Caleb, servant of the Lord

I prayed for Caleb daily. I got pregnant with Elijah so quickly that I thought it would work out the same way for our second child... but that didn't happen. I started wondering if there was something wrong with me and I wasn't sure why it was taking so long for me to conceive. Then 6 months later, the month that I just KNEW I couldn't be pregnant, his little body started forming in my womb. I remember my pregnancy with him as my healthiest. I ate sweets maybe 2 times during the whole pregnancy, I ate lots of raw foods, had "green" shakes, and walked everyday. When it was close to my due date I started to get anxious that my body wouldn't do what it was made to do- which is what happened with Elijah... (who was 2 weeks overdue, never a single contraction, ending in a c-section). I was way too naive that first time. This time would be different. I always joke that I willed Caleb here. I had him on his due date after 26 hours of labor... born at 2 a.m. I did it! My first v-bac, my first real labor- redeeming the first... Matt cried, I couldn't stop smiling. The funniest thing was that for 3 years after he was born the stop watch we used from his birth had an alarm that would go off at 2 a.m. every morning, though we never purposefully set it up to do that:) God's little way of bringing me back to that joyful day.
Then Caleb turned into the baby that NEVER stopped crying. I tried everything. Nursing, rocking, patting, swaying, walking, driving... but nothing seemed to help. From 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. every night like clockwork he cried and did. not. stop. Some nights I wanted to burst out of the back door and go running down the road so that I wouldn't have to hear him cry anymore. It drove me crazy that I couldn't do anything to comfort him. Eventually that ended, only a few short months later (but it seemed like forever).
Then he turned into the sweetest, fattest little baby... though he was never much interested in smiling. Always very serious. Desiring to be big like Elijah, he stopped taking naps when he was 2. That was hard because we now had little baby Jo-Jo. That year was a blur. Ezra was being knit in the womb, we bought our first house, Matt was coaching soccer and that was the year that Caleb almost broke me. He just turned 3 and he was such a wild heart. He would throw the biggest fits you have ever seen... red-faced, thrashing body, pulling hair. I tried spanking, time-outs, "tomato staking", natural consequences and nothing seemed to work. I was so frustrated. What was I doing wrong? I wasn't really sure what to do. Then I birthed Ezra. Now having a newborn baby, a 2 yr. old, a 3 yr. old and a 6 year old that I was trying to homeschool, it turned out to be a very challenging year to say the least. Then something happened. Caleb turned 4 and he turned a corner. He was happy. He started controlling himself and he has never thrown one of those wild fits since then. He started begging for people to take his picture- smiling big and all the time. He started discovering who he was and what he liked instead of always following and doing what Elijah was doing. He still had moments of passion where his strong spirit would surface but nothing like before. Then an even funnier thing happened when he turned 5. We shaved his head and he was a totally new kid. We always joke that it was like Samson when his hair was cut off- it kind of took his power away. That day when we shaved Caleb's hair he became the happiest kid in our family. Strange but true.
I LOVE the person he is becoming. There were days that I was worried about who he was going to become. Now my heart swells with happiness over him. He his the most tender-hearted child. Out of all the children he is the most affectionate- always wanting hugs and kisses. When I read him stories he likes to play with my hair and he already talks about wanting to get married. It is funny. That thought doesn't even cross the minds of the other boys, but he thinks about it a lot. Caleb is extremely patient with the younger kids- especially Ezra (who is similar to him in many ways). He shows initiative- if he sees that someone needs help, whether it is me, a sibling or a friend, he will help them without me having to ask him to. He is the one that thinks deep- asking me questions that I don't always have answers for- like where is God? and what does He look like? Why did God make poisonous snakes and alligators? Caleb is the one that will work with his hands. He likes challenges and problems that he can solve. He loves to hear the story of his name-about the Caleb in the bible- name meaning "servant of the Lord", a spy and soldier, trusting that God will deliver, rewarded for his faith- we pray that our Caleb will be as faithful and that his heart would always be confident in God's deliverance.
So take heart, dear friends. If you are in the midst of a challenging season with your child, just stay in prayer. God WILL give you wisdom and patience; and, eventually your child WILL turn the corner.


never a real smiley baby, but still very adorable


always very pensive


the wild year


turning the corner


cutting the hair, a totally new kid with the strength of a joyful spirit