One.

Today is my sweet Auri's birthday.  He is one year old... and what a wonderful, stressful, exhilarating, addicting, awesome year is has been!!  (I am doing my best to hold it together) Our Lil' Punkin at the pumpkin patch! 

What a precious little boy I am honored to call my son. His giggle can turn my day into the greatest one, and his snuggles make me feel so loved. Even when he's fussy, his tender smile can make me melt.  He is my greatest accomplishment.  

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him."  Psalm 127:3 

God trusted me to be his mother.  Wow. Thank you Lord for loving me enough to allow me to experience life with this little spunky, hilarious, always hungry, but always smiling little boy!  I am humbled by this special gift, and pray Auri knows just how much he is loved.


A few of Auri's favorite things:

Sleeping            Bath time! 

  

We Love to EAT!

(and play peek-a-boo at the same time)

Play at the Park 

Say "GOAL!!"

Maurice Joseph, you are the single best thing in our lives and may you always feel as much love as our hearts hold for you. May the rest of your years be as life-changing as your first one.

When Auri was 10 weeks old, I wrote a prayer and posted it on my blog.  This prayer was  written in pure bliss, and perhaps exhaustion. ha!  And I believe my guardian angel (Mama) gives me gentle reminders of how precious life is, and one look at my lovable son makes life a little easier.  I am re-posting my daily prayer for my son title "God Bless", or you can access the full blog post here... God Bless

:: God bless the tiny feet that will learn to crawl, then walk, then run to do "all things boy."    God bless the tiny feet that will one day kick a soccer ball. This is obviously a lifelong dream of Jonathan's... to have a son that shares the love of soccer with him.  We will love and support him in every aspect of his life, wherever his tiny feet take him. God bless his tiny, perfectly long and narrow feet, that he will stand tall in his beliefs and be confident in who he is.

God bless the tiny hands that rest so perfectly in mine when he's sleeping.  Auri is quite the wiggle worm, so "holding hands" doesn't really happen much. But I am so in love when he is relaxed enough to rest his tiny fingers and cling to mine.  God bless the sweet, wrinkly little hands that will one day be strong enough to climb a tree, or write in a journal, or turn the pages of his bible.

God bless the tiny ears that will hear every ounce of sound that surrounds us. May he listen with respect to adults, may he listen with kindness to his friends, and may he listen with wonder during church.  May he use his tiny, perfectly shaped ears to know and hear the difference between good and bad in this corrupt world. I pray he takes everything in and learns from every experience.  I pray he listens to God's voice for guidance and faithfully hears His purpose for his life.  God bless the tiny ears that will hear his parents in the other room, talking about how proud we are of him. I pray he can laugh at a good joke...and even laugh at a bad joke!

God bless the tiny mouth that will one day be able to speak. I pray he uses his words to be respectful, and funny, and make everyone feel loved with kind words.  God bless the lips that will one day say "mama."  Where I don't want to rush his growing up, because I am so in love with this little-bity human.  But when the day comes from my son to call me "mama," I can almost guarantee I will melt with happiness.  Mama, what a beautiful word.  Mama, a word that is used to describe the very woman that I have known the longest, that loves me more than anyone in this world.  God bless Mamas.

God bless the tiny eyes that will grow to view the world around him. His tiny, beautiful, deep blue eyes have so much to view.  I pray he uses his eyes to see, and his vision to learn.  I pray he doesn't have the "scriber vision."  but seriously.  It's a thing.  And every person in my family has poor vision. Let's also pray he likes carrots.  Because "they say" carrots help a developing child's vision.  On a different note, may Auri find comfort in the beauty of God's nature.  No matter where he is, I hope he will be able to stop in wonder at His beautiful creations.  I pray that anything he lays his precious little eyes on, he can find a positive outlook.

God bless his tiny heart. For he is so innocent and loving and full of hope for a successful future.  I pray he will love God, and love people.
God bless his tiny mind that he will one day make decisions that will be pleasing to him, and to his parents.  In the corrupt world we live in, I know it is only getting more difficult to have the wisdom to do what is right and the respect to be firm in a decision.  I pray he has confidence in everything he does and selflessly interacts with people in his community.

God bless Jonathan.  We created Auri, and he truly is a perfect combination of the two of us.  Wow.  Ponder on that.

God bless our parents, who brought us into this world.  Jonathan and I never knew we were in for the greatest blessing of a lifetime. Our parents who prayed over us, and taught us to be the parents we are today. I feel so special to share this role with the most special people in our lives. 

God bless my son.  He is my everything.  I never knew how I "did life" without him.  He is perfect in my eyes, and what a perfect addition to our family.  I pray he uses every bit of his tiny little self to one day glorify our Lord. It is a cliche' to say, "Someday I will change the world."  But that really is our dream for him, to change the world for the better.  Truth is, he's already changed my world.  He IS my world, and his dad and I will do whatever it takes for him to move mountains.::

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AURI!!! AND Happy "birth"day to me and Jonathan! We made it a year of being parents!  Turns out, it was harder than we anticipated, but way more rewarding that words can express.  whew, now... let's celebrate!