Birthdays

December to January has the most birthdays for our family - 3 in 32 days (plus Christmas so it's a little nutty). Since I didn't blog on their actual days, I'll play catchup now.

December 18th brought birthday #4 for T3. We celebrated on his actual day with cake for family after dinner and he had a great time. Throughout everyday life, I find that I often lump the kids all together. But each year on their birthdays I remember that special day (and the months leading up to it) that brought them into our lives in a way that no one else can. I am so selfishly thankful that those memories are mine and mine alone.

T3 was our first surprise-to-us baby. I am so glad that nothing is a surprise to God and that in His infinite wisdom saw fit to bless us with this boy. The beginning of our pg was not one full of excitement and anticipation. It was a very hard time for The Captain and I because, like i said, this was not part of OUR plan. Work was stressful and like any good husband/father, the Captain was worried about providing every good thing for all of his children. Of course this pg also began all of the "are you crazy?, do you know how that happens?, are you trying for another girl?" etc. questions. T3 was due shortly before Christmas and I believe that was God's gift to me. It gave me so much more to ponder. I saw Mary in a little different light - that she was just a young woman waiting for her baby to be born.

Three days after my due date (and I was always late) I woke up being so frustrated and wanted to know when this baby was going to come. I broke down crying and the Captain, lovingly laughed at me, saying that I did this every time. Of course, that afternoon I went into real labor and the next afternoon our little boy was with us. While he was our fourth, he brought with him a lot of firsts. The first to be born with a vacuum extraction, the first with meconium, the first I was not able to hold right away, the first with Coombs that required him to stay 3 extra days, the first one to ever spend any time away from me in the hospital as he spent those three extra days under the lights in an incubator. But again, those three days were a gift. Days I spent alone resting and bonding with this little unexpected blessing.

January 11th brought another birthday with a totally different set of emotions. BP turned 9. How in the world did she get to be 9?!?!?! She was the long awaited first child. The child that came after our miscarriage and I wondered if we would ever have a baby. The excitement and anticipation that both The Captain and I shared was almost tangible. The kid ended up being 9 days late. We had to be induced and that was an incredibly long day. But finally, at 11:17PM we had our long awaited bundle. My life changed at that moment, entering the wonderfully chaotic world of motherhood. It's hard to believe that our baby is becoming a young lady.

And then there's me. Today I turn 36 and I am good with it. The age thing has never bothered me but I have to admit that thinking about the next big milestone being 40 is kind of strange. But that is still 4 years away. I am excited to see what this year brings particularly with my kids. That and I can't wait for a good dinner at mom's tonight LOL!!!