paying for my raising: Happy 8th ~ another late birthday post

Once again, I have missed posting about a birthday until well past the day, but this time I had a good excuse ... we were out of town on JW's day and I didn't have access to my pictures to post. Of course that doesn't explain the time that has passed since we got home, nor does it explain why I had such a hard time writing this post. It may be that I just don't want my young'uns to grow up so fast. No matter, we'll just go with better late than never, so with out further delay . . . .

On November 24, 2001, JW made his entrance into this world. His birth was fairly uneventful for me, but his birthday came with major storms and destruction. This was the day that a tornado wiped out large neighborhoods of beautiful, expensive homes just a little north of here. Fortunately for us, the only real problem was getting ready to go to the hospital without electricity.

I never really had any contractions with James; I went to the hospital because my water broke and of course that meant that the baby had to come sometime soon. When I arrived at the hospital and got checked in and everything, I waited for my doctor to come in. I believe that it was a nurse who finally told us that since I wasn't having contractions or progressing in any way that I had two options. They could give me drugs to encourage labor, but if they worked I would probably need another doctor to deliver the baby because my doctor was at another hospital delivering twins. The second option was to wait and see what happened and then decide what to do when my doctor finished with the twins. We opted for the latter choice and settled in for the day. It was pretty uneventful ... we watched weather reports and damage reports from the storm that morning as family began to arrive.

Sometime that afternoon, my doctor finally arrived and we discussed my options for delivery. After discussing the situation with my doctor, we opted for another c-section. I had hoped for a different outcome, but this seemed like the best choice at the time. I am not sure I would make the same decision today, but I can't really complain since within an hour I had my healthy baby boy.

From the beginning, JW was a great baby. He had a bit of a disadvantage, since his 26 month old sister wasn't too sure that she liked the idea of having a little brother. When he was a couple of weeks old she wanted to know if we could put him back. The worst part was at night. Every time he woke up during the night, so would she. She would cry for me and so Ronnie would get up and take care of JW. I must admit that I missed those quiet feedings at night. They were some of my favorite times with the other two, but I didn't get many of them with JW. Even with the missing sleep, Ronnie enjoyed those times and will still talk about forming a special bond with JW during those crazy nights.

JW has now grown into a sensitive little boy. I am sure that he would cringe at my calling him a "little boy" but the Mommy in me is not ready to give up that title yet. Sometimes he is a worrier. He can't stand for his little brother to do something that he thinks is truly dangerous. Which happens often since his little brother is a daredevil.

JW loves to make people laugh and is very talented when it comes to imitating voices. One of our favorite is his Astro voice from the Jetsons. He can also do Scooby Doo pretty well and loves to use these and the other voices he creates to entertain anyone who will listen. He won't hesitate to tell you that he loves to be silly. I'll tell you that he is good at it, probably because he practices ... a lot.

This past year has been a big one for my little guy. He played baseball for the first time ~ and loved it. He began 2nd grade and for the first time is able to take co-op classes with his big sister. He has become fascinated by science and is interested in learning all he can. All of these are wonderful things ... things that make a Mama proud. But, this year he also made a decision that takes his Mama and Daddy much farther than pride, to pure joy. This year, JW accepted Jesus as his Savior and was baptized. Nothing can compare to this life changing event. There just aren't words.

So, happy 8th birthday (a little late) to my little boy who is fast becoming a young man .... I love you.

Helping Uncle Bob