The Ellsworths: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

One year ago today, this precious baby was born. It may have been his birthday, but I was the one that got the present. My sweet Isaac has been a blessing and pure delight since the day he came into the world.

Having had a miscarriage before Alana and another very difficult one when she was about three, Tom and I weren't sure we would be able to have any more children. Then years later, I got pregnant with Peter. We were thrilled! However, Peter's life began with open-heart surgery at two months old and a long recovery from that and several other complications. Because of that, I felt like I lost Peter's baby days. His entire first year of life was a blessing because he was here and improving every day, but it was also stressful. Peter was recovering from all he had been through, and so were we. I was always sad that Peter's first year had been so hard, but my most prominent emotion was total gratitude that he was here and God had seen fit to spare his life.

How little did I know that God was not done blessing me in the area of family. Because He is aware of every single emotion and thought of this mother's heart, He knew I missed something with Peter. God gave Tom and me the surprise of our lives when we found out I was pregnant with Isaac. We were shocked. I love the look on my children's faces when we surprise them with something really special, and I'm guessing God does too when He surprises His children. It took Tom and me every day of the nine months I was pregnant to adjust to the idea of three!

After an extremely pleasant (although painful) labor experience, Isaac was here and I was in love. I am not normally a believer in "love at first sight," but that was certainly true with Isaac. I loved him immediately and I love him so much more now.

Isaac's first year of life has been so fun and SO easy! He ate like a champ right from the start and he still loves to eat. He slept through the night early on and did it consistently from two months on. Isaac transitioned easily from sleeping in our room to sleeping in a room with his brother when he was not even four months old. I thought for sure that would be one of the most difficult things we would face, but like everything else where Isaac is concerned, it was a breeze. He loves Peter and I couldn't separate them for anything now.

Here is Isaac on his birthday a year ago.

Here is Isaac today.

At one, Isaac:

has 8 teeth
drinks from a sippy cup all day, but still takes one bottle at night before bed (which I'm going to hang onto for as LONG AS POSSIBLE)
sleeps from about 8:30 to 7:30 - and wakes up partying with his brother in the morning:)
still takes 2 naps a day - a morning nap of an hour and an afternoon nap of about 2 hours (although I don't think this will last for a whole lot longer)
eats pretty much all regular food - graham crackers are his favorite!
crawls everywhere, but is pulling up and walking along furniture - I think walking is still another month or two away for him
plays VERY contentedly
is happiest in his mama's arms

Isaac also LOVES balls - of any and every kind. His first word (other than "Mama" and "Dada") is "ball" and he says it all the time. It's funny because Peter has always been into vehicles (trucks, cars, trains, etc.) from the time he was a little baby, and Isaac seems to be into balls. It will be funny to watch if these differences continue.

Isaac also loves these two people! If I let Alana and Peter play outside while Isaac is awake, then he just crawls around and whines, or stand at the sliding back door and watches them. Isaac is so funny because he doesn't have to be playing with them, but he wants them nearby always.

We chose Isaac's name for two reasons. One, because of the story of Isaac when Abraham was going to sacrifice him out of obedience and God provided a ram instead. We could definitely relate to that experience after all we had went through with Peter, but also Abraham said, "The Lord provides" after that and provision from God is what we have learned to depend on in a whole new way ever since Peter was first diagnosed. Financial provision, mental provision, emotional provision, but mostly "grace sufficient" provision.

The second reason is because the name Isaac literally means "laughter." After a time of many tears, God brought us laughter.

We are so very blessed.