Where did my baby go?

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I blinked.

And when I wake up tomorrow, he'll be four.

FOUR.

I remember like it was yesterday being pregnant with him, and being in labor with him. Having never experienced labor before, I had no idea. I remember calling the hospital and telling them that I still had almost two weeks before my c-section was scheduled and that I was having really weird pains. (The other two were scheduled c-sections as well, and they didn't surprise me by coming early.) I remember being home on that Sunday thinking that maybe I should pack my hospital bag, I remember calling my mom and telling her that I thought the September baby might turn out to be an August baby, and I remember calling Jim at church and saying "Um, I think we should go to the hospital." I remember dropping the girls off at Cyndee's and being unable to stop crying, which is kind of funny because I also remember being completely shocked when the nurse told me my doctor was coming in to do my c-section that night, that I was indeed in labor.

Brendan was born at 11:44 pm, and I had general anesthesia for his birth. I remember being so out of it when I saw him the first time, but I also remember thinking "well, that's different!" He was tiny compared to the girls (7 lb 6 oz, compared to Gabbi's 9 lb, and Madelyn's 9 lb 11 oz) and he didn't have tons of black hair like they did.

I remember watching the clock the next morning just waiting for it to be late enough that I could start calling people to tell them he was here. I remember how quickly Micah got there too. :) (Not an easy feat, considering that she was 9 mo pregnant herself!)

(Clearly, I could go on and on here ... I won't.)

To the sweet boy who can make me mad and then come up and hug me and ask if I'm happy now, and who insists that he's 2 and will tomorrow turn 4, and who has jumped off of every piece of furniture in my house, and who sings "You've Got a Friend in Me", and who wakes me up at dawn asking for chocolate milk every morning, and who has cute freckles and fair skin like his mama, and who has his daddy's eyes ...

I wish you happy birthday. I am so thankful for you, little one, and so thankful to God for giving me the blessing of you.

Some of my favorite pictures from the last four years: