FROM LAST TO MIDDLE

Stephanie turns 16 next Wednesday. She is our baby. Uh, anyway she WAS our baby. Is it possible to have two babies in the family??? The old baby and the new baby?? I don't know...but today I am going to hang out with Steph and I am looking forward to it very much. We are going to lunch and do some shopping for her birthday. Then we are heading to Wisconsin with Allen for a cross country meet.

I remember very well the weeks leading up to Kristin's birth. Of course, I was excited... but I was also really sad because I knew that our "special" time with Lindsay was about to come to a halt. It was a Saturday morning, March 24, 1989. There were signs that Kristin was coming very SOON so we decided to have Lindsay go to my Mom and Dad's house for the night. It was a really sad time for me. Our time as a threesome had been so much fun! I didn't want to let her go. I'm sure I cried. After they left, Allen and I took a LONG walk in our neighborhood. I remember it so well. It was kind of surreal. We talked about Lindsay, about life (I'm sure... cause I do that a lot!!), about the delivery and about our future. It is such a weird feeling when you KNOW you are about to live through some really big life change...but you don't really feel any different.

Kristin was born a few hours later. Yes, it was one of the fastest deliveries in history and it happened just 15 minutes before Easter. How special is that??? Lindsay and the grandparents came to visit the next day. It was a fun reunion but something had changed. We were now a family of four! And we loved it! Lindsay went from ONLY child to OLDEST child. She, of course, had no clue about all of that, but it was the first of many changes in the life of our family. I would have never imagined that 20 some years later that I would be feeling some of the same feelings and expecting...yet again.

Please pray for Steph. I think that besides the new kids, this change will effect her the most. She has been supportive of this whole idea, but frankly, this is going to rock her world. I have no doubt that she will be a WONDERFUL big sister, but (just like us) this next step will require a lot of change on her part. She will lose some of her freedom and will feel the need to be more accountable as she will be most helpful in showing the kids how our family operates. The good news is that she will have company in an otherwise boring household. I think she will like having younger siblings.

Steph will be going from LAST to MIDDLE child in a few days. I am kind of sad about this, but I know that change helps us grow. I'm so glad that we decided to have Kristin and Steph. Think of what we would have missed out on if we wouldn't have had daughters #2 and #3. They have been such a HUGE blessing in my life and I can't imagine life without them! I know that a I will also feel the same way about our new kids after they come. But for now, for today, I am going to enjoy my time with Steph. This will be our last trip as a threesome. I'm sure that no one else is thinking about this, but I am the MOM and well...these are the things moms think about!