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Powered by LifeTypeHappy birthday, Noah! Welcome to the double digits. Ten was one of my favorite ages. I am sorry that I can't give you my Be 10 Again! tshirt, but you are just too big! But no matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby. I love you!
Noah is an artist:
Noah is goofy:
Noah is a good brother:
Noah likes biking:
Noah loves to read and be read to and he loves to snuggle. May he have many more decades to enjoy!
6/17 - Nathaniel gets three molars at once. upper left, lower left, lower right. The upper right made its appearance 6/22.
6/21 - Haircut day for some. (It's pretty hard to get everyone in one day.) I cut Noah's hair, and some of Jeremiah's (he got impatient and I decided it was better to stop than to get myself impatient.) Faith asked if she could help me with Joy's hair. She did a very careful job. I had her start on the bangs conservatively and when it was a nice, even job, I let her do the next centimeter. After that, she trimmed the rest of Joy's hair - to that perfect length that really sets off Joy's adorable face - right above shoulder length. I really only had minimal fixing up to do. So then she asked if she could to mine! This one was one hundred percent Faith, nobody needed to do any fixing up. I had not had a haircut since just before Joy was born (that makes it five and a half years!). I love my new haircut! It is much more manageable, but still long, just about 4-6 inches shorter.
6/24 - Jeremiah and Joy came upstairs with tape all over their faces and fingers. Jeremiah explained, "Armor! We goin' battling!"
Highlights from my Mother's Day, in addition to playing handbells:
Nathaniel went in to the bid kids' room to give Jeremiah a morning hug and "hewwo!"
Nathaniel belly laughs.
Jonathan sang all the verses of Fairest Lord Jesus while washing dishes.
I typed up my memorial service reflection for a presentation we did at our church recently. I don't think it has been typed up before, so I thought I'd post it now. (Am I allowed to be amazed at myself?)
Heather's memorial reflection, March 16, 2003
Isaac Christopher Daley - a blessing for nine months and two days
This reflection is going to focus on the blessings God has brought to our lives through Isaac.
I'll start by reading my diary entry written one year ago today - March 16,2002. That was the day we confirmed my suspicions that there was a new life growing in me. That new life was Isaac.
"It is the miracle of life! God has opened my womb and breathed a new creation! It is a miracle - God created a whole new soul and has placed it in me for safekeeping. May I be worthy. I am so excited about being pregnant, but I do not want to lose sight of God. I am trying and praying for the right focus. It does help to be utterly amazed by the reality of a new person, a new creation - that really, Jon and I had only a small part in making. God is the one who chooses to bring life. God is the one who knows the perfect timing. I think that I might not have been in awe as much if we had gotten pregnant earlier, and so I am very thankful for God's timing. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!!!!"
I cannot express the awe of watching the miracle unfold. I had always been pro-life, but this first-hand experience showed me why. This person was not *my* choice, though I desired him; he was *God's* choice.
We had prayed to receive this baby, and God had granted him to us, in His own good time. We prayed for his health, his growth, his birth. We talked to him and sang to him and poked him; and felt him poke us back. We listened to his heartbeat. Everything was amazing!
He was a joy to us all along. When I was tempted to complain about being big, tired, slow, etc., God quickly brought to mind that this was a blessing worth rejoicing over, and the little pains are all worth it.
As Isaac grew, so did we, and not just in the tummy department! We grew in patience and selflessness. I was not only feeding and caring for myself, but also for another, totally dependent person. Jon's patience was tried by my slower-moving thoughts, and he grew in graciousness to me.
Birth is amazing, too. God blessed me with a husband who attended to me faithfully, and He gave me the strength to persevere through a very hard labor.
The blessings did not stop just because Isaac was sick and in the hospital. On the contrary, God kept pouring. The body of Christ came to support us in every way, from near and far.
God allowed us to be with precious Isaac for two days. To hold him in my arms was an inexpressible joy! The most beautiful person I have ever seen. Made in the image of God!
A new kind of love, that of a mother for her child, hit me with great force. It opened up new understanding of God's love for us. But the greatest revelation did notcome until later, after Isaac died.
It is this: the love which God has for us is so great that He willingly sent His Son to die for us. That is the greatest blessing of them all.
It is a good thing for us that I am not God, because I would not choose on my own for my son to die in someone's place. God called Isaac from me, and made my heart willing.
It was one thing to give the opportunity of life to someone else, once God had taken him. But I would not have given Isaac to the surgeons to give his organs to someone else, if he had not already died.
Yet this is the great love of God! That He did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up as a ransom for many!
I do not understand why God numbered Isaac's days so few and it hurts very much, but even through his death, God has blessed us. He has sustained us mightily by His grace. Not only do we have to deal with the pain of death, but also the pain of investigation and unjust accusations. But yet God is still with us, keeping us from the point of no return. Sometimes we are clinging with only a fingernail. Sometimes we look around at our situation, panic, and start sinking. But then Jesus turns our faces back to His and lifts us up. He has opened our hearts to see our dependence on Him, and has softened them to His will. God also comforts us with His word. Many scriptures come to mind, or are brought to us, that fit our circumstances exactly.
I have many questions that may never be answered, but God is blessing us still. He is good and He is love.
6/1 - Nathaniel was playing with the nebulizer, dripped some of the leftover liquid, said, "Uh, oh." Then he walked to the bathroom, opened the cabinet, got out a hand towel, came back into the bedroom and wiped up his spill.
6/2 - I asked Nathaniel to put the toy cars away and he did it right away!
6/3 - Noah lost his first molar - lower left.
6/4 - Nathaniel got on the rocking moose all by himself.
6/6 - Jonathan, "Anything that's meant for school isn't as cool as something that isn't."
6/7 - Jeremiah, with finger movements, "Open the steeple, see all the guys!"
6/8 - Joy, "Hold your horses, Jeremiah!" Jeremiah, "Where my horses?!?"
Joy pronounces her friend Naomi's name as "Wyoming." (We're working on it, but it's still more like "Nyoming".)
4/26 - Jeremiah, after his first bowl of non-sugar cereal, asked for some sugar cereal.Only two pieces fell out of the box when I shook it, and he said, "Not two. I said'some', like this..." holding up several fingers.
4/29 - Jeremiah can tie knots. He tied the laces of my slippers together!
5/15 - Jeremiah and I went to the fire station to see the trucks for his special time. He recognized the five on the side (in 59) and said, "It has five on it, maybe Joy went on it." (Because she's five.)
5/15 - Jeremiah asked me, "My children in my belly, Mom?"
5/22 - Jeremiah was trying to tell me about a time when only he, Faith, and Joy were in the house, and some "people not our friends" came to our house. As I probed to get more information about this, I started to realize it must have been a dream. This was confirmed when his reply to where the rest of us were was, "Dad, you, Nanel died." But it took quite a while to convince him it wasn't real.
5/25 - Jeremiah, looking at my cousin tshirt, asking whose hand is whose. Then he asked about the coat of arms, and he said, pointing to each quadrant, "This is Grandma's house, Grandma's book, Grandma's song, Grandma's tree."
5/26 - Everyone went to St.Mary's parking lot for a bike ride. Jeremiah can go fast on his no-pedal bike now. It is actually a bit scary because I need to raise the seat for him. His arms go in a nice cross-pattern with his running legs, but it makes his steering crazy!
5/26 - Jeremiah said, "We love sun. So fun, so sparkly."
5/26 - Noah said, "I wonder if Billy will be called Bill. I hope not. Bill is so much more boring-er."
5/26 - Joy cheerfully cleaned up the table after dinner mostly by herself and ran the dishwasher.
5/28 - Jeremiah, using shovels and trucks in the sandbox at the camping place, with sheer joy, "Hi, Faith! I workin' in dirt!"
Here are the brief notes I put together about our family vacation to Baltimore. This year, the entire Daley clan was able to come (Barbara, Phil, and all their children and grandchildren!)
Thursday drive down very good, even through NYC, thanks to google traffic. Looked up heights and stories of skyscrapers.
Picnic at rest area.
Orioles game street food for dinner.
King suite with pullout couch and kid o bunk.
Friday walking to aquarium. Bus back. Pizza for dinner.
Saturday industry museum. Really neat museum, I wish I could have seen it in more detail. I go home with littles in bus.
People getting sick. Jeremiah and I stay home for dinner. Others go to inner harbor restaurant. Adventure with top of the world and elevators and fire alarm.
Sunday pirates, science center. Portuguese take out.
Hotel pool, breakfasts.