Mother's Day and Baby Dedication

BABY TALKS TO GOD:

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"


God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."


The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, "You will simply call her, "Mom."

Aunty Lauren had read this sweet poem at my baby shower months ago and it had made me cry.  Reading it today brings tears to my eyes once again as it rings so true in my ears.  What a huge responsibility we as parents have to guide our children to the Lord and to teach them to pray.  This Mother's Day was so very special as we had the privilege of dedicating our sweet Dakota to the Lord alongside our dear friends and their girls.  Our deepest prayer and desire of our hearts is that we would fully give Dakota over to the Lord for she is ultimately His.  We have just been blessed with her for this time.  Our prayer is that Dakota would one day fall on her face before the Lord in humble submission to His calling in her life and that she would be a world changer.  We pray for wisdom and strength as we raise Dakota in a God-fearing home where we will strive to model what it means to love the Lord with all our hearts.  Please pray for us as this is no easy task and can not be done by our own strength.  

Sickness is TERRIBLE

Everything is going smoothly and you think you are getting the hang of this mommy thing when all of a sudden...(duh duh duh)... your baby gets sick and everything goes out the window.  I am a mom that likes routine and schedules. It is the teacher in me. When Dakota got sick, routines changed, and we just did whatever worked.  We even let her sleep in our bed each morning, fall asleep in our arms, swaddled her, let her watch TV (don't judge me), and slept with her on our chests.  When people say it is no fun to have a sick baby, they're not kidding. Dakota started out with some extreme congestion and then she developed hand, foot, mouth disease (HFMD).  I know what you might be think....how did she get that?  Well, I recently started watching another little boy during the day, and he got it from his daycare.  Sickness is just inevitable. HFMD is when you get small bumps or blisters on your hand, feet, bum, and mouth.  Dakota had it the worst in her mouth.  She had big ulcers in the back of her throat which made it miserable to swallow and especially to eat.  Unfortunately their isn't a quick fix for this.  It just has to run its course.  We have just been giving her Tylenol and Motrin every couple of hours to help with the pain. This girl hates (let me say it again...HATES) to take medicine.  She doesn't swallow it but gargles it in the back of her throat until she chokes on it.  I had to give her the medicine at first because Patrick just couldn't handle seeing her so upset.  I just decided that I would rather have her choke down the medicine then be in so much pain.  As parents, it is just a terrible feeling to not be able to take the pain away and make everything better. After a week, Dakota is finally starting to feel better.  We are seeing those sweet smiles that we have missed so much.  Now hopefully we can all start to get a little more sleep.  

Family Time

We took our second road trip with Dakota to Nebraska for Easter, and again she traveled like a champ.  We can only pray that this continues.  This trip we left early Friday morning and came home early Monday morning after staying at a half-way point in a "cockroach" Motel 6 in Colby, Kansas. It was great to be home and to watch Nor' Dakota (As Lou likes to joke) interact again.  This visit Nora wasn't as jealous, but this time she wanted to be the one always holding Dakota unless of course Dakota was having a break down than Nora didn't know just what to do.  Nora Sue is growing so fast and changing so much!  She is becoming quite the farm girl.  

We spent time over at Eric and Lauren new home watching them lay cement and the guys move dirt.  We also played the beloved ping pong game as again Patrick entertained us with his dramatic attempt to beat everyone. :) Dakota was spoiled as always by her grandma, grandpa, uncle, and aunts.  We had a great time and look forward to coming back home in July for our family "stay-cation."  

After a great week in Nebraska, we had the joy of having Nanny and Papaw come to visit us.  They made the two/three day drive out to see us.  (They are amazing) We had a great time together.  We ate at some great restaurants, played volleyball with friends while Nanny and Papaw babysat, and just enjoyed time together relaxing and snuggling with Dakota.  We also spent quite a bit of time dreaming up elaborate remodels for our home while Larry drew up the detailed plans. Dakota also did some sketches. :) Dakota gave her grandparents lots of smiles and giggles while they were here.  Dakota tried her first bites of cereal during the week, and she impressed us all.  She seemed to actually like it.  We look forward to making our first trip back to Tennessee with Dakota in June.  We are just praying that she is a good flier.  We can't wait to introduce her to the rest of the family!