5

Well, well, well...my oldest is 5.

5 years ago, my life was changed forever by a 5 pound 9 ounce, curly-haired baby.  He made me a mom.

When I held him for the first time, I never imagined that in 5 years, he would be the oldest of 3 children, a passionate and intense lover of football, and a thorough cleaner (your future wife will appreciate this!)  Sure, I thought he would be curious, creative, and loads of fun...but its the daily details about this child (and my other children) that knock my socks off.

On his 5th Birthday, Emmanuel chose a "Buzz Lightyear" smash cake because, of course, he wanted to wear his Buzz costume on his birthday (partly because of our Disney trip and partly because he just wanted to be in costume.)  He waited three weeks for his very own smash cake (after watching MG and Reese eat smash cakes), and he had purposed in his heart that he was going to eat it ALL...and all by himself.  He helped make his cake with me that morning.  The final product was green cake with purple icing.

His activity for the day was to go on a hike at our awesome nature center.  He, being the athletic kid he is, chose the longest hike...and I want to say we ended up hiking over 5 miles that day...and he ran with me on the trail a lot of the time.  I will never forget that as we were running through the woods, he looked at me with those chocolate eyes, and said, "Mom, you are my running/workout buddy!"  Note to self:  Keep those knees moving so that I can keep running with my little guy...because in a few years, he will be faster and have more endurance...(yes, I am feeling old)

Making Mud Birthday Cupcakes 

The two little ones asleep on the hike 

Bonding 

While Reese and MG slept on the hike, Eli and I acknowledged how blessed we were to have "alone" time with our 5-year-old on his birthday.  And, in typical Eli fashion, I think he shed a tear.  

We ended our day celebrating Emmanuel at Chick-Fil-A (with E dressed as Buzz and Reesie dressed as Woody...because what is Buzz without Woody?)  As a bonus, it was Family Night at Chick-Fil-A, so the kids got to eat for free and got free balloons!

A note about love and Emmanuel's birth:

My whole life I have been taught "Jesus Love Me."  At each stage of life, I began to understand more about God's love for His children...I was taught that...it was modeled for me...I engaged in an intimate relationship with my Heavenly Father...there were ups and downs and I would turn away and God would hold me near...but there wasn't a clear understanding of why this God--the Creator of all things would love me...could love me so much, until I was pushed to extreme love with my firstborn and subsequently my other children.  My shortcomings were and are more evident...my need for this unconditional, grace-based love from a perfect, blameless Savior is so much more real to me now that I am a parent.  I'm not making a blanket statement to say that this is true for everyone when they become a parent...this is just how God used my children and my challenges thus far to shape me and mold me to draw nearer to Him.  My children minister to me.  They push me to forgive and to ask for forgiveness, when they ask questions, hard questions about Jesus, they challenge me to know more and to do more...they increase my faith.  When they comfort me in my times of sadness (usually over missing my dad), they very matter-of-factly remind me that He is seeing Jesus face-to-face and singing His praises (Duh, mom, Granddaddy is partying with Jesus!)  They bring me joy.   In my perpetual tiredness and just plain raggedy-ness (not a word), my children challenge me to depend more on my amazing Savior and to lean more dependently on Him.

5 years ago, my life was changed...by a small little baby...and daily, I am changing and being made new through these children.