved that...and a few Ritz crackers, he'll steal those right out of our hands! He's gaining fine so we haven't really put him on solids yet, just a few times a week as a treat. He and Bethani, 17 months apart, now wear the same size in disposable diapers! (We still use paper diapers when we go out).  Here he is enjoying his teething cookie...



   There has been another anniversary this last week. April second marked a year since my first post, my blog is a year old! I've been pretty busy lately so I missed it. You know how you can make my day? Leave me a comment :)! I can "see" you on stat counter and I would love to "meet" you :). But really, I don't mind if you would rather not or simply don't have the time, I seldom get the opportunity to comment on the blogs I read either.  I know we mommies are busy people :).

Have a blessed day in HIM!!!