Thoughts on... everyday life with Sarah

Me and Sarah having some fun time on the stairs at home... doing our best "Wallace and Gromit" impressions!

We just celebrated Sarah's 3-month anniversary with us... how time flies! Has it really been 3 months already? Don't get me wrong, there are times when she seems like she's been here for ages (like those lovely 3am mornings... "Is it your turn or is it mine?" "I think it's your turn tonight..." "Is it? Are you sure?" "Yes... your turn!" "Ok.. I'll give you money - how much money you want?" "Are you serious? hummm... that's a hard one: money... sleep... money... sleep... yep... it's still your turn...") and then there are other moments that it feels like she's only been here a few days (like yesterday when she came up to me, turned my face and looked me straight in the eyes, smiled big, then planted a kiss on me and gave me a "Sarah-beara" hug to follow it up). We are blessed to continue to learn who Sarah really is on a day-to-day basis as we watch her learn and grow and react to different situations and people.

The first time we gave her sherbet was a hoot. It makes me laugh to think about it. As soon as I popped the first spoonful into her mouth, her eyes went wide, her nose wrinkled and she opened her mouth wide in a panic. I wasn't sure she'd ever had anything so cold in her mouth before, so I told her, "spit it out - spit it out!" then she shook her head "no," her face still all askew. "No... no..." she said, forcing it down. Then after she steadied herself, she turned to me and promptly said, "mo - mo" (translated, "more - more"). Next time I'm thinking about zapping it in the microwave first.


Sarah enjoying a fudge-pop on a hot summer day!

Being a mom reveals a lot about you that you may not have known before. I used to say, "I don't care for babies, they don't do anything but eat, sleep and poop..." and ever since I can remember, I've always wanted my children to skip baby-hood and go straight to toddler-ville. Now that I'm wandering around in toddler-town, I find myself wishing she was still a baby, thinking about what it would have been like to have been with her through those first moments. It may sound odd to some, but there are moments when I really grieve not having been the one to carry Sarah those nine months or nurse her or sing to her or hold her in my arms when she was just hours old. But regardless, I am so thankful for the moments I have with her now. She is such a treasure and being a mom is one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me.


5 minutes after the fudge pop... we photographed this elf taking a bath in our sink!

I've also found a quick way to get rid of any unnecessary fingers. Sarah has to take pills after every meal. One day after breakfast, as I was sticking one in her mouth, before I knew it, someone triggered the trap door and it snapped shut on my pointer. At that moment, while I was trying my hardest to refrain from screaming (of course, all the while doing the customary "I've-got-my-finger-stuck-in-your-teeth" dance), I finally managed to yelp out, "YEOOOW!" Her little eyes popped open and for a minute, we stood, finger in mouth, mouth biting finger - both of us with our eyes as big as saucers, looking to see what the other was going to do. After I managed to convince her that fingers don't taste good, she opened her little jaws, and I pulled my mangled finger out. Poor thing, if fingers were their own entities, it would have needed cardio-digitary resuscitation! (Ok, ok, so maybe it wasn't THAT bad...)

Being a mom is exciting (exciting in a way only a mom would understand, that is). For example, just today Sarah told me she wanted to go to "the pabie"... yes, you read it right, the pabie.

Sarah likes to sit on the pabie and sing. She sings especially loud when she's on the pabie and you can tell by watching her, she thoroughly enjoys her stage time on her little porcelain perch. In between her little face turning varying shades of red, she does her own special rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" making sure to sway to the music in her head, making all the appropriate hand lifts, complete with the facial gestures of an opera singer. I'm not sure where she picked that up (let's just say it was Mike) but man, you couldn't pay for better entertainment. What a cutie.

There are also moments that are not as fun - the nosebleeds that are becoming more and more frequent, looking at her little tummy becoming more distended week by week, and the times when she cries and cries for no apparent reason. It's times like those that really make you feel the impact of just how much responsibility you carry and just how "in control" you truly are (as if!). At these moments we have to give her back to the Lord because there is no way we could ever do anything more for Sarah than just love her, guide and instruct her, and care for her the best we can while she's here.

I believe all children are gifts from heaven - truly - each one is a unique and extraordinary gift straight from the Lord. I believe they are given to us on loan, entrusted to us for only a few seasons and it is my hope that our stewardship of Sarah encourages her to find the purpose God has for her life.

We are so incredibly blessed to have this little one grace our home and hearts. This blog and my ability to write about Sarah and about how amazing her journey has been so far, stops a million miles short of adequate. Words just can't compare to the wonderful experience that is Sarah.