The Joys of Parenthood... recounting the births of my children and seeing where they are now

I love my kids! Sometimes I am just overwhelmed with love for these two little rascals that are constantly on the go. But... they are exhausting! The nights that Sarah works, I stay home with the kids. Often I find myself going from making dinner at the stove to the kitchen table (to give Simon a snack) to the potty to the laundry closet to get the Swiffer (so that I can clean up the mess that Simon made while I was taking Karis potty) to the kitchen back to the potty... nights like this seem like they go on forever (I am blessed to have an amazing wife that takes care of all of this stuff during the day!!!). With as exhausting as they are now, their births and early days were even more exhausting. Though the experiences were tough, I would not change them for the world!


It's hard to believe that it was almost three years ago (it will be in December) that I became a parent for the first time. We weren't expecting to see our little girl until after the first of the year, but God had different plans. It was a Friday and I was at our church grounds finishing the construction on a cave for a living nativity that our church was putting on and my wife, 8-months pregnant, was painting a backdrop (outside). She worked in the church office so we each had our own car there. I was finished with what I needed to do so I went and kissed her goodbye and told her I was going to swing by the drive through on the way home to get some dinner. From where I was sitting on the couch I could see Sarah walking along the path to our house through the kitchen window and expected to see her through our sliding glass doors. I looked, but I didn't see her. A few minutes later, I found out that I didn't see her because she was having a contraction and had to stop walking until it was over. We were soon on our way to the hospital. We were going to become parents.

Karis entered the world at exactly 10pm. Everything about her was perfect, she seemed fine and immediately let out the loudest cry I had ever heard (and still have not heard a louder one to this day). I remember not knowing what exactly was going on when the doctors and nurses began to make frantic calls and moving about the room as if an emergency were happening. I remember it taking a while for the words Neonatal Intensive Care to sink in. I remember feeling torn on whether I should be with my wife while she recovered from giving birth or being with my daughter as the doctors and nurses were working on her in the NICU. I remember seeing my baby girl in an oxygen tent to help heal the hole that had been created in her lung. I remember the pain of not being able to hold my baby girl for the first 24 hours of her life (and having very little physical contact because the doctors didn't want her to be disturbed). I remember feeling sorry for all of the other parents in NICU, some of whom would never experience the joy that we felt a week after Karis was born when we brought her home from the hospital. I remember my first dance with her in front of our Christmas tree in our small 2-bedroom apartment. I remember being scared when I realized that she had stopped breathing one day when we got home from a family trip. I remember spending the night in the hospital with my wife while they ran tests on our 3-month old little girl. Those were tough experiences... that I would not trade for the world. All of those things forced Sarah and I closer to each other and forced us to rely on God. Now we have a beautiful little girl that loves sitting in Daddy's lap (and has me wrapped around her little finger), that will lay in her bed for hours without falling asleep so that she can see Mommy when she gets home from work, that has a unique personality all her own, and that I love very much.


My little guy, Simon (champ, buddy, booger, mister, or whatever I feel like calling him for the day), is about to turn one. I remember his birth like it was yesterday.I remember watching Sarah, as the trooper she is, bringing this life into the world.  I remember the fear I felt when the doctor told me that we needed to get the baby out NOW because he was in distress. I remember seeing my son for the first time, a very purple baby with a little lifeless-looking body. I remember not hearing his first breath immediately. I remember the relief that I felt when I heard him take his first breath what seemed like hours after he entered the world (though it was only about 10-20 seconds).  I remember many mid-night wakings and zombie-like trips to the kitchen all because of this little guy. For a long time after his birth (and up to about 3-4 months ago) I used to have to swing him in his car seat in order to get him to fall asleep at night. I would spend about 30 minutes each night in his room swinging him in his car seat like those swinging ships that are so popular at fairs/carnivals (if I swung him any less, he would scream his head off). With sweat dripping down my face and an arm that felt like it was going to fall off (again) I would pray that God would get him to a point that he would fall asleep on his own. Sometimes I'd get frustrated at the little guy because I NEEDED my sleep and I NEEDED him to be content on his own. As "difficult" as it was for me, it was exponentially more draining on my wife. It is safe to say that we are past those frustrating nights where I had to push through the pain and lost sleep.

With as "difficult" of a baby as he was, he was and is a blessing to have in our family. I now have a little guy with a unique personality all his own. I wouldn't change anything about him or those sleepless nights. Though he is still young, I feel as though he and I are so much alike. My heart is knit to his (just like it is to Karis). I look forward to seeing him grow up and getting even closer to him as he is able to interact more with me. I love Simon!

It sounds cliche, but I do love my kids equally yet differently. Simon is my football buddy, my little champ, my (hopefully) early morning fishing buddy, and my retirement plan (he's gonna be an awesome left tackle)(obviously I kid). Karis is my little girl. And she knows it!