The Day You were Born...

Dear Madelynne,

I remember it like it was yesterday...the day you were born. You were three days OVERdue and there were plans for me to be induced into labor by the end of the week. We had waited for what seemed like SO long. My hospital bag was packed, your baby "nursery" was all ready - we were so excited to meet you - and so curious to see if we would have a new son or a daughter!

I had been up off and on during the night feeling very sick to my stomach when I finally awoke around 4 AM with a painful start.

"Ugh," I remember thinking. "This must be what a contraction feels like!"

Right off the bat, my contractions were fairly close together. I, of course, thought it would be a great idea to first take a shower and fix my hair before going to the hospital (pictures, you know)...then I woke your dad up a little before 5 AM.

"I think we should call the hospital - I have been in labor for about an hour now and it really hurts!" I told him.

Daddy called the hospital and they gave him the usual line of questioning, "How far apart are the contractions? How long are they lasting? Is this your first child? You might want to have your wife try to lie down and get some rest."

"Umm, I don't think she's going to be able to get any rest," Daddy responded, as he glanced over at me.

"Well, can your wife talk through the contractions?" the nursed asked.

At this point I was literally crawling around on the floor gasping for breath (no talking was being done!) - I don't think I had ever quite imagined pain like this!

Once Daddy finished writing up his lesson plans for school (I'm not really sure WHY he didn't have them completed before this point and time!) we finally headed out to the hospital. We arrived around 6:20 AM to find out I was dilated to 7 cm! I was so relieved to find my OB doctor was there! Shortly after that my water broke and the rest remains a bit of a blur.

I remember Daddy feeling faint and the nurses telling him to sit down, then they ran to get him some juice (Hello? Who was the patient here?). I remember Daddy kept kindly asking me if I wanted ice chips - I didn't - but it was a suggestion he had gleaned from our birthing classes. I remember the nurses telling me not to push, but my body wanted to push anyway! I remember screaming - and quickly apologizing for screaming. I remember your heart rate went WAY down because the umbilical cord was wrapped around your neck - and so the doctor decided to vacuum you out. Yes, I said vacuum! You poor little thing, you had quite the cone-shaped bruise on the top of your head for awhile. So...at 8:20 AM, you officially entered our lives.

The doctor proclaimed, "It's a little girl!"

"It is?" I asked, in a bit of shock. Throughout the past nine months, so many people had guessed I was having a boy, I must have been convinced somewhere along the line that you were going to be a boy!

We took you home on Friday, October 13th, only to bring you back in the next day to get your bilirubin levels checked...again. You had blood incompatibility jaundice (or ABO incompatibility) because our blood types are incompatible. The levels were still high, so they decided to admit you to Pediatrics to be placed under a bank of bili lights. I was so scared...and so very tired...I had hardly slept a wink the past three days and now I was fearful of the potential gravity of the situation - the doctor mentioned the possibility of blood transfusions if your bilirubin levels didn't start to go down! You cried so much of the time and didn't like being under the phototherapy lights. I felt so badly for you and only wanted to hold you...

It was good to FINALLY bring you home - though we had to have you on a "wallaby" light blanket for several days.

Oh, Madelynne! Where have the past eight years gone? I can hardly believe you are eight years old today! Yet I daily see all the ways in which you have grown and continue to grow. You have brought us so much joy, laughter, and insight. Your inquisitive and curious nature and your concern for others are such endearing qualities. Your adventuresome spirit, boundless imagination, and love for adventure keep me on my toes.

How I pray that the Lord will continue to mold your heart, to grow and mature you, and that He will use the unique personality He has chosen to gift you with for His glory and purpose.

I love you, my Madelynne Claire!!! Happy 8th Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Happy 8th Birthday, Madelynne Claire!

We love you so much and are SO excited to see the little lady that God is growing you into...I'm working on writing a letter to you about the day you were born - and hope to post that sometime today! :-)

Happy 8th Birthday, Madelynne Claire! We look forward to celebrating this day with you and your friends, too!

Thank you, Kristi, for taking this beautiful picture of Madelynne!

39 and counting...

Today is Jason's birthday...would you ever guess he's approaching 40???

We celebrated by "treating" him to lunch at a local Mexican-style restaurant - where you receive a free meal on your birthday - and the kids just happen to eat free on Sundays, too! What a cheap date! :-)

The kids each made a special card for their dad. Then we made him his favorite cake - angel food with strawberries and whipped cream.

Happy Birthday, Jason! We love you lots!

As we were sitting down to eat dinner tonight, Jason accidentally knocked over Madelynne's cup - which happened to be full of milk. Milk was everywhere - all over Madelynne's plate, the table, the chair, and the floor! Madelynne quickly said, "Oh, that's okay, Daddy. When you get older, some things just get a little bit harder to do!"

Make Way for a New Tooth!

It finally happened...Chloe lost her first tooth!

She has had two very wiggly bottom teeth for quite some time - and we have tried to talk her in to wiggling them the rest of the way out - especially since one of her new teeth has been growing in behind the baby tooth!

In fact, we have some incriminating photos from about a week ago (taken by Madelynne) of Jason and me simply trying to wiggle her tooth/teeth. She had been crying throughout dinner, complaining that she couldn't eat because her loose teeth were hurting so much. Being that we had to pin her down to even get near her mouth, the pictures are absolutely awful...and make it look like we are putting her through some sort of horrible method of torture [NOTE: in this picture, taken about 10 days ago, her two front teeth were spontaneously bleeding - we had not touched them!].

But, alas, all of our attempts had thus far been fruitless...as Chloe has NOT wanted her teeth to come out! She has been convinced that it will hurt - after all, blood is involved!

The tooth has literally been hanging on by a thread and tonight she very carefully (after some talking-in-to by Mommy and Daddy) plucked it out. It bled very little, she put it in a baggie, and then posed for a few pictures.

With her lost tooth...

Big Sis had to get in on the action...

Showing her other loose tooth...

As I tucked her in and kissed her goodnight, with the promise of a visit by the tooth fairy tonight, I asked Chloe if losing her first tooth was as bad as she thought it would be.

"No," she replied with a sheepish grin. "I think I want to lose another one...but not tonight - it's too late!"

If a tree falls in the forest backyard...

and no one is around...does it make a sound?

Well, the other night, a HUGE branch fell in our backyard - I just happened to be downstairs in our office (which has a window facing the back yard) when I heard some a bit of rustling outside. I thought maybe a cat was chasing something around in the yard - we have had the occasional rogue cat make an appearance in our yard!

When I went outside to see what was going on, this is what I awaited me!

OK...so perhaps you can't really tell what that is. It was late at night and my little camera doesn't take the greatest pictures in the dark. I'll try adding some fill light. How about this?

I'm not sure if you can tell, but this branch stretches from the tree in the foreground (which is right off of the deck on the back of our house) to the tree in the background - the tree is actually fell from (which is back near our garden) - a distance of maybe 20 feet or more? I don't know...I'm not very good at judging distances.

Regardless, Jason got out the saw and started sawing away at 10:00 PM - we knew the kids would want to play in the back yard the next day and they would not be able to with this huge monstrosity in the way!

Although the late night lumber camp was a bit of an inconvenience, we were SO thankful the branch didn't fall during the day!

School Days

Today was our first day of homeschool! I gave myself a week to adjust to Madelynne being gone each day - and though I can't say I've fully adjusted, at least I felt a bit more emotionally and mentally prepared to start school today with Chloe and Lukas.

Chloe is in First grade this year and Lukas is excited to be starting some Preschool work! Here are my two homeschool kiddos (though they are two years apart I am sometimes asked if they are twins!):

Chloe started her Scaredy Cat Reading - Words - today. I'm looking forward to a FUN way of teaching phonics and language (something I think we were missing out on last year!) and this program seems to take such an approach. Today we watched the introductory DVD together and then she worked on putting a list of words in ABC order.

Lukas is working hard here on decorating a name tag for his "school box" (the white basket you see in the background).

Chloe also began the Alpha workbook of Math-U-See and then we worked on some shapes and problem solving with Playful Patterns (from Discovery Toys).

Lukas played with some magnetic alphabet letters and together we found all of the letters in his name - with the exception of the letter "S", as we couldn't find ANY of those - so we just improvised and made our own "S"! Looks like I need to acquire some new alphabet letters...

We joined our buddies, Kristi, Kylie, and Caleb, at the park for a picnic lunch and some fun playing time - it ended up being a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

I asked Lukas tonight what his favorite part of school was and he replied, "When we came home to eat supper...because I was wee-ee [really], wee-ee [really] hungry!" Umm, how about what was your favorite part in the school room??? "Making our name tags and doing centers."

Chloe said she liked everything...but she doesn't really feel like she is in First Grade. "What grade do you feel like you are in?" I asked her. "Second!" Wishful thinking...

This school year is bound to be one of change and growth - and I'm praying God will use it for good. Although I cried each day I left Madelynne at school last week, the lump that has been in my throat and the butterflies in my stomach are subsiding with each day. My eyes just welled up with tears as I spoke with the teacher last Friday about her first week at school; I've cried buckets as I can hear the children playing on the playground during recess from our own backyard, as I grab three plates for the kids' lunch, but now I only need two, as I worry about the friends Madelynne is choosing and how she will be accepted by her peers as a new student - these are just a few of the things that have weighed so heavily on my heart and mind! I know with all of my heart that Madelynne is absolutely loving the transition (we have talked extensively each day about everything from the proverbial "A" to "Z"), we are working at getting to know her teacher and her classmates and their families...these things all take time. I am on one hand relieved to have a bit more of myself to "give" to Chloe and to Lukas - he is an especially complicated, challenging, intricately-made little boy who keeps me praying for wisdom, patience, and grace, and more wisdom each day! Yet on the other hand, I can wrestle with good ol' motherhood guilt, because I miss Madelynne so much and it's been so hard to let go in this way... I know and trust that the Lord, in His sovereignty, will see us through, and I am thankful for that. We are thankful for friends and family who have surrounded us with prayer and support and encouragement - what a blessing!

New Beginnings

Today is a day of new beginnings...a day that I have been anxiously anticipating and awaiting for many weeks. Today was Madelynne's first day of school.

As you may know, I have homeschooled Madelynne the past two years - for Kindergarten and First Grade. It has been a huge blessing to be at home with my children, to be involved in their daily lives and education and foundational learning about God and our faith in Jesus.

Last year we had the opportunity to walk through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and we read and wrote about all sorts of Bible stories along the way. We examined scriptures from Proverbs, memorized the order of the books of the Bible, and explored God's amazing creation through science experiments with water, air, plants, and the human body.

I entered into homeschooling with the intent (but not-for-certain plan) of eventually sending Madelynne (and each of my children) to school...yes, to public school! We simply said we were (and still are) taking things one year at a time. My husband is an English teacher at one of the local high schools here and he has been so encouraged by many of the Christian students he has had the privilege of teaching in class or working with through coaching, Student Council, and other activities. Both Jason and I have strong convictions about being a light in the darkness and sharing God's love through our love and care for others. God has not placed us in this world to separate ourselves so much that we are in essence "cut off" - not that this has to happen, but it can!

Matthew 5:13-16 says,
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

I want my children to learn how to live IN this world, but not be OF it...and that is a tough thing to teach them. I want to protect them from the evils in this world, yet I want them to have opportunities to be a light to those around them. My heart's desire is for my children to have a solid foundation in the love, grace, and salvation that God has given to them through His Son, Jesus, so that they can share that love with others.

I see in Madelynne a sweet, sensitive heart - one who looks for ways to encourage others and I know that God will use her creative and inventive talents. I see in Chloe a tender spirit, a deep love for the Lord, for other nations and peoples, and a love for relational connections. I see in Lukas a strong distinction between right and wrong (although, at age 4, he is often still choosing "wrong"!), a sensitive spirit, and...well, he's LOUD. God can use that, I know! :-)

I pray that the daily training we are doing with our children will one day bring great glory to God.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.

We have made a concerted effort this summer (after living here for a full year now!) to meet our neighbors and to begin to establish relationships with them. And, after MUCH prayer, MUCH discussion, MUCH tears, and MUCH contemplation, we feel that this is a good year for Madelynne to transition into the classroom setting. Second grade is a FUN year...and I know she will enjoy school. The school is just a stone's throw away from our house, it is small and family-oriented and it just happens to be the very same elementary school Jason attended years ago! We are very much looking forward to being involved in the school PTO, in Madelynne's classroom, and in the surrounding community. I want to establish relationships and allow God to use our family as He sees fit.

Of course, we are still very open to homeschooling and are not "shutting the door" on this realm of education in any way. I will be homeschooling Chloe for First Grade this year and I am looking forward to having some time to do Preschool work with Lukas, as well. If the Lord should lead us to have Madelynne back at home, we will do so in a heartbeat! Our main concern is for her welfare, safety, personal and spiritual growth - and we are not entering into this decision lightly. Should we determine this to be a negative experience for Madelynne or for our family, we will make the necessary adjustments. We are not anticipating this will be the case - we are praying and hoping that this will be a wonderful, positive, and encouraging transition for everyone in our family.

Philippians 1:6
...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

We would covet your prayers as we venture on in this new beginning in our lives!

Madelynne at the Open House on Monday night

This morning before leaving for school

Walking to school (just moments after this, Lukas fell and terribly skinned his knee - he was a bloody screaming mess!)

Madelynne at her desk

Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.