Thursday, April 28, 2016

The Middle Name: James



Dear Elliot,

Your middle name is James, as in James Donald Anderson, a.k.a. Grandad. 


Grandad is my daddy. He raised 4 girls and had 2 older sisters … so the life we’re living here in our home is different than his world for many years. He's a very sensitive man because of that!

There are 3 reasons that come to mind for naming you after him.

First, Grandad has had an impact on my life that is difficult to measure. He was the embodiment of what a daddy and husband and real man should be—a model that set the standard for the kind of man I wanted to marry and the biggest picture in my world of what godly leadership looks like.

We always grew up knowing Daddy loves Mommy and Daddy loves us. He was a servant of all of us, from the basics of providing home and food and clothes, to the greater sacrifices (I think) of spending spare time and “costly time” investing in our lives, encouraging us with patience and help during all the challenges from losing basketball games to struggling through calculus, and pointing us to God as the One we need at the center of our world.

 He has consistently put others’ needs ahead of his own, often getting up early, staying up late (well, not too late though), and creating the windows of time in the middle to do not just what needed to be done for work and church and home and cars and family but also what would make all his “girls” feel cherished and cared for.

Second, Grandad is already investing in the lives of his grandchildren—even you! He was here even before you started making your entrance to this world, just to be ready with Grammy to help when we were tired and getting close to labor. He is purposeful to know and bless and play with and care for the needs of all 10 of his grandchildren. He may not be so much of a “baby” guy (he made a deal with Grammy when all his own kids were little … Grammy would do diaper duty, and he would do puke duty!), but he is still ready to drive, play, read, and laugh with all you little ones.

And third (and biggest), he is the kind of man that we pray you will grow to be like. A follower of Jesus. A gentle and kind leader in his family. A servant and leader in the church. A faithful and fruitful worker. One who reaches out to those who need the gospel. A fun and joyful person.

We love Grandad, and we love you, little Elliot!

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Elliot's Birth Story



Dear Elliot,

As is often the case, your coming was an adventure!

The last few days before your arrival, I could tell we were getting ready for action. I was not feeling quite normal… lower back aching, sporadic contractions, and generally kind of icky. On Wednesday, Grammy and Grandad checked in to see how things were going, and they decided to get their bases covered at home and come up on Thursday, even though there wasn’t any real activity going on.

Thursday Daddy went to class, and your big brothers and I decided to go walk around Burnsville Center, ride on the toy cars there, and have a little treat. (A flashback to the day before Josiah was born.) During afternoon snoozes, Grammy and Grandad arrived, and it was lots of fun to play with them outside and have a nice evening together. Although I felt kind of bad for them to change their plans and come up before there was any real labor news, it was a relief to have some extra help around already. Grandad joked that midnight on Friday morning was a full moon.

That night, I woke up with a fairly hard contraction around 11pm, and then another came around midnight. For the next hour or so, the contractions were every 20 min, then 15, then 10. They weren’t super hard, though, so I was debating whether to call my doctor. (But I tested positive for the Type B Strep, so they wanted me to get 4 hours of antibiotics during labor, so my doctor had warned me not to wait too long… especially since this was baby #3.) Then I noticed Ben was not in bed.

I went out to the living room to see what he was doing, and he was lying on the floor, massaging his head. He said he’d had a terrible headache since 11:30pm. We decided to go back to bed for a little longer, and I heard his breathing deepen as he fell asleep. But the contractions continued, so I reluctantly went back to the living room, called my doctor, and he said it would probably be good to get checked out at the hospital. So, I called Grammy (they were staying at the Livingstons) and she said they’d put on clothes and head right over. Then I went and woke up poor Daddy, but at least his headache was feeling better by then.

We got to the hospital and settled in to the “maternal assessment” room. After another hour of only moderate, sporadic contractions, I was at “maybe 2.5.” We decided to head home and just go to my scheduled doctor appointment at 8:15am and see what the news was there.

Back at home around 4am, we slept a few hours and then I headed to my normally scheduled checkup. By that time, I was at a 3 or maybe 3.5, but contractions were pretty scattered and short, so we decided to go about our day as normal. Ben went to a coffee shop to do schoolwork, I did a little computer work, and the boys ran some errands with Grandad and Grammy. Around noon I decided to go for a walk, and I got some nice hard contractions doing hills. J It was a beautiful day, and I had sort of forgotten how pleasant it was to take a walk by myself. Back home, contractions died down again.

After a nap on the couch, around 3, I started having some harder contractions. They had come and gone already so much, I pretty much ignored them, but they did seem to be a bit more regular, maybe every 15 min. Ben and I took a walk (which was full of contractions), and then Ben took the boys to a playground while Grandad picked up supper. Around 5, Grammy and I decided to walk out and see the boys, and I was moving very slowly, hard contractions coming quite frequently through the walk. Once we got home and the contractions didn’t slow down, I decided maybe this was the real deal after all, and I told Ben we should probably think about heading to the hospital again. We waited until Grandad got back with supper (because, if possible, a man should go through labor having eaten supper!), but I was definitely ready to go by then.

We got to the hospital around 6:30pm, and this time we were ushered a normal room. It took a long time for a nurse to come and see us, and it was almost time for the “changing of the guard” for shifts, so she said she would just get things started before our real nurse came.  Another nurse came to get things rolling too.

Then she checked me.
“Oh.” 

She double-checked. Then she said to the other nurse, “Um, she’s at about a 9.5.” Well, that was during a contraction, so they decided I was at maybe an 8 otherwise. But the activity in the room picked up considerably.

Oops. Probably not the 4 hours of antibiotics they were hoping for… I thought to myself.
I think that means I don’t get an epidural.

Laboring was a known pain, and the contractions were still spaced a minute or two apart, so I had a little relief between them. I got a fan, which helped a lot, and some nitric oxide, which didn’t.

The doctor arrived, I was fully dilated, about 20 (horrible) min of pushing or so, and at 7:47pm you were here! Your cord was wrapped around your neck, but you cried right away, and what a joy and relief to snuggle you on my chest at last!

We are so thankful for God’s mercy in bringing you to our home and helping us every step of the way!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Some Photos










 Victor and Josiah's "big brother backpacks"






Monday, April 25, 2016

A Letter to Elliot: Your Name



Dear Elliot,

We are so thankful to have you with us. You are a joy and a delight already.


Why did Daddy and I choose Elliot for your name? Two big reasons and one little one.

First, Elliot means “The LORD is my God” (or “my God is Yahweh”). There is no greater desire or prayer that we have for you than this, my little son. May our Lord be your God, your Savior, your Delight and Shepherd and Friend. If you have the one true God as your God, you have everything. If you have committed your way to the God who is I AM, the God who makes and keeps all His promises to His people, the God who is above all gods, then you have true life.

Our second reason for the name Elliot is our heroes Jim and Elisabeth Elliot. (Incidentally, it was during the months I was pregnant with you that Elisabeth finished her race and went to be with Jesus.) The Elliots were missionaries to South America, hoping to reach a tribe that had never heard about Jesus. In one of the earliest efforts to make contact with the tribe, Jim, along with 4 other missionary men, was killed by the people he was hoping to reach. But what looked like a tragic, hopeless calamity God turned for amazing good. Elisabeth and their little daughter Valerie later went and lived with that same tribe, translating God’s Word into their language, and in time God brought many of those people to trust in Jesus. In fact, the very ones who killed Jim and the other men were some of those who became joyful followers of Jesus.

And the third (littler) reason for Elliot is that Daddy and I both lived on Elliot Ave when we met, just a few blocks apart, on opposite sides of I-94.

So, little Elliot, may the LORD be your God, now and always. May you worship Him for His perfect faithfulness, sovereignty, holiness, and love. May your life be one spent pursuing the greatest things, for “he is no fool if he should give what he can never keep to gain what he can never lose” (J. Elliot). And may the God above all gods grant His great love to you because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus on your behalf and fill your days with grace.

How we love you, little son.

Momma and Daddy

Saturday, April 16, 2016

March Memories

Before our world is overtaken with new baby excitement, here's just a few snapshots from the month of March...

The traditional "Easter line-up," albeit on Palm Sunday weekend... 
We got to enjoy a fun Easter egg hunt with cousins, dyeing Easter eggs, and remembering the true Easter story!

A fun outing with friends to dig in the "big sandbox" at the zoo

A couple of my favorite shots of my favorite boys!





What's better than sitting in a Thomas tent? Sliding into a Thomas tent.

Our "first robin" picnic inside... hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, just like we always had growing up.


My only picture from Easter Sunday. 
But more important than the pictures is the truth that Jesus is risen, just as He said!  

Silly gooses.



Birthday Recap

Here's a quick look back at the special birthday fun we had in the past month.

First there was our Iowa celebration, with the fabulous train cake that Grammy made!



The Thomas the train tent was another big hit!

Next we had a fun Katterson celebration!




Both boys are very taken with Baby Reese!


Josiah's "birthday party" was a picnic of pb & j with some friends at a playground. 
(That's about all Mom could handle...)
 It was a fun time and a beautiful day!





A few special gifts from Victor and Dad and Mom...






For a surprise for Daddy (and Josiah too) we had a birthday dinner with Nana and Grandpa David, Mr. Kevin and Miss Sue, and Mr. Danny and Miss Erin.




Special times thanking God for our special birthday boys!