Happy Birthday Wildcat!!!!

Here are a few highlights from Wildcat's birthday...

• He got to participate in the sectional spelling bee. He was nervous, but did a great job!
• He told his booster seat goodbye (literally).
• He opened his presents. He is excited about Pixos and his frog habitat.
• He gets a cake tonight.
• He gets to watch the Superbowl tomorrow.

All in all a good day for him. We couldn't take pictures at the spelling bee, or I would post one. He was adorable...errrr...cool (he doesn't like to be called cute in any form). What a great big boy!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Kapooka's birthday is next week. I will probably reflect more on her first year later. Today, I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves. From the NICU to gleefully stealing her Dada's hat and putting it on with giggles! We are so thankful.

Birthdays

Wildcat has a birthday this week. He gets to go to the state spelling bee on his birthday, so we celebrated this past weekend. For the most part Wildcat is a very content child. Part of that is as a toddler when he would whine we would have him quote Phillipians 2:14. Our version is "Do everything without grumbling, whining, or complaining." When he gets tired, he still needs these reminders. However, a month or so ago Wildcat came to me and was very upset because all of his friends have summer birthdays. He really wished he had a summer birthday so they could do something "fun" like football or swimming. As parents, we certainly don't indulge every wish he has, but I like to do good things for my kids (I really understand Matthew 7:9-10 much better now). After some research I found that one of our state parks had just opened a new aquatic center. You can check it out here http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/inns/abe/.

Given that the price was about the same as having a party for his whole class, we talked with Wildcat. Well, after a few bumps of finding a friend to go (one of his friends came down with mono 2 days before we left), Wildcat and his friend were ready to go. We had a fantastic time! The boys were all boy (little boy humor involves a lot of bodily function jokes!). They loved swimming. I loved that the water was only 3 1/2 feet deep and that there were plenty of lifeguards. The aquatic center was planned so that parents could be in one part, but still easily see their kids in another part. This meant that I could take Kapooka around the lazy river while the boys were in line for the water slide, but I could still see them. The boys also enjoyed the board games, the flat screen TV in the lounge, and the game room. We all enjoyed the extra large room with a beautiful view of the woods. Kapooka loved swimming. She was even putting her face in the water!

All in all, a very good birthday celebration for Wildcat. I liked it too. I have to say, packing a suitcase was much easier than planning a whole party.

Our Miracle

Kapooka turns 1 in just a couple of weeks. I am still amazed at what God did to get her here. First, though you need to know the background.

Ten years ago we started to try and have a child. After 2 years and 2 miscarriages, we had Wildcat. Now, his pregnancy was not easy. In fact we had two huge 2nd trimester hemorrhages and almost lost him. However, we thought we knew the problem and the solution to getting and staying pregnant. No worries....until

We started to try and have baby #2. We had 2 more miscarriages and then saw a fertility specialist. We did everything to have a viable pregnancy. I had miscarriage #5 at 8 weeks. At this point, my cousin had come to live with us. We thought once she graduated from high school we would pursue adopting from China. After 6 pregnancies in 4 years, we didn't get pregnant for 3 years. We were just assuming God had closed my womb.

Well, in July of 2007, I resigned from my job at the Crisis Pregnancy Center to go back to teaching. Two days later, I found out I was pregnant. Everything seemed to be going great. For the first time ever I wasn't spotting. From the time of the pregnancy test and our years of Natural Family Planning I knew exactly how far along I was. We left for vacation, and the spotting started. We went for an ultrasound on vacation and we should have seen an 8 weeks old pre-born baby. We saw nothing. We decided to come home and see my doctor here and then decide about surgery.

We came home and went to our doctor. We even had packed a bag for the hospital in case they sent us straight to surgery. When we started the ultrasound, our baby's heart was beating. Our baby had stopped growing for 2 WEEKS, and then God started her growing again. We held on to this miracle through a difficult pregnancy. My son thinks every pregnancy has to have home health and an anti-nausea pump.

Our little Kapooka arrived 8 weeks early. She was in the NICU for 3 weeks. But even her time there was better than we could have hoped. Now, she is almost one. She is talking. She is starting to walk. She loves to play and smile and giggle. We are reminded of Psalm 66:5, "Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles He performs for people."

Why Touchdowns and Tea Parties???

Why? Because this is my life. My son and husband LOVE football. I mean, madly obsessed love it. The other day Wildcat was playing catch with a soft football in the living room. When he hit my favorite Southern Living at Home mirror, he had to put the football away. He continued to make SPECTACULAR diving catches with an imaginary football.

Kapooka is just about a year, but she is already liking girly things. She loves her doll stroller. She adores getting her hair brushed. She loves to smile really big and blink her really long eyelashes. Plus, for Christmas Grandma and her granddaughters got a very special tea set to use for tea parties.

Until last year, I thought my life would be all football. I am still in awe that I get to add tea parties. I had adjusted well to living in a male household, but now my husband is adjusting well to having a little girl. Next post...the miracle of Kapooka!