A Fall of Firsts

I love Fall!! I know that I wrote a few months ago about how much I love summer, and it's true, I do love summertime. I love all of the seasons, mainly I love the change of seasons, which means that Wyoming is the perfect state for me to live in! In my heart of hearts, though, Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors and the smells and the cool, crisp feel of Autumn. Now that Fall is almost over, I find myself reflecting over how many firsts we experienced in the last three months. There have been a lot of 'em!

The "first 1st" was Kade's birthday! He turned 1 on September 28th. What a celebration that was! To think that a year earlier my little man came into this world in a burst of energy! The doctor told Mike and I that it was the first time in the many years of delivering babies that one fought so hard to make his way out into the world!

For those of you who don't know our story; Mike, Hannah, and I waited and prayed for 9 1/2 years for this newest member of our family. He was a much anticipated baby! When people realize the 11 year span between our two kids, they give me a knowing smile and want to know if Kade was an accident. I love telling them that he was an amazing surprise, but in no way was he an accident! God knew exactly what He was doing making us wait for this answered prayer! At the beginning of my pregnancy we also had quite the scare when I had a cyst on my ovary that burst. Mike rushed me to the ER two days after we found out that I was finally pregnant. The doctor initially thought that I was suffering from an ectopic pregnancy and we were told that it wasn't a viable pregnancy. We were broken hearted. But rather than administering the medication that would terminate the pregnancy, the doctor on call (I refer to him as one of Kade's Angels!) chose to send me to Sheridan and my regular OB/GYN, where it was discovered that I had the cyst and it was not a tubal pregnancy. What cause for celebration that was! Struggling with infertility for all of those years was heartbreaking for both Mike and I, but it gave us the opportunity to choose to trust in God. My faith grew and was strengthened because of my heartbreak, not in spite of it. And that day when I finally held my baby boy in my arms was the end result of years of choosing trust over despair.

Kade's 1st birthday was a big event, complete with cupcakes and birthday hats and gifts. The thing that struck me the most, though was the fact that my little boy was surrounded by people who love him and who had spent years praying with us for this beautiful little boy! He was completely enveloped in love.

Other Firsts this Fall:

Hannah's first Jr. High Dance!

Kade's first haircut

Hannah's first hunt!!

12th Birthdays and Braving Slumber Parties

Hannah Mac turned 12 on August 29^th, and this birthday marked a first for me in the endeavors of motherhood; a slumber party involving 7 young girls ages 9 to 12.  Now let me precede this with the reasons why I have not attempted a slumber party up to this point: First of all, I am easily over-stimulated and our house is small, a one level ranch-style home, with Hannah’s room directly across from ours.  Imagining the amount of noise that a group of pre-teen girls can make is very frightening to me!  Second of all Mike and I like to sleep, and we are the early to bed type, I know what goes on at these slumber parties, and “slumber” isn’t high on the list of activities!  And last of all, what in the world do you do w/ a group of 4^th to 7^th grade girls to keep them entertained and all getting along?  I tell you slumber parties have always been on my list of most frightening experiences; I have always had the utmost respect & admiration for those moms who host slumber parties on a regular basis, but I am not one of them. 

     And then Hannah turned 12 and requested a slumber party; what choice did I have when this girl of mine, who rarely requests anything, specifically asked for a slumber party?  So I laid aside my fears and called my best friend Erika.  Erika is the Queen of kid parties of any kind, including those for pre-adolescent, giggly, emotional young girls; I needed her support as well as any and all ideas that she could give me!

     This ended up being a 24-hour birthday party, complete with a treasure hunt, a variety show, ice cream sundaes, and ending with a day at the lake.  I survived it, and more than that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don’t know how soon it’ll be before I’m ready for another one, but I think that I am now brave enough to try it again.

I planned on writing something sentimental and insightful about my little girl becoming another year older, and then I found a treasure as Hannah and I were looking through her 1^st Year Scrapbook.  It was an article that my mother wrote right after Hannah was born and right before my 26^th birthday for her column “At Home on the Range with Jody”.  It brought tears to my eyes and I thought that this would be appropriate to share with all of you now, 12 years later:

      “A New Grandma Reflects” by Jody White

     It seems like just yesterday that the doctor held you up for me to see and announced “It’s a girl”, or that I held you in my arms and rocked you while looking into those beautiful blue eyes and just loving you so much, thanking God that He had given you to us. 

     Jana, we remember your first tooth, and your first day of kindergarten.  Your father and I remember, along with your first tooth and kindergarten, your first pair of cowboy boots, and your first horse, very important rites of passage in the life of a ranch kid.  And we remember our reaction the night you told us you were asked on your very first date.  And all those subsequent nights after, that I stayed up waiting for you so we could talk.  I remember pigtails and toothless grins, proms, boyfriends, queen try-outs, victories and disappointments, and your high school graduation.  And your dad especially remembers that day when Mike asked for your hand in marriage.  What a sweet and old-fashioned thing to do.  And then a wedding; I especially remember when the pastor asked “And who gives this bride away?”  And your dad, with tears in his eyes, answered, “Her mother, her brothers and I do”.  A bittersweet time.  But in return we got a wonderful son-in-law and the knowledge that our daughter was going to be very well loved.  And loved not only by her husband but by his family too.

     And now as I look down at the little bundle in my arms and into bottomless blue eyes, very much like her mother’s, something indescribable wells up inside me.  Her tiny fingers wrap tightly around my own, and in that little gesture she wraps herself securely around my heart.

     Little Hannah, I hope you realize how well and how completely you are loved.  You are, shall I say very snugly wrapped in family.  From Grandmas and Grandpas, Great Grandmas and Grandpas, aunts and uncles, cousins, Godparents, and of course your Mommy and Daddy, you are loved.  Even the little community you live in, where you have been nicknamed “Holy Hannah!!” has welcomed you with open arms.  I wonder how old you will be when either your Grandpa White or your Grandpa Fraley puts you on a horse to move cattle?

     You know I also think back to when your mother told me after reading the book “Mrs. Mike” for the third time, that someday she was going to be a Mrs. Mike.  And who would ever have thought that that’s exactly what would happen!  Amazing! I am also amazed as I watch your Grandpa kiss and fuss over you, or Joel and Coby scoop you up in their arms, feed and change you.  Are these my men??  What wonderful qualities you have brought out in them.  And it has given me a glimpse into what they might be as fathers.  Thank you for the sneak preview. 

     And to think I’m a Grandma.  A Grandma!!  Wow!  What an awesome responsibility.  And although your mother and I thought you were a “Hank” right up to delivery, we couldn’t be more tickled that you’re a Hannah!”