my first born

mese turned 8 on july 13. 8 is an especially important birthday because mese's being baptized. he's so excited and he's looking forward to seeing all our family and friends come out to support him on his special day. i can hardly control my tears as i'm typing this. i feel in someways mese was our guinea pig-heck, we didn't know exactly how to raise a child and we're still learning. thankfully, children are quite forgiving and we're so blessed beyond measure with the children we have. we're also thankful for friends and family who have constantly supported our growing family through the years. one instance in particular that really helped me when i was a new mother was a phone call i received from grace. mason and i had been married just over a year when mese was born. mason took only 1 day off from work which left me alone with a brand new baby. i remember sitting on the couch, holding mese in my arms and watching mason walk out the door, on his way to work on 3 hrs. of sleep. the door closed. i cried like a baby. i looked down at mese and thought, "what am i going to do? i can't take care of you all by myself. is everything going to be ok?" i kept crying. then later that day, i got a phone call from grace, mason's cousin. i don't know what it was about her phone call that made all the difference for me, but it did. she reassured me that mese's ok and he'll stay that way. baby's are easy, he'll let me know when he wants something...just don't worry. it's going to be o.k. since then, i've never looked back. sure i have my doubts about my own weaknesses of being a mother but, i know as long as i keep trying the do the best i can in raising good children, like grace said, it's going to be o.k. ...and i believe it. happy birthday mese!!! we love you and we're so happy that you work hard to do what's right and be a good example for our family and you're a super big brother to your sisters-they love you too. so, thanks grace. thanks family and friends. and thanks mese for being our sweet guinea pig:) we love you tons!

82

that's how hot it's been in my house this summer. yes, thanks to last year's electric bill of $350, we'll definately be sweating it out a bit this summer. don't worry, we have 2 tower fans in use and there are ceiling fans in all the bedrooms-they're our saving grace. of course, we had to make some exceptions...sundays we keep air on when we get back from church and when we have guests over. so, please don't hesitate to stop by this summer, we will turn the air on for you... we're not that cruel:) happy summer everyone!