Ruby Alison

January 10, 2010 at 5:30pm, our precious Ruby Alison was born. What an incredible surprise is was to be given a little girl! We were so tickled....pink! I can still hear the utter excitement and surprise in Brent's voice as he exclaimed..."its a baby girl!" We could not believe it! To be blessed with 3 amazing children is incredible and to get to experience boys and a girl...wow...we could just burst!

It was so much fun to wait until the birth to find out the gender...we knew with both of the boys, but from the very beginning of this pregnancy, things felt differently for me. BTW, Brent did not want to wait...even tried to talk me into finding out during the ultrasound. He was glad we waited in the end, although it was hard to wait. Not only did I not want to know the gender, I was sick the first trimester, which was different from my previous pregnancies and I carried her differently than I carried the boys. She was much higher, which made it hard for me to breathe throughout most of the pregnancy.

We knew all along what her middle name would be....Alison. I have an amazing sister whose name Ruby was given. She is loving and loyal and doesn't even begin to know how much she means to me. Well, she doesn't know how much she means to any of us. She is our beloved 'oopie' and I could think of no better way to honor her than to name my little girl after her. I hope that Ruby will understand what her Aunt Alison means to me.

So far, I couldn't ask for a better baby. She started sleeping about 3 hours at a time at night almost from the beginning. She's content most of the time and has a calm and inquisitive nature. She is very determined already...I can tell by how badly she wants to hold her head up. She will not give up!

Its pretty special to see Brent love his daughter. I wonder sometimes what he's thinking as he's looking at her. We all seem to be gushy over her...even Henry. He was rubbing her head the other day very tenderly and I asked him why he loved her so much...his reply.."I like her face"...oh! Pretty funny since she looks like him.

Harry is also pretty taken with her. I am so happy that he really hasn't been very jealous. Thankfully, he is pretty independent and has adjusted very well. Before Ruby was born, I wasn't sure how he would react, because he did not like to share me, even with the dog, but he has been sharing me very sweetly. Of course he has his moments, but he has taken on the big brother role very graciously. I am very proud of the both of them.

We feel amazingly grateful and blessed. We know that children are a gift from the Lord and we are humbled by the three amazing presents we've been entrusted with for a while here on this earth. We pray that we can stay focused and on the course and bring them up in love with the Lord who made them. Our hope for all of our children is that they will have a personal, life giving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and that they will let Him rule in their lives. God, help us to show them your love, show them how to honor you and how to serve others. Thank you for entrusting them to us for a while. We are humbled.