Growing Up

It’s 11:00pm and I’m way overdue for bed, but I still have some energy left in me. I will regret the decision to stay up late when I get my early morning wake up call also known as a sweet baby girl talking (loudly) to herself in her crib. But we are overdue for an update so here we go!

This has been a big week for baby girl. I can’t believe how much one little person can change and grow in just a short amount of time. I can’t believe that I have an almost six month old baby. Every day I am in awe of her. So what’s happened this week? Well, for starters we moved (finally) to a “four hour schedule” with a bedtime nursing. We’ve moved to formula, which has really helped her to stay full much longer (more thoughts on formula in a future post). She tried sweet potatoes for the first time this week and loves them. We have officially unswaddled both arms for nighttime sleeping- we stayed with one arm in one arm out for a long time. She had a growth spurt for a few days and today moved out of it.  We survived a 13 hour car ride to Florida and back. And lastly, she can sit up for a few seconds at a time by herself without any support! It’s been quite the week in baby world! I’m so proud of this little girl.

Tomorrow is Easter. I’ll admit that this Holy week has not been as full of intentional reflection and growth as I had hoped. But, while I was doing some chores tonight I was thinking over what we’ll be celebrating tomorrow- the death and resurrection of Jesus. Sometimes, I think it is easy to take this lightly and just get caught up in the “act” of Easter: get dresses, go to mass, open Easter baskets. But, then I got to thinking about what sacrifice was made for us. I think now, as I have my own child, I am realizing what a monumental act this was. It is not something to be taken lightly. It is not something to be remembered for a day once a year. God gave his son so that we may live. God gave his child. God gave us, me and you, his joy, his boy, his cherished son so that we may live. He watched Jesus grow up. He watched him eat different foods for the first time. He watched him sleep, and take trips. He saw every scrape, every tear, every laugh, and every smile. And He gave him up. For us. For me. For you. I don’t know that I can say that I could do that. And when I think about sacrificing my child and what that would be like, it wrenches my heart. I realize just how much God loves us to be willing to give Jesus for us. And so, I will not celebrate lightly this year. I will celebrate the Son that was given so that I may have life, and have it to the full. Happy Easter friends.