Simon's First Birthday Letter

My sweet son,

How can it be that you have already been apart of our family for an entire year? It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with you. Feeling your soccer player kicks from the inside and eagerly awaiting the day when you would be born. I was so anxious to meet and to see what you looked like. This sweet treasure that God had blessed us with.

I have to confess that I was surprised to learn that you were a boy. I really thought that you were going to be a girl. When the ultrasound technician told us differently I think I went into shock. My family only had girls, your Auntie Jo and myself. I really didn’t know much about boys. We’d had two foster sons in our care yet that experience still didn’t seem to qualify me for the important task of raising a son to be a Godly man. A Godly man who cares for his wife and his children. A Godly man who leads fearlessly and tirelessly. A Godly man who is willing to lay down his life for another. What a tall order.

Thankfully, God knew exactly what He was doing. He created you specifically to be a part of our family. He is using you to stretch me and shape my character. As I strive to raise you to be a Godly man, God shows me more about being a Godly mother. How amazing it is to know that God loves me enough to keep working on me. And you are certainly the cutest learning tool ever!

My darling little man, I treasure all of our moments together. We begin our day by snuggling together, each of us waking up gradually after a few more moments of shuteye. I love to see your sleepy smile as you bury your face into your blanket. You are such a snuggle bug. It warms my heart.

At this point you are just switching doing more walking than crawling. Your steps are still a bit tentative and you still topple over from time to time but you are definitely getting the hang of it. I’m still trying to get used to the sight of you walking down the hallway behind me!

You have quite a few words in your collection “Mama, Dada, Ball, Bath, Wow, and Go.” You love the word “Hi!” but your greeting must be answered. You will repeat it over and over and over again until someone answers you. I think you just want to be sure you’re not forgotten. I can assure you; you are not ever, ever forgotten!

Simon, your first year is behind you now. Gone are the days of lounging in your bouncy seat and watching your sister play. Gone are the days of pureed baby food eaten with tiny infant spoons. Gone are the days of hanging around in your exersaucer just dying to break free and explore. These are the days of walking and talking. These are the days of learning to jump and run. These are the days of finger foods and toddler utensils. These are the days of unending exploration.

How blessed we are to be with you on this journey. We love you so much and thank God daily for entrusting you to us. Thank you for an incredible year. We look forward to the many more to come.

All my love,
Always and forever,
Mommy

New Header=Motivation?

I was blessed to win a new header from a recent contest over at RS Designs. Revka assisted me in installing the header and tweaking it to make it fit just right. I am so pleased with the finished product. Should you be looking for a new blog design stop by their site and take a look. Their designs are beautiful and their prices are quite reasonable. What more could you ask for?!

Now, hopefully, my new header will motivate me to blog here on a more regular basis. I've been trying to get more organized in the new year, like most people. But in doing so, I've tried to cut back my computer time a bit. That makes it even trickier to post regularly but I'll see what I can do.