Two girls…what a blessing that seemed disguised for a short time. Shane and I realized that these two babies were meant for our lives and we loved them beyond measure. What more could possibly happen that was as great as having these two? We would soon find out, but not until God put some things into place first.
When Connie was almost 3 years old and Carsey was nearly 1, Shane would get up at about 4:00a.m. every weekday, seeking God and learning everything he could about the greatest book ever known to mankind: the Bible. It was during those early hours in the morning that the house was so nice, quiet, and peaceful that God began to speak to Shane in what was sometimes a very audible voice. He would pour out signs even throughout the week that Shane just couldn’t dismiss. Little did we know, there was a calling on Shane’s life that would certainly change the direction of our family, but conform us into the family God intended for us to be. Very little time passed, before Shane answered his calling as a youth pastor.
At the same time Shane was helping to raise up teenagers and pour into them what God was pouring into him, I was on the other side of the spectrum working to finish my bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. I knew the day that God allowed me to walk into a Sunday School class and teach those 7 year old children about Jesus, that there was a greater calling on my life. In December 2010, I graduated with my diploma that enabled me to further myself in the working world and become a better mommy. Yes, a better mommy! I was finally able to provide more for my girls AND help my husband to focus more on youth ministry without him having to pull more than one job.
As we began these great adventures in God’s plans for us, I became extremely sick with BABY FEVER!!! I wanted a baby so bad, because I could only imagine what it must feel like to actually plan for a child knowing that this time we could afford it without the stress. So…July 4, 2012 we made our big announcement! We were expecting our third child in February 2013. I think our family was just as excited as we were and the anticipation for this child was incredible.
After coming home from youth group on Wednesday, February 6, we had just put the girls to bed and laid down in the bed ourselves when ALL OF A SUDDEN I had a contraction! Just a few minutes later, I had ANOTHER contraction. Since I had been through this before, I knew this was it! I got out of bed, washed my hair…yes, the hair was dirty and would not meet this sweet child feeling nappy…folded laundry, did the dishes, and we walked around, and around, and around the house until about 3:00 in the morning. The contractions had gotten much worse and were closer together, just as I had remembered them being when I was pregnant with Connie. However, I did not want to go to the hospital for them to tell me that I was only dilated to a 2!! So, I laid down on my side…this worked with Connie too…and felt the contractions become even worse. Shane, not wanting to deliver a baby, insisted that we were going to the hospital. He woke the girls, put them in the car as they were still in their pajamas, and we took off to the hospital running every red light with 911 on the phone as we were breaking the law. My wonderful aunt was waiting, with a grin on her face from ear to ear, and had the police beside her preparing them for my delivery that might happen on their watch instead of the doctor’s!! Thankfully, we made it to the maternity ward, to find out that I was dilated to a 5. I guess that was better than a 1 or 2!! This little boy was not waiting much longer…as he arrived at 6:01a.m.
He was absolutely perfect, cuddly, wonderful in every way! We knew that our family was much more complete with this God sent miracle…and miracle it was indeed—during the delivery, the doctor noticed the umbilical cord wrapped around Canaan not once, but twice! During the pregnancy, our pastor, who now pastors in Ohio, felt that he needed to pray for our baby. He told Shane that God impressed him to pray and let us know that God was going to protect our baby. As we had no idea that anything was even wrong with our baby, God knew we would have a scare and He needed us to know that He had his hand upon us and this sweet baby boy.
We were able to leave the hospital the very next day and come home to our happy place! Canaan was the perfect baby as he slept during the night, except for feedings, loved his bath time (in which his daddy spoiled him as he would get Canaan to sleep before I had a chance to even dress him), would let the girls hold him even in the most uncomfortable positions, and didn’t mind the necessities of getting his clothes changed, diaper changed, being burped, and the list goes on. He crawled at about 6.5 months old, began pulling up on furniture shortly after learning to crawl, walked at 10 months old and did all the things we had hoped he would do at a good age. His first year of life was near perfect. This mama went through some extreme post partum, but we’ll save that for another blog.
After Canaan’s first year of life, he proved our theory to be true: Our third baby should be better than either of our first two, in that we are seasoned parents and have had great experience. WOW…how we were so wrong. Canaan is a boy…boys do things that girls just don’t do…boys climb…boys jump...boys are fearless…boys will be boys!! Canaan definitely proved himself to be a boy. He began to make our hearts sink with all this climbing on counters, jumping off furniture, flipping as if he could do the same flips our girls do in gymnastics, and running everywhere he went just like he was the next Forrest Gump! This boy is adventurous, head strong, and unwilling to listen even when you tell him the outcome of what he’s about to do.
Now that Canaan is 2 years old, the girls are finding out the good things of having a brother, as well as the not so good things. He will kill a bug in a heartbeat for them, because he gets some kind of rush when he stomps and hears the crunch. He will go get things for them if they ask him to, because he loves the praise he receives—and he gets to choose what praise reward it is, which, 9 times out of 10…it’s a sucker! However, the girls are also becoming acquainted with what Shane calls the “Napoleon Complex” (Napoleon was a European general who was a very little man, but thought he could conquer the world). In Canaan’s mind, it’s ok to destroy a project his sisters have been working on for hours and laugh about it. It’s ok to snatch their drink and rename it as his. It’s ok to bust up in their room and invade their space that girls so desperately need. We’re still working to conquer these behaviors, but Canaan loves his sisters just as little brothers always do.
This little child has taught us more about parenting than we had anticipated and sometimes makes us feel like amateurs. Although he keeps us always on alert, he has certainly stolen our hearts! As we journey this road called parenting in the 21st Century, our stories will one day turn into memories. Our story that we are living now, we have chosen to embrace and soak up every moment of every minute. These three blessings will one day turn into parents themselves, so this is our one shot to…GET IT RIGHT!!
When Connie was almost 3 years old and Carsey was nearly 1, Shane would get up at about 4:00a.m. every weekday, seeking God and learning everything he could about the greatest book ever known to mankind: the Bible. It was during those early hours in the morning that the house was so nice, quiet, and peaceful that God began to speak to Shane in what was sometimes a very audible voice. He would pour out signs even throughout the week that Shane just couldn’t dismiss. Little did we know, there was a calling on Shane’s life that would certainly change the direction of our family, but conform us into the family God intended for us to be. Very little time passed, before Shane answered his calling as a youth pastor.
At the same time Shane was helping to raise up teenagers and pour into them what God was pouring into him, I was on the other side of the spectrum working to finish my bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education. I knew the day that God allowed me to walk into a Sunday School class and teach those 7 year old children about Jesus, that there was a greater calling on my life. In December 2010, I graduated with my diploma that enabled me to further myself in the working world and become a better mommy. Yes, a better mommy! I was finally able to provide more for my girls AND help my husband to focus more on youth ministry without him having to pull more than one job.
As we began these great adventures in God’s plans for us, I became extremely sick with BABY FEVER!!! I wanted a baby so bad, because I could only imagine what it must feel like to actually plan for a child knowing that this time we could afford it without the stress. So…July 4, 2012 we made our big announcement! We were expecting our third child in February 2013. I think our family was just as excited as we were and the anticipation for this child was incredible.
After coming home from youth group on Wednesday, February 6, we had just put the girls to bed and laid down in the bed ourselves when ALL OF A SUDDEN I had a contraction! Just a few minutes later, I had ANOTHER contraction. Since I had been through this before, I knew this was it! I got out of bed, washed my hair…yes, the hair was dirty and would not meet this sweet child feeling nappy…folded laundry, did the dishes, and we walked around, and around, and around the house until about 3:00 in the morning. The contractions had gotten much worse and were closer together, just as I had remembered them being when I was pregnant with Connie. However, I did not want to go to the hospital for them to tell me that I was only dilated to a 2!! So, I laid down on my side…this worked with Connie too…and felt the contractions become even worse. Shane, not wanting to deliver a baby, insisted that we were going to the hospital. He woke the girls, put them in the car as they were still in their pajamas, and we took off to the hospital running every red light with 911 on the phone as we were breaking the law. My wonderful aunt was waiting, with a grin on her face from ear to ear, and had the police beside her preparing them for my delivery that might happen on their watch instead of the doctor’s!! Thankfully, we made it to the maternity ward, to find out that I was dilated to a 5. I guess that was better than a 1 or 2!! This little boy was not waiting much longer…as he arrived at 6:01a.m.
He was absolutely perfect, cuddly, wonderful in every way! We knew that our family was much more complete with this God sent miracle…and miracle it was indeed—during the delivery, the doctor noticed the umbilical cord wrapped around Canaan not once, but twice! During the pregnancy, our pastor, who now pastors in Ohio, felt that he needed to pray for our baby. He told Shane that God impressed him to pray and let us know that God was going to protect our baby. As we had no idea that anything was even wrong with our baby, God knew we would have a scare and He needed us to know that He had his hand upon us and this sweet baby boy.
We were able to leave the hospital the very next day and come home to our happy place! Canaan was the perfect baby as he slept during the night, except for feedings, loved his bath time (in which his daddy spoiled him as he would get Canaan to sleep before I had a chance to even dress him), would let the girls hold him even in the most uncomfortable positions, and didn’t mind the necessities of getting his clothes changed, diaper changed, being burped, and the list goes on. He crawled at about 6.5 months old, began pulling up on furniture shortly after learning to crawl, walked at 10 months old and did all the things we had hoped he would do at a good age. His first year of life was near perfect. This mama went through some extreme post partum, but we’ll save that for another blog.
After Canaan’s first year of life, he proved our theory to be true: Our third baby should be better than either of our first two, in that we are seasoned parents and have had great experience. WOW…how we were so wrong. Canaan is a boy…boys do things that girls just don’t do…boys climb…boys jump...boys are fearless…boys will be boys!! Canaan definitely proved himself to be a boy. He began to make our hearts sink with all this climbing on counters, jumping off furniture, flipping as if he could do the same flips our girls do in gymnastics, and running everywhere he went just like he was the next Forrest Gump! This boy is adventurous, head strong, and unwilling to listen even when you tell him the outcome of what he’s about to do.
Now that Canaan is 2 years old, the girls are finding out the good things of having a brother, as well as the not so good things. He will kill a bug in a heartbeat for them, because he gets some kind of rush when he stomps and hears the crunch. He will go get things for them if they ask him to, because he loves the praise he receives—and he gets to choose what praise reward it is, which, 9 times out of 10…it’s a sucker! However, the girls are also becoming acquainted with what Shane calls the “Napoleon Complex” (Napoleon was a European general who was a very little man, but thought he could conquer the world). In Canaan’s mind, it’s ok to destroy a project his sisters have been working on for hours and laugh about it. It’s ok to snatch their drink and rename it as his. It’s ok to bust up in their room and invade their space that girls so desperately need. We’re still working to conquer these behaviors, but Canaan loves his sisters just as little brothers always do.
This little child has taught us more about parenting than we had anticipated and sometimes makes us feel like amateurs. Although he keeps us always on alert, he has certainly stolen our hearts! As we journey this road called parenting in the 21st Century, our stories will one day turn into memories. Our story that we are living now, we have chosen to embrace and soak up every moment of every minute. These three blessings will one day turn into parents themselves, so this is our one shot to…GET IT RIGHT!!