Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A Letter to My 7 year old.


My sweet big boy, you are seven.  SEVEN.  I can’t believe it has been seven years since I first laid eyes on you and instantly fell in love in a way I had never before known.  Of course, I also fell in love with you the moment I found out about you and hid the bun in the oven for your Daddy to find. You’ll have to ask me about that wonderful day, I remember it like it was yesterday and would love to share the story about such a monumental occasion in our lives with you.  Then, when you were born and I first laid eyes upon you, the love that I had for the baby boy in my womb immediately grew to new heights that I didn’t even know existed.  It is a love that truly only parents can know and I pray one day you get to experience it as well.

There are so many things to recap about your year, but I will start with the single most important.  It happened on Christmas Day.  As I was tucking you in, you said to me, "Mommy, I want to be saved."  I asked you if you knew what that meant and your reply was, "When you ask Jesus into your heart.  Jesus is our Savior; He was born on Christmas day and then at Easter he died, but three days later they rolled the stone away and the tomb was empty because Jesus went into Heaven.  I want to go to Heaven when I die and I want to ask Jesus into my heart to save me."

As you can imagine, my sweet boy, I was floored.  We have talked about being saved before and you learn a lot in Sunday school, but that night, it just came out of the blue.  We talked about it for at least another half hour because I wanted to be sure you understood what it meant.  It was something you wanted to do with me at that very moment and you wanted to do it on Jesus' birthday.  Again, this is the last thing I expected to happen on Christmas Day, but of course, I was thrilled for you.

You asked if your stepdad could join us and we all prayed together, I simply sat there, cried and let you speak from your heart to Jesus.  How blessed I feel.  Thank you, my precious son for sharing that with your stepdad and me.  I realize as a mother how blessed I am to not only get to be there when you were born (obviously), but also when you were re-born.  I pray God’s protection and blessing over you for all of your years to come.

This year you started first grade!  Your transition into school has been wonderful.  You are an excellent student and love learning.  I hope that continues for your entire life.  Even after you graduate from college, dear son, it is important to continue to learn.  Your love of learning will be a blessing for you throughout your life.

Right after you turned 6, you learned to ride your big boy bike all by yourself!  I will never forget the look of surprise and joy on your face when you took off for the first time through our yard.  I think you were just as surprised as we were at how far and how fast you went!

Another dream came true this year, we went to Disney!  What fun that was!  I couldn’t believe how much energy you had!  We were blessed with the opportunity to go with Chris, Angelica and Jacob and because Angelica was able to coordinate everything so well, we saved money and even got to stay at the Disney Resort, which allowed us the extended hours at the Magic Kingdom from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m.  I was EXHAUSTED, but even as we were getting back to our hotel at 4 a.m., you had tons of energy!  We loved being there during the day, but night time was even more fun!  We got to ride the rides over and over again without lines, we got to sit right up front for the parade, there was no hot sun and it felt like we were the only people in the park at times.  It was wonderful!  You even rode Space Mountain THREE times!  Mommy was terrified of roller coasters at your age.  I’m so glad you love them.  You, my son, help keep me young!  After Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot.  You loved all the beautiful flowers and butterflies (we were there during the International Flower and Garden festival); you actually learned a lot while we were there about science and history!  Again, I love how you love to learn.  Your favorite ride at Epcot was Soarin’, but the fireworks were what blew you away!  No one does fireworks like Disney, that’s for sure!

You are adventurous, my big boy!  This year you went parasailing for the first time.  How wonderful it was to fly through the air with you over Myrtle Beach.  You are definitely a beach bum like your Mommy!  I thought you might become nervous as we went higher and higher into the air, but you just said how relaxing it was and enjoyed every minute of it.  Remember how quiet it was from up there?  We saw stingrays and fish, what a special moment to share with you.

You started coach-pitch baseball this year and you are again on the Nationals!  How wonderful that you love sports as well.  You are well rounded, Nicholas and that is fantastic!

You also became a cub scout this year and have done well.  Your derby race was exciting and you even brought home a 2nd place trophy!

Another first this year, we ran our first official race.  I did the 5K and you did the kids fun run in Floyd.  Once again, you cracked everyone up when you came across the finish line waving and giving the “thumbs up” to everyone as if you were in a parade.  You are such a little ham and you certainly like playing to the crowd!

You were in our church Christmas program again this year and once again had solos to sing.  This year was a little different though, because for the first time, you and I sang together in front of everyone.  My sweet boy, I am so thankful for your love of music.  Music truly is soothing to the soul, a wonderful form of worship and a beautiful gift to share.  Music is certainly important in our home.

We did have another first this year that was a bit tough.  Your first (and hopefully last) surgery.  What started as a simple sty on your eye became a very large sty that just wouldn’t go away.  After several months, many different treatments and seeing a specialist, it was determined the only way to get rid of it was to have it surgically removed.  Who would have ever thought a little bump on the eye would have turned into something needing surgery?  Not us, that’s for sure. 

The day of surgery you were very brave.  When they gave you the loopy juice, you were very giggly and funny!  But when they rolled you away for the surgery, I had to try very hard to hold myself together.  My baby had never had surgery before and it was very scary for me too.  When the doctor came back in and told us everything went well, I felt like the whole world was lifted off my shoulders and I thanked God for keeping you safe.  When you came back in the room, though, you were having a hard time.  You were still a little out of it from being put to sleep and the IV was in your foot, which you did NOT like at all.  It was a little rough at first, but after they were able to remove the IV, you started calming down and before long, were doing much better.  And do you remember, my brave boy, that while you were under they had to pull out your loose front tooth?  Because of your sty, your visit from the tooth fairy came a little early!  In every situation, my precious son, even the difficult ones like surgery, always try to find the good.  Focus on the positive and stay hopeful, it makes the hard times easier.  Face your difficulties knowing that God has given you the ability to get through whatever path is in front of you.  Know that God has also given you lots of people around you who love you and will be there for you.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it and always be willing to lend a hand to whoever may need it.

I’ll end this letter by saying, Nicholas Gabriel, that you are such a blessing to me and so many.  You are a wonderful big brother, a terrific son and a fantastic friend.  I am so proud of you for being brave enough to be exactly who God made you to be.  I have noticed that you don’t give into peer pressure, if your friends are doing something you know isn’t right or safe; you DON’T go along with them.  You do what you know is right in your heart.  You are equally kind to everyone, even if they are different or not the most popular.  I am thankful for your character and your courage, son.  I am thankful for your heart.   I am so thankful to God for blessing me with you and for your kind and giving nature. I am thankful that you have so many different interests and enjoy doing so many different things. I am simply so very thankful, Nicholas, that you are YOU and look forward to watching you grow into the wonderful man I know you will become.

I love you, my precious and oldest son.

Mommy

P.S.  Here is the birthday video I make for you every year, son.   Enjoy and know that the lessons in this song are very important and something to carry with you throughout your life.



Wednesday, May 2, 2012

So Much to Write, So Little Time

I haven't posted since February.  FEBRUARY!  That has to be an indication that I'm too busy.  But, it's good to be busy!

So here's a few highlights, there's more, but who has time to write?

  • My little guy just finished another year of soccer and is starting his first year of coach-pitch baseball.  
  • The little guy and I had the opportunity to go to Disney with my BFF during spring break.  What a GREAT trip that was.  
  • I'm preparing to run a 5K in memory of  my friend's nephew, Jack Donaldson this Saturday (feel free to donate to his favorite charity Samaritan's Purse).
  • The baby is now potty trained (I really do have to stop calling him the baby).
  • Work has been SUPER busy with lots of new clients (so thankful).
  • The little guy will be 7, YES SEVEN, in just 7 more days.  This means birthday party prep is now taking place.
  • Hubby and I sang our first duet at church.
  • I'm still teaching and coordinating Sunday School.
  • I will have a new niece by the end of the summer.
  • Our annual family trip to the beach is booked, whew!
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.