Dear Elliot -- 9 Months

 Dear Elliot,

You are nine months old today.  Time is going by way too fast! I know I say that all the time, but for some reason, it seems to be going faster now that you're around.

You and Scarlet are now starting to be best friends.  I'm so glad you're starting to like each other.  You love to watch her and you think most everything she does is hilarious.

You have started saying, "dada", "mama", and "Bubba".  You also started clapping recently which is one of my most favorite things you have learned how to do.

This last month was riddled with sickness between you and your sister.  We had to make a few trips to the doctor, but thankfully you seem to be doing much better now.

For the last few nights you have been sleeping 8 or more hours.  It's about time!  Just today you decided it would be okay to drink from a sippy cup.  You are definitely growing up.  You have also started getting really close to crawling.  I'm sure you'll be zooming around the house in no time.  That scares me a little.  I think having two kids has been somewhat easy for me because you have been confined to one spot.  Now that I'll be chasing two around?  I think I might have my hands full.  

You are definitely still such a happy little guy. You are usually always smiling and laughing.  I said it before and I'll say it again, I am so glad you are a part of this family.  You bring us so much joy!  

I'll love you always and forever, Bubba.

Love, 

Mom

Refined

It is said that our trials are like the refiner's fire.  Maybe we are a little raw as our trials begin, but then as we find ourselves on the other side of that trial, we are often more pure and delicate, maybe even more rare than before we went in.  So now I'm wondering, how many times can one go through this refining process, especially if they are already so rare and precious?  Will an individual become even more beautiful for enduring yet another impossible trial?  I'm led to believe that even after enduring heartache and coming out of this fire, one can have a light so bright about them that the world will have a way of being drawn to them.  They will be even more rare, more precious, more pure.  The light they will reflect will shine far greater than that of natural light.  It will beam from every pore of their being and encompass those around them.

My heart aches for my sweet friend who helped me through my impossible fire once upon a time.  She is literally one of my favorite people to be around because she radiates such beauty.  If I am around her, I am happy because of the way she makes me feel.  I am now on the other end watching her endure the trial of losing yet another child in her life.  My heart aches as there is nothing I can do to change the situation and ease her pain.  She has walked this walk before.  Unfortunately the ending is not a happy one.  However, I know that once she comes out of this, she will be far more beautiful and precious than she was before she began this trial, which is saying a lot since she was already so amazing.

For now, I will pray for miracles.  And from an outsider's view, I will watch as the refiner's fire shapes and molds a beautiful being into something even more rare and precious.