Grant

It is 4:30pm and I am sitting down for the first time since 6:20am. I have a cup of coffee and am looking at a the mess of tissue paper, wrapping paper, gift bags, and presents strewn around the Family Room. It is a good feeling to know you gave your child a memorable day. I mean you only get one Birthday a year! The day isn't over yet. Grant chose to celebrate his 7th Birthday with an evening spent at our first Seder Passover meal, hosted by Lifegate Church. None of us have any idea what a Passover meal entails, but when I told Grant it was hosted by the Israeli Missionaries visiting our church he was quick to say "yes." The boy is very intrigued with Israel! Wants to know when we are going...I asked him why the interest in Israel..."it's where Jesus lived!"

3 months old
I thought he was hands down the cutest baby to ever be born

Heidi's hair has nothing on Grant's.
That isn't Austin with pigtails, Molly at 20 months old!

Birthdays are significant. The day we were chosen to enter the World. To begin life outside. The memories it holds for a mother are like nothing else, you can't describe it in words, and only another mother can really understand. The thoughts, fears, emotions, smells, sounds, joy that come with the Birth Day of each child. My oldest is only eight, but I can't imagine ever forgetting each of their Birth Day stories. I love retelling them and they love hearing them! You can keep reading...I'm not going to share it on this blog!...I will share some pictures of my 2nd born.

Big Momma awaiting surgery on March 22, 2006

Welcome to the World
9lbs 8oz and 22 1/2" long

I wasn't sure my heart could love more than two kids. I had fear I couldn't love another boy the way I loved Grant.  He melted my heart each time I held him. I felt at peace about life when he was in my arms. I remember not wanting others to hold him. I am actually a rather greedy mom with my babies, cause I've found I don't like anyone else holding them for very long. I miss them...it wasn't just Grant!
I don't think we understand love until we have children. I like to think it is why God wanted us to go out and multiply. We would have a better understanding of how He loves us. I have been surprised at how deeply I can love since becoming a mother. Now that I have four kids I've been surprised at how deeply I can love each of them.

Happy 1st Birthday Grant Mitchel

Green Grass in March. Not this year!

It is a beautiful thing that Grant was born around the Easter Holiday. He is full of questions and curiosity over Jesus. Who he was, why he died, why God let him die, what does it means, why were the people so mean to Him, who the bad guys were, why didn't the disciples stop it??? Every year he has some new questions. I'm glad he has questions. It means he is interested and wants to know more about Jesus.

Happy 2nd Birthday

Silly 2 year old

Grant thinks in black or white . There is no gray. He is a firm believer in truth. To Grant the words spoken from our mouths are cut in stone. You can't take them back. We are working on teaching him the meaning of "grace" and "letting it go." But, for a little boy who lacks the maturity, this one will take a very long time. In the meantime we "argue" over many points! A firm "because I said so" isn't handled well by him! A character trait that I have to believe has a future purpose in God's plan for Grant!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet boy

Uncle Steve's Fire Station
You were like most 3 year old boys. Obsessed with Fire Trucks!

Grant's 3rd Birthday was significant for me, because we thought we were done having babies. The night before his birthday I cried because my toddler was leaving and he would wake up a preschooler. Then I seemed to spend the next 6 months emotional because I wanted him two again.
For me the constant neediness of a baby/toddler takes it's toll on me. I think it is the monotony of doing the same thing over and over all day every day. Even now I find myself wanting to pack a full diaper bag and snacks and just go for a day trip somewhere fun. Just laugh and enjoy my kids with no routine of naps, bottles, diapers, etc getting in the way. But, that isn't the case with little kids. Tantrums over disrupting the routine makes it all too much work! So, at the age of three I found that there was a whole new level of independence. My kids could buckle their own carseats, potty trained, almost out of naps, communicating well, you could reason a little more with them. They were still little so everything they say is cute and funny and they snuggle and want to read books. For me, the third Birthday made being a mom at home all day a little easier.  It was after Grant's third Birthday that I thought about and prayed and reasoned with my head over the idea of two more babies. One sounded realistic, but two had me terrified. It was Grant's 4th Birthday that had me finding out I was pregnant again!

I remember this day like it was yesterday!
A week away from your 4th Birthday. 

Grant's 5th Birthday marked a shift in his personality. I'm still unclear as to what brought it on. I have a few guesses. He was easy for me and then overnight he became a mental and emotional challenge. I compare the last two years to what I might imagine occurs with girls around the age of fourteen. I found myself wondering where my little boy had gone. Grasping the moments I would see it during the day...the easy going, sweet and kind spirited little boy I had for the first five years.

Grant loves his cousins Dan and Tyler
Happy 5th Birthday

We all loose our way. For some it can take something little to set us off course. Others it might be a life changing event, that causes us to wonder where we fit into the puzzle picture of life. When we surround ourselves with people who love us it can be easier to find our way through the emotions. I remind Grant often that he was picked by God for this family. No other Family was right for him, no other big sister or little sister, that Austin was not suppose to come after Molly, but God picked Grant for this Family and in a special order! It didn't "just happen."

Happy 6th Birthday!

We can believe Jesus died on a cross for all people. But, do we really trust Jesus died on a cross for me? It might seem like the same thing to most people, but not to me. Trust! The word is heavy on my mind lately. A daily, sometimes hour by hour challenge....to Trust God.

Happy 7th Birthday Grant Mitchel

You picked a Traditional Jewish Seder Passover Meal for your Birthday Dinner!
It was very long and neither of you uttered a single complaint!

It took you almost 5 hours of intense focus to build your Birthday Present!
You were so proud, because you accomplished it all by yourself

The awesome thing about being in relationship with people you love more than you have words to describe...well, even when they are at their worst you love them. Even when you can't figure out why they are being ugly and argumentative and outright defiant, you love them. I love the big sensitive heart my Grant has been given. I can find him in a corner, curled in a ball, crying quietly after he has witnessed Austin getting in trouble. He was so little when he wiped my tears with his finger. He has this strong protector spirit. Don't even lay a finger on a girl and this boy will take you down (even if your Callie-who he says isn't a girl-and is one of his best friends). He cares deeply, loves fiercely, stands firm for justice, has faith that comes without questions, is full of questions, communicates with words beyond his years. He is my first son.  The one God gave me with eyes an even deeper brown then his dads. They melt my heart, even when he makes them wide as saucers after I've said something he doesn't like!

Happy 7th Birthday Grant! I'm so thankful God picked you to be my child!