And Then Came Jeremiah

We adopted Jeremiah as a seven week old infant. Even that young, I noticed that he had a very difficult time relaxing. He would suck frantically on his pacifier until he, unfortunately, decided it no longer worked for him at the wise old age of two and a half months. He was hard to get to sleep, but when he did, he slept like the dead. Then, he started to creep around and he has never stopped moving since. My husband, Paul, would watch him and say, "That boy is going to be hyperactive." I remember replying, "Oh honey, it has just been a while since we have had a baby, we've forgotten how busy they can be." These were famous last words because there is no doubt in my mind now that Jeremiah is definitely hyperactive. I like to refer to him as being extremely busy. Hyperactive kids seem to get such a bad rap.

Before Jeremiah came into our life, I used to believe hyperactivity was a myth. I thought it was an out for parents who were frustrated with the natural busyness of boys. Now the mother of eight sons, not one of them can keep up with Jeremiah. He is the child who we never leave alone in any room. He holds the record in our house for number of phone calls to Poison Control. Our teenagers keep all deoderants and perfumes, etc. up on high shelves (shelves which there is no possible way Jeremiah could climb up to) because he is what I call an emptier. He likes to empty bottles, tubes and cannisters of whatever might be in them-especially shaving cream and toothpaste.

At the young age of not quite two years old, he could unscrew and screw caps. I once had an argument on the phone with a Poison Control counselor who told me a child his age would not rescrew a cap onto something after empying it. This child did and could. He unscrewed an extremely small camping gadget that had a flashlight that had four watch batteries inside. Well, despite tearing the little boys bedroom apart we could only find two of these batteries. So, we headed to the Emergency Room with not just Jeremiah, but our twins, Patrick and Phillip, who were also playing in the room. After x-rays of all three boys, we clearly saw a tiny battery in Jeremiah's tummy and Phillip's tummy. The Emergency Room staff thought it was quite funny, but they didn't have to dig through toddler poop for two days making sure the batteries came out!

In the picture at the top, he drew on himself with a ball point pen. He told me he wanted to look like Jesus. I guess the stuff on his forehead is from the crown of thorns. He also had marks on the palms of his hands and the tops of his feet. After much scrubbing, he swore to me, "Mommy, I will never do this again." Several days later, he did the same thing. This time with a Sharpie marker!!

There is never a dull moment with Jer around. There is always a time and a season for everything. God has a plan for all of us and His timing is always perfect, even though we don't always realize it. God knew what he was doing sending Jer to us now that we have had time to mature as parents. We can appreciate his busyness and creativity in a way we never would have had patience for as young parents. I look at him after some of his more trying escapades and think, "It sure is a good thing God made you so darn cute!" And then, he looks up at me with his huge grin and says, "I gonna marry you, Mommy."

Growing Up

We celebrated a confirmation and a graduation this weekend. I am in awe of how quickly time seems to be slipping by. Looking at our teenagers makes me realize how quickly they grow up and makes me take the time to enjoy the silliness of our little boys, the sweetness of the baby and the goofinesss of the nine year old.

Our daughter, Sherita, was confirmed on Saturday. She worked so hard to complete all of her requirements. This is a picture of her holding her cake up. She looked so grown up in her dress and shoes we had chosen. It is hard to believe that ten years have gone by since she and her brother and sister joined our family through adoption. I remember she had these long braids and huge glasses that seemed too big for her little nose. Now, she is a beautiful young lady.

Our son, Matthew, graduated from high school on Sunday. His sense of humor shines through in the picture above. This marks our thirteenth year of homeschooling with Matt being our first graduate. It has truly been an adventure at times. Matt is looking off toward college and actually did a dual enrollment at the local community college this past semester. He towers over me now and quite delights in this fact. He is a handsome, sincere, bright young man who still takes time to play with his younger brothers.

Our teenagers wish their life away at times. "I can't wait till I'm sixteen and can drive." "I can't wait till I am eighteen." And it goes on and on. I tell them to enjoy their childhood because after eighteen the years seem to fly by. I look at all these children who are taller than me now and am confronted with this reality on a daily basis. Time flys when you are having fun!