Ellie's Baby Blessing

We had Ellie's blessing on Sunday.  It was a wonderful day!  Thank you to those who came and supported us...  And to those who couldn't make it - we missed you but understand.  Ellie actually has a little rash on her head but you can't see it in these pictures thanks to Photoshop. :)  But this is Ellie on her special day.

Ellie with Aunt Tresa and some cousins

Ellie with Grandpa Hyde

Ellie with Grandma Bradshaw

Ellie with Grandpa Bradshaw

Thanks Grandma Hunsaker

Grandma Hunsaker sent Ellie some money to go shopping, so Ellie and I went out on the town. Danny laughed that I called it a "Girls Day" - I'm just excited that I can say it's a "Girls Day." Anyway, we went shopping and found this cute little outfit. Isn't she cute in her new jeans and shirt? Thanks Grandma Hunsaker!

Wanting Attention

Ok, so I stole this off of my sis-in-law's blog.  While watching this, I laughed so hard!  This is Kaden to a T - I swear.  And it is always when I'm on the phone or talking to someone or even when I'm just trying to get some time to myself.  Don't you just love kids!

Ellie M Bradshaw

Nope, we haven't fallen off of the face of the earth. :)  It has been a crazy couple of weeks but we are all doing really great!  Ellie has changed quite a bit so I wanted to post some updated pictures of this beautiful little girl.  

Also, I didn't want to forget the details of her birth so I wrote them down below - mainly for myself.

PS. Girls are so much fun to dress! :)

Ellie Enters The Picture

August 30th at 1:29 in the morning I woke up to a contraction.  In order for a contraction to wake me up from my sleep it has to be a fairly good contraction.  But I had had so many false alarms the past two weeks with what I like to call fake contractions that I didn’t dare believe I was going into labor.  Little did I know that within hours I would meet this little bundle of joy that had been growing inside my tummy.

At 2:30 in the morning Danny finally woke up to my struggling through the contractions.  He asked how long I had been having contractions and I told him.  He asked how far apart they were and I explained that I hadn’t been keeping close attention but that I thought they were about 5 minutes apart.

For the next 2 hours we struggle with deciding what to do.  Not only were the contractions not regular, but we also needed to contact someone to come stay with our boys.  We had already asked Matt and Kim to be on standby, but should we make the call and have them travel the 20 minutes to our house when the contractions weren’t regular yet?  In fact, we kept the record of each timed contraction...

5.46

5.20

4.00

2.24

6.25

7.07

6.48

2.15

4.38

7.35

7.47

7.10

3.19

1.33

2.01

11.14

5.30

2.00

1.10

1.29

2.48

3.00

3.25

4.37

7.51

3.25

1.58

2.02

3.22

4.13

2.27

1.52

3.55

8.00

5.28

As you can see, there was absolutely no regularity in each of the timed contractions.  We just didn’t know what to do.

At approximately 4:30, we decided to call Matt and Kim and let them know what was going on.  That way, they would truly be on standby.  But just one problem...  Their phones were on silent.  We tried calling for about 15 minutes to no avail.  They simply couldn’t hear their phones.  What were we going to do?  We decided to just continue to wait to see if the contractions got regular and take it from there.  But about a 1/2 hour later Matt just happened to wake up, look at his phone, and call us back.  Danny explained the situation, Matt took his phone off vibrate, and we continued to wait.

At about 5:15 I could no longer take the pain.  I wanted an epidural so badly!  So we called Matt and they headed to our house.  Meanwhile, all we could do was wait until Matt and Kim got there before we could leave for the hospital.  But it hurt so bad!  I got impatient and at 5:40 we called Matt to see where he was.  Thankfully they were just pulling in to the subdivision, so we left.

When we got to the hospital, they didn’t even monitor me - They simply admitted me.  When they checked my dilation, I said to the nurse, “Please don’t tell me I’m still a 3.”  The nurse replied with, “You’re definitely not a 3.”  And she proceeded to tell me that I was dilated to a 7.  To which I responded, “Please give me an epidural!”  :)  Then I turned to Danny and proudly said, “I made it to a 7!” - You see, with both Kaden and Preston I had an epidural by the time I was dilated to a 4.  Now I actually know what a true contraction feels like. :)

They got the anesthesiologist in and he gave me an epidural.  It worked everywhere except on the right side of my back and my right leg.  I explained this to the nurse and she called the anesthesiologist back in to give me more.  

After I got some more epidural, I started to feel nauseous and then light-headed.  They had given me too much and I felt extremely weird.  Meanwhile, I had progressed enough that it was time to push.  I had to push while feeling like I was going to pass out and I couldn’t feel a thing from my waist down.  And to top it all off, Ellie was face-up so the doctor had to try to turn her with the forceps.  And then she wouldn’t turn because her shoulder was caught on my bone.  I ended up pushing for an hour; but towards the end of the pushing, the epidural started to wear off.  So they had to call the anesthesiologist back in to give me even more.

But finally, at 8:59 AM on August 30th, 2008, Danny and I welcomed this beautiful little angel into the world.  She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long.  And she took my breath away.  

Childbirth is truly an indescribable event.  It was emotional from start to finish, and I still get tears in my eyes when I think about the first time I saw her.  Once again, children bring a whole new perspective in to our lives and I am so grateful for my opportunity to experience each joy, pain, happiness, misery, frustration, and proud moment.

Catching Up

Well, I guess I had better catch you all up on our life. I know it has been a long time and for good reasons. We have been extremely busy with life! We finished the basement, Danny took a business trip to California for a week, Kaden started the first grade, Preston is now potty trained (yippee), and of course - WE HAD ELLIE M BRADSHAW!

She was born on Saturday, August 30th. She weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 2 oz. She was 20 inches long. And she is absolutely beautiful.

It was a fairly difficult delivery. She was face up and the doctor tried multiple times to turn her to no avail. The epidural was a little iffy at first, then they overdosed me, then it wore off too early... A little painful and difficult. But one of the first things I said after getting to hold my wonderful little girl is that it's amazing that no matter how difficult, it is still so incrediby worth it in the end. She is already my little angel and she definitely has Danny wrapped around her little finger. :)

Now for pictures... I will start off with Ellie and work backwards.



This is Preston being potty trained. (Am I a bad mom for taking pictures of this? :)



And, lastly, this is Kaden and his 1st grade experience. We met the teacher and found his class the day before school started. Then he wanted to ride the bus because he is now a big boy. They grow up way too fast.

Memory Game

Here is a fun little game... leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time or a long time, anything that you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty funny to read the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... get set... blog those memories!

Getting Ready For A Baby

Has it really been that long since I posted on my blog? Wow! Time flies!

What have I been up to? Between being sick, exhausted, and trying to do some fun things with my kids during these months that are called summer, we have been painstakingly trying to get ready to introduce this little girl into our family. Number one priority right now is to finish our basement. Danny has done all of the work thus far and we are starting to make progress. But I didn't truly have a sense of appreciation for all that Danny has done until this past weekend... We hung the sheet rock. (Yes, I said WE!)

It started on Thursday. Danny worked on the computer most of the day until about 3:00 and then we started hanging the ceiling pieces. Yes, I'm basically 8 months pregnant and I held up one side of the sheet rock while Danny screwed in his side then he would come relieve me. It started out as being pretty funny. Who in their right mind would help their husband hang sheet rock while 8 months prego? I guess the answer to that question is a pregnant woman who is REALLY motivated to get their basement finished. :)

Well, then we ran into some problems. One of the ceiling joists was bent or something - basically there was nothing there to screw the sheet rock into and it was at the very edge of the piece of sheet rock. We ended up having to take it down and Danny had to nail up a two by four in order to have some support for the sheet rock. The problem came when after nailing the two by four, we noticed water leaking from the ceiling. Because of the insulation Danny couldn't see the water pipe on the other side of the joist. He accidentally punctured the main water pipe when using his nail gun. Ooops!

So we had to take a detour. After calling all plumbers in a 20 mile radius, we found one able to come and fix it within about two hours. So we got the kids fed, bathed, and to bed and went back to work on the basement. We finally gave up around 10:00, cleaned up the house a little, showered, and went to bed.

Friday I woke up a little sore, but not too bad. And I was still quite anxious about the basement getting finished. We got the kids fed, dressed and told Kaden that he needed to be a "big-boy babysitter" for us. (Which he did pretty good for being a six year-old.) Danny and I ended up spending all day down in the basement (with an occasional trip upstairs to tend to the kids) and we were able to finish the ceiling.

Saturday I woke up quite sore. But after seeing how hard Danny works on our basement, I wasn't about to let him do it alone! I slowly crawled out of bed, ate breakfast, fed the kids, and once again asked Kaden if he could be a big helper again. We made our way down to the basement and started on the walls. At around noon, Danny's brother Justin was nice enough to come help us! It was so nice to have someone else lift the heavy stuff with Danny while I just measured and cut the sheet rock. By the time we ended on Saturday, we were about half done with the walls, and our feet, legs, backs, necks, and arms were killing us (or at least mine were).

Sunday was a welcome relief. We actually sat around and relaxed the whole day. Sadly and regretfully we stayed home from church - yes we are bad examples! But it sure felt good to relax the WHOLE day!

And now we come to yesterday... Danny woke up at the usual weekday time and got ready for work. After eating breakfast he came back upstairs and told me he was thinking about staying home one more day so that we could finish the sheet rock. I was torn! I was really looking forward to a day in which I could put our house back together, but I REALLY wanted to be done with the sheet rock! So we did as before, leaving Kaden and Preston to the TV/Xbox/Wii to entertain them, and went back to work.

Now, I have to pause by saying that on Sunday night I went to bed feeling sick to my stomach. So when we started the work yesterday, I was still a little queasy. Then it got a little worse. Then I got light-headed - I felt like I was going to black out. Then I got a super bad bloody nose - the kind that drips like a faucet. Needless to say, I needed a break so I went upstairs and lay down for an hour or so. Danny stayed downstairs hard at work.

After about an hour I felt MUCH better so I slowly got back into pace with Danny. I measured and cut all the pieces. We would put them in place and he would finish screwing in that piece while I started measuring and cutting the next piece. We actually had a great system going. And we FINALLY finished around 8:00 last night. And let me tell you, as soon as we finished (and my body realized we were finished), my whole body ached worse than I could imagine. And we hadn't even eaten yet.

So after being very neglectful parents, working as hard as I could imagine while being 8 months pregnant, and feeling like I couldn't move even my little toe without being in pain, WE DID IT! We have officially finished the sheet rock in our basement.

I have to say that not only do I feel such a sense of accomplishment in what we did, but even more, I feel a huge sense of gratitude for my wonderful hubby. Not only was he so sweet with me (every 2 minutes asking me if I was ok and trying to take most of the weight on himself so that I didn't have to); but he also is so motivated to learn how to do things himself and he works so hard to do them. He taught himself all that he knows about construction work - which is quite a bit!

Again, Danny has done everything in our basement so far. He did the framing, electrical work, HVAC, and insulation. Doing the sheet rock with him made me realize how hard he has worked just on our basement. What an amazing person I am married to!

I am also very grateful for the time that I had to spend with Danny while we worked. Even though it was truly laborious work, I wouldn't give up the one-on-one time that we had together. I really love him with all of my heart! He really is my best friend!

First-Time Gardener

Well, I did it! I planted my first garden. Let me reiterate that this is my first time gardening and I definitely do not have a green thumb. But, nonetheless, I finally have seeds in the ground.

The pictures aren’t much to look at; after all, it just looks like dirt. But I will be taking pictures throughout the summer to verify the progress (or non-progress) of my vegetables. I have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, green beans, and watermelon (yes, I am trying watermelon – we will see how it turns out). This year I figure is kind of a test-run. I will hopefully be able to increase my knowledge and gardening abilities in the coming years.

Oh, and by the way, as you can see from the pictures I have not yet killed the flowers that I planted in the pots! Yes – I know it is extremely amazing that they are not all wilted and dead. But they are alive and well so far. Here’s to hoping!

Done With Kindergarten

Thursday was Kaden’s last day of kindergarten. Danny and I got to go to the program that his class put on. It was super cute! Each of the kids dressed up as “what they want to be when they grow up.” Kaden decided all by himself that he wanted to be a cowboy because he loves to ride horses. He even mentioned to his teacher his love of riding horses with Grandpa Bradshaw.

After they all showed off their aspirations for careers, they sang a few songs. Then their teacher, Mr. Kay, showed a video with pictures taken from this school year. He even had some video clips from “dads and doughnuts day” which included the kids and dads all dancing the chicken dance. That was super hilarious and if anyone wants to see Danny and Kaden dancing the chicken dance, I now have it on video. :)

But, alas, my little kindergartener is now considered a first-grader. Yes, I am excited for all-day school just so I don’t have to stop everything at 11:00 to pick him up from school; but it has also made me quite nostalgic the past few days. They grow up so fast that it seems extremely weird. Not only does it seem impossible for Kaden to be going to first grade next year, but I just don’t feel old enough to have a first-grader. :) I guess that’s probably the way everyone feels.

Just Another Frustrating Day

Yesterday started out promising; but it definitely went downhill. After picking Kaden up from school, we went and got some lunch and then visited Danny at his office. After that, we had to go to the store. I didn’t feel like going to the store – I was extremely tired and a headache was starting to form, but we really needed groceries.

Anyway, without going into a big long story of how the lady at the checkout was terribly slow, confused, and enormously frustrating, by the time I got out of Wal-Mart (I was just in the line for over 45 minutes) I was about to scream! Then, by the time I got home, my head was pounding!

Preston had fallen asleep in the car so I carefully put him on the couch to finish his nap, then I unenthusiastically went about bringing the groceries into the house and putting them away.

The reason I decided to write about this particular day in my blog/journal is because of Kaden. He noticed that I wasn’t feeling well. He immediately went to work trying to assist me in putting away the groceries. And every time I closed my eyes for a second to get my bearings, he would come give me a hug and pat my back so sweetly. He then ever so quietly turned on the Xbox (sometimes sadly used as our babysitter) and told me he would play his game while I took a nap.

I know I’ve said it many times before, but the reason we have children is because most of the time we end up needing them far more than they need us. I truly needed Kaden’s sympathy yesterday – yep, even moms need some TLC every once in a while. Thank you, again, Kaden!

My Life As A Mom

Sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough time in a single day to do all that I want to accomplish. And then there are the days that I just don’t feel like doing all that I need to get done. I wonder if this roller coaster of feelings ever goes away… Somehow, I don’t think so – especially as a mother.

There are days I think I am doing an ok job in raising my kids and there are days when I feel like I have absolutely failed. There are moments when I feel so glad that I took the time to sit down and read with my children; and there are times when I go to bed wishing I would have slowed down enough to play a game with them.

But the one thing that I have always tried to instill in my two little boys is the one single fact that I love them! I tell them so every day. In fact, sometimes I can’t help but say it over and over to them as I give them each a hug and kiss. It’s amazing to me how much love I can feel for these sweet little people that have been sent to me from above.

I would be the first person to admit that I am not the best mother in the world. I lose my temper way too easily; I don’t spend enough one-on-one time with either of them; and I don’t give them enough credit for the many times they are super good. But every night I pray for them. And I pray to be a better mom for them. I thank my Heavenly Father for each of them. And I pray that they will ALWAYS know that I love them.

Such is my life as a mom. I look at their sweet little faces admiring themselves in the mirror with their new pair of sunglasses that I bought for them and I smile. I smile because not only are they so darn cute and kissable, but also because regardless of the roller coaster of good and bad motherhood decisions – at least they know that I truly do love them. Not because I bought them new sunglasses; but because I TRY to show them every day. And what it comes down to is that is all I want… for them to always know that I love them.

Learning To Ride A Bike

All I have posted lately are pictures; but, that's all I've got lately. So sorry if you're wanting more informative stories... The pictures will have to do for now.

Monday was such a beautiful day here. Therefore, Kaden just wanted to ride his bike all day long. But with my pregnant belly, I didn't feel like running along with him while he figured out how to ride it without training wheels. Thus, I told him he needed to wait until his dad got home.

After waiting all day long to ask his dad for help, Kaden anxiously tried to ride a training wheel-less bicycle for the first time. He did it. He couldn't get started by himself, but with Danny's help he was able to figure out how to balance himself on a two-wheeled bike. And he only had a few falls - so just a couple of bumps, bruises, and scratches.

Tuesday, after school, he wanted to try again. So I decided that this time I could try to help him. He did so good! I only had to hold him up for a second when he started out. I thankfully didn't even have to run with him. And then he even started by himself a couple of times... Though that was still a challenge. But way to go Kaden! He did it!

No Green Thumb Here...

I would be the first person to admit that I do not have a "green thumb". In fact, I would probably be the last person that should try to grow anything plantlike. But this year I have decided to give it a try. My wonderful sister-in-law Megan was generous enough to give me some leftover flowers... She had overestimated in how many she would need. So I decided to make some nice welcoming pots on our front porch. Kaden just wanted to help by watering them after I was done.

Not only am I trying to keep these flowers alive for more than a day, I have decided to be ambitious enough to start a vegetable garden in a couple of weeks. We will see how that goes. Wish me luck!

Announcement

Yesterday our family went to my ultrasound appointment and we found out the gender of the baby! It was amazing as all ultrasounds seem to be and Kaden was beginning to be able to see things like the hands, feet, head, and face without us even telling him what they were.

To get to the point... We are having a GIRL!!! And are super excited about it. If I had a scanner, I would scan in the pictures and show you all... Maybe I'll have to borrow my sister's sometime. :)

Bradshaw's Restaurant

On Wednesday Kaden and I decided to make our kitchen into a restaurant for Danny to come home to. As soon as we talked about it, Kaden was so excited that he made most of the arrangements and just told me what to do. His one major request was the mustaches that were to be painted on their faces so that Danny wouldn't recognize them. They were to look like waiters and not his boys. And I was to stay out of sight because he would recognize me; after all, I couldn't wear a mustache because I am a girl.

It was a lot of fun and even though Danny came home frustrated from work, we were able to cheer him up.

"He Can Help You"

As I was running up the stairs today, the engraved silver band that Danny gave to me as an anniversary present slipped from off my finger. Because I was running and my hand was going back and forth, I had no clue as to where my ring landed. I immediately went to work searching for this prized possession of mine.

Kaden saw me searching and began helping me. We looked all over; on the stairs, behind the couch, on the couch, in the laundry that was sitting on the couch, on the carpet… We simply couldn’t find it. As we were searching the stairs once more, Kaden spoke up. “Mom, I know who can help you,” he said. “The Holy Ghost… If you pray, he can help you find it.” Of course I stopped panicking, told him he was right, and sat down and prayed. During my prayer I made sure to thank Heavenly Father for this wonderful son of mine that had just put me in my place in the very best way possible.

After my prayer we sat there for a moment; then we got up and began looking again. Not two minutes had passed by before we had found my ring, in between our movie stand and the wall – one place I wouldn’t have thought of looking.

Whoever says that they are just kids, doesn’t know what I know. My children are angels, sent from heaven to remind me in the most subtle of moments of the important things in life. They remind me of who I am, who I come from, that we all need help once in a while and that there is always someone who can help you. Thank you, Kaden.

Mischief

Two days ago we (meaning Kaden, Danny, and I) were playing Halo online with my sisters and their families. We were enjoying ourselves; visiting with our family while taunting and shooting the enemy in our all-out war. While we were playing, Preston meandered around, watching us or playing with toys to his hearts desire. At one point during this fun family event, Preston found his way upstairs and was gone for quite a while. He ended up coming back downstairs in time for us to get him ready for bed.

The next day I was cleaning the house. I had completed almost all of my daily chores and went upstairs to get ready for the day. When I got to the top of the stairs, I smelled something weird. Having just changed Preston’s dirty diaper, I knew it wasn’t him. Having just cleaned the bathroom, I knew it wasn’t anything growing in there. I followed my nose to the boys’ bedroom, and that is when I realized where the smell was coming from.

I looked at the fish tank that is on top of Preston’s dresser. It contains the only pet that Kaden has been allowed which is a fish given to him from his Aunt Jill that he so lovingly named Jack. But instead of seeing the nice clean water and happy little yellow fish swimming around, all I could see was brown liquid. The smell was awful and the look was even more revolting.

In the time that Preston had been upstairs during our “fun family event” he had managed to pour almost an entire bottle of fish food into the fish tank. I could no longer see Jack, nor could I see any of the plants that are in the tank. All I could see was a murky brown liquid with at least an inch and a half of fish food pellets that had now sunk to the bottom of the fish tank.

Needless to say I called the boys in to the room, prepared Kaden for the worst (a dead fish) and scolded Preston for even touching the fish tank that he knows is off limits. I then went to work cleaning up the mess; my first task being to check on the state of the fish. By some small miracle, Jack actually survived! I hurriedly put him in a bowl of fresh water where he sucked in the clean water mouthful after mouthful. He looked like he was gasping for air. I cleaned the tank and put Jack back in his home.

It wasn’t until after it was all clean that I realized I should have taken a picture of this mischievous act that my two-year old boy could accomplish and almost get away with. Now I guess I have to make do with the written details of the event. Someday, when his children create their own amusement, I can point out this story and say, “You got into plenty of mischief yourself.”

Days With Children

I’ve been waiting for something super exciting or wonderful to happen before I wrote another “journal” entry. But all the while I forget about the small little things that happen on a daily basis with my most wonderful possession… my children.

Preston:

On a daily basis Preston will follow me around. Well, at least while Kaden is gone to school. He refuses to be in a different room than me, let alone a completely different floor to our home. If I start to climb the stairs (even if it is just to take something upstairs and will be right back) he yells out, “Wait-uh-me, mom! Wait-uh-me!” I love it. From the first time he said it, I knew that this is something that I don’t want to forget: the sweet little deep voice of a two and a half year-old yelling for his mother to not forget him – to not leave him behind.

Another thing that Preston has discovered in his vocabulary is how to look for someone. The other day Danny decided to be a little late to work. He actually slept in and didn’t leave until 9:00. Because of this, Preston was not still snoozing away while daddy quietly slipped out the door at 6:30 am. Instead, I had to keep him preoccupied while Danny left; otherwise, Preston would have thrown a fit that he wanted to “tum too”. So Preston and I watched cartoons upstairs while Danny left the house. After about 30 minutes of cartoon-watching, Preston finally discovered that Danny was no longer there. He ran around the whole house yelling, “Wheh-ah-you, Dad? Wheh-ah-you?” The cutest thing about this is the way that he covers his mouth while yelling. It is like he is trying to make a megaphone with his hands; however, he ends up just completely covering his mouth with both hands. He does this while searching for any one of us. If he doesn’t know where one of us is, he will find us. It is too adorable and again, I simply do not want to forget this precious way of him finding his mom, dad, or brother.

Kaden:

The other day I let Kaden play his Xbox game for quite a while. He got Lego Star Wars for his birthday and I usually don’t let him play it for an extraordinarily extended period of time, but the other day I decided to just let him play for as long as he wanted (which ended up being over four hours!) Danny got him into bed that night while I was brushing Preston’s teeth. When I was done, we went into their bedroom and Kaden was crying. I asked what was wrong and Danny just said that he would tell me later. That got my curiosity going. I patiently waited while I said my goodnights and tucked both of them in. When we got downstairs, I asked Danny about it.

Well, Kaden had told Danny that I had let him play his game for a long time that day. In jest, Danny said, “You’re going to fry your brain if you play Xbox too much.” Of course, Kaden took Danny completely serious. He thought that he was going to die because he had played too much Xbox. In fact, he had asked me if he could read a book before he went to bed and I told him no because it was bedtime. He thought that if he read a book, it would exercise his brain enough to keep it from frying. He was so worried about it that he ended up sneaking out of bed to get a book to read.

I guess Danny learned to not joke too seriously with Kaden. Kaden, who doesn’t yet quite understand the concept of real versus fake, who gets his feelings hurt if you lightheartedly tease him too relentlessly, who constantly asks if you are just joking, will take you completely seriously and it will always be worst case scenario with him, I guess. Such is my six-year old son. And we love him even more because of it.

Birthdays

June 2001 – Danny and I anxiously waited the time that the test required in order to give an accurate reading. We sat in the living room, lost in our own thoughts. When it was time, we quickly, yet hesitantly, went to where the test had been waiting… It was positive. We were going to be parents. At that moment my emotions took over. Yes, I was excited. But included in the array of emotions I felt were nervousness, anxiousness, fear, and worry all at the same time. I had wanted a baby, but at that moment I wasn’t so sure.

Jump ahead four months – It’s a boy! I could actually see on the ultrasound with my own eyes his little tiny fingers, itty-bitty toes, and of course the all important sign between the legs that this baby inside of me was indeed a boy. Words can’t really express the kind of connection I felt to this little one when I saw him for the first time on the TV screen in the small exam room of my doctor’s office. He was real. He was so tiny. He needed me. And yet I had no idea how much I would end up needing him.

March 25, 2002 (1:00 am) – “Danny. Danny. Wake up, Danny. I’m having contractions.” Of course Kaden would not be early or late for his arrival into our family. He would be right on time, on his due-date, not before or after. That should have told us a little about his personality. Fifteen hours and many, many, many pushes later he was here – beautiful, sweet, and amazingly even-tempered.
_____

My little boy turned six this week. He doesn’t really like to be called a little boy anymore. To him, of course, he is a big boy.

It seems, at least for me, as we celebrate our children’s birthdays, we get the chance to look back at the years gone by. As I have, I remember all of the poopy diapers and occasional accidents on the floor. I remember time lost as I took him to daycare as a working mom, yet time gained as I enjoyed staying home with him. I remember trips to the park, to the swimming pool, to the movies, and of course to grandma’s and grandpa’s houses. There were occasional bumps and bruises, a lot of fevers, some colds and coughs, and even a stay at the hospital when he had pneumonia.

These are all memories now. Of course there will be a lot more bumps and bruises. There will be lots more sickness. There will be plenty more trips to take. In all, there will be many more memories to make. It’s just nice to have a reminder to take the time to make those memories. Time goes way too fast to sit back and just watch.

Again, I had no idea how much I would end up needing Kaden. His patient, loving, caring, sensitive and sweet personality has been the greatest example for me. I see so much of his dad in him – that would be where the patience comes from. He constantly reminds me of the kind of person I could and should be.

What an amazing job we have as parents/mothers to teach these children when they so often end up teaching us. In fact, I think that’s why Kaden was sent to me; because he is the perfect person to make me better.