A Mom's Perspective.....Happy 21st Birthday Princess

Today 21 years ago our prayers were answered. After having a sweet baby boy just 2 years and one week prior we prayed that this gift God was giving us was a beautiful bundle of pink joy. God did not disappoint! While lying there on that OR table and Bud excitingly squeezing my hand and wiping my face, we waited expectantly to hear boy or girl? When the doctor said "Congratulations it's a girl!" We sobbed! I truly think our hearts were so full of joy it just spilled out of our eyes! Daddy had his little Princess and I, I had my prayers answered and this perfect pink sweetheart lying in my arms!

Now if you know our girl, that term "sweetheart" still fits her to this day! She really is a very sweet person! So full of love and kindness. She goes out of her way to help anyone. Her and Ernie when they were little were the best of friends! He used to climb up on her crib and just watch her. She would smile that big beautiful smile of hers right back at him, as if to say he would be her life long friend and he would gaze at her with that "I will always protect you" look. And that he still does! She hates it sometimes, but that is just part of being a big brother. She too was equally blessed when she got to become the big sister. She adores her little brother and they too truly are the best of friends!

I remember her being so tiny compared to our boys, both nearly 10 lbs respectively. She was this little tiny 8lb baby girl (yes I know that is an average baby size, but when you have two that are nearly 2 lbs more than she, she looked tiny). What a different dynamic she has brought to our family. At first it was pink ruffles and sweet girl smells, then it turned it to tons of baby dolls and stuffed animals and pink! Lots of pink! That was her favorite color growing up! She loved flowers and bows and ribbons in her hair. Bud used to do her hair in a pony tail (he left the pigtails to me :) ) and she would always ask for a barrette or a ribbon in her hair. Then when she got in school it was Barbie's and Girl Scouts. There she had her heart filled with love because there she met her life long friend Michelle! And her heart was broken when she had to witness the awful torment of cancer taking away a friend she adored. To this day she still thinks of Hayley and talks about her often. Our girl at a young age figured out how sacred life really is. Her heart and her actions still reflect that today.

As middle school came around there was the girl drama that she always hated. She never wanted to be a part of that but somehow got dragged in just a bit. She managed to right herself and pull away from that and I truly think the youth group at church helped with that immensely! Thanks to an awesome Pastor and some wonderful friends, and leaders, our girl fell crazy in love with Jesus even more than she already was! High School came and she tried something new, a little hesitant but she tried Color Guard. Boy did she ever come out of her shell! She loved it! AND she was really good at it! There was still the girl drama and after every long season of both Color/Winter Guard she would say she was done. We would just give her the down time she needed and when try-outs came back around (which was only a few weeks after each season) she would go at it again because she "missed it". Well of course she missed it, she was meant to do it! By her Senior year she had it down pat and I had by that time become a seasoned Marching Band Mom. I had 3 kids in that band at one point. I wore that name very proudly. Not only did she do band but she was also in the choir as well during High School. Music was just in her bones!

While in High School she also found another passion. One that would carry her way beyond the walls of school. She fell in love with making pastries. From the age of 16 she has taken classes upon classes and is still honing the process but it just comes naturally to her. It's as if God gave her those hands to bake and make people happy! She can also cook too. When you go to Culinary college they make sure you can not only bake if that is the field you are going in, but that you can make a meal as well. She already had that advantage, she just got better at it.

I am so very proud of the Woman she is becoming. That sweet little bundle of pink placed in her Daddy's and my arms 21 years ago has touched a lot of lives! So today on her birthday, as always she is trying to make a difference. She has a heart for the orphan and she wants to help end slavery in her generation. If you see her today she is sporting a giant red X on her hand to join others around the globe in the "End it movement" that slavery needs to stop now! God really has something going on in our sweet girls heart. We are just privileged to sit back and watch His plan unfold in our Princess' life! There is more in her heart as well. She is talking about mission trips and possibly joining us on our journey to China to adopt. God only knows what is in store for her! We are just thanking Him for the gift of our daughter!!

Happy 21st birthday Princess Vickie! Your Daddy and I will always be proud that you are ours! We will always "Love you more"!


Blessings and Ladybugs! :)

The Makings of a Mother....Happy Birthday Ernie!

Today is a very special day in our family. 23 years ago today God made us a family. 23 years ago He laid this perfect 9 lb 15 oz baby boy in my arms after having an emergency C-Section. Our lives were forever changed. We were no longer just a married couple but we were parents, flesh and blood laid right there in our arms! To say I was scared and worried was an understatement. Being 17 had enough worries of its own, but for God to entrust me with this little miracle was beyond imagination. My life up to then (besides the time with my husband) was a mess. There was not a good role model in my life for raising a normal baby. I had been tormented most of my pregnancy about how young I was and what a mistake this was and on and on and on. Laying that baby in my arms I knew that none of that mattered. God had granted us a miracle! This not only was a gift from heaven but a part of each one of our hearts walking around outside my body. He was US together! It was tough the first few years. Had I known then what I know now I would have done a few things different. Not much, but a few! God knew what He was doing when He gave us this sweet boy to love! And love we did! Because we didn't know how to DO anything else. We adored each other so therefore of course we adored that sweet baby boy!

Looking back over the years to all the things he has done. Our son is such a blessing to us. From the 3 am feedings to the snuggles on the couch with Daddy after work. From bringing him home a baby sister (which he adored) and then a baby brother to that first day of Kindergarten. He was always on loan to us, only for a little while. He always belonged to God! We know that now, back then not so much!

As he has grown into a man now I think back of all the things I miss. Swinging on the swing set, hot wheel tracks and big truck races in the mud, snuggling to read books after bubble baths. Learning to read and write and count and sing. Learning to make friends and how to respond to them when they weren't so nice. Birthday balloons, and hot fudge sundaes. Cookies and milk! (The boy is still a cookie monster!) Middle school snuck in there and my little boy started changing. He became quiet and reserved and contemplated a lot! You could always see his mind working. The kid was smart as can be! There was always something going on in that head of his. Baseball came and went, we found out although he didn't like playing all that much, the boy could run! He had stamina! That worked right into playing a Tuba. The first time I saw my little guy holding that giant instrument I thought he would crash under the weight of it. He grew into it and was amazing with it! High School brought Marching Band, and Robotics and girls and confusion. Through all of that He kept his heart on Jesus! See Jesus was always a part of His life and I think the real reason he made it through High School pretty much unscathed.

Off to college he went, Southwest Baptist University! I was scared out of my mind. I must have blinked because all I could see was that little boy walking into Kindergarten but yet there stood  a man where that boy used to stand. Life has not always been easy on Ernie but one thing I know for sure. He has a heart of gold, loves his family, and more importantly loves His Savior!

So for that shy 17 year old girl standing by the man that she loved and God blessing her with a sweet baby boy. I can pretty much say that is where the calling on my life began. I may not have known it but God ALWAYS meant for me to be a Mom. I may not always be the best at it, because I make mistakes every.single.day! I do know that God called me to this for a reason. I know that God brought the two of us together and kept us together nearly 25 years because HE has a better plan for us than we can imagine! I am SO thankful to God for giving us our son Ernie! We love him more than our hearts could ever say! Yes God knew exactly what He was doing laying that sweet baby boy in our arms all those years ago!

Happy 23rd birthday Ernest Charles James! Your Mom and Dad have adored every single minute of our lives with you. We wouldn't trade one moment for anything in the world! We love you more!!!


Lots of love and ladybugs :)