Sweet Boy, and in honor of Nat'l Baby Wearing Week

The big kids are in bed, John is at work, so I am here snuggling with my sweet baby boy and his legs which are starting to sport some delectable rolls. In the rush of our every day lives, I rarely get a chance to just relax with him, which is ironic given that a lot of our busy schedule revolves around his appointments for speech, cardiology, audiology, immunizations, synagis, and more. But in shuttling him from appointment to appointment, I still don't get enough time just to enjoy him.



He will be 4 months old Monday. Stay tuned for the meltdown I will probably have on that day. I can't stand him getting older! I love this baby stage so much, and while I know I will love seeing him grow, I will miss this stage, this "fourth trimester" of cuddles. He spends a lot of time in a sling, which he loves and I love. Witness this attempt at a family photo on the beach:


As you can see, he is the only one in the picture that looks happy and content. And yes, before you ask, that IS the best family picture we have managed to get thus far!

In that picture he is in my Baby K'tan, which is both my newest and my favorite sling. It is a sling/wrap hybrid, support like a wrap without all the work. I do not like work, so I am a pouch sling kind of girl. But, my babies get heavy for pouch slings pretty quickly, so I really appreciate the extra support of the K'tan. Although I do love matching my slings to my outfit, so I still end up wearing my hotslings and peanut shells pretty regularly. I am the girl wearing the pink sling saying "No, he's a boy!" 80 times a day. Since I am the one wearing the sling, I figure I should like how it looks, and just beacause Seth is a boy I don't need to wear him in a construction truck sling!

But I looove wearing babies. I once saved Ava's life solely because I was wearing Jace in a sling. He was a newborn, and she was 13 months old. She was climbing up a play structure, and I looked up to see her hanging by one arm from a pole, above my head. Because I was wearing Jace instead of holding him, I was able to rush up the set and rescue her before she fell. If I had needed to find a place to set him down, I would never have made it in time. So...yay, baby wearing!

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Today I got to spend some time with my friend Andrea and her daughter Jillian. Jillian is two and getting ready to receive her second cochlear implant. I met her very sweet and lovely Mom when Seth was two weeks old and visiting our church. Seth had just gotten out of the NICU and I brought him with me to church (in a sling, people...no one touched him!) only because I was scheduled to volunteer that day. Andrea and her family had never been to our church before, they had just been invited by another family and they came...just the one time. The same time that I just happened to return to church after Seth's birth. To our large church where I often don't even run into my friends, I ran into a stranger who had a deaf daughter, and, get this....lives less than a mile away from me! This, people, is what we like to call a God thing!

So even before we had an official "deaf" diagnosis, God was placing people in our path! Andrea has already blessed my life in so many ways...we were able to spend a weekend at a symposium for early childhood hearing loss together, and we bonded like crazy! Today the kids and I got to spend time with her and her girls, and I got to talk to Jillian...who heard me! I know CI's work, but it is so amazing to see it in action! The kids were all climbing around and when Jillian started to get a little out of her depth on the playset, I instinctively said "No, Jillian. Stay down here." She was not looking at me. She could not see me at all. I was not speaking loudly. But she immediately stopped what she was doing and sat down, then looked over at me and grinned.

I think I got goosebumps. It was the coolest thing...I am still smiling about it. I cannot wait to talk to Seth and have him hear me! Wow.

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We have ordered Seth's bracelets. We went with the scripture that my mom, Tommy, Shanda, and several other people thought of...you all have great minds! The bracelets will say "Let Him Hear!" and the website address. I am excited! I know this is going to be an amazing way not only to benefit Seth, but to benefit others by Seth's story, teach them about deafness, and most of all, hopefully bring someone to Christ!

Like I have said before, my goal is to find a way to reach ALL KINDS of people and give them the chance to give a very small donation. I just think it would be amazing to see God work in their hearts and for Seth's surgery to happen because of the efforts of many.

We are still finalizing plans, and we have some time...the bracelets have to be made and shipped from China, so we have time to get all our t's crossed and i's dotted. I will be obsessed with this tomorrow, I am sure, but for tonight, my main priority is to cuddle with my baby boy all I can while he is still a 3 month old!