Happy Birthday to this Boy!!!
(I should have written something about my children on their birthdays like this! Camden's was last week, and Stirling was December. BUT I just thought about this today, so I will make a belated post for the two of them soon!)
Liam Elijah was born on February 20, 2000. I always thought that was a cool birthday. He was a typical pregnancy, except I got SO much bigger. I kept joking that I was pretty sure that I was having twins! I was hoping for a girl to even out the family, and Camden REALLY wanted a sister. Since she was almost 8 we let her come to the ultrasound. When he was clearly a boy we were both sad. She was teary about it so Christian took her to the waiting room while I met with the Doctor. It did not even occur to me that he wouldn't be healthy. There were some possible problems that did show on the ultrasound. We would have to wait a month to see if it was a serious problem, or if it would go away. It was a LONG month. I knew that he would need to be a strong child, and I prayed and prayed that he would be strong. However, I knew that babies were born with problems. So sometimes I felt that I was asking too much. Within a short time I had come to accept whatever was in store for me, knowing I would be strengthened through Christ to bear whatever burden I might have to bear.
During this time we were trying to come up with a name. When Christian and I got married we had two names, a girl and a boy, that we liked and beyond that it was really difficult to agree on a name! Stirling shared a middle name with Christian and his grandfather. Payne had my father's name as his middle name. Where to go from here? Did we play favorites among our grandfathers? (I certainly didn't intend to have FOUR more boys to make it even!). As we thought about it we both came to the same conclusion that it should be Elijah, after Elijah Fordham, one of Christian's ancestors. (5th great grandfather? I can't keep track of that for some reason!). Elijah was a man of great faith. he did many great things in his life, but the most well known story is of him being healed when he was on his death bed. ( story here). This was a name of strength. This was the name we were searching for! (On a side note, Liam's favorite scripture character has always been Elijah of the Old Testament. He has loved to hear the stories of Elijah)
Well, you know the end of this story. Liam was healthy. In fact he was well over 3 before he ever even took an antibiotic. He was 7 lbs. 15 oz.. my biggest baby by over a pound! He has always been big. He has always been strong. (REALLY strong). I think he needed that to protect himself from his brothers. He has always been fiercely independent. He has always been a joy.
Liam is a great young man. He LOVES to learn. (which is entirely different than loving school). Liam is often reading, or watching TED videos. Once a few years ago he asked me what extinct animal I wish was still around. He thinks like that. He is insightful. Probably my favorite thing about Liam is how sweet he is. He chides me if he is around and I open a door. He will take a bag from me when he sees me so that I don't have to carry it. He is so considerate. I love that about him.
I once read something that a Mom said that her favorite child is the one in front of her. I feel that way. I can talk about all my children individually an end the conversation with he/she is my favorite! So since I am talking about Liam today I will say he is my favorite... my favorite 14 year old son. Happy birthday, son. I am proud of you. I am so blessed to be your mom. I appreciate your strength.
I love you.
No comments:
Post a Comment