Little Son

2 years!  Can it really have been that long?  

Time surely has gone fast.

2 years ago today I gave birth to my son Uzziah.  When his body entered this world, he was not there.  His body lay lifeless in my arms.  His spirit had left his little body and gone to dance with Jesus 3 days before.  I remember lying in the hospital bed just starring and starring at Uzziah's face trying to burn the image on my brain.  I wanted to remember that moment forever.  It is such a strange place to be in - holding your child, but knowing that this is it.. after today, no more cuddles, knowing that for all my days down on this earth this one day was it.  To say I wanted to savour every moment barely describes it.  It may have been 2 years, but my heart hurts like it was yesterday.  There is a Uzziah shaped hole in my heart, which I will carry with me all my days.

 You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book.  Psalm 56 v 8

I so enjoyed watching the boys today carefully making a picture to place at Uzziah's grave today.  They were really careful with what they were doing and wrote some sweet messages.  They may not have met their little brother, but the sure do love him!

We made our way down to the grave when Daddy got home from work.  We stopped by the shops for balloons and flowers.  We'd decided right from the beginning that we would visit Uzziah's grave every year on the day of his birth.  We decided that we wanted our whole family to remember him and what his life meant to us.  We decided that we wanted to visit the grave, not just to go where his body lies, but to give thanks to God for all He did for us during that time in our lives and for all He taught us.  We want to give thanks to God that Uzziah's life's mission was complete and he was able to go home to The Perfect Place.  We want to openly remember him, remember that his life had a purpose.  All my children are and always have been a great blessing and Uzziah is no different.  Of course from my perspective I'd rather have him here with me, but I know that God's plan is so much wiser and so much better than mine...  how could I argue with that?  Sometimes I'd love to know what God's ultimate purpose was in Uzziah's life, but it may be that I won't know that until I too reach The Perfect Place, and that's ok.  I do not need to know why God did not let me keep this precious boy, all I need to know is that He is faithful in all things and that He has a great plan, which I cannot see. 

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.  Deuteronomy 32:4 

Daddy took some time to read God's Word from Romans
 encouraging us that we all have a purpose and to rejoice
in the purpose that God has made us for.

The pictures the boys did all protected in a
sealed sandwich bag.

We sent off a balloon to the skies

Here the boys and I watched the balloon float away for the last minute
or so before the balloon disappeared from our sight.

Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains!  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.  Psalm 84 v 5-7

The Princess Turns One!

I know everyone says this, but my goodness this little girls 1st birthday has come around SO fast!  It feels so unreal that this time a whole year ago I was in full blown labour and waiting for that amazing moment when I'd see my baby's face for the first time!  And what a beautiful face it was when that moment did finally arrive:

Rosina's older brothers just couldn't have been any happier with their new baby sister!  :O)

So here we are a year later!

Our morning began with a pile of pressies on the living room floor.  We stacked all the wrapped pressies all around a ride on car, which we'd purchased from Ebay (for £5!!), as it was not wrapped up. There was no fooling Rosina though as the first thing she did when she was put on the floor was hurridly move/throw all the wrapped presents out of the way so she could discover the item hidden underneath.  As you can quite clearly see from the pictures... she was rather chuffed with her new toy!  lol

She was also very impressed with her very girly chair..... a chair just for Rosina!  Thanks Nanny!  :O) 

We bought for her, as her main pressie, a personalised rag doll.  Pictured below is her giving her new play mate a big wet kiss. Rosina's kisses involve coming at the receiver with a big open mouth and planting that open mouth on the receivers cheek or mouth and holding that position for a few seconds. lt's very cute, although it does appear as though she's going to take a big chunk out of the receivers cheek! hehe

The writing on the dolls dress reads: 'I BELONG TO ROSINA'

And here's my little princess in her party dress waiting for all her little friends to arrive!  She loved playing with the balloons.  She would very carefully find the knot and then wave the balloon around like a mad thing!  Was very cute!  :O) 

And lastly the official birthday picture.....

My 1yr old and her cake! 

You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.  1 Peter 3v4  This verse was Rosina's dedication verse

Happy Birthday my precious little one.  You have brought so much joy into our lives and we're so glad you're here.  This last year has been amazing and we couldn't imagine life without you.  Your smiles and giggles are enough to cheer even the gloomiest of days.  One of my favourite things to do is to watch one of your brothers playing with you and see you both laughing away.  Peek a boo is a good one for this!  You are a great, great blessing, as are all your brothers.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.  Psalm 127v3

Story Telling Thursday WINNER!

A big thank you to all our readers who voted - we're delighted to say that we broke our record with a total of 31 votes!   :O)

Now to reveal the authors of last weeks stories, 

total votes received and declare the winner!

It Wasn't Me

Story A - written by Caden = 13 votes

Story B - written by Quinn = 9 votes

Story C - written by Charlie = 9 votes

A big congratulations to our winning author of the week: 

CADEN!

Thanks again to all those who voted it is such an encouragement to the boys!

Come back next week for more stories with a title from one of our readers:

The Mysterious Parcel - with thanks to Omi