A day in the life...

[Way off to the] Side note: when we were little and were getting ready for a long road trip from, oh...Canada to Florida (I know, craziness. And not an electronic device to be seen)...my dad would stock up on a bunch of library books for us and would always get some from a series called A Day in the Life. They were these huge books with giant glossy pictures of some other culture from sun up to sun down and we loved them. Of course, part of the reason is because inevitably there'd be some picture of a tribal woman feeding a baby with her boobs exposed and we'd always flip through to those pages and gawk. But they were really great books. Admit it...you stared at those pictures a little longer in a National Geographic too, didn't you?? Thought so.

Sorry...onto the real post. This is not a day in the life of a half-naked tribal woman. Its a day in the life of my oldest son turning 4!! Four years of life with this sweet, sensitive, fearless and gifted boy. This year, more than ever, I have noticed how much this boy has my personality. He's definitely an introvert and is quite wary in new situations. Lately any time we do anything new he'll ask me a couple times if I'm staying with him. "The whole time?? You're not leaving?" he'll say. He's usually pretty quiet as he's taking everything in around him. Even his preschool teachers would say they didn't know if he was ever listening, let alone retaining anything but then they'd hear him later reciting an entire book they read to the class...once. The most precious moments in life right now are when he engages Dawson. He's always spoken to him as if they were on the exact same level (which was quite hilarious when Dawson was a newborn) but now its so cute, as Dawson babbles back to him. They're going to be great buddies (when Dawson's not beating him up). So on to his big day...

Breakfast smoothies for everyone:

Then off to the library to sign up for his first Summer Reading Program:

The self-checkout:

Next up-- first swimming lessons (he can already swim pretty well. these are more for my peace of mind so that when he decides to jump off a diving board when no one's watching, he can swim to the side):

Then off to lunch with Daddy. I asked Bennett what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He said, "Swordfish". Hmmm...ok. A close second- popcorn shrimp at Joe's Crap...ah hem...I mean Crab Shack.

Gilligan's first mate:

Home for Dawson's naptime and then testing out his new sprinkler in the backyard:

Can't get enough of this face right now:


No more pictures after that, because, let's face it, things usually go downhill between the hours of 5 and 8pm.

I still remember the night we left our house when I was in labor, just the two of us, to go the hospital (No mom ever forgets those moments). I remember sitting in the hospital room around 5:00am when we'd checked in and I'd changed into my gown. It was dark outside and still so quiet and calm. My husband blew me away that morning with his support and encouragement. And delivering that baby with him at my side forged us together like nothing before. Bennett came out not breathing. But God completely protected me from that moment. I couldn't see him on the little warming table...I didn't know anything was wrong. I couldn't see the nurses frantically pumping oxygen into his lungs. I laid there on the bed completely at peace that he was fine. Almost 2 full minutes they worked on him. But he was fine. Completely healthy after that. God's hand was on him in that moment. I looked into his chocolate colored eyes and I was in love. An instant overwhelming love for this baby whom I couldn't believe was mine!

And then the days after we brought him home...the hardest 8 weeks of my life. Post-partum depression (that I didn't recognize at the time) and a very, very difficult time nursing (I had the milk...it was everything else that wasn't working. And mixed with a s l o w eater (did I mention he has my personality?? :) it took 7 weeks until it felt painless and natural. I didn't think I'd emerge from the loneliness and pain and all around unsettledness (probably just made up that word-yep. spellcheck confirmed).

But boom - 8 weeks hit and everything turned around. He was happy and content and I was happy and content...(ok...probably everything turned around because he started sleeping 8 hours in a row!!). I settled into Motherhood and started soaking in all the amazing moments with my gorgeous little boy. He was the happiest baby- nothing would phase him, and still not much does. I'm so unbelievably proud God chose me to raise this amazing little boy.

So much life in 4 short years.