Friday Night Fun

Well, we have been chipping away at our "Summer Fun" list and have made many memories doing it. Last night we let the kids drive around.

(He still makes my heart skip a beat!)

Our List

I told the kids to think of three things they wanted to do this summer, and we would get it on the calendar to be sure to do it. From that, we have a list of things to do this summer. Some we have already done; a lot is still to be done.

zoo
baseball game
Waldameer (amusement park)
movie
putt-putt
beach
camping
park/ playground
fishing
camp fire
parade
Chuck E. Cheese
picnic
fireworks
slip and slide
fair

We hope to have a great summer making memories!!

Bad Thoughts

I told John that I have been having bad thoughts lately. In an extremely concerned voice, he asked, "What kind?"
"I want another baby!" I said.

We've been here before (about three other times...). When the baby is around a year old, they are SO cute, so much easier to take care of, and I am finally feeling better and recovered from pregnancy and the aftermath. I start thinking that I could handle another one...

The problem with having these thoughts now are that we have "taken measures" so as not to have another child.

It's not that we don't want more kids. I have explained it like this: We would LOVE more kids, IF so many things were different. And it's not even the fact of Rachel having a birth defect. Number one would be: I am OLD and just don't have the energy that I think I do! I try to fool myself, but the reality is that pregnancy is hard on me and I just don't bounce back that easily. It takes me a good year to recover from it all.

We are still in the "baby mode" with Rachel, but she will soon be out of it. I think that once she is, and we get used to life without a baby, we'll be ok. Until then, I need to resist the urge and just live vicariously through others having wee little ones!
(PS...I have already purged all of the baby stuff! Who knew there was so much baby junk??)

Last night Rebekah asked me why God gave us such a special baby, and this is the story I told the kids.

When God made our baby, he knew that she was very special, in fact, the most special baby in the world. So he wanted to give her just the right home. He looked and looked for the most special home to put her in. He thought about several, but they weren't just right. He keep looking until he found ours.

When he looked at our family he thought, "That's the perfect family!" He saw that it was full of the most special kids.

God knew that the special baby would need a special biggest brother to watch out for her and take care of her. The special brother would be very vigilant that there were no latex balloons around, since the baby would be allergic to latex. And the biggest brother would protect her. God would search the entire world and see that there was only one boy special enough to be the baby's biggest brother!

God also knew that the special baby would need a big sister too. The big sister would play with the special baby and make her laugh. The special big sister would love to put her head in the baby's lap and let her pull her hair. She would also be a wonderful singer for the baby, singing songs like, "Jesus Loves Me" and "Oh How He Loves You and Me" to calm the baby. The big sister would have to be someone very extra special.

And God knew that the special baby would need another very special big brother. He would be the perfect younger-big-brother for her; he would caress her face, kiss her, and tell her, "it's ok babydoll." He would be so important because he would be the one that would have to go to all the doctor's appointments with her; he would have to be very light-hearted and easy-going too.

And so God found that perfect family for the special baby; a biggest brother, and big sister, and a younger-big brother. That baby would be so lucky because she didn't have one or even two, but THREE big siblings to look out for her! When kids made fun of her because of the braces she had to wear on her legs, there were THREE they would have to deal with. And when kids looked at her funny because she didn't walk like other kids, THREE big brothers/sister would be sure to explain it to them. And when that special baby got on the school bus, there would be THREE to look out for her.

She would be a super-special baby, but only because of the extra-special family God decided she would need.