Happy Birthday, JJ!

So...you're eight. 

You've been sweetly waiting for this day for a long time... and yet it kind of snuck up on many of us.

JJ, you are a love. You are kind and gentle. You are a favorite among your siblings. Your laugh is contagious. You love math, and you're a card shark. You're also a cuddle bug.  

You've taken off in your reading abilities this year. (Was it just last summer that you were worried that you would never learn to read because you had only been working on spelling??) But math time with mom is still one of your favorite times of the day (and maybe one of my favorites, too.)

We love you, son. God is kind to have put you in our family. May you be blessed by His love all the days of your life! 

You're Seven, JJ!!

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!

It's been a good year for you, J.J., and I can certainly imagine your next year being just as good if not better.

You are a good, sweet kid. You love your mama and still make sure to give me my cuddles, but this year, you've also set your eyes on another sweet young lady, of whom you'll boldly say, "We're in love. We're gonna get married!" Of course, I applaud both your taste and confidence.

You have the best belly laugh. I was remembering earlier today your toddlerhood...we'd imitate fake laughs ("Hahaha, hohoho, heehee!") and lately, your boisterous laugh has had me cracking up and thinking back.

You're working hard on your reading skills and your math skills have skyrocketed this year. You also love piano lessons and Speech!

You and 'Lijah are great buddies, but you also are a sweet big brother to the little ones.

We're eager to see what yo

ur future holds, dear son, but in the meantime, we'll hold you close and cherish these days. You're a gift from God, and we are thankful!

Happy happy birthday, J.J.! We love you!!

Happy Birthday, JJ!

Our Sweet JJ. You're six years old. I've always said one of my favorite stages is "five year old boy syndrome." And it's true. Five has been really good on you. You're sweet, thoughtful, a little loud and boisterous, but typically super content to just be you. You love everyone and are super good to your mama and younger siblings.

You started kindergarten this year and you're flying now. You're definitely a boy and a bit rotten at that, but somehow, you get away with it. All I know is that everyone thinks you're pretty much perfect.

We're really so thankful that God put you in our family, JJ, and we hope and pray that you have a wonderful year. We pray that you always know how deep and wide and strong God's love for you is, and that you grow in that faith and trust more and more each year.

We love you, Son, and we hope you have a very happy birthday and an awesome year! Happy, happy birthday, J.J!

Happy Birthday, JJ!!

JJ!!

It's your birthday!!

You're five years old, and such a dear, precious gift from God.

You're (most often) cheerful, you're (always) sweet, and you love, love, love life and siblings and your Mom and Dad and your friends and everyone you know.

You're tender and sweet with your baby sisters, and you give your Mama so many sweet cuddles, often rubbing my tummy and daydreaming about "Baby TinTin." And daily since I was about four months pregnant, you ask me, "How many more days until Baby TinTin comes out??"

You're an easy kid, you go with the flow, and you love to learn and grow. You've really enjoyed your preschool communications class this year, and we've seen you progress with leaps and bounds.

We're very much looking forward to seeing what this next year holds for you, sweet son -- including Kindergarten!!

Happy, happy birthday, JJ! We thank God for you!

Happy Birthday, J.J.!!

Jeremiah Joseph ... It is your fourth birthday. And we are so very thankful that you are part of our family!!

Lately, I've spent a lot of time thinking about the season before you were born.  We were busy with six little kids, and we had recently moved into our new house which required a LOT of work and that kept us busy, too. But it was a sad season ... we had experienced great loss, and my heart cried out to God, asking Him to give us another baby. And your siblings were crying out to God and asking Him to give them another sibling. And I know other voices echoed ours.

And do you know what God, in His generous kindness did? He gave us YOU. (And then your baby sisters. And more recently, a baby brother that went to be with Jesus before we got a chance to meet him).

You were a chill, laid back baby even before you were born, and we have loved every second of getting to know you. You're happy and tender, sweet and caring. You love fully and laugh fully. (And you're a good sleeper. Which is probably why you have gotten away with sleeping on the floor in Mommy and Daddy's room MUCH longer than any of your siblings ever have. Ahem.)

You've been working hard to learn how to talk this year, and your very first and favorite sentence was and is, "I. WANT. HUGS!!" I'm pretty sure your next sentence will be, "I want TOAST," but that's a story for another day.

You love airplanes these days. Your Grandpapa is happy about that.  Whenever you run, you're arms go out as wings and more recently, you've started spinning an arm in front of you as a propeller and making awesome engine noises when you're trying to get my attention.

We hope you have a wonderful year, dear son. We hope you run and jump and laugh and play and hug and eat ... and we hope you know how very loved you are. We have a good God who gives good gifts. And we are thankful for you!!

Happy, happy birthday, J.J.! We love you!

Happy happy birthday, Jeremiah!

You're three years old now, JJ! Yay!!

You bring delight to everyone who knows you. A man of few words, your shaggy hair and assertive expressions say it for you.

You don't know it now, but we begged God for you for a long time... my pregnancy with you followed a dark year of loss and grief, and we would not be the same without you. You bring a bright joy to our family, as I'm sure you well know how much your older brothers and sisters adore you.

Not one to keep all that love to yourself, you shower your baby sister Keanna with all the affection and attention you can.  And as my enormous belly has grown with your "other baby sister," my belly gets much of that sweet JJ love too!

We love you, Jeremiah, and we thank God for you. As you grow older, we pray that you hold on to your sweetness and joy and that you know how very cherished you are... not just by your family and friends, but by the awesome God who created you and sent His Son to die for you, that through faith you might have eternal life! Tomorrow we celebrate His rising from the grave, and we pray that for you, too -- that you would trust in Him and have life!

Happy, happy birthday, sweet son! We love you!

Happy Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!!

You're one!! It's amazing!!

It's been a really good year. You are such a joy of a baby, so happy and sweet. You light up a room and make everyone feel special. Each person around you just knows they are your favorite. All your siblings are united in their adoration of you, and it's easy to get a volunteer to play with you just about any time of the day!

We are so thankful for you, Jeremiah Joseph. You were born after a hard pregnancy that followed a hard, dark year of loss and grief. I remember Daddy expressing surprise that you were healthy and thriving considering how difficult things had been. I remember just being incredibly grateful that you were alive. Certainly many, many prayers were answered kindly and generously with your birth -- most consistently the prayers of your big sisters who prayed almost daily for you long before you were even conceived.

And thrive you do well! You live and laugh and love fully. You sing, you dance, you wave your arms in the air to music as if you are conducting a full orchestra. You love to be sung to... sweetly relaxing into each bedtime's rendition of "Rock-a-bye Baby." You blow kisses. And you are a tease!! You love to act like you are going to give your big sister a kiss, then at the last second, turn your head away. And you love to look mischievously into my eyes and babble, "Dadadada!" in response to my encouragements to say "Mama!"

We love you, Jeremiah, and we thank God for you. You are a sweet, sweet gift to our family and we enjoy you so much! We pray that God will bless you and keep you, and that you will always know the delight of His love and grace in your life.

Happy happy birthday, Sweet JJ!!

Video: Lila and the Kids Meet Baby Jeremiah