Happy 3rd Birthday, Joycie!

Dear Joycie,

At 4:25 p.m. this afternoon you officially became 3 years old!  However, you've been telling people for months that you were 3. I think it is because your cousin Kaitlynn turned 3 in September and in your mind the two of you are the exact same.  In fact, you often refer to her as your "twin cousin"...which is so stinking cute.

Joycie - Daddy and I marvel at how much you continue to grow and mature. In the last year, you have gone from somewhat stilted sentences intermixed with made-up words, to carrying on entire conversations with your friends, your cousins, and even adults.  Your imagination has grown by leaps and bounds - I often hear you telling stories to your baby dolls, or creating a running commentary as we ride in the car.

While you still love music and playing outdoors, these days you are all about PRINCESSES.  You currently have at 2 of each of the Disney Princess figurines. Mama has lost count of how many hours you spend in your room playing with them.  Not only do you love to play with princesses, you love to dress like one.  Most days, we have to find an outfit that is either pink, sparkly, twirly, or has some other "princess" like element. Otherwise, you refuse to wear it.

Hey, you know what you like, and what you don't.  But for all of your girlishness, you still HATE to have your hair pulled up. You prefer to leave it down and flowing.  And since you hair is easy to brush and style, Mama let's you have your way.

In terms of physical growth, you are now 3'2 and weight 34 pounds. Wahooo!  After nearly a year, we have finally broken the 30 pound barrier. Both your pediatrician and neurologist have commented on your recent growth spurt.

Daddy and Mama are so proud of how your vocabulary grows with each day, that you've mastered the art of pottying like a big girl, that you are independent, and that you are physically growing.  But our greatest joy comes when we see how much you already love our Heavenly Father.  Each night you remind us that we need to say our prayers, and you want to pray for every.single.person. you know (and sometimes your toys), you break out into the biggest grin and clap your hands when we tell you it is time to head to church, and you LOVE to sing songs about Jesus.

Joycie, there will never be enough words to tell you how much you mean to use.  But we'll try each day of your life to show you how much we do love you.

And perhaps, the best way to tell you is in the same way you tell us "We love you BIGGER!"

~Mama and Daddy

Letters to Joycie - How to Handle an Exhausting week

Dear Joycie,

 

As you grow older, you will experience days and possibly weeks where it appears that everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Those are the weeks that will test your patience, your strength, and your faith.  Daddy and I, and I suppose you as well, are in the midst of one of those weeks right now.  So I thought it wise to document this time in our life - and how we are handling things. Perhaps, someday far into the future, you can read this letter and it will encourage you thru your own difficult time.

 

Last Friday, you woke up with a flushed cheeks, a warm torso, and an insistent cry for juice.  My Mama instincts went into overdrive and I immediately checked you for a fever.  The thermometer read 99.1 – a low grade fever but enough to keep you home from daycare. Without any vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, or copious amounts of snot, your Daddy and I deduced that you were likely teething.  A quick check of your mouth revealed two new teeth trying to break thru your gums.  Feeling secure in our diagnosis, we gave you some medicine and sent you to your Nana's for the day.

 

By Friday night, the fever has disappeared, and you were once again our happy, playful girl.  I was certain that the worst was behind us. I couldn't have been more wrong.  Saturday afternoon saw your fever increase to 102. Nana Becki, who happens to be a nurse, made a house call and told us to start alternating Tylenol and Motrin every two hours to control the fever.  As the afternoon gave way to evening, your fever kept climbing, and by 1:00 a.m. the thermometer was reading 104.  Daddy and I were bathing you with cool cloths, giving lots of fluids, and praying over you.  At 3:30, exhaustion overtook you and Daddy, and I sat up watching the two of you sleep. I continued to pray over you – as my heart was fearful and I felt utterly helpless. 

 

With the first streaks of sunlight pouring thru the window, I felt your cheek and was so relieved to feel it cool.  It appeared the fever had broken.  You woke up smiling, ate a great breakfast, and played all day long.  But as Sunday evening came, the fever returned. It was another night full of alternating meds, cool baths, and prayers. 

 

Daddy stayed home with you Monday. And you remained nearly fever free. Tuesday came and Nana Becki took you to the doctor, where you were diagnosed with a sinus infection.  The doctor gave you some medicine and said you should be on the mend soon. Yesterday, we sent you to school, and you were so excited to see your teachers and friends. When I came to pick you up, you didn't want to leave.  I was relieved to see that you were feeling better.  However, I noticed that you had the beginnings of a rash on your neck. I began to check you out and quickly realized that the rash was covering you from head to toe.  On top of everything else, Joycie, you've now developed an allergy to penicillin.  We are waiting on a new antibiotic and hopefully we can put a close to this long, exhausting week.

 

Daddy and I are tired.  This week has been full of trials. However, we have managed to make it thru them relatively unscathed.  So what did we do?  

 

1. We prayed - I can not stress enough that pray needs to be a vital part of your life.  This week we've prayed for your healing, strenghth of us, peace, and admittedly - that we could get more sleep.

 

2.  We played - On Monday, Daddy stayed home with you. He spent his time encouraging you to play with your toys. And he says that it helped you to feel better.

 

3.  We sought stress relievers - For Mama, that meant having a good cry in the shower on Sunday morning. For Daddy that meant a long nap with you. And for all of us, a nice long walk on Monday afternoon.  

 

Joycie - I would love nothing more than to spare you all pain, heartache, and the storms of life. However, just as I was unable to lower your fever, I can not keep trouble from your life. Instead, Daddy and I will work to teach you how to handle the difficult times.  And above all else, please know that we are always here if you need us.

 

Love,

 

Mama and Daddy

Happy Birthday Joycie !

Joycelen,

For 365 days, I knew this moment would come…the moment when you would celebrate your first year of life. The moment when I would sit down and try to find the words to capture all the emotions that the last year has encapsulated. And even with all of the forethought, the planning, the preparing, this milestone has taken me by surprise. I catch myself looking for the sleepy infant that I brought home from the hospital – instead I find myself looking into the face of a toddler. And while the tinest part of my heart misses the newborn you, I would not trade one moment of the last year for anything.

Nearly from the moment of your birth, you made it known that a) you did things on your own time table and b) you, much like your Daddy are laid-back. Like any new Mommy, I read about developmental milestones, the projected timetables, and watched your constantly for signs of the first smile, you rolling over, sitting up. Each time it would seem that you were taking forever to reach the next milestone, and then over night you’d be doing it. And when I would get so excited at your new accomplishment, you’d flash me a look as if to say “Mama, chill out. I got this growing up thing covered.” Prior to your arrival, I had prepared myself for brining home a screaming, crying, colicky infant. Instead, your Daddy and I brought home a baby who slept for nearly 4 hours a stretch, started sleeping thru the night at 2 months old, and transitioned to her own crib at 6 months. You never seem to meet a stranger, freely giving smiles to new people, and rarely do you get upset – unless we are slow to feed you or tell you “No.”

Joycie – you are dynamic and full of life – showing no fear at taking on new challenges, rather that’s a new daycare or learning to walk. Each night you fall asleep with a smile, and wake up with the same. You are utterly content in who you are – and that has been a constant lesson that you have taught me……to be at peace with who I am, where I am, and to simply enjoy the moment.

I suppose like any other letter to you, I should include your stats:

- You are wearing size 18 months clothing, size 3 diapers.

-You weigh 21 pounds, and seem to be growing an inch every day. I do not have an accurate length measurement, because you never stay still long enough.

- You are a busy little girl, who loves to toddle around the house, or run if you have your push toy from Nana and Papa.

- You have come to discover a new found appreciation for the outdoors. You especially like riding on the tractor with Daddy and swinging on the porch swing with Mama.

- You vocabulary is still growing, with Mama, Dadda, and bye-bye being your most frequent used words.

- With your two teeth, you are managing to transition to nearly all table food, and really like spaghetti, yogurt, and eggs. You still dislike peas (and I can’t say that I blame you).

The last 365 days have been an adventure, Joycelen, full of twists, turns, bumps, a few bruises, the occasional bought of tears (yours and mine), lots of hugs, and big wet kisses. I have loved every single minute of it…..and look forward to seeing what the next year has in store for us.

I love you baby!

~Mama

Reflecting on a Year Ago….

365 days ago, I was physically miserable.  My body had reached maximum capacity – with Joycelen taking up every available inch of space. I ached all over – from the top of my head to the bottom of my very swollen feet. A pregnancy that had been pain and problem free for the 38 weeks prior, suddenly felt like torture. And to add insult to injury, my body showed no true signs of beginning to prepare for labor. Therefore, a year ago, our amazing OB/BYN Dr. H told M and I that she was going to induce me on March 4th.  And that night, with much aniticpation, excitement, and a healthy dose of fear, we made the final preparations to welcome Joycelen Rebecca into the world.

A Letter to Joycie - #1

Joycelen,

Each month I write you letters that detail how much you have grown and changed in the previous four weeks. And each month, I print those letters out and tuck them away in your baby book, in the hopes that years from now, we can read them together. And when I am no longer with you, you can read those letters and feel the love that I have for you.

I enjoy writing those letters. But lately I have been feeling as though I should write more letters. Letters that speak to you about more than just how you are growing up (way too fast for my liking) – letters than impart some of the wisdom that I have gained in the 28 years on this earth.

I also want to have these letters to refer back to – so when I encountered a parenting situation in the future, I can remember how I wanted to handle it, what I wanted to say, what I wanted to do.

So today, on Thursday, September 30, 2010, I am going to impart my first bit of wisdom to you.

“Don’t envy others!”

Joycie, it’s a simple fact of life that someone is always going to have somthing you want. The popular girl at school will date the boy you are secretly crushing on, a coworker will get the promotion you wanted, a friend will buy a new vehicle while you drive your old car.

You’ll first reaction will likely be envy. It would be easy to give into this emotion. You will list the reasons that the boy should like you better (Side note: Any boy who thinks you are anything less than amazing should be ignored, but that’s another lesson for another day), why you worked harder to earn the promotion, or why it is makes no sense for your friend to buy a new vechicle in her current financial situation.

You will probably find yourself wishing that you had what the other person has…don’t. I promise that there are things going on that you do not know about, problems that you can not see, worries/fears/questions that are plaguing the other person.

Envy is a waste of time and energy. Instead, of envying, you should be happy for the other person. And then focus on all the good that is in your own life. Sit down and list out all the things that you have been blessed with and I promise, you will soon forget about the boy, the promotion, or the car.

Okay, I would write more, but you are sitting in my lap and keep banging the keys, so I will close this letter.

I love you, pook!

~Mama