How to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

July 27, 2015November 1, 2025 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 1 Comment

Sometimes I am confident that I know a few things about babies, and sometimes I feel that I know nothing at all! But each one of my nine precious and exasperating little bundles has taught me something! Looking back I can see clearly what has worked and what hasn’t. Helping your baby sleep through the night is mostly about what you do during the day.

Sleeping through the night is really, truly wonderful! It helps me to be a good mom. It helps my baby to be a content baby. Sleep allows me and my baby to recharge, dream, rest, heal, and grow. It is essential for a happy and healthy life! New babies have to eat every 2-3 hours around the clock and I am happy to oblige. But once I know that my baby can sleep through the night (around 8-13 weeks), I am all for it! I want to shift from survival mode to real life as soon as possible.

There are some major schools of thought that drive what a mother does with her baby day in and day out.

Demand feeding is when the baby is in charge. Scheduled feeding is when the clock is in charge. Parent directed feeding as when the parent is in charge. You would think that the parent would be more able to direct the feeding schedule than the baby or the clock, wouldn’t you? Yet the parent doesn’t always know what to do. Take me for example.

When I first became a mother, I didn’t know what I was doing. God gave me the easiest baby in the history of babies. Areli was sweet, adorable, and LOVED TO SLEEP!

I practiced a sort of demand feeding. Areli was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. At two months she would sleep from 8pm to 8am without waking up. She was happy and content all day long. Yet she stopped gaining weight for two long months. I was so worried, and the doctor wanted to do all sorts of blood work on her. Finally I realized that the wisdom of “you never wake a sleeping baby” was absolutely false! Once I started waking her up at 10pm to give her an extra feeding, she started gaining weight again. Phew!

My second baby was completely different! Cole was my first boy; loud, grumpy, and not a good sleeper. I would feed him whenever he seemed grumpy, which would usually be every hour and a half. I ended up nursing him before and after each nap, yet he often wasn’t content. I realized later that nursing my baby so often caused him to get into a bad habit of “snacking.” He would drink the foremilk but not get the richer hind milk that would have satisfied him for hours at a time. This little boy didn’t sleep through the night until he was over a year. We were not well rested or happy a lot of the time.

My struggles with Cole led me to read On Becoming Babywise. I love this book! It gave me the knowledge to leave demand feeding behind and embark on the adventure of “parent directed feeding.” I will take it one step further than the book and suggest “Holy Spirit parent directed feeding.” No book or parent has all the answers, yet there is someone who ALWAYS does, and He gives wisdom to all who ask Him. I ask Him EVERY DAY for that wisdom.

The seven babies that came next were all put on a “Babywise” type schedule, and they have all slept through the night between 8 and 13 weeks. Two have been girls, 5 have been boys, all have had unique personalities. Yet each of them have done very well with a predictable daytime schedule.

The first few weeks of a baby’s life outside the womb is all about bonding and holding and getting one full feeding at a time. Don’t look at the clock. Don’t worry about sleep. (I know, easier said than done!) Just make sure every feeding is long enough (half an hour to an hour) to establish a good milk supply and create a good habit of drinking both the foremilk and the hind milk. The challenge here is keeping the little guy awake long enough to keep nursing!

Summary for Baby’s first year of nursing

Week 1-8: Stabilization

Start with 8 or more feedings a day. During the day you should feed your baby when she wakes up. Then try to get some awake time. As she gets older, wake time will become longer. Once you know your baby is tired, put her down for a nap. Her naps should usually last and hour to an hour and a half. The end of the nap is the time for the next feeding and the beginning of a new cycle. Every cycle should be similar (2 ½ -3 hours long): eat, wake, sleep. During the night you simply feed your baby and put her back to bed. She will slowly extend her night time sleep until that glorious day when she drops the middle of the night feeding and sleeps until morning (usually around 8-13 weeks). The important part of this schedule is to feed your baby when she wakes from nighttime or naptime (or perhaps you will have to wake her to maintain every 3 hours during the day and every 4-5 hours a night at first). After the feeding, attempt to keep your baby awake for a little while. Newborns are so sleepy and this may not always work, but try. Soon she will be able to be awake for ½ hour to an hour at a time. When it is nap time, lay your baby in her bed while she is still awake. Usually she will fuss a little and then go to sleep. Some babies, like most of my boys, may cry very loudly! This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. Ask Him for wisdom. Sometimes it is appropriate to allow you baby to cry for a few minutes before nap time. The payoff is that in a few weeks, he will learn that nap time is for sleeping, and he will snuggle in and sleep as soon as you lay him down. Other times the crying indicates that he needs something extra: more awake time, a diaper change, or a snuggle.

Weeks 9-15: Extended Night

A baby can gradually extend his nighttime sleep to 9-10 hours. By the end of the 13^th week, your baby can average 5-7 feedings a day but never less than four. Between weeks 12-15, most babies gradually extend their cycles to 3 to 4 hours.

Weeks 16-24: Extended Day

Your baby can sleep for 10-11 hours at night during this phase. Babywise states that during these weeks you will be able to drop the late night feeding and begin to introduce baby food during the day. There are many ideas about the best time to begin with food and which foods to introduce first. This is another time that I pay attention to my baby and ask the Holy Spirit. I prefer to look to traditional societies as a guide to introducing food to babies rather than to modern advice. Click here for more information on how to feed babies.

I usually wait until 6-11 months to introduce solid foods. I also like to keep the late night feeding (around 10-11pm). My milk is the perfect food and it is always ready, so I am not in a hurry to start other foods with my babies. Plus I love nursing so much!

I will include the Babywise recommendations for those who are introducing foods early than I do. During this time period your baby will maintain 4-6 liquid feedings in a 24 hour period, three of which will be supplemented with baby food(or not). Nurse first and then offer food.

Weeks 25-52: Extended Routine

A baby can transition to three meals a day with the rest of the family by a year. Of course there are always snacks for young children, usually two a day (maybe afternoon and bedtime). Babies at this age will only take two naps a day, 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours in length. They can still be nursing 4-5 times a day. I always try and nurse my babies as long as possible(12-18 months), but some of them had weaned themselves by this time. Others I slowly weaned because I was pregnant again.

Sleep props

Sleep props are anything that your baby needs in order to fall asleep. The way you get your baby to fall asleep MOST of the time, will become your baby’s preferred routine. Don’t start a habit that you are not willing to continue indefinitely. Sleep props include nursing to sleep, rocking, music, pacifiers, sleeping in mom and dad’s bed, etc. If you start (after the first few weeks) to lay your baby down for a nap with no sleep props at all, he will learn to fall asleep on his own very quickly. I have found this to be invaluable! Imagine a busy day with a house full of children. When it is nap time, I simply carry my baby up to her bed, lay her belly down in her crib, speak some words of love, and walk out of the room. She immediately snuggles in, starts sucking on her fist and falls asleep! Sometimes there is an air conditioner or fan running, and sometimes there is not. The most important part is to lay her down when she is still awake MOST of the time. This will not happen all of the time, since newborns are so sleepy! If your newborn falls asleep in your arms or on your chest occasionally, don’t worry. Just enjoy the fleeting moment! Love and hold the little precious one, for they won’t be so little for very long!

Babies that need extra help

Some babies are fussier than others. Some are so colicky that it may seem like they never stop crying. This can be so emotionally and physically draining for parents.

Some babies may have suffered some trauma while in the womb or during birth or after birth. This trauma can be greatly reduced or eliminated with chiropractic care, craniosacral fascial therapy(CFT), and prayer. To learn more about CFT click here. I took a class in CFT and it was wonderful. They are the happy baby people, and they say that every baby can be happy, peaceful, relaxed, and healthy.

Some babies may have an allergy or sensitivity to something in mom’s milk, usually wheat or dairy. Eliminating those two things helps in many cases. All nursing moms (and everyone else for that matter) should eliminate all caffeine and stay away from sugar, processed foods and medication. For a diet for pregnant and nursing moms, click here.

What if I didn’t start a Baby wise schedule when my baby was born but I want her to sleep through the night now? How do I start?

Start by getting your baby on a good schedule during the day. Begin the eat, wake, sleep cycles and putting your baby to nap while she is still awake. It will take some time, maybe weeks, for your family to adjust to this. Don’t give up! Don’t worry about the nighttime just yet. Get the daytime straightened out first, and the nighttime usually follows. It is much more difficult to allow your baby to cry at night for fear of waking the rest of the family. Some crying before naptime during the day is much better. Think of it as practice for good nighttime sleeping.

What if my Baby’s daytime routine has been great for weeks but he is still waking up at night?

Move your baby into his own room or into a part of the house that is away from the other bedrooms. Sometimes that alone did the trick for me, because I wasn’t reacting to every little whimper I heard in the crib right next to me. Many times babies, just like the rest of us, will wake up at the end of a sleep cycle and get a little noisy or active until they fall asleep again. We don’t have to nurse them every time they stir.

If you just can’t wait any longer for your baby to sleep through the night on his own, you know that he doesn’t need a feeding at night, and he is older than 13 weeks; then you can prepare yourself for a few nights of training. Pick a weekend when the family can sleep in the next few mornings in case you don’t get much sleep. Warn everyone beforehand that there may be some crying, and it is ok. If your baby wakes up, first wait to see if he will fall asleep in 5 minutes or so. If he doesn’t calm, then check on him, love him, whisper assuring words, but don’t nurse him. It would be awesome if Dad did this part! Hopefully after a few nights, baby will get the idea that nighttime is for sleeping and not for eating.

My life right now

Annalise is three and a half months old. She is a very easy baby, easier than most of my boys. Here is what my schedule looks like right now.

6:30am Annalise wakes up or I wake her up to nurse

7:00 I talk to her, change her diaper, and then lay her in a pack-n-play so I can eat breakfast.

8:00 Naptime

10:00 I get Annalise up from nap and nurse

10:30 One of the other children holds her and talks to her. Then a diaper change and some belly time.

11:30 Naptime

1:00pm Nurse and then playtime and diaper change

2:30 Naptime

4:30 Nurse and then play with Dad and diaper change

6:00 Naptime

7:30 Nurse, lay on the floor on a blanket, then get ready for bed

8:45 Bedtime

10:30 Nurse and put right back to bed

Annalise sleeps so much that I usually have to wake her from nap. I like that because it gives me the flexibility to wake her a bit earlier or a bit later if I have to be somewhere at specific time during the day.

All of my babies have had seasons when they started waking up at night after they had been sleeping the entire night through for some time. It could have been a growth spurt that required more milk, a bothersome stuffy nose, belly aches, or teething. Sometimes I would nurse them and sometimes I wouldn’t. Sometimes I would sit up with them and hold them, sometimes I wouldn’t. I would always ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom on how to comfort them and nourish them without starting a bad habit. Usually they would start sleeping through the night again soon on their own.

I have spent nights trying in vain to comfort a fussy baby and have been utterly convinced that I wasn’t a very good mother. I have also had many happy days fueled by many peaceful nights. When my sweet, content baby giggles at me, I feel like a brilliant mother! I am neither a genius nor a failure in the mothering department. I am simply a normal mom who has a really great God! A God who loves my babies more than I do! If I can get my baby to sleep through the night, then you can too!

Born on the Fourth of July

July 4, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 1 Comment

My third child becomes a teenager today. Cadin Christopher, “Confident Follower of Christ”, was born on the fourth of July with the shaggiest head of dark hair like his mom and the deepest brown eyes like his dad.

He was a good and content baby. He and his older brother and sister became a happy trio.

They were always together, yet Cadin never felt compelled to do things the way they did things. He had his own unique talents and tastes from the beginning. When the other children were happily doing arts and crafts with Grandma, Cadin would be building a model.

When Areli and Cole would be picking out bathrobes from the Disney Store, Cadin would want Power Ranger Pajamas instead.

He was a sweet and thoughtful boy, yet he had a power that could take you by surprise. When Cadin was four years old, he and Dad were chasing each other around the house and rough housing as boys love to do. His dark eyes were shining with joy and his chubby cheeks were bouncing with each step. I was sitting at the kitchen table when I observed Dad run into the living room with Cadin on his heels. I saw Cadin take a flying leap into the air right before the kitchen wall obstructed my view. I heard the most incredible “Boom!” It was the sound I had always imagined when the Giant fell to the ground at the end of the Jack and the Beanstalk story. I ran into the living room to see what had occurred. Dad was on the floor laughing hysterically, and Cadin had his arms tightly wrapped around Dad’s legs. Our four-year old had single-handedly tackled his father to the ground!

As Cadin grew, his eye for detail was incredible. I would give him the special chores around the house, because I knew that he would do them properly. He would place the pillows back on the sofas with the stripped pattern matching exactly. He would put away the silverware with every large spoon and every small spoon in its perfect place.

He struggled with reading for years until suddenly in third grade he began to read everything in sight. He would pick out special scriptures in the Bible and write them down in his notebook and read them to me. I was very often encouraged by those words of truth that he had found intriguing.

Just this past school year, Cadin was a lifesaver for me! I was tired most of the time from being pregnant. I was still trying to homeschool Cadin and do therapy with my special needs daughter, Ashlyn. All the other boys were in public school except for Cadin and Courage; the very loud, very demanding, and very active almost two-year old. Cadin would watch Courage, follow him around, and take care of him almost all day long. Cadin would even change his diaper and put him in his crib for nap, since Courage was too big for me to lift. Most of the time Cadin carried out this duty with patience and a fun-loving attitude that Courage just loved.

I have not yet successfully potty trained a child before the age of three. There might be hope for Courage, however, because Cadin has made this his personal mission. One day I simply suggested to Courage that he should try to go pee. Cadin appeared out of nowhere, scooped up little Courage and held him with one arm. With the other arm thrust out in front of him and pointing towards the upstairs bathroom, Cadin tore through the house at top speed yelling, “GO! GO! GO! This is not a drill!” This time Courage was the little boy with the bouncing cheeks, loving every minute of this adventure in potty training.

Cadin would complete his homeschool assignment each day while Courage was playing with blocks or sleeping in his crib. Cadin was very self-motivated. He has always been a whiz at math, being a year ahead in his math curriculum. He would organize numbers and solve math problems in ways I had never thought of. He loves to read books with all sorts of science and history facts. His joy of learning is evident as he tells me from memory how many feet long the Titanic had been or that a squid has 10 arms.

He has a good heart that wants to do what is right. He will walk away from watching a TV show if he senses an inappropriate scene is coming.

He has a fun-loving heart, full of songs for every occasion.

He is sensitive yet strong; painfully shy at times yet confident.

I cannot believe he is a teenage already.

I cannot believe he is my teenager and how incredibly blessed I am to call him my son.

Adjusting to Life with a Newborn…Again

June 25, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 2 Comments

I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in three months. I know that it is going to be any night now, yet every early morning I am awakened by her sweet snuffles and cries for milk. I feel like I am on the brink of total exhaustion and my brain is mush. I haven’t written much lately because I am not sure whether I can put coherent thoughts together.

I have done this before, eight times! You would think that I would have it down. Yet somehow it is all new, with this new little, bitty, pretty one.

I don’t know much for sure, except that there is nothing like motherhood to reveal your weaknesses. Motherhood is able to bring even the most confident woman to the realization that she knows almost nothing at all. But what a gift that revelation is!

To meet this new person that I have felt wiggling inside of me is pure magic!

Her skin is soft as silk.

Her eyes are big blueberries.

Her lashes are so long and curly, just like a little girl’s lashes should be.

She sleeps a bit more than the boys did, and her cry is softer. She begins to smile and I see that she has dimples around her mouth like I do, and a big dimple in her cheek like Daddy does.

She seems very peaceful, thank you Jesus! But the next week she is awake for hours at a time and doesn’t seem to want to sleep, oh no! By the next week she has settled into a predictable three hour feeding pattern. But the next week after that is totally different! Finally I think I have her figured out; she will sleep until 5am and pretty soon be sleeping the entire night! Yes!! I can get my life back! I can regain my energy, plan my day, exercise, and fit back into my normal clothes again.

But then I find myself sitting in the chair again at 3am, nursing the little bundle in the dark. I am so tired. My eyelids are heavy. So…hard…to…stay…awake. My head sinks to my chest. WAIT! My head snaps back up. My eyes are open. I must…stay…awake! I have fallen asleep in this chair night after night and now my neck has a kink in it and my back is sore. I must feed her quickly and get back into bed! I must be strong!

Little Bitty One is totally unaware of my concern. She nurses lazily and takes almost an hour. I hear the very first bird song at 3:45am. Why are those crazy birds awake so early? The sun won’t be up for hours. How I wish I didn’t know when the first bird starts singing. How I wish I was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the secret life of birds!

I guess I could be enjoying this quiet time when no one else is awake. I suppose I could spend this time praying. Alright God, here goes. God, please help me to not fall asleep in this chair. Please, please, please let Annalise sleep through the night tomorrow night! I feel like I can’t do this one more night! Please, please, please let her get into a predictable schedule. Then I can start getting up before the rest of the children. I can start to have a quiet time each morning. Then I can start to pursue you more, God.

Suddenly it hits me. God’s grace is for me RIGHT NOW! Not at some point in the future, but right now. It is always RIGHT NOW.

Joseph Garlington shared this definition of grace – “God’s enabling presence that empowers us to accomplish our created purpose.” God’s presence is with me right now, in the middle of the night. His voice is whispering words of love and truth right now to my sleepy brain. He is wooing my worried heart. If I spend every moment thanking Him instead of wishing for something else, I can bring His presence closer. I can cultivate my awareness of Him and accept His power to do what He wants me to do…RIGHT NOW.

And what could possibly be a better time? His power is perfected in weakness, and I am so weak. He says that His grace is sufficient for me in times like these. Not just enough to survive. No, this is an overflowing, abundant grace that is more than enough for me…RIGHT NOW!

Nursing this baby 6 to 8 times a day for an hour each time means I can’t accomplish very much. Trying to figure out how to do my normal grocery shopping and errands and therapy appointments each week in the two hours between each feeding makes my brain hurt. Thinking about having to give up my afternoon nap just to get important things done sends me into a panic! No, I don’t have much time to check off items on my to-do list. But I do have plenty of time to sit and nurse, admire my Pretty One and snuggle.

Time to pray and read and think.

As I think back over my life, I can see some things very clearly. I see that most things I have attempted to accomplish I have done because I felt like I SHOULD. Because I would feel guilty if I didn’t. Because I wouldn’t be as good of a mother as someone else. I did those things out of my own strength, my own ability, my own effort. And I failed at most of them.

I think about Solomon’s words in Ecc 3:14, “Everything God does will endure forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away from it.”

I think about Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Nothing of eternal significance that will endure that is. I have done a lot of things! I have spent a lot of energy and time and have gotten grumpy and stressed out to do a lot of things. But those things WILL NOT ENDURE.

Now that I am in a position where I feel like I can’t get anything done, it dawns on me. That is the point! That is what God is trying to teach me…RIGHT NOW! His grace is sufficient and when I rest in Him, He is accomplishing things through me that are significant beyond my imagination. Like growing this little girl, one feeding at a time.

Someday my life might get easier. Someday I might have it down and be able to coast effortlessly through the day. Maybe. So I must make the most of this season…this wonderful and difficult season. Because this season of weakness is how God is showing me His amazing grace.

RIGHT NOW!

The Heartbreak and Joy of a C-section

June 1, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 6 Comments

As a young girl, I read that one out of every ten babies in the United States was born by C-section. I remember thinking, “If I have ten children, I will probably have a C-section in my lifetime.” But who really has ten children anyway? So I dismissed it as a very unlikely possibility. Despite the fact that cesareans have become more and more common (one out of every three births), I estimated that my chances were dropping. I was healthy and strong, educated in natural childbirth. I had beautiful, easy deliveries…eight of them! Although theoretically, I knew that anything can happen in this life, and I was not exempt from the risks of childbearing, I never thought it would happen to me.

I was so excited to be pregnant with my ninth child. I became even more excited when I found out that it was a girl! I had longed for a girl for so long, that I had almost given up. I felt the overwhelming joy of a dream come true. Yet along with it came a suffocating fear.

I had never before worried about the life of any my unborn babies. I just loved them, prepared a room for them, and anticipated a future for them. Yet this time I began to wonder if my preparations were in vain. What if I never got to hold my baby girl in my arms? What if I never got to dress her in all the pretty clothes? What if the sweetness and the tenderness of who she was, left my life forever?

I didn’t speak of these thoughts. If I uttered them out loud, they might become more real. Finally one night I tried to explain it to my husband, and I began to cry. Why was I crying? The baby was healthy and moving around in my belly. This had been my easiest pregnancy yet. There was no reason to worry.

“I think you have fear with this baby because she is so connected to the promises of God,” Chris said. At that instant I realized that it was true. We had already named her Annalise Promise which means “Oath of God” and “Graced with God’s Bounty.” Her name was a sign to us that we would be entering a season of promises fulfilled, promises for abundance. We had always prayed for that season. We had been looking for it ever since we had gotten married, straining our eyes across the horizon for any sign that the prosperity might be on its way. We felt deep in our bones that God meant for us to have more than enough of everything we needed, everything our children needed. Yet we hadn’t been able to live in that prosperity, cycling between the highs of great opportunities and the lows of dashed dreams.

Now we were having a girl whose very name meant the Boundless Generosity of God, and I was terrified that I would never be able to keep her or God’s Goodness, that both would slip through my fingers no matter how hard I tried to grasp them.

Of course I realized that God does not work that way. This fear was not from Him, yet He would take it from me, I was sure. I laid my fear at His feet and He gave me hope and joy and promises! He had me read Zephanaiah 3:14-20 over and over again. I could almost hear Him rejoicing over me with happy songs. I could feel Him hold me in his strong arms. I could sit back and watch him fight for me and gain the victory! I did not have to fear disaster! He was holding my little girl in His hands and she was safe!

My other babies were always head down in my womb, settling into a familiar position that I knew so well. But this little girl would not do that no matter how much we talked to her, coaxed her, and prayed for her. She would flip and turn and end up in all sorts of positions.

I was becoming quite nervous about her position as I headed into week 37. Our whole family had been hoping for an Easter baby which was only days away, yet Annalise was still not head down. I would lay in bed at night, tired yet unable to sleep. My belly was so big, I found it hard to breath. I could feel her do flips inside of me.

“I think we need to get another ultrasound to check on your placenta. If it is too low, that may be why the baby is not able to descend.” Mary, my midwife said as I was getting close to 38 weeks.

I had no intention of getting another ultrasound, but the night before Chris had expressed concern about the same issue. I felt peaceful that Annalise was safe and sound in God’s hands, but for Chris’ peace of mind, I agreed to go in and get checked. I prayed that if all was well, I would go into labor before the ultrasound. A peaceful homebirth was my heart’s desire. I would rehearse the wonder and beauty of it in my mind to cheer my weary bones. Yet I also prayed, “Don’t let me give birth at home if you want me in the hospital.”

Labor did not come and I found myself lying on a table in a darkened room. It only took the ultrasound tech a few minutes to see that placenta was covering the cervix.

“I am so sorry!” Mary said, “I know how much you wanted a home birth, but we just can’t deliver you at home. If the placenta is born first, your baby could die. You will need to choose a hospital and I suggest you go in tomorrow. It would be better to get a C-section as soon as possible so you don’t go into labor.”

I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Yet, I knew that it was what God wanted. Otherwise He could have easily moved that placenta and brought labor on the week before. When I returned home from the ultrasound, all I could manage to do was cry. Most of my other eight children were around the house playing or doing homework after school. My oldest daughter hugged me and said, “It will be ok, Mama.”

I tried to believe her. I cried and grieved the loss of my perfect homebirth. I had wanted to be close to my other children. I had wanted a fast and easy recovery that would allow me to continue taking care of the needs of the home and homeschooling. I tried to wrap my brain around the fact that I had offered my body to God as a living sacrifice, to carry this child of promise, and He was going allow doctors to cut into me tomorrow.

The next day Chris and I began the work of getting ready to go to the hospital. As soon as Chris’ mom had heard about the situation, she had started driving to Pennsylvania from Florida. She would be able to get to our house by the evening to take care of the other children. How that eased my mind!

I sent a prayer request to all the ladies who had been to my baby shower a few weeks earlier. I also called my mom to explain the situation. She had been hoping to be at the birth, but I told her that I had to get surgery and she probably wouldn’t be able to see the baby until hours afterward. Mom happened to be at the ladies meeting at church. She stopped the meeting right then and there and asked for prayer for me!

A lovely thing began to happen. As I was trying to get ready, rushing around the house, up the stairs and down the stairs again, I started to receive emails and texts and calls from loving friends. They were praying for me and speaking encouraging words and offering help! One dear friend even prayed out loud for Annalise while I turned on the speaker phone so Annalise listen.

I was feeling an overwhelming sadness about having to endure a C-section, but I didn’t want Annalise to feel sad. I didn’t want her to feel like she was being torn from her safe haven too early or experience anguish on the day of her birth. The prayer I heard coming from the other end of my phone brought peace to my body and soul.

“Annalise will be so peaceful. It will be a sign to you.” I heard my friend pray.

Chris and I arrived at the hospital in the early afternoon. Mary was already there. It took hours for the staff to assess me and determine that the placenta was not actually covering the cervix but was dangerously close, only .9 cm away. Studies had shown that 90% of women with a marginal placenta like mine bled during labor and required an emergency C-section to save the life of the baby. Thankfully, I had not yet gone into labor and we could have a planned C-section.

It took several more hours to prep me for the C-section. During this time I felt oddly peaceful. God was in control and it was going to be ok. Finally at 8pm I was taken into the operating room where the anesthesiologist started the spinal.

“No pain. You will feel no pain, only pressure. No pain,” he kept saying over and over again.

I must admit that I didn’t believe him. How could I feel no pain at all during such a major surgery? Yet almost immediately, I started to lose feeling in my lower body. I started feeling woozy. My body felt so heavy. I was so tired, that I could hardly respond to the questions the nurses would ask from time to time. Before I knew it, Chris was next to me.

I heard the voice of a doctor instruct the intern on how to begin. I had never seen the doctor’s face. The intern had introduced himself and explained the entire procedure beforehand. He said he had done at least 50 to 60 C-sections in the past. He was friendly and I liked him a lot. The doctor, however, was gruff and rude to this nice intern, acting like the intern had never done a C-section before.

“NO, not like that! Not like that! Here, let me do it!” I heard from the other side of the blue curtain. I really experienced no pain at all! It was amazing to me. It almost felt like this procedure was happening to someone else. Even the abrasive voice of the doctor and the extreme pressure on my pelvic bone couldn’t bring me out of my medicated haze. But more than that, I felt the peace that surpasses understanding. I knew that God had every detail of this birth planned out for the best.

“She is almost here.” I heard Chris say with joy and excitement. I just couldn’t muster up excitement myself. I felt pushing and then a weight was lifted. I was lighter!

“She is here!” Chris said. Quickly the little bundle was taken to a table just a few yards behind me. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her. She was crying for all she was worth! A good sound. I wanted to call out to her. I wanted her to know that I was close by, that I was so excited that she was here, but I didn’t have the energy. Someone brought her to me and placed her on my chest. She was little and perfect. I was too numb to hold her, so she was whisked away again, this time out of the operating room. Chris went with her and suddenly I was alone…so alone.

I was lying on the operation table in the middle of the large room. I was vaguely aware of nurses and doctors working to stitch me up. They were talking among themselves, but not acknowledging me. I knew that the bright lights were highlighting my nakedness and my gaping wound.

“My baby is here! She has been born!” I thought to myself. “Yet how could this really be considered her birth? I didn’t give birth. Is today really her birthday? I didn’t push her out. The doctors pulled her out. It didn’t feel like a birth.”

As these thoughts floated around in my clouded mind, sadness descended. Instead of feeling the overwhelming relief and bliss that enveloped me after the birth of my other eight children, I felt a stark and cold loneliness. I wouldn’t allow the weeping to begin. I knew it would overwhelm my consciousness. I didn’t want to meet Annalise in the recovery room with tears.

Soon I was being wheeled to where my baby was. She was placed into my arms and I got my first really good look at her. Her face was tiny and beautiful, and she was looking up at me with open eyes. So serene. So peaceful.

She was a sign to me that everything was going to be ok. I would heal. The sadness would fade. I had suffered loss, but it hadn’t been the disaster I had most feared. My little girl was safe. Safe too were all of God’s promises. Our finances were still in an unstable place. But I was certain that we would see His goodness. I was sure that Annalise would live a life marked by God’s generosity.

The bliss didn’t rush in and seep into every cell as I had hoped. It crept in slowly.

It increased slightly with every look into her eyes, every touch of her soft skin, every time she nursed.

My heart was full of sorrow and joy, but the joy would overtake and overwhelm, one miracle moment at a time.

Bringing Treasures Down from the Attic

April 4, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / Leave a comment

I have been anticipating this glorious event for months now. I have thought about it and dreamed about it. Finally it was time to take the newborn girl clothes out of the attic. They have been packed away for 11 years. Most of my other girl clothes I have given away, but I kept the cutest and smallest outfits that hold so many memories.

There is the warm layette with delicate rosebuds that my mother used to bundle me as a newborn.

There is the pink sweater that I received from a baby shower for my first baby. I wanted to save it to give to my firstborn girl to dress her firstborn girl.

There are the sweet neutral colored layettes that every one of my babies have worn.

My favorite frilly outfits for a sweet, cuddly girl.

Pretty hats to warm the tiny head with dark hair as soft as silk and a smell that lingers only for a little while and can never be duplicated.

And some recent additions given by grandma that are just too cute to leave out.

There are also the many outfits given by dear friends and family, brand new, just for this little one! Thank you! Thank you!

The true excitement will happen when I am able to post pictures of our new baby girl wearing all of these treasures from the attic. She is the real treasure!

They are Lifting Their Brave Little Heads

March 20, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 2 Comments

It is still winter in Central Pennsylvania despite the fact that it becomes spring today. Spring seems to be talking much too long to catch up with the calendar. Breakthroughs in our business and personal lives seem to be taking much too long to break through. This baby seems to be taking much too long to grow. It is true that I am not even to my due date yet, being 35 weeks. Yet my body keeps complaining that surely it must time, that it cannot continue under this heavy load any longer.

A week ago I started having signs of preterm labor. This has never happened in any of my previous eight pregnancies. It was weird and unexpected and unsettling. I would have loved to give birth and be done with pregnancy. I would have loved to hold my little girl in my arms! Yet, it just wasn’t time yet. She wasn’t ready yet, and who knows what problems could have popped up. I would have to forfeit my cozy homebirth for a hospital birth where every little bit of the process is monitored. My tired and sore body feels like it cannot go on…yet it can and it must. Just a few more weeks!
Thankfully the contractions went away and peace has settled again. What’s a few more weeks? It is a privilege and an honor to provide a safe place for my baby to grow until the fullness of time. I would continue past my due date if I had to (though I sincerely wish I do NOT have to!)

My daughter took some lovely pictures that caused me to take heart again and see the beauty of the here and now.

This brave little robin and these courageous young crocuses have lifted their heads despite the adversity to become harbingers of a new season.

They proclaim that nothing can hold back the sunshine and warmer temperatures! No woman is pregnant forever! Every promise has it’s time of fulfillment! And it will be the perfect time and well worth the wait.

I Grow People. What’s Your Superpower?

February 14, 2015April 19, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 2 Comments

t-shirts can be found at http://www.cafepress.com

When I am pregnant, I tend to feel useless. It is when I feel the most discouraged about what I can’t do and what I am not accomplishing. Not feeling as well as usual, needing extra sleep, and facing physical limitations hinder my ability to do the things I think I should do.

My house isn’t very clean.

My boys grow shaggy manes of hair before I get around to giving haircuts.

I haven’t visited my neighbor since Christmas. She has trouble getting out of the house, and I look across the street and pray for her and wish I had the time and energy to walk over there and chat.

I am not very involved at church. It has been months since I’ve been to a prayer meeting.

I haven’t made a meal for a new mom in so long I can’t remember. Has it been years?

I haven’t fed the homeless.

I haven’t been on a mission trip. I haven’t shown my children the wonders and sorrows of a world beyond our borders.

I haven’t baked cupcakes for my children’s classes at school…ever.

I am not close to writing my first book.

I don’t take walks nor do Pilates.

What I have been doing is a lot of is eating and sleeping. Just recently I was considering how my present life would stack up in the light of eternity. All I could think about was what I hadn’t done –preached or healed or preformed miracles.

A friend at church was confiding in me how discouraged she had been lately. Partly in an effort to make her feel better and show her that she wasn’t alone in this sentiment, I shared my thoughts on my lack of important, spiritual works. Despite her own state of disappointment, she opened her mouth and out poured a beautiful stream of words from the Holy Spirit. I say that it was the Holy Spirit because it hit me right in the heart, convicted me, and lifted me up out of my doldrums all at the same time. She spoke so quickly and so beautifully that I couldn’t remember it all, but here is an awkward paraphrase.

“I am discouraged about what ministry we can’t do right now…but then I realize that I AM doing it RIGHT NOW, pouring into my family. What else is there? You bring life wherever you go…and THANK YOU! I wouldn’t have 5 children right now if it wasn’t for that conversation I had with you when you said that you didn’t want to miss anything; you wanted everything God had for you. That is a powerful message of life. You walk into a room and you bring double life without even doing anything. You keep going and keep carrying new life even though it is hard and you’ve had struggles. You live a message of life and that is so counter cultural and I LOVE IT!”

I was immediately convicted for despising the importance of where God has me right now – carrying new life! I grow people!

Girl people and boy people.

Light haired people and brunette people.

Even red-haired people!

Blue eyed people and brown-eyed people.

People who are talented artists and people who are good at math.

People with undetermined potential and people with childlike faith!

Growing people is so amazing and miraculous, it is like a superpower! It is hard work growing people. It takes a lot of eating and a lot of sleeping.

It takes giving up exclusive rights to my own body. And it takes giving up many, many tasks. It turns out that no task can be as important as a person. God gives me all the time and energy for everything He wants me to do. The things that I don’t have the time or energy for just don’t matter right now.

I am just a mom who loves babies. I am just a woman whose heart’s cry to God is, “I want to accept every child you have for me! I don’t want to turn a single one away!”

And my friend was telling me that I had changed her life! She was telling me that I bring life every place I go, just by being me!

Perhaps growing people is not your superpower right now. Perhaps your superpower is something more like:

Baking a beautiful cake

Smiling your lovely smile

Adopting the child that no one else loves

Writing encouraging notes

Taking care of the sick or dying

Shoveling sidewalks

Running a business

If you don’t think you have a superpower, think again. God gives superpowers to everyone! Just ask Him what yours is, and He will show you. Most likely it is something that just comes naturally to you. You don’t think much about it, but in a life given over to God, your superpower is changing atmospheres. Use that superpower to love Him and love people, and there is no limit to the impact it could have. Keep throwing out your little seeds. Don’t worry about the condition of the soil it may find or the rain that may or may not come. It is God who will make it grow! It is God who takes the smallest of seeds and grows a huge Sequoia tree.

I look at all of my eight children; my toddler, my young ones, my pre-teens, and my teens. I can’t believe that I grew all of them! I feel my unborn baby kicking and flipping and I am in awe! I can’t believe God has given me another person to grow! It feels like a miracle!

So for now I am going to be eating A LOT and sleeping A LOT for the kingdom of God, because there is nothing more important I can do. You keep practicing your superpower, and together we will change the world!

Mommy Brain

January 25, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / Leave a comment

Some people say there is a curious thing that happens to a woman’s brain when she becomes a mother. Something to do with changing hormones that causes her brain to function differently. She becomes a bit forgetful and confused, prone to illogical outbursts of emotions. I don’t know if I believe that, but I sure have experienced “Mommy Brain.” For me it is a simple case of constant overstimulation. At any given moment of any day, there are several children tearing through the house in different directions, bent on accomplishing some sort of important mission (all of which seem rather suspect to me, requiring my intervention). Many different conversations are being carried on simultaneously, and there is usually louder -than- I- would- like teen music playing and the abrasive sounds of disagreements occurring somewhere in the house. All the while I am trying to stay on task to accomplish my to-do list for the day. My job is very important and if it doesn’t get done, my children remain hungry, dirty, and uneducated. Yet, I am always aware of my greatest responsibility to love and love and love some more.

All of this occurring at one time can jumble my thoughts quite a bit. One morning I entered the kitchen to a cacophony of noise, many idle teens and preteens debating some” important” topic, and no breakfast being made. Earlier I had asked Cadin to bring the oats up from the basement so Areli could make oatmeal. This had not yet happened. This distressed me quite a bit as I was going through the homeschool schedule in my mind while worrying about my children being too hungry to do any school that day.

Obviously irritated, I said to Cadin, “I told you to go down there and get the ice cream!”

All conversation stopped. All eyes turned towards me. Cadin’s mouth opened but he said nothing. Shock and amazement crossed his face and I could read his thoughts.

“Has mom lost it? She wants us to eat ice cream for breakfast? She hardly even lets us eat dessert on the weekend. What is she talking about?”

When I realized that I had inadvertently said “ice cream” instead of “oats.” I began to laugh and laugh and laugh. Mommy brain!

Just a few weeks ago it was another crazy morning. It was late and Courage was still in his pajamas. I finally changed his diaper and took off his fuzzy sleeper. Yet I didn’t want him running around the house without any pants in the middle of winter. So I asked Cadin to put some pants on him.

I sat down on the couch to read to Ashlyn. After what had seemed to be a very long time, Cadin returned holding a little pair of pants in his hands. He held them out to me.

I said to him,”Cadin what have you been doing? And where is Courage? Why haven’t you put his pants on him yet?!”

Cadin gave me that shell shocked look again and said nothing. Then I realized what the problem was. I was holding Courage on my lap and he had been perched there the entire time!

I couldn’t contain my laughter at such a ridiculous scene! The laughter broke the tension and cleared the air…and confirmed to all of my children that I had truly lost my mind! But we were all having fun and that is what matters, right?

I am thankful for these humorous brain lapses. They remind me that often times mommies are very silly and irritable for no good reason. Bless all the sweet little angels who have to put up with those mommies day in and day out! And thank God for the laughter that brings back the joy!

Why am I so Huge?

January 19, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 9 Comments

my belly at 37 weeks with baby #8

I have always been small, short, petite, slim, and downright skinny. In my teenage years, in our society, being thin was a great asset. I received compliments on my very tiny waist and other girls tried hard to be small like me. But the truth was I did absolutely nothing to be so small. I ate whatever I wanted, ate A LOT of whatever I wanted and never really exercised. In fact, I felt too skinny…almost bony at times. I admired and still do admire women who have a bit more padding, who have womanly curves and an hour glass figure. Yet I knew that for me, that was not a possibility. Every part of me was small, and so at least I matched. Being tiny became part of who I was, my identity. I was the cute little one.

That was…until I started having babies. I was a normal size during my first pregnancy and returned to my tiny self in no time! I got a bit bigger with my second baby. I remember being out on a date with my husband. We were walking on a street in Denver trying to make it to the Cheesecake Factory. Rather, I was trying to make it to the Cheesecake factory. It was blocks and blocks away, and I was huffing and puffing under the weight of my baby. Some woman sitting on a bench called out, “Look, she is having twins!” I sure didn’t appreciate that comment, but I did give birth just two days after that, so I guess it makes sense that I was looking pretty round!

Each pregnancy seemed to stretch me a bit further than the previous one. I started growing out of the small maternity clothes and graduated to the medium ones. The comments about my hugeness became more and more frequent. I would try to stay in the house and not reveal my protruding belly whenever possible.

I was pregnant with baby number eight when two other ladies at church were pregnant too, with almost the same due date as me. Yet their bellies were so small and adorable. I was no longer the cute, little one. I was the gigantic, awkward one who would inspire wide eyed stares from younger women. I could almost read their thoughts, “Is that what I am going to look like when I am pregnant!!!!”

I purposely avoided the two cute, little pregnant ladies whenever I went to church. I was afraid of the comments and how massive I would look standing next to them.

“They are so much more beautiful and graceful than I am!” I would think to myself in self -pity.

Now I am on to pregnancy number nine. I was bigger than ever right from the start! This time even the midwife thought that I must be further along than I had thought, or I was having twins. An ultra sound at 10 weeks revealed one totally normal and healthy baby, right on schedule. The nice lady preforming the ultrasound commented on how easy it was to see my baby.

“Some babies are tucked way down into the pelvis, but yours is right out there!”

Yeah, right out there for the whole world and every ultrasound tech to see! Chris is used to my complaining about how big and fat I feel. Yet he put it all into perspective for me.

“You have easy pregnancies, easy deliveries, and healthy babies. Some women would do anything to be able to get pregnant and you are complaining about being too big?”

He was so right! What did I have to complain about? I have never had any problems or complications or risk factors associated with my pregnancies. I have had beautiful, natural births. My babies have all been born early at wonderfully normal birth weights. They all have taken to nursing right away. Most of them have slept great and have been very happy. I have a grace for pregnancy and childbirth. So what that I am so big! That is only temporary and doesn’t change who I am.

So I am pregnant and huge and guess what? Those two lovely ladies are pregnant again right along with me! They are tiny and cute, but I have actually sought them out to spend more time with them. I have been so blessed and encouraged by their conversation and company and realized what I missed when I was being overly self- conscience. I am now six months along, fully filling out the medium maternity clothes that took me to nine months in previous pregnancies. Looks like I need to get LARGE now. Even my husband, who instructs others that you should NEVER comment on the size of a pregnant woman, told me that he couldn’t imagine how I could get any bigger! Oh well. It is worth it to bring my precious baby girl into the world! And I will be back to my normal, little, cute self someday…eventually, hopefully…I think probably, almost definitely I will.

If you and I run into each other (you will be running, I will be waddling) before this baby is born, feel free to tell me that I am glowing or lovely or graced for pregnancy. No need to use these statements:

“Wow, you are big!”

“Are you sure there is only one in there?”

“Gosh, that is going to be a big baby!”

“So, you are due any day now, right?”

Believe me; I don’t need you to point out my mind blowing size. I live with myself every day. I carry around this very obvious belly and feel my clothes getting tighter and experience the increasing back pain.

If you just can’t help yourself and you have to say something about how huge I am, I might just haul off and punch you in the face. I would only do it in my mind though. To your face I would smile and nod. Even though I am very big right now, I am still the same sweet, gracious person I have always been…except perhaps a bit more irritable. Chris would say that I am a lot more irritable…so be careful…just warning you.

My Daughter is My Hero

January 13, 2015 / Anne (Grace is my Superhero) / 2 Comments

Areli Endura, my firstborn and my oldest daughter, how can I begin to describe her? I heard both of her unusual names in Belize when I was there on a mission trip. I thought they were the most beautiful girl names I had ever heard, and filed them in my brain under, “What to call my firstborn daughter.” Well, a girl has never been more appropriately named. Areli is Hebrew and means, “Heroic.” Endura means endurance. My daughter displays her heroism with an amazing endurance that allows her to continue being my hero day in and day out.

Areli was the sweetest baby. I didn’t know a thing about being a mom, but Areli made it a breeze. She was almost always happy, and slept through the night at six weeks. She did give us a scare when she stopped gaining weight from 2 months until 4 months of age. In my inexperience, I didn’t realize that a two month old should not be sleeping 12 continuous hours at night without a feeding. As soon as I started to wake her up to nurse her more often, she started gaining weight again.

As a baby, she would wake up during the night very infrequently. When she did, she would cry quietly and the go back to sleep. One night she let out a cry and then went back to sleep as usual. Normally I wouldn’t check on her but would just go back to sleep myself. This night something compelled me to walk into the hall and I smelled that something wasn’t right. When I entered her room I realized what had happened. She had gotten sick all over her crib sheets and let out a cry. Then she simply settled down in a dry corner of her bed and went back to sleep! How thankful I was that I could clean her up and put my uncomplaining baby back to sleep on fresh sheets!

When my second baby was born, he seemed to be the opposite of Areli, waking up constantly and crying with loud persistent wails. Areli was only 18 months old and still slept in her crib. She would sleep in each morning and then play happily by herself until I could drag myself out of bed in the morning, sometimes as late as 10am! Her sweet personality persisted as she grew, always wanting to please, always being kind to others.

One morning when she was 5 years old, she came downstairs clutching her belly. She simply went and lay down on the couch and moaned in pain. I hardly ever have to take my children to the doctor, but I knew something was wrong. She never acted this way! I immediately took her and the three younger children to an urgent care clinic. They in turn immediately sent us to the emergency room, convinced that she was suffering from an appendicitis. Areli endured the pain through waiting and lots of tests.

The day had turned into night, Chris was flying home from a job in New York, and nothing had been done to help Areli. Areli was in the greatest pain of her life, yet she was still quiet and uncomplaining. All the nurses adored her and would bring her anything they could find to cheer her up; puzzles, a special quilt, and a stuffed animal. When a nurse gave Areli a very strong pain medication, Areli got her first relief of the day. She also became quite loopy. She turned to the nurse and said in a goofy voice, “I love you!” It was obvious to me that the feeling was mutual.

Unbelievably, they sent her home! The next day brought the same intense pain. I had to take all of my children (four, five and under) to a follow-up appointment. All Areli could do was sit in the stroller and moan every time I hit a bump. Finally we saw the doctor and he said, “We had better operate.” This is another story of God’s faithfulness that maybe I will tell at another time. Through it all, Areli was a gem!

As Areli got older she continued to show this ability to remain steady and calm during sickness, pain, and 6 extremely annoying younger brothers. She was always quick to forgive and the first one to offer to help.

The most amazing thing was the stories that I heard after the fact, told to me by her brothers, about how Areli had saved their lives! The first incident happened when Areli was around 8 years of age. She and Cole and Cadin were invited to a friend’s birthday party at an indoor pool. I was very nervous to allow them to go without me or Chris attending, since none of them had officially learned how to swim. Chris insisted that they would be fine, and that his friend Paul would watch over them. When they returned from the party, Cadin relayed this terrifying story to me. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal, but my mother’s heart began to tremble! Cadin had torn out of the dressing room long before Paul was ready. He ran directly to the deeper end of the pool and jumped right in. It was at that point that Cadin realized that he couldn’t swim, nor could he touch the sides or bottom of the pool. He started to struggle and sink under the water. Areli was the first one there to save him. She jumped in despite the fact that she couldn’t swim either. She held on to the side to the pool with one arm and grabbed Cadin with the other, pulling him to the wall as much a she could. The grandmother of the birthday boy noticed what was going on. She reached down and pulled Cadin to safety.

Talking about this amazing example of heroics a few months ago, Cole piped up.

“Oh yeah, Areli saved my life too!” It turns out that when we were camping in 2011, we were all enjoying the pool. Cole had worn himself out but still decided to jump into the deep end. Again, he was not a strong swimmer. He found himself too weak to swim and too weak to call out for help. Areli was the first one to realized that Cole was sinking, and she threw him a life-preserver. This hero just saved brother number two!

Three months ago I was getting ready in the upstairs bathroom as the other children were playing downstairs. Chai came upstairs to tell me about an event that had just taken place in my own home while I was completely unaware. My insides started to tremble again!

Chai had put a small Lego in his mouth. Why do boys do things like that? He is 9 and knows better! He accidentally swallowed it, but it got stuck on the way down. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t call out, and he couldn’t make a sound! Cole noticed his distress and brought him to Areli. She thought fast and realized that she probably didn’t have time to bring him to me. So she performed the Heimlich maneuver on him herself, sending that Lego flying!

As a mother, I am always thinking about my children’s safety, always making and enforcing rules to keep them safe, always training them to be safe, always checking on them. Yet I know that it is impossible to watch even one child every moment of everyday. I am not in control of every action and reaction. Yet I know that God IS in control! I am almost constantly praying for them, placing them into God’s hands and asking Him to keep his angels right next to them to deliver them from danger. Well, at least three times that angel has been my daughter, Areli!

I cannot even describe my deep, deep gratitude and relief!

Areli does something that is perhaps even more heroic every day. She has the endurance to help around the house, love her annoying…er, I mean precious and adorable siblings, excel in her school work and have a sweet disposition almost EVERY, SINGLE DAY! Now that I am pregnant, Areli does even more.

She shares a room with her special needs sister who is 11, but acts like a three-year old. Every morning Areli changes Ashlyn’s pull-up, gets her dressed, puts the special braces on her feet, and takes her potty.

Then Areli goes down to the kitchen and makes kefir, oatmeal, and a smoothie. She serves breakfast to her brothers and sister and then cleans up the very messy kitchen. She puts in a load of laundry and goes off to work on her cyber school for hours. At lunch, she helps to prepare the food, cleans the kitchen again, and does more laundry. Then she sits Ashlyn on the potty again, changes her, and puts her to bed for nap. During nap Areli works on more school and watches over the house while I take a rest. In the evening she cleans the kitchen for the third time and puts Ashlyn to bed for the night. In her free time I see her reading her Bible and taking notes. She loves God and it shows!

She babysits for me whenever I need to do an errand or whenever Chris and I get a date night. She has witnessed the birth of her four youngest brothers and has helped to care for them. One of the baby boys even slept in Areli’s room at night, and Areli would hold him and comfort him when he woke up. She tells me that she is so excited to have the new baby girl in her room. She loves babies.

She really does enjoy spending time with the family and being our family photographer. Practically every single photo on this blog was taken by Areli.

Some days she looks worn out. Some days she acts like if she doesn’t get away from the younger Brandenburg brood, she is going to explode! But most days she is joyful, helpful, and efficient. Chris and I love to reward her with special gifts, time out with friends, time doing Youth Group activities, and letting her relax in the evening later than any of the other children. I know that God desires to reward her even more!

Without Areli, I couldn’t handle all of my mothering duties. I wonder how I will ever make it when she grows up and moves out!

It seems to me that there could never be a young man worthy enough to deserve my Areli.

It is probably very unlikely that any young men will be reading my blog. But perhaps their mothers will be. So let me make my prayers for a son-in-law known. I have prayed that he would be twice the servant that my heroic daughter is. That he would excel at serving, having practiced all of his growing up years. That once he marries my daughter, he would make it his life’s goal to out serve her and never take advantage of her giving spirit. I pray that he would be passionate for God, out doing Areli in seeking after Him and obeying Him in everything. I pray that he would be a man who considers fatherhood his most lofty goal and children his most precious resource.

` All of my children are amazing and I could write an article like this about each one of them. (Maybe I will someday!) But today I am considering this beautiful young woman who truly is my hero and the joy of my heart!