Happy 30.5!

This past weekend, I threw Luke a surprise birthday party. His birthday is in September, so I figured I could pull off the surprise (who expects a birthday party 6 months and 2 weeks late?). Luke's milestone 30th birthday fell at a pretty bad time last year. Emily had arrived only 5 days prior, and we still had a lot of uncertainty about her prognosis. Additionally, I had only been home from the hospital for 2 days and couldn't drive anywhere to get anything for him. We had a slice of cake and sang "Happy Birthday." Whoo-hoo. That was about it.


My plan was to have Luke's brothers and a couple of his friends meet at the Buffalo Wild Wings near our house around 5:30 on Saturday night. I would pretend to order take-out food from Buffalo's and have it "ready to pick up" at 6:00. Then Luke would show up to "pick up" the food, the guys would all be there, and he'd stay for a while I took care of the bedtime routines at home. I wanted to pay for the event, so Saturday afternoon I slipped out to purchase a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card for $250 and left it at the front counter at Buffalo's for Luke to pick up after the surprise.

Everything was falling into place. We even had a great excuse for eating later than usual: Butler was playing Florida and the game went into overtime, finishing around 6:00. Perfect. I "called" our order in at at about 5:30 and Luke left shortly after 6:00 (it's about 2 min. from our house). He didn't suspect anything.

Thirty seconds after he left, I got a phone call... it was Luke calling. He couldn't possibly be there yet, I thought, so I answered.

"Hey," he asked, "did you go to Buffalo Wild Wings today?"

Uhhh... what?!? How did he get there so fast?? "Why do you ask?" I cautiously questioned.

"Well, I just wondered if you bought a gift card" he replied.

How fast did he drive?! Is he there already?? Has he already been surprised? "Are you there?"

"No, I'm still driving. There's just a receipt for a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card here. Did you want me to use that? It's worth quite a bit."

AHHHH!!! I left the receipt for the gift card on the passenger seat. Who even looks at papers left lying on the passenger seat, huh? Apparently Luke does.

"Um, yeah, just use that. It's at the counter at Buffalo Wild Wings." ???? I hang up.

So by this time, I'm pretty sure Luke thinks he has a CRAZY wife who goes out and buys $250 gift cards to Buffalo Wild Wings with no explanation, and I'm just hoping that he doesn't suspect anything. Luke tells me that he didn't expect a party at all, just a crazy wife. :)

Luke was surprised and had a great time at his party. I'm so glad. He's an amazing husband and daddy to our kids, and he was long-overdue for a night out. Happy 30.5, Luke. We love you!!

School

We received a phone call last week welcoming our family to Crown Point Christian Schools. We had an enjoyable interview with two school board members last week, and they accepted our family for the 2011-2012 school year. I can hardly believe Logan is old enough for Kindergarten already, but this fall he'll start 3-Day Kindergarten at CPCS. Where has the time gone?

St. Patrick's Day Parade

6 months old

Happy 6 months, Emily Kathryn!

You're growing so well -- 13 lbs. 11 oz. and 23" tall. For your adjusted age (3 months), that puts you in the 75th percentile for weight. And for your actual age you're between the 5th and 10th percentile for weight! This is the first time you are ON the growth chart for your actual age!

These are welcome signs to us that you are growing and thriving.
We are so grateful for every inch and every pound!

You are starting to like your tummy more, but you've figured out how to roll from tummy to back, so it's hard to keep you in tummy time for long.

Your beautiful blue eyes and blond hair are just like your brother and sister's. And although you don't have much hair, you have more than both Logan and Audrey combined at this age.

You are a very happy and easy-going baby.
It's easy to make you smile, and when you do, it lights up the room!

You can stay awake up to two hours before falling asleep.

You can sit for a few seconds in tri-pod position before toppling over.
I think you'll really enjoy it when you can sit by yourself and play with a few toys.

We have just started putting you in your bumbo seat to watch Logan and Audrey play. Logan often comes to talk to you and likes to make you laugh (no one can make you laugh like Logan can!). Audrey's usually too busy playing with her own "babies" to give you much attention, although she'll occasionally bring you a blanket or ask to hold you.

You have just started to bat at and reach for toys, and you enjoy watching your own hands and fingers move.

You have moved into a bedroom with Audrey. For the most part, it's going ok. You go to bed around 9:00 p.m. and wake up once around 5:30 a.m. to eat (and then sleep again until 8:00 a.m.). I am getting into a bad habit of rocking you all the way to sleep before you go to sleep at night. I'm just so afraid you'll wake up Audrey if I let you fuss a little to put yourself to sleep for the night.

You get very talkative at night after Logan and Audrey go to bed. I guess it's the first time you can get a word in!

We love you very much, Emily. You're a special blessing in this family.

Emily's Baptism

Our sweet baby Emily was baptized last week Sunday. It was a meaningful and special day for all of us. Emily's baptism was a beautiful picture of God's covenantal faithfulness to our family.

The verse used during the service was "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." (Psalm 139:14) As we think of how small Emily was when she was born, we can relate to how "fearfully and wonderfully" she was made. I remember when all of her fingers could wrap around my pinky fingernail! We continue to give thanks for the wonderful work God has done and continues to do through Emily's life. After Emily was baptized, I sang a song about how God created these little ones and loves them even more than we do, and I was thankful to make it through the song because I felt a little teary a couple times while singing. I guess that's just part of being a mom.

We are so thankful for our covenant children. Lord, may we be faithful to raise them to know and love you as their Lord and Savior.

All of Emily's uncles and aunts were here for the special day!

Buzz Birthday Party

To infinity ... and Crown Point!!

On Thursday, Logan turned 5 years old. It's hard to believe he's already a whole hand! We celebrated Logan's birthday on Friday with his friends from preschool and a Buzz Lightyear-themed birthday party. The kids played some games, ate pizza, and then Luke set up a "space ranger training camp" in the basement where the kids earned stickers for walking on the "moon beam" (balance beam), crawling through the "toy story tunnel," and playing meteor madness, rocket blaster, and other planetary games. I think they all had a fun time!

Here are a few pictures from the party:

Logan and Buzz

Checking out their glow necklaces in the dark bathroom.

Playing Rocket Blaster in the basement. They had to knock down aliens with the rockets.

Logan requested a Mrs. Field's cookie cake this year. Yummy!

(Audrey was extremely jealous that she' didn't get to blow out the candle... in fact, she's been singing the birthday song and blowing out pretend candles ever since Logan's party. Good thing her birthday is only a month away!)

Happy 5th Birthday, Logan!

Three Years

Today is Brianna’s 3rd heavenly birthday. Can’t believe it’s been three years. We took the kids to her graveside this afternoon and then ate cupcakes in Brianna’s honor at Designer Desserts in Valparaiso. This has become our yearly tradition.

One of the most frustrating things about grief right now is that life doesn’t seem to stop long enough to let me do it well (or the way I want to). Life keeps plunging forward as I struggle to put on the brakes. Even today, our visit to the cemetery was only about 5-10 minutes total (the wind was too cold for the kids) and at the bakery Logan and Audrey were climbing on the furniture, talking to other bakery patrons, and spilling crumbs all over the floor. My heart just wanted to scream “Everyone stop! I’m in the middle of reflecting on something here. Give me some time!”

Yet these three little munchkins are gifts as we continue to miss Brianna. Even though I don’t have much undistracted time these days, Logan, Audrey and Emily are God’s way of showing me that He can do more than I could ever ask or imagine. On the way to Brianna’s funeral three years ago, we saw a huge rainbow stretch across the sky. We weren’t sure how or if God would answer our prayer for more children, but through the rainbow He reminded us that He would provide. He heard our cries, answered our prayers, and worked out every detail of building our family. Especially as I hold Emily, whose pregnancy followed such a similar path to Brianna’s, I am reminded that life is a gift and a miracle, not to be taken for granted. I am forever grateful to our sweet Brianna Dawn, for she was the one who taught me what it was to suffer, to come to my knees, and to turn my worry and pain over to the Lord. A priceless gift.

So today, while remaining busy with the blessing of Brianna’s three active siblings, we remember, miss, and cherish Brianna, even if it is done in short, fragmented segments. (I’ve sat down four separate times to write this blog post.) As I look at the pictures of Brianna and see my raw emotions and open grief, I am thankful for the blessing of perspective – for the little girl who forever changed my life and for the many blessings that she left behind, as well as the many blessings that have followed her. I am reminded, amidst the pain of her absence, that I have much and that God is faithful.