Happy Birthday, Maelynn Thomas!

Maelynn Thomas Uzzell was born on April 15, 2011 at 12:18 pm. She weighed 7lbs 7 oz and was 20.5 inches long. My heart is bursting with an overflowing love. God has immeasurably blessed both David and myself with 3 beautiful children in 3 amazing years. We are so thankful for God's grace, provision, mercy and blessings poured out into our life.

Happy Birthday, Jackson Hughes!

"Sons are a heritage from of the Lord, children a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

Jackson,

One year ago, God bless us with you, our only son. You have brought our family an immeasurable amount of joy and words cannot describe how deep our love is for you.

It is our prayer that you would come to know the Lord, serve Him all of your days and to use the gifts He has given you to bring Him glory to His name. We pray that you grow to be a mighty man of God and lean not on your own understanding, but seek Him.

You are our "sveet" boy and we are so thankful to call you our son. Your heart is so tender and smile so very contagious. Thank you for teaching us to humble ourselves daily as we parent you and your sisters, offering forgiveness to us as we make mistakes, and for enabling us to truly learn what is to love unconditionally.

We love you, Jackson Hughes Uzzell! Happy 1st Birthday to you!

Refining

"This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" Zechariah 13:9

Today has been incredibly trying and emotional for me. I have meditated on this verse and am seeking comfort in being refined and finding confidence in His path.

David and I have been in deep conversation about Maelynn's upcoming arrival, specifically her delivery. Our third c-section date has been set and because it is a few days before my actual due date, the doctors are confident that I probably will give birth to Maely (that is our nickname for her already!) early. This has brought up a lot of different emotions for me/us. Long story short, David and I decided that if if I did go into labor we would opt for a VBAC as long as Maely's condition (and mine) were stable. We thought we had a plan! For me, it was complete surrender and trusting that the Lord would bring Maely safely into the world.

I prepared myself to talk to the DR this morning and share our new found wishes. I was completely unprepared to hear the words "absolutely not" from my OB. Once she explained their reasoning and showed me my medical records (very complicated, I might add), I cried a little bit, dried my tears and walked out the door. I had not even reached the elevator before my OB had called to assure me that we were making the right decision, solely because of the life-threatening risk it would pose to myself if we opted for a VBAC after already enduring an emergency c-section as well as a "normal" c-section.

I called David after getting off the phone with my OB to tell him their response. Once again, I am amazed by his humble and protective response. "Ri, I know that you are disappointed and had your heart set on this. My main concern is you. You. Then the kids and making sure they are healthy." Honestly, I cannot even see the computer screen as I type his words. So very incredibly comforting and true.

The Lord is using this pregnancy to refine who I am in Him. Our sweet Maely has changed her mama so much already and is challenging me to look beyond myself. These past few months have been trying for me on many levels, but when I surrendered Maely's delivery to Him, I should have known that God was going to use it to refine me even more, teach me even more about His unfailing love, and to open my eyes to the every day blessings I have the pleasure of walking through life with each day.

A Father's Love

18 weeks into our pregnancy with Holland, we found out that she was a healthy, growing girl. David and I both were left feeling gleeful yet speechless as we had always envisioned a houseful of rampant boys. I was secretly excited because I was able to finally shop (and I mean SHOP) for our sweet Holland Grace. I knew that the possibilities were endless!

I will never forget our conversation that evening and the months following. David was undoubtedly the most insecure I had ever seen him. He questioned himself in how he would father a baby girl. I assured him that God had chosen us as parents for Holland and specifically for David to be her earthly father. I had never been more confident in David in knowing what a tender, supportive and affectionate father he would become instantly. During my tumultuous labor experience with Holland, David's role instantly changed from not only a protective husband, but a protective father that wants to offer provision and stability over his children.

I was reminded on his tender, selfless heart this past Friday night when we were on one of our much needed date nights. We had just finished an incredible sushi dinner at our favorite local place. I have been having a lot of sciatic nerve pain during this pregnancy with Maelynn and although the food was amazing, I was in dire need of a mood change! David did his best and treated us to cheesecake from Barnes and Noble. We were getting it to-go since I was not feeling particularly well when this overpriced frog shaped iced cookie caught his eye. He looked at me and smiled. He saw the $3 price tag and started to put it back, but then smiled again and asked the cashier to add it to our tab. David knew that Holland would be elated (and more than likely willing to share!) to receive this cookie from him.

This small act may seem just that, but David does things like this all of the time for Holland and Jackson. It isn't the act of spending money, but knowing that they will feel loved by him and have confidence in knowing that even when he is not right there all of the time, they are never far from his thoughts. It gives me great joy to have married a man of David's character, but even more-so for the father he is to our children. It not only goes from picking out little things they will delight in, but teaching, modeling and reading to them about a Father our hearts desire for them to ultimately rest in knowing and serving. He has left corporate meetings, late night graduate school study sessions, and leisure activities with friends when any one of our children are in need of him. I do not say these things boastfully, but with a thankful heart of the man our children call Daddy. It's incredible to see their earthly father humble himself and share with them that there is more to this life than their little eyes can see and a heavenly Father whose love far surpasses ours.

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

New Year, New Beginnings

I have never fully grasped the excitement of New Years. Perhaps this will change as our children get older, as have our perspectives and excitement surrounding birthdays. For now, we are complacent and are not busting at the seems with intense jubilee when the clock strikes midnight.

This past Sunday, a pastor at our church encouraged us to pray about certain changes the Lord wants in our lives. Though our hearts and passions are different, our intentions and desires for Holland, Jackson and Maelynn are identical. As parents, David and I both desire each one of our children to come to know the Lord, seek Him and be used for His glory all of their remaining days. We are always brainstorming of ways and opportunities to minister to Holland and Jackson, but specifically Holland right now. She is at the age where she is asking an immeasurable amount of questions and sincerely is curious about the world around her. We are seizing this chance to mold her little mind and more importantly her heart.

2011 is a year of new beginnings and changes for the Uzzell household. It was placed on David's heart for us to start a family bible study. Though we felt a little unprepared, we wanted to start it before we had the chance to make any excuses! We began our study in Genesis and are using a book given to us by a friend/mentor called Long Story Short: Ten Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family Closer to God.

Our studies are not long, only 10 minutes or so, but the benefits are already being shown. Holland is very excited to pull out our family bible and study book every night at 7 o'clock and shout, "Time for Bible study!" It is great to see her energized about learning and being in God's word. To the best of her ability, she has grasped that God created everything with His power and just by speaking. Her favorite thing (right now) that she is most thankful for God creating is " Toy Story Dominoes". It is wondrous to see Him through Holland's little eyes. While Jackson is not an active participant yet, he drinks his bottle while listening to our conversation and prayers. It is a sweet sight that I know has been captured in our minds forever.