Happy (Late) Birthday, Ethan!

My son, Ethan Michael, turned his milestone 5 on May 15th.....so of course this birthday tribute is late on the blog, but this was actually written on his birthday in his journal. :)
Ethan, 5 years ago you were born into this world. God gave us another wonderful gift, you. You came into the world as my "miracle" and you continue to you uphold that name. The last 5 years with you have been so amazing...I've watched you grow from a baby to a boy and my heart bursts with pride. I wanted to share with you some of my favorite memories:
1. When you were 15 months old, we'd put you to bed and we'd hear you singing on the monitor, "mommy and daddy, daddy and mommy" over and over until you sang yourself to sleep. If we had friends over, you'd sing their names, too...."mon and steph, steph and mon."
2. That brings me to another cute memory....you would call our friend Ron, "Mon" and when you'd greet him you'd say, "hey, mon"!
3. One of your first words, when you were 12 months, was "nigh-night"...you named your blue blanket that because we would give it to you and say, "nigh-night time". So, to this day, you still sleep with your "nigh-night." And luckily, we've never lost it!
4. When you were 3, you had surgery....I was so nervous! When we got to the hospital for your admission, they gave you a little stuffed panda bear, which you named, "pandy". When you came out from the operation, we went in post-op and you were having a hard time coming out of the anesthesia, so I just cuddled you....they gave you a popsicle to calm you down and you said you wanted 2....then you ended up eating 4 more! 6 popsicles! Poor thing...you couldn't eat or drink anything before surgery and were soooo hungry and thirsty! :) In this same story was the comfort you found in "Pandy"....who you still sleep with! :)
5. last fall you picked up the phrase, "What the heck" from a friend at school, so I encouraged you to say, "what on earth" instead. One day, you got the 2 confused and said, "What the planet?" That has to be my all time favorite phrase that came from your mouth! :)
I LOVE you Ethan...you are more than I have ever asked for in a son. I am so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. You bring me so much joy!

Peace.

In my last post I talked about how I was telling the kids who they were, what God calls them. This was a conversation I had with Ethan the other night while discussing this topic.
mom: Ethan, who does God say you are?
Ethan: I am strong!
mom: That's right...you are strong! You are a leader!
Ethan: If I'm a leader then that means I am the boss of Isabelle.
mom: Well not exactly. When you are a leader, you let God show you how to lead His people. You let Him tell you what to do and then you tell them.
Ethan: I already know what God wants.
mom: What's that?
Ethan: Kindness and Peace.
mom: Yes, That's right.
Ethan: Mom? Will you pray God gives me Peace?

Who are you?

Lately it's been on my heart to tell my children the story of how they were named. Mike and I didn't just choose a name we liked, we prayed and the Lord gave us a word for each baby and it always matched with the meaning of one of the names we liked.
When I was pregnant with Isabelle, every time we prayed over her in my womb, the word we got was "Set apart for God". When we looked at the meaning of the names we liked, we saw that Isabelle meant, "Consecrated to/Set apart for God".
When I was pregnant with Ethan and we prayed over him in the womb, the word we would hear was "Strong". Again, we looked at the meanings of names we like and saw that Ethan means "Firm, Steadfast and Strong".
The story is a bit different with Anna. Three years before she was born, I had a dream that I was pregnant with another girl and there were 2 names that I liked: Allison and Anna. In the dream Isabelle told me to name her Anna. So, that name had been in my mind for 3 years before she was conceived. When I was pregnant with her it was 2008, and the Lord spoke a promise to Mike and I for the year. The word was "Grace". We held fast to that in every situation we walked through and took hold of it in my pregnancy as well.....again, when we looked at the meaning of Anna, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it meant "Grace". This time it only confirmed the name we felt we were supposed to give her.
With all of that said, the reason I've been wanting to tell each of them those stories (of course Anna doesn't understand it yet) is because I want them to know what God says about them....What He calls them. I want their identity to be ground in their hearts and minds so that when the world tries to label them, i.e. "too hyper" or "tom boy" or (heaven forbid) "fat", they'll brush it off because they already know who they are.

89

Preceding events: Ethan has been cooped up all day in the house due to rain...very rambunctiously running and screaming through the house. I've asked several times to stop yelling and use an "inside voice"....finally out of frustration I say:
"Ethan, how many times have I asked you to be quiet?"
His response: "89."

Out of the mouths of babes.

Preceeding events: Ethan was grumpy from lack of sleep through Day Light Savings and it was quite evident in his tone of voice.
Ethan: I want a movie.
Mike: Ethan watch your mouth.
Ethan: But dad, I can't see my mouth.
Thus the explanation of the phrase: "Watch your mouth."

Trick or Treat!

We had a blast trick or treating....in our midst we had a Power Ranger, Bumblebee Transformer and a little kitty!
This year was dfferent, we watchd Bella "speed trick or treat" with the big kids, and Ethan brought up the rear because he was busy opening his candy after each house! It was our last Halloween in our neighborhood, so we savored every moment of it!

he loves her.....

Ethan has been the best big brother, ever. He's so gentle and caring and always willing to help! Here are some pictures of him giving her a bath....well, helping me give her a bath. :)

My little homeboy.

I just had to throw this in....he's too cute and dressed himself.

There go my babies.....

Today was the first day of school. Bella is in the 1st grade and Ethan started pre-k. I wasn't fully prepared for this morning. Don't get me wrong, their clothes were ironed and sitting out, shoes by the side, backpacks at the door, lunches made, paperwork filled out.......I was physically prepared. But, like every mom, I wasn't emotionally prepared. They were resilliant....a little shy and tired, but they put on brave faces and took on the challenge.
Being a teacher myself, I see this transition every day and every new year.....so I know what's best....I put on my brave and excited face, reassure them that this is the funnest thing ever, and tell them I will pick them up this afternoon, give them a kiss, hug, another kiss and an extra hug and say good-bye. As I walk out the door of the classroom, Dr. Jekyll turns to Mr. Hyde as I fight back the urge to run in there and give them one more hug or even just keep them home with me for one more year. I'm also holding back tears as I walk out of the school just to give in to them, the minute my feet hit the parking lot.
Oh, but it gets worse.....I get back home to a quiet, empty house and sit on the couch. Next to me I find Ethan's "nigh-night" and "pandy" (his blanket he's slept with since he was born and his panda bear he's become attached to since his surgery last spring). I then "lose" it. I call Mike and just cry. My kids are still my babies, no matter their age, grade or size. I still long to carry them and cuddle them...I can't resist sneaking into their room at night and just kissing them on the cheek. I still miss them when they're just sleeping. I am so blessed to be a mother of 2 (soon to be 3) amazing children. They fill my heart with so much joy, I can't contain it.

Super Heros.....

So, my kids are now openly known as super heros. After the wedding, they dressed up as Red Power Ranger and Buzz Lightyear to guard the wedding cake. They will most likely be embarassed that we let them do that, but oh, well...they are only young once! Why not enjoy it!!!

The value of being home....

I must say, that since I had gone back to work full time after becoming a mom, it was the hardest transition I've ever endured. I have always missed my children...even when they were just napping in the other room, so being away from them for the day, broke my heart.
There is a part of me that absolutely LOVES teaching and I do miss it when I am gone....but my children are only small for a short time, and I realize the value of being home. So, now that I am on maternity leave, I am loving spending time more time with them.....I will be going back to work in November, but for these next 3.5 months, I will enjoy being a full time part of their lives......and I look forward to coming home again for good next May.

Sugar and Spice

It's amazing how different they are....

Our abundance.....they are such a blessing.

They are so amazing...every time I look at them, I see God's grace and love for us. I am so blessed to be a mother to Isabelle and Ethan.