It's a boy!
Please welcome Little Man. A month ago we received this precious little guy for foster care at only 7 weeks old to keep while his mom pulls things together. Most likely he'll be with us for 6 months to a year. I am having so. much. fun. that I need to say it again. He is So. Much. Fun. And yep, I already know I'm going to need therapy when he goes, but I try really hard not to think about it right now. It's been exactly 14 years since my last baby and it is a completely different experience this time around.
Number 1 difference is the boy thing. We've never done that around here before and more than once this little guy has caught us off guard... But wow, he is handsome and I try really hard not to dress him too girlie. I do have to admit, we have ALL been guilty of slipping and calling him 'her' though, at least once. Poor kid!
Number 2, I am 14 years older than I was with my last baby and have had some pretty substantial life experiences in that time. My body and my intellect aren't handling the endless day and night-time scheduled feedings at maximum capacity. In fact, I think I have never been this exhausted in my whole life. Not even when I was 16 and I yelled at my mom that she would never understand how tired I was... Sorry, mom. Again.
This leads nicely into Number 3, which is that I am blessed to have wonderfully amazing teenage girls (I know, I totally don't deserve it) who have made all the difference. Between them and my helpful Count Studley, we are handling this experience with minimal trauma. And last night he (That's Little Man, not Count Studley, well, and Count Studley) slept for 8 hours and this morning he laughed his first ever really real laugh because Count Studley was being so ridiculously silly in his face.
The last difference is my perspective. He is pretty much a grumpy-pants a lot of the time but I'm pretty good with it. He reminds me a lot of how Our Princess was when she was really tiny. Only she was Ultra-Major-Grumpy Pants. Then, when she was 3 months old exactly, she turned into a brand new happy princess and we've lived happily ever after. Those 3 months seemed more than eternity for a first time mom, and I wondered constantly why no one ever told me the truth about motherhood. But now she is 16-stinkin-years-old, and my perspective is so different than it ever could have been then. So I don't worry so much about the housework and the laundry and fall canning and even my fun projects, and I hold him too much, and I talk to him when he is sad, and we sing and we dance and in a couple of months he'll be just fine. And then I'll give him back to his mom. What were we ever thinking??
Our church held it's semi-annual general conference this weekend. This is always a favorite time for our family. We set up the card table in the living room and work on craft projects together while we watch each of the four- two hour sessions. This conference, as life in general as of late, was a little different. My Angel's fourteenth birthday was on Saturday and Count Studley was out of town for work. The sessions flew by between making and decorating a birthday cake, fixing favorite meals, opening gifts, visiting with friends, and a trip to the mall for birthday shopping as well as the usual feeding, changing, napping and playing with the baby. I'm grateful for the technology that we have that gives me an opportunity to watch and read and watch again these messages that are so uplifting and inspiring for me, especially when life gets complicated. It was also fun to see on Pinterest that others had gleaned the same insights that I did and have already been creative with them.
These are some of my favorite thoughts to ponder with a link to the individual talks as well as the sources from pinterest:
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| 281fourthstreet.blogspot.com |
"Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey."
This man speaks directly to me every single time. It's like he looks right at me and tells me how it is and what I need to do. Once again, this was just for me. I'm pretty sure he was called to this responsibility just for my salvation.
And lastly, so good to remember when life becomes full of uncertainty, from our prophet:
He's adorable! We called Zoe "he" for months....it's an adjustment.
ReplyDeleteMel- I clicked on your Instagram link this morning and here was this post. I got teary thinking of what you must have been feeling when you still thought you wouldn't be able to keep Little Man. What a difference a year makes and what a truly amazing blessing he is!!!! Gosh....I'm teary!
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