The Birthday "Boy" {and an Afternoon I Don't Want to Forget}

My dad last night, getting ready to blow out the candles on his coconut cake.  

Jeff teased that if we had literally put 72 candles on the cake, I wouldn't have even needed to bake it; the heat from all those candles would have done the job.  ;-)  So we settled for a 7 (used quite recently for David's birthday) and a 2 (used last July for Shav's birthday, when he, like his grandpa, had a coconut cake); and not surprisingly, Dad had no trouble blowing them both out.  I wonder what he wished for.  ;-)


As I've gotten older and as Dad has gotten older, I have often thought that he looks very young for his age.  I still think so.  That man in the picture?  72?  It's really hard to believe.  I think he could pass for at least 15 years younger than he is.  ;-)


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Wednesday morning was one of those good, full, but-I-know-I'm-going-to-be-exhausted-later kinds of mornings.  First thing on the agenda was my six-week follow-up appointment with Barbara, the midwife who delivered Moriah; and it was a very pleasant appointment.  Barbara is so friendly that any appointment with her feels more like a visit with a friend than anything else!  Then Jeff and I ran a few errands before heading home; when we got here, I fed Moriah, and then headed out--this time with all the kids by myself--to go to a park where some other homeschool families were gathering.  It was a beautiful day, and I loved watching my boys have fun on the kids' castle at that park.  Shav, in particular, impressed me with how fearless he was; he climbed up and down and all around and acted just like a big boy.  The only thing he did not want to go on was any kind of swinging bridge or platform that moved or anything like that.  He balked just like a stubborn mule any time I tried to get him to go on one--even if I was holding his hand or supporting him in some way.  So I simply let him navigate his way around the play structure in a path that avoided all of those moving surfaces.  Problem solved.  :)


That afternoon, after we returned home and had eaten lunch, I finally got everyone settled down for naps/quiet time; and since I was so tired, I decided to lay down on the couch for some rest, too.  Moriah was sleeping peacefully in the swing, and I was so looking forward to getting some shut-eye.  I laid down, and...you can probably guess what happened...almost immediately, Moriah began to fuss.  "You have got to be kidding me!" I thought. "How is it that babies have this sensor that detects when their parents are desperate for sleep and are wishing with all their might that their offspring will sleep, too?  And then when the parents are at that point, the babies suddenly wake up and cry as if to say, 'Oh, no, you don't.  Don't even think about going to sleep when we're around'!"  ;-)  I can type a happy face there now; but believe me, that afternoon, I wasn't feeling so cheerful about the situation!


I dragged myself up off the couch, stopped the swing, picked up Moriah, and sat back down on the couch with her to nurse her.  "Maybe," I thought, "I'll be able to finish feeding her and then she'll go back to sleep and then I'll still be able to get some rest before quiet time is over for the boys."  But here's what happened...


She ate and then fell asleep, and I--my heart having changed by that point--continued to hold her.  I scooted down on the couch into a reclining position and she snuggled on my chest like a little koala and we had a wonderful nap together.  We hadn't gotten to do that for a while, and already I feel like she's growing up so fast and I miss that sleepy newborn stage when babies are so content to nap on their parents' chests.  To be able to do that with her again was a treasure, and I--knowing well that it might be the last time (but then again, it might not)--savored it deeply.  It was a very sweet time of bonding, and I would have missed it entirely if I had had my way when this whole episode began and I was practically begging her to go back to sleep in the swing.


As I contemplated how I almost missed such a special time with my girl, I thought of two things:  the old song "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks ;-) and Romans 8:28 which reminds us that "in all things God works for the good..."


In ALL things.  Even in our babies' fussy times.


I'm so glad my original plan for the afternoon didn't work out.  Plan B was much, much better.  How grateful I am that I didn't miss that opportunity to cuddle with my baby girl and take that nap...


...together.