Christmas Miracles

This year, I'm thankful for miracles, big and small.

First, there's the obvious. God sent His precious son Jesus to earth, knowing he would die for our sins. Yes, He knew that he would ultimately conquer death and offer us a way to be with Him forever, but the reality of watching your son suffer and even die gets more intense with every wonderful day I spend with two sons of my own.

Now, for the smaller, but still important, Christmas miracles.

We have a family picture. In the snow! Do you know how much Joel hates to have his picture taken? And in this picture, there are no painful or awkwards smiles, no eyes closed...Joel actually looks like his handsome self. I am thrilled.

Last Christmas, we never would have guessed that this Christmas, we would be a family of four with little boy who is one month old. He is beautiful and healthy...and loved.

We sent a Christmas card. Before Christmas. If you know me, you know this is an incredible feat, and that my body must still be filled with some sort of magic baby hormone that causes me to start and, yes, finish a task. Not that I can take all the credit. It still wouldn't have happened without my incredible husband. But, I did more that just have a good intention... and some days, that really feels like big miracle.

More pics

For now, we haven't made the time to "free" our pictures from the the camera. In the meantime, here are some pics from the hospital...


http://www.our365.com/webnursery/webnursery/Baby/BabyPageDirect.aspx?CID=0017983064

Pre-party

I guess you could call it a pre-party.

No one was sure when they booked their flight if they were coming to meet Beckett, be here while he was born, or help me pass the time waiting for his arrival. Turned out, it was a little of all three. Sammi got here Friday night, Casey got here Saturday, and Donna got here Monday. Joel was definitely outnumbered, for now, and I was very thankful for 3 "low maintenance" ladies since we only have one bathroom.

Every evening, I had the same old contractions. Anywhere from 15 to 8 minutes apart, but they never turned into anything, other than sending me downstairs for another trip to the restroom in the middle of the night.

Monday, I wanted to take everyone to Forest Park because Casey and Sam hadn't seen much in St. Louis yet, and I thought a long walk might get things going. But the car wouldn't start, so we ended up at Dobbs, where I told them I was due the next day and having contractions so if they could PLEASE finish my car today it would be a huge help. Then we walked to a park in our neighborhood. Casey fixed us a delicious dinner that night.

The park or the dinner did the trick, because by 4:00 am Tuesday morning, my contractions were 6 minutes apart and getting stronger. Which leads us to the next part of the story....

...and then there were four.

Dylan Beckett Lindsey is here!!!!!

More details to come, but here are the basics.

Beckett was born on Wednesday, November 21st at 1:31 p.m. He weighed in at 8 lbs 7 oz. ( a peanut compared to his big brother) and 21 inches long.

We're all healthy, happy to be home, and feeling great.

Logically Speaking

Eli has been hilarious lately. He's testing out new words and phrases, and finding some that he especially likes. Favorites are, "right now," "because," "um," "and so then."

A few examples...

"I'm holding the granola bar...because I'm eating it right now." (Last night, while walking around at the park.)

"I'm sorry, we can't go to the zoo right now, because it's raining outside." (The other day, while looking out the window. A few weeks before, we had to skip a trip to the zoo due to the rain.)

Today at breakfast, I turned on the kitchen light. Eli said a minute or so later, "Turn the light off." Joel asked, "Why do you want the light off?" He replied, "Because it's on."

"The hippos are crying, because they can't see an excavator." (This afternoon, while we read Hippos Go Berzerk before his nap. The excavator knowledge is complements of the road construction on Hwy 40.)

Oh Dear...

Friday night, Eli went to play at the Longs' house while Joel and I went to dinner with some friends.

Looks like Eli had some fun.

It started off tame.




But then someone decided to liven' things up a bit.

Yep, this is blackmail material.

Under Nine

Lately, when offered sweets, instead of "no, thank you," I have been known to pat my belly and say "under nine."

I haven't turned them all down, and Halloween certainly didn't help matters. But, overall, I've been much more careful than I was while pregnant with Eli to avoid sugar and sweets. So far, I've gained 18 lbs this pregnancy. Even so, they estimated that Beckett was already 7 lbs and 4 oz at my 36 week ultrasound.

Eli was 9 lbs and 12 oz. Yikes! Adorable and sweet, but big.

I really want to do a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section), so I am hoping to "keep" Beckett under 9 lbs. Not that I am incredibly excited about delivering an 8 lb. 12 oz. baby either, but that at least sounds doable.

So, if I turn down that cupcake that you offer me, don't think it's because of some super will-power. I just want to be able to hold BOTH our boys on my lap soon after Beckett arrives, not have to recover from surgery.

Save me some ice cream, because after Beckett is on the outside, I have some cravings to indulge!