6 years ago...

Six years ago I welcomed Chad Herbert Jr. into this world! My life was never the same again and it was certainly for the better! I can't believe it has been six years, they have been wonderful. I reflect often how fast the years go and it makes me so sad to see him (and my other two boys) grow and change....of course, it is exciting at the same time so I treasure each moment God gives to me with them. I kiss their tears away, laugh at their silly songs and jokes, and relish each hug and kiss.

Six years. Wow. Chad has grown into a little man, recently and surprises me with his deep and mature conversations. His big heart shows through every day as he takes care of his younger two brothers tenderly and lovingly. He is creative and bright. Respectful and patient. God is working in his heart and I see it everyday.


I love you so much, little Chad!! God has HUGE plans for you--I can't wait to see!
With ALL my LOVE, Mama~




Here is Chad Jr's birth story written by our wonderful doula at the birth, Nicole Murn!

Birth Story for Chad Herbert Reiser Jr.

May 21, 2005

Dear Chad Jr. :

                The day that you came into the world was the most anticipated day in your parents’ whole life.  Never have I seen two more excited parents to be.   They exerted an air of peace and hope and pure anxiousness to meet their precious son.

                Your Dad called me at 10:30 am on Friday May 20, 2005.  He told me that your Mom was having contractions every 10 minutes.  I told them to hang out at home, eat lunch and rest…  Looked like today was the day you were making your entrance.  I talked to the two of them on and off all day.  She was resting and handling her contractions like a champ.  At around 6:00 pm, they became a bit restless, as expected.  They called me and told me that the nurses had called them and told them that there scheduled induction at 8:00 pm that night would have to be pushed back to 10:00 pm.  This was a good thing for your Mom.  You just weren’t ready to come quite yet.

                So at 11:00 pm your Mom and Dad were settled into a hospital room at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia.  Her doctor came in and checked her and she was dilated to 3 centimeters and 90%effaced.  That was so encouraging for her!  At 12:30 am her doctor, Dr. Dimon, broke her water in order to speed up her labor a little bit.  Your Dad called me back and told me to rest and not to come to the hospital just yet.  At 1:30 am, he called again and said that your Moms contractions were a lot more intense than they had been before and could I come to the hospital now.  I packed my things and off I went.  I was so excited to meet you! 

                When I got there your Mom and Dad were so excited but tiring very quickly.  They had both been awake all day and hadn’t slept at all so they were fading fast.  She was in a bit of pain so we were changing positions, doing massages and focusing through each and every contraction.  Your Mom labored without any pain medication until 5:00 am.   At that point she was too tired to continue.  She had a fever and was given antibiotics and she requested that she be given Nubane.  It allowed her to sleep until 7:50 am.  Then she awoke in more pain than before.  She was checked again and was dilated to 5 centimeters and 100 % effaced. 

                An anesthesiologist came and administered an epidural to your Mom at 7:50 am.  That way she wasn’t feeling contractions anymore and she could sleep in order to get ready for your arrival.  Your Daddy and I went to have breakfast while she was resting.  We talked for a while and although he was so tired, there was still such an air of excitement.

     At 10:30 am, your Mom woke up and was checked again.  This time we had great news! She was dilated to 8 centimeters!!!  Good job little one.  You were working hard to come out, but something happened after that check.  Your Moms labor completely stopped.  No one knew why but she didn’t have any change at all for 2 hours.  So, she was given Pitocin to start things again.  It was time for you to arrive. 

               

                Pitocin was given to Mom at 12:30 and by 3:00 pm she was telling me that it was time to push, she couldn’t sit still.  Looked like the moment of your big arrival was finally here. 

               

                So, the nurses came in and your Daddy and I took our places on either side of Mom and she pushed.  She pushed so hard for 2 hours.  Daddy and I kept telling her what a good job she was doing and how you were coming.  Your Daddy was nothing but sweet to your Mommy.  He told her over and over again that he loved her, that she was wonderful, that he was so proud of her.  They never could have done this without one another.

                At 5:17 pm, a blessing was bestowed upon your parents.  You were born weighing in at 9 lbs, 7 ounces and 20 inches long.  You were beautiful.  Daddy cried, Mommy cried and so did I.  You were just perfect.  You were placed on Mommy’s chest where she and Daddy could take a quick look at their little blessing.   You had a full head of hair and the first thing Mommy said to you was “I love you so much. I cant believe you are here”. 

After the nurses checked you out, it was determined that you had a fever from Mommy’s fever.  So they told Daddy that you needed to go to the nursery and get some antibiotics just to make sure you were ok.  They handed you to Daddy and told him to let your Mommy kiss you and say goodbye for a few minutes.   They were a little scared but I reassured them that it was ok and that you would be taken care of.  I knew you were a strong little guy.

So, Daddy took you to Mommy and she and him told you that they loved you and would see you soon.  They thanked God for you and they both kissed you and then each other.   It was a sweet moment that I was blessed to witness. 

Amanda, Chad, and Chad Jr. Thank you so much for allowing me to be blessed with this awesome experience.  As a couple, you are inspiring.  You are the best team I have ever seen and you have a beautiful new addition to your family.  I wish you nothing but the best and all the blessings in the world.  Thank you for showing me how having so much faith can lead to such a great reward.    

All My Love,

Nicole L. Murn

A Tonsilitis Thanksgiving

Wow!! I cannot believe Christmas is soon approaching! I got behind somewhere between the change of seasons and in the endless heap of laundry that is always piling up! With a baby on my hip life is a tad crazy from day to day and we usually welcome the unexpected turn of events from day to day with wide arms (Well, what choice do we really have!?) Well, with so much time missed in between I will only write of our Thanksgiving holiday, I so badly had wanted to list some things I was thankful for but never obviously got around to it. Instead, I was able to actually write them out on a peice of paper and stick it inside our thankful box. (See Click here to see blog entry from His Loving Presence about thankful box)

For Thanksgiving it was becoming a bit of a tradition to meet up with family in a cozy town called Frankenmuth. They celebrate Christmas all year around so when Thanksgiving rolls around it is a magical city indeed! Lights galore, horse and carriages, and the birth of Christ celebrated and proclaimed. The food is pretty amazing to boot. So, for a bit of holiday shopping in the tiny shops that line the quaint streets and a family style dinner we've been doing that and looking quite forward to it, too. Well, a few days before our trip my poor hubby starts coming down with a dreadful cold...which turns into a horrible sore throat..which leads us to cancel our trip. He is miserable and in tons of pain which at times, was pretty scary and we contemplated a ER trip at one point.

I was pretty dismayed and dissapointed, especially since I had not planned on cooking a Thanksgiving meal. The eve of I scanned the papers and placed a call to Krogers to see if they had any more premade Thankgiving meals. They did! Seemed like a huge blessing and load lifted at the time!! Chad of course, come Thanksgiving couldn't really even think about eating and thinking of it now, probably lucky he couldn't ...the food from Kroger was pretty bad LOL.

I was feeling pretty sorry that we couldn't go to Frankenmuth and all our plans were "ruined" (At the time, everything seems pretty hopeless even though I knew we would take this trip the following weekend granted Chad felt better...Silly me!) I felt so bad for Chad who was lifelessly napping on the couch. I just felt crummy! But, as I mused more about how bad all the circumstances were around me I concluded I was actually making things much worse then they were. Of course, Chad felt horrible. Yes he did. But he was home, with his family. We were TOGETHER! He would recover. I thought of all who were in the hospital, eating a Thanksgiving meal and suffering from a disease that would rob them of their life eventually. I thought of those who were home but ALONE because they had lost their spouse. I thought of those who had NO food on the table or for that matter had no table, no home, no bed. I thought of those who have no hope. I had plans to go to a magical little Christmas town with my beautiful family for the next weekend. I have many, many things to look forward to. Some do not.

So, no matter your circumstance there is always a reason to stop the self pity and thank God for His Goodness.

I hope everyone was able to give thanks to the Lord this Thanksgiving and truly be thankful for everything He has given.


PS~ We were convinced Chad had tonsiltitis but as it would have it, he had strep throat we found out! But for the sake of having a catchy blog title, I will keep it tonsilitis hehe!!! :~)

Serving

When we raise our children, we train our children. This is a pretty basic concept, obviously we know this. But have you ever, as a parent thought about all the sacrifice you put into raising your children? Motherhood is a serving job, we give our all to be a mom and to help our children along life's way. Well, as we do this we are also training (although we may not acknowledge this verbally) our children to be serving. Our children see everything we do and begin to mimic this. We see this in their wanting to be more grown up and do tasks on their own or when they want to bake in the kitchen alongside us, etc. Have you ever taken the time out and looked at your children serving others? Perhaps your child has done something nice for their sibling or taken time out from what they are doing to see how you are feeling when it's been a trying day. Don't sell yourself short, mother! You are modeling a servants heart everyday for your child!
Something that comes to my mind is over the last few days I have been very tired and worn out. Chad Jr not only once but three times has given me out of the blue pick-me-up/feel better cards that he himself has created! They are such little treasures and I know he saw the joy in my eyes when he gave them to me. It may not seem like much, but coming from a 4.5 year old, those homemade cards where right from the heart and the best he could give me! The Lord also knew that of course, and they really did cheer me up!
I figure it is a good thing to be serving our children, of course not becoming slaves to our children--LOL but giving our all everyday in little things makes an impression upon a small child's heart. Soon, if you look you will see your child serving, too. The best is always yet to come, isn't that what they say? My husband looks forward (as much as you really can, anyway) to when hopefully his sons will take care of him. This is another thought, isn't it!? :) The ideas of this are endless, thank God for a serving mother's heart!!