Happy Birthday Rylee!

Four years ago tonight, Brent and I were very eagerly anticipating the arrival of our second child. We had a C-section scheduled for the next morning. We dropped off Anna (who was 2 1/2 years old) at Grandpa and Grandma's, tucked her in bed there, then went home for one final good night's sleep before the baby came. .... Or so we thought...

We prayed together, said goodnight, and I no more than rolled over in bed and I had a contraction. "You've got to be kidding me!" I thought. I got up, walked around, waited... sure enough... they were definitely coming strong. Throughout my pregnancy I had been debating about whether or not to have another c-section or to try a natural delivery (the doctor gave me the choice). I had decided to set a date for a c-section so that then I would at least have an ending date for my pregnancy, but if I were to go into labor early, I would try a VBAC. So, here I was going into labor early. Nice timing, Rylee! :)

We went to the hospital sometime around 2:00am or so... labor was progressing along... I got an epidural sometime that morning. I remember it taking much longer than I wanted to... especially when she still wasn't born at 10:00am (the time I had scheduled for my c-section).

Finally at 12:43pm on Friday, January 7, 2005, Rylee Hope Sluiter came into this world, weighing in at 7 pounds 2 ounces and 20 inches long.

We were so blessed by this precious, amazing miracle.... a gift from God. I had some complications after delivery, so it was a long recovery process, but soon forgotten as we got busy with 2 little girls.


Rylee has continued to bless our lives in so many ways. Some of the things I'll always cherish:

• Her attachment to her lovie and sucking her thumb (this could be a hard habit to break, but it started at about 6 months old and has continued to this day and it's still cute).


• Her sense of humor. Rylee loves to tell jokes, be silly, and make people laugh!


• The way she sees the world through her precious little eyes. She has opened up my eyes to so many things that I might otherwise miss.


• Her sensitive spirit. She cried the other day when I killed 2 ants in the entryway. (Later I found out that her and Anna had named them and considered them their pets.) After I squashed them, the big crocodile tears ran down her cheeks and she said, "Mom! You're not supposed to kill! Now they're going to be dead forever! But they will be alive in heaven, right Mom?" Yes, of course... sure, there will be ants in heaven. If it helps Rylee, we'll just say that for now, right? Sweetie!


• Her childlike faith. Her prayers lately have been so precious... full of thank-yous to God. Thank you for our family, our food, the sunshine, this great day, my toys, on-and-on. After her lengthy prayer of thank-yous tonight, including a thank-you for the pinata she got to do at school today, I told her how happy that made God when we remember to tell Him "thank you" for the things He gives us. Her reply: "But Mom, Jesus didn't give us the pinata." Technicality.

Tomorrow will be Rylee's REAL Birthday (unlike the "pretend" one we had at Grandma and Grandpa's on Sunday, since it wasn't her actual Birthday), and she'll be "plain" 4 (instead of 3 "and a half"). This is what she told Aunt Karen, anyway. :)

Happy Birthday, Rylee! We love you!!!
"How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" I John 3:1