Baby Isaiah turns ONE!!!

Our baby is no longer a baby, but a BIG ONE YEAR OLD!!!  Although Isaiah's arrival into my womb was a slight surprise (shhhh, don't tell my NFP instructor), I'm not surprised at all to find that I cannot imagine my life or our family without him in it.  He has been an easy, mellow fellow, a joy, and a blessing that God knew our family needed.

One big milestone that he met just this week is that he started walking!  OK, maybe "walking" is a slight exaggeration, but he is taking a few shuffle-steps from point A to point B, and then he usually decides that crawling is much faster so he purposely falls down.  I forgot how adorable is a baby on wobbly legs.  I just love it and want to scoop him up and kiss him every time he does it...and so I do!  :)

His birthday celebration was very low-key.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we didn't have a party and that I didn't even bake him a cake.  This is what happens with the 5th child.  He is loved every bit as much as the previous siblings, but there just isn't as much time for all the hoopla and planning.  I remember how important it used to be to me to have a "perfect party," with "perfect gifts" and "perfect pictures" to put in my baby's "perfect scrapbook."  Sigh.  It makes me tired just thinking about how hard I used to work for perfection.  Now my kids are stuck with a very imperfect mommy who doesn't have time to scrapbook or organize parties, but who still makes sure her kids feel very loved and special.

So, for Isaiah's special day, Grandma Jean was still here visiting and took our family out to Perkins for brunch.  We ordered Isaiah a chocolate muffin with a Reese's peanut butter cup on top, and he was perfectly pleased (I'm sure it tasted much better than anything I could attempt to cook anyway!)  He had no party guests, just his family.  No presents, just the presence of those who love him and thank God for him in our lives.  That was perfect enough for me, and I think he thought so too :)

Oh, how I love this sweet birthday boy...  I wonder what he will be when he grows up... I wonder if his hair will stay red...  I wonder if he will ever become a big brother or will he stay our baby forever...  I hope and pray that he will always know how much he is loved, and that no matter how old he is he will know that my arms will ALWAYS be open to embrace him!

Happy Birthday, Isaiah!

I LOVE YOU!!!