Unconditional Love

 

My 4 greatest blessing

The middle child

My only daughter

My sweet Vintage Baby

    The last picture, I took this evening of Noah and I. He will come up and put both little hands on your face and either kiss you or pinch... very hard! He was pinching tonight, but that sweet face of his, I couldn't be mad. His milestones are fresh because he's the "baby." I like to sit and go back in my memory bank and think about each child when they were Noah's age. My children are spaced pretty far apart. The older two boys are 22 & 17, the younger two are 9 & 1.5. I consider it a privilege to get to raise Noah and watch him grow. If you follow this blog, you will know that I had Noah when I was 41 years old. I thought I was too old to have a baby (clearly not.) 

    I had my first son when I was 20 years old. We did a lot of growing up together and he taught me a lot about being a mom. I had no clue what to do with a baby when he was born! It was crazy. Remember, I waxed his leg to see if they wax really worked. I still cannot believe you have a baby, and they send you home and say, "good luck." It scares me to death now when I think about back then. I had no freaking clue what to do. Thankfully I had my mom to help me figure it out.  Dylan was an easy baby/child. He's still pretty chill now as an adult. 

    Drake came as a total surprise when I was 25. I still don't know that I had any more of a clue than I did the first time, but I knew what to expect for my c-section. Drake was a good baby. He had asthma as a baby and had to have a nebulizer treatment around the clock for a few days. He would sit in his bouncy chair and be ready to run a marathon at 3 in the morning from the Pulmicort and Albuterol. Drake has ADHD (I swear from those nebulizer treatments, but the Dr. told me there was no medical proof behind that) as a mom you just know some things though. Drake is 17 now and has matured tremendously over the last 2 years. Drake and I butt heads A LOT. He's got a good heart and I know God has big plans for him! 

    Charley came when I was 33. When the Dr. told Garrett and I we were having a daughter I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what to do with girls! I have 3 sisters, no brothers, but I still did not know how to mother a daughter. But God knew I would need her. He knew that sons and daughters are different. He knew I would need a lifelong best friend. I tell her to make sure she picks my nursing home and not her brothers! She's a good girl with a tender heart! She loves with her whole heart.  She's a lot like her momma, but I see a lot of her daddy in her too!

    Sweet, sweet Noah. God knew I needed that boy. I had hoped he would be another daughter. I just thought it would be cool to have 2 boys and 2 girls. But God. He has been the joy of our lives. He's sweet and funny and maybe slightly spoiled by his siblings. He's got a stubborn streak a mile wide (he gets that from Garrett!) He gives me the energy I need to get through each day. I'm scared that when I take him to kindergarten, they are going to think I am his grandma and not his mom. Thankfully, I know enough people in the elementary school/my community that I don't think they will. I will be 47 years old when he goes to school. Charley will be a freshman in high school. The older boys will be... older.

    I never thought I would be raising kids my whole life, but here I am killing it 😂 . I am grateful for each of them and the lessons they have taught me. I try to show them that. The bible says that a woman's children are like jewels she ties around her neck.  I never in a million years thought I would have 4 of them. I hope you each have experienced the unconditional love that children bring. It's like none other. 

Wishing you sunny skies and green pastures,

McKession