Photos by Katie

The talented Katie (my bff from college) took some shots during Thanksgiving, well actually, she demanded to take some shots! As expected, they came out super cute. Check out her other work: www.katieosgood.com

Letter to Aiden (faith and love)

I was reading about my co-worker's journey through open-heart surgery. Her outlook on life is incredible and her faith is unshakable. She is so committed to her faith and she really lives each day genuinely happy and free of fear and worry. When the thoughts started entering her mind that she might not live through the procedure, she thought of writing letters to her children and husband. She thought of saying goodbye, she wanted to share all the words that she had in her heart for everyone she loved. But just as she grabbed her stationary, she felt the Lord's presence, she knew he was there. And, she thought to herself, "why am I fearful now? I need my faith to be strong now more than ever." So she put the pen and paper away, and prayed. She wrote about how she felt his love and even saw "signs" that he was with her and her family the entire time. Her admittance number was 143143 (I love you, I love you), little "signs" like these brought smiles to her loved one's frightened faces. I cried as I read her letter (she sent it out to the entire company). She even sent out her daughter's blog post, which also made me cry. Not because I was sad, but because I was touched by her (and her family's) faithfulness, devotion and love for God and each other. It inspired me to research some psalms to remind me, each day, to practice faith, show my love, and to let-go of worry. She wrote about lessons she learned and I included some of them below. Each day is a gift and as I prepare to be a mom myself, I want to be able to share God's love with my son and instill in him the positive outlook, faithfulness, devotion and love that she practices and shares with her family.

Fear is the absence of Faith-- "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' John 14:27.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. --"Don't worry about anything instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"The LORD is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid? The LORD protects me from danger - so why should I tremble." Psalm 27:1

"Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory." Psalm 50:15

Set your worries and troubles aside, God will provide. -- "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you." 1 Peter 5:7

"Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." Psalm 55:22

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea." Psalm 46:1-2

"They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them." Psalm 112:7

"I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid." John 14:27

Someone once wrote, "Worry is an old man with a bent head, carrying a load of feathers he thinks is lead." --"Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not...Your heavenly Father already knows your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6: 27-30, 32-34

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us - they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation." Romans 5:3-4

"So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:6-7

My sweet Aiden,

When you feel overwhelmed, fearful, or worried, you can look back on these words for comfort, faith, and strength. I hope you have a strong relationship with God. That you keep him close to your heart and that you follow the Lord’s example as you move through life. When you are scared, I hope you pray to him. When you need strength, I hope you hear his voice, for he (like me) will always be there for you. Life is what you make of it and your attitude towards it will determine your happiness. Aiden, I hope that I can provide you with everything that you need in order to make your life full of opportunities, happiness and most of all love. Your Daddy and I love listening to the Beatles, especially after we watched the musical, “Across the Universe.” He sent me flowers one day with a card that included one of their lyrics, “Love is all we need. Love is all we ever need. I love you, Martin.” I still treasure the note and the sentiment because it is so true, love is all we need and we get it from family, God, and our friends. Love always remains. My hopes for you are; that you trust in God and yourself, that you follow your heart and stay true to yourself, that you are a loyal friend and that you grow into a good man. I’m not worried that my aspirations for you are unattainable; you have a wonderful example to learn from, a wonderful man—your Dad.  

All my love,
Mommy

Letter to Aiden

Dear Aiden,

This Friday, I will be 7 months pregnant! It is exciting but scary at the same time to know you will be in here in just two months. We're scrambling to get as much done as possible before you get here. Your Grandpa has been working so hard on our house in preparation for you. He has transformed our house into a home. Great Grandpa textured all the walls for us and Grandma has been helping too; she painted every room. Great Grandma Toddy, Auntie Bri, and Uncle Chris have been helping too and they are already spoiling you rotten! Right now, the floors are getting done so that we can finally buy furniture and put your room together.

Your daddy is already day dreaming of you. I saw him in your room last night just looking around with a big grin on his face. When he caught my eye he said, “I’m just picturing his room and imagining it all done with little Aiden in it.” A couple of nights ago, he told me that he can already see you crawling around the living room floor while he watches football with Ricky. He dreams about you too. Sometimes he will wake up, kiss me on the cheek and will say, “I had dreams of Aiden last night, he looked so cute.” You are so real to him now, especially now that he can feel you moving. I grabbed his hand on Saturday morning. You were kicking me really hard, non-stop from 7-8am! We were half awake anyway, excited for your baby shower that was happening that afternoon. I pulled your dad’s hand over to my belly. You usually stop kicking the second I get his hand there, but this time you didn’t. You gave him a swift kick and I felt him jolt with surprise, “Whoa! He wants out!” I rolled over and saw his expression of sheer joy and utter surprise and couldn’t help but laugh.

Its incredible feeling you move. When I first felt you, you were about 16 weeks. Then, it was only a slight flutter. Almost like feeling a muted heartbeat in my belly. But now, I can feel you turning and hiccuping and even kicking. You are so active and I love feeling you move. I rub my belly and talk to you until you settle back down. Your development has been right on time. Every week we read about how our baby should be developing, and you are always on schedule. It’s comforting. Comforting, because I already feel so connected to you and protective of you and it feels good to know that you are healthy and developing properly. I have had a few times when I panicked. When I was only 6 weeks, I noticed some slight bleeding. I burst into tears as I dialed the hospital. I was scared to death. I called your dad, my mom and the nurses. Finally, the Dr. called me and told me it was completely normal and not to worry—relief overcame me in waves and tears ran down my face as a smile quickly appeared “Thank you God,” I whispered as I hung up the phone. Or when I felt a sharp pain, like I did when you were 18 weeks. I rushed to the hospital, only to find out that you were perfectly fine, you were just positioned in a place that caused ME pain. I was so relieved, I told the Dr. “He can cause me whatever pain he wants, as long as he is ok.” It was then that I realized how much you have already changed me and how much I already love you.

Just like your daddy, I find myself daydreaming of you all the time. I think about what kind of parents we will be and how things are going to be so different from now on. Different in a way that I am so excited for! Last night, I realized this will be the last Christmas your daddy and I will spend alone. It wasn’t a sad thought; it was a happy one, to be reminded that our lives will be forever changed in just two months. You will soon be with us making our lives even more meaningful and blessed. I also realized that other feelings like boredom is something I will not be feeling for a long time—at least until you hit your teens and start spending more time away from home. Having you growing up in front of us is going to make even a Tuesday night at home an adventure.

Almost every other second I picture what you will look like (usually, you look like a mini-daddy when I think of you--cute dark haired, dark eyed, tall and all smiles). I picture you saying your first words, taking your first steps, riding your bike, constructing forts throughout the house, throwing the ball for Tigre and Ruthie, running on the beach. I can hear you saying your prayers before you go to sleep.  I picture you holding your grandpa and grandma’s hands as you go hiking with them. I imagine you coming home and telling me what you learned in school, and staying up all night with you while you cram for a test or try to finish a report. I picture you and your dad getting decked out in Giants gear to head to the game with your Auntie Bri and uncles. I imagine you running up to me with critters in your hands that your Uncle Chris gave you, “Can we keep them?!” I can see you backing your dad’s Corvette out of the driveway to pick up your prom date. I imagine you applying to colleges and coming home to tell me that you are in love and getting married. Thinking about it makes me start to cry (mostly, because I'm hormonal!). You are still developing into a baby but my mind has already begun thinking about you growing up into a man. And as quickly as the thoughts rush through my head before you are even here, I know that I am not too far off, that pretty soon you will grow right before my eyes turning from a beautiful baby boy to a handsome man and I will be wondering where my baby Aiden went. I told your dad that I had literally imagined your entire life and thought of you getting married, and before I could tell him that I got ahead of myself and that we haven’t even “met” you yet, he smiled at me and said, “It's true, it will all happen before you know it.” And it will. Life moves so fast and I can’t wait to enjoy every bit of yours with you.

Love,

Mommy