Elijah:(Hebrew), The Lord is My God

      As  a child I can remember thinking how cool it was to look back at pictures and souvenirs from times past whether they were my own experiences or of someone else. In my mind questions like, 'what was I thinking when I saw this?' or 'how did we get to do that?' would come up while searching through the treasures of the past. Now, having my own family to make memories with and keep memories for I so enjoy times like Birthdays and have made it a tradition to look at baby pictures of that child the day before their birthday. Elijah will turn 3 years old on Saturday, October 1st. We will have a Lightening McQueen Birthday with Flo's V-8 Cafe, Luigi's Tires, and Sally's Cozy Cone motel, but most of all we will be making memories, taking pictures, and reminiscing on times past. So, here's a few thoughts about my almost 3 year old.
     Elijah was not a surprise to our family in the least bit. From the time Noah was about 6 months old I knew that I wanted to have another child, and that I wanted them to be close in age. I have nieces that are about 19 months apart and saw how well they got along and played well together so, naturally I thought it was a great idea. I found out I was pregnant February 2, 2008. Noah's first birthday was February 25th so they would be about 19 months apart! I had just moved jobs as we had just moved from Mountain Home to Casscoe so that Cody could go to Seminary (we thought it would be easier).  I didn't have very much morning sickness and things were going great. We wanted to find out in May if we were having a girl/boy, and we didn't find out until June because he was a little squirmy! The funny thing about Elijah is that he was the most wiggly child in my tummy out of the 3 kids. Noah was about "normal" i guess. Ellie Kate was very quiet (not a lot of movement). With Elijah I worked in the Prairie Couty DHS office and I ate good! I ordered chicken strips, honey mustard, baked potato for lunch nearly everyday from the Pizza Parlor.
     My pregnancy was going pretty good. I hated being on call and being pregnant. Leaving the house at 2:30 in the morning to find placement for foster kids when you are 7 months pregnant is NOT fun! But, he and I did it all together. We went to court (at least every month, sometimes more) for work, we went to VBS together at New Salem (Outrigger Island), we played the piano together. Then, in August Cody went in view of a call to Bethel in Morrilton. In my 8th Month of pregnancy we moved 2 hours away from family and my favorite job I'd ever had! One awesome thing was that the hospital was only 40 minutes instead of an hour and a half! In September only 3 days of being in Morrilton I started having contractions. It was still too soon for Elijah to be born (36 weeks) so Dr. Selby who had been my OB-GYN since I was 17 ( and I trusted alot) put me on Brethine to stop the contractions and I had to take the next month off work for bed rest. I had FMLA time for work which was great but it would mean that I would only get to spend 2 months after Eli was born at home with him instead of 3! I was heartbroken, but relieved all at the same time. It would save me from having to drive an hour and a half to DeValls Bluff until my transfer happened for work, but I wanted 3 full months with my new little baby!
   September passed quickly with Mid South Youth Conference, Fireproof, and other activities through the Youth Group at Bethel. Then, when Bethel was in Revival with Bro. Terry Simmons as evangelist I started having worse contractions and I was off my brethine for good by this time. So, I called my Dr. who said to lie down, take 2 tylenol and drink a large glass of water because sometimes contractions can be due to being slightly dehydrated. So, I did all of those things and they didn't really help. My mom and Daddy had come for Revival that night. I couldn't go and my mom stayed home with me. She helped me pack my hospital bag, Noah's bag, and get stuff ready just in case. Well, they went home and we figured I still wouldn't have him until the surgery date (like the 7th?). So, I just tried to go to sleep. Well, I couldn't, so i got up and got in the internet to get my mind off of things, and it just got worse and worse. Finally, I woke Cody up and said, we have to go to the hospital! He groggily got up, got ready and we got Noah ready, bless his little heart. I grabbed a blanket from the house and he kept covering his face in the car on the way there because I was yelling!! We got to St. Vincent's and had the C-Section within 1 hour of getting there! It was quick, and easy! In fact, Cody's mom and dad didn't get there from Jonesboro until about an hour and a half after he was born! I remember right after the surgery when I got to really hold him I thought it was the best day of my life up until that point. I had my little toddler, my wonderful husband, and now my New beautiful baby Eli. I had never been happier.
   The last 3 years have been an adventure with Eli. We've seen him fall, laugh, walk, cry, smile,roll over, flip over, scoot, crawl, and everything in between. We've seen him go to class for the first time in Discovery, Sunday School, and Children's Church, VBS! We've fallen in Love with Elijah Garrett Simpson, and can't imagine a day without his adorable smile and personality. When I named my Elijah, I wanted him to be reminded of the prophet Elijah who was such a Godly man! He prayed for a drought, God gave it. He prayed for rain, God granted it. He prayed fire down on the Baals, and God provided! I desire that my Elijah would Pray and God would grant him the things not because he's some great person, but because in his inward self he truly desires to seek and honor Christ no matter the cost. Garrett is my Elijah's middle name. It is a family name to remind him of the importance that family is to have in one's life, and Simpson is the last name to remind him that although we don't know who Cody's real parents are that we are blessed to have grandparents on both sides that  love and care for our family. It also reminds us that God has and will "adopt" us all into his family if we will accept. Lord, please help my Eli to grow physically, and spiritually. Most of all I pray that one day he will accept you as his personal Savior. I pray not only that he'll accept you as his Savior, but he will LIVE out loud for you, Just as Elijah did in the Old Testament. Thank You God, for the 3 years of life you have blessed us with in Elijah.
Your Girl,
Jamie

Fun at 4

Yesterday we celebrated a little of Noah's birthday with my parents, my sister and her family. I told Beth (my sister) that they would not have had to get Noah a birthday present as long as they brought Trey to play with Noah. They had a lot of fun spending time together. I hate that we don't live closer so our kids could play more, but that's just part of the "ministry" so to speak. Although now that I'm not working outside our home anymore we do get to visit more often.

My mom came up Thursday afternoon so I could go with Cody to the AYC supper at East End MBC in Hensley. Ellie Kate and I went as Cody's "dates" and we had a really good time. That was the first time I had ever been to the supper and it was great to see some "old" college friends, like Stephanie and Isaac Woodard, Josh and Angela Edwards, and Joey and Syndal Cook. It's so amazing watching our children play together and realize how much our kids have changed our lives since we were together last. Having children often puts your priorities in place.

Back to my Noah, when Cody and I found out we were having a child only 5 weeks after we were married it was a shock! We didn't know what we were in for by any means, but God worked on us, and is continuing to work and make us more like him so that we can shape our children into who HE wants them to be. I have all kinds of plans for my kids, but I just want what God wants for them, and I've considered what if that means Noah or Elijah going into the Army? Would I still say that then? Or if God called them to a mission field, would I be okay then? I pray I would be.

This week I pray God will flood my mind with memories of Noah when we first brought him home from the hospital, and bring back to memory all the times Cody, Noah and I went to the lake when we lived in Mountain Home. It has not all been fun and games, like the set of tubes he had put in at 14 months old or the ear infections prior to his tubes being put in. God has been with us through it all every tear, every laugh, every sigh, he's seen it all through his eyes. What will the next year hold for my Noah? T-ball, soccer, size 4t pants, 4 year old sunday school class, the Helpers Discovery class. We have church camp, zoo trip, jumpzone, and lots of other trips this year. I cannot wait to watch him explore at 4!