Cousins

A lifetime of waiting . . .

Months of planning and anticipation . . .

Countless hours on our knees in prayer . . .

and the three cousins are together at last!

 Braxton Philip Cotton, 2 weeks

Cassidy Nicole James, 6 1/2 months

That other little cutie who I can't name, 2 months 1 week

 Cassidy is cracking up, "Hahaha! Why are they so little?"

The boys are afraid of her.

 "Do we look like cousins?"

 The Cotton boys and the giant baby!

 Cassidy says, "I love these guys!"

 

"Really? These babies are for me?!"

  

"Hallelujah! Praise Jesus! My cousin is awesome!"

 "You guys were right. This is so cool!"

 

"Give me a kiss!"

 

 "What does your shirt say? Hey! My auntie rocks, too!

Do you think it's the same lady?"

 

"Uh, what's she gonna do now? Where's my mom?"

 "I could just squeeze him up!"

  

"I love this guy! We're gonna be best buds!"

These three babies all under one roof is nothing short of a miracle. Our family has known nothing but death and loss for so long. We haven't had a new baby in ten years (That's Sydney!). Now, in the span of six short months, these three little bundles of love and joy came into our lives and made it all worth it. Every tear we shed, every prayer we lifted, every step we took brought them to us. Brought these babies to us, purposed by God, and ordered by God. You already know God loves me, but this little detail is just another way He shows it. Miss Cassidy is only four months older than her cousin (the son of my oldest nephew) and six months older than her other cousin (the son of my second oldest nephew). Can you imagine what a bittersweet day this would have been for me if it was only the boys together in the pictures? If I didn't have my baby girl yet? If I had just visited them and held them and wanted to be happy about them but just wished more than anything that when they were in my arms they could make me feel the way Gabriel did? But walking away empty handed and bawling my eyes out on the way home because, of course, no baby could ever satisfy me like he did.

But God loves me.

So Cassidy came first. She had to come first. 

Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for my very own Cassidy Nicole James,

and for her awesome cousins!


Proverbs 16:9 (NLT): "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps."

Promised by God

When our pastor shared this bible verse with us a few Sundays ago, I gave my little girl a squeeze in my arms and thanked God for her (like I do everyday) and whispered in her ear a reminder of the kept promise that she is to me.

Psalm 138:2 (NLT)

² I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
    I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
    by all the honor of your name.

 Cassidy Nicole

6 months 10 days

The little dress she's wearing in this picture is actually the first baby outfit I ever bought when I was pregnant with Gabriel (before I found out I was having a boy . . . among other things). When I found out I didn't need the dress anymore, I gave it to my niece, Sydney, to dress her babydoll. Her babydoll did indeed wear it many times and looked beautiful. Being the thoughtful little girl that she is, Sydney returned the dress to me when she found out I was having a girl (Her babydoll outgrew it, anyway). Two and a half years after I bought this "sweet" dress, my perfect, healthy little girl, promised by God, wears it. 

He loves me . . .

Sitting up

 

Being sweet

Doing a little dance

No way!

Standing up. This girl can do it all! She can do

everything because God made her completely perfect in

every way, just like Mommy asked Him to.

Psalm 113:9 (NLT)

He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother. 

Praise the Lord!

Fabulous Aunt Bonnie

. . . for the second time now, actually. I'm way too young to be a Great Aunt. So, I've deciding to be Fabulous Aunt Bonnie. You already met our little superhero. Cassidy's cousin (who shall remain nameless on this blog per parent request) is already 2 months old!

Now we have a new little cutie pie and playmate (and someone for Cassidy to boss around one of these days since she's older and more mature, and we all know that girls know way more than boys!):

 Braxton Philip Cotton

April 6, 2012

 

 Cassidy, 6 months

Braxton, 1 day

 

 Snuggling little cousins

 Two miracles

 Cassidy teaches Braxton how to play with the new 

toy his grandma got him. 

 So she likes dump trucks, huh? I guess Mommy and Daddy

need to quit getting her all girly stuff!

 Braxton gets love from Fabulous Aunt Bonnie

 Love from Mommy

 Cassidy plays with Cousin Uncle Brian

 "Uncle Brian, soon Braxton will be so big just like me!"

 Brian's gettin' the hang of this dad thang.

Good daddy

 

"Am I doing this right?"

 "Hey! I think I did a pretty good job!"

  

 "I think you did a really good job, too, Daddy. 

I love you!"

 Cassidy takes a power nap with Daddy during her visit.

 Snack time! She's showing Braxton how to hold his own baba.

Show off!

 Proud grandparents

 Braxton Philip with Grandma Sherry and Granddad Philip

Beautiful Brooke is so happy to be a mommy.

And he's already one week old.

We love you, Braxton!

An Unexpected Trip

Someone I love just landed in Holland . . .

Welcome to Holland

by: Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
"I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
     When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
     "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
     "But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay."
     The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
     But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

I went to Holland once, too. I bought a one-way ticket to Italy, but my plane was hijacked, and I was taken to Holland. The flight was terrifying, but when I landed, something amazing happened. I fell in love with Holland. It is the most extraordinary place I've ever been. If I had spent my entire time there mourning my lost trip to Italy, I would have never been free to enjoy the impossibly wonderful things about Holland . . . about my Gabriel Nicolas.

I had a round-trip ticket to Holland. My stay was very short, and then I came back. Now I live in Italy. Not them. Holland is where they must stay. They didn't plan this trip; no one ever does. They had their sights set on another destination. I can tell they are proud of their new home, though. And why shouldn't they be? After all, Holland has . . .

windmills . . .

and tulips . . .

and even Rembrandts.

And for Cassidy, Holland has a long awaited play date . . .

and lunch at the kids' table . . .

Thank you, God! Thank you, God! Thank you, God . . .

for this little superhero

 
who inspires us once again to pray and believe in miracles.