Monday, September 21, 2009

My Blue-Eyed Boy

Baby BlueEyes at 7 mos.
Today, my Baby BlueEyes turns 8. I can hardly believe it. I know, I know. That's so cliched. So trite. But seriously?! I am sitting here watching the movie in my head of the past 8 years and it feels completely unreal.

I'm having the hardest time believing that "mine Baby Doodah" (as LadyBug used to call him) is no longer a chubby, reddish-blond baby toddling around our house.

Even harder to reconcile is that he's suddenly all arms and legs and gap-toothed grins. His sole intent on a daily basis seems to be proving to all of us how grown-up he has become.

We've been through A. LOT. of really crazy stuff with this kid. His entry to this life began with an unexpected bang: an emergency c-section due to significant fetal distress. In the midst of all of it, The Boss had no idea for whom the emergency was declared - me or the baby? When they shoved The Boss out of the room, he called my mom and told her to "PRAY!" but he had no idea what he was asking her to pray about. After BBE was out and deemed healthy and I was in recovery, the doctors told The Boss that BBE's umbilical cord was wrapped rather significantly around his little neck and my normal progress through labor was impeding his oxygen. We are so grateful that the Lord rescued him and preserved his life!

Shortly after we moved to this region, BBE lost control of his bike at the end of our driveway and was narrowly missed by an on-coming SUV traveling past the house. Narrowly, like the SUV had to swerve and hit the curb to miss him. We are so grateful that the Lord intervened!

And as many of my faithful readers know, several years ago Baby BlueEyes had an unfortunate accident which necessitated a 3-day stay at CHOP. The injuries resulted in some lost teeth, some damage to his budding adult teeth (becoming evident only now), a badly split lip, a broken arm and a concussion. Looking back now, they all seem relatively minor and have had largely healthy outcomes. The alternatives to that day's experiences are too terrible to consider. We are incredibly grateful for the mercy and the grace of the Lord on that day.

Thankfully, there have been many, many other days since then that have softened and eased the anxiety and pain of those (and other!) events in his life. One thing is for certain, the Lord has a big plan for this little guy's life. He has HIS hands on my little guy. We couldn't handle any of the normal parenting stuff on our own, let alone the big things that Baby BlueEyes has experienced, without the hand of the Lord along the way.

We are grateful that the Lord has been present every step along the journey.

We are so grateful for the gift of Baby BlueEye's life. And even more grateful for the gift of parenting him toward that master plan for his future.

Baby BlueEyes holding his newest little cousin
August '09

Happy Birthday Baby BlueEyes.

You have been a beautiful gift to all
who know you. May your life continue
to shine the Love of Jesus
and be held in The Father's hand.

7 comments:

mishmash-a little bit of this and a little... said...

wow i didnt know any of that. hmmmm. makes you think what is in store for him? i have a girl the same age as him. i didnt realize we had kids in the same age range. thats really cool.

Mrs. C said...

Happy Birthday!

I cannot believe how quickly they grow up

pups n horses said...

Baby Blue Eyes is one of the sweetest little boys you could ever meet. Besides being a very handsome young man he has the heart of an angel.

Happy Birthday BBE!!!

a Tonggu Momma said...

The Lord definitely has Big Plans for your little guy if He's expending this much energy keeping him alive. LOL. Happy birthday to your little blue eyes!

Beverly said...

Adorable...hope he had a great birthday.(And I always wanted a blue eyed red haired baby!!)

Aus said...

Hey BBE - Happy Birthday! Like your mom - I'm sure that there is something in store for your future - but don't look for a miracle type thing - look instead inside yourself - just go be the best Dad / Boss / Husband / Man that you can be - and the rest will fall in place!

hugs - aus and co.

Flamingo said...

thanks for your funny comment on my recent post. yes, there is nothing like self bashing on one's blog:)

i had to comment that i thought it was neat that our lil' guys are the same age....my oldest turned 8 on the 19th! where does the time go?

ok, now off to dry my tears:)