Day #7 I'm thankful for

my boys!

As a young girl I pictured myself as a married woman with one boy & one girl. Don't we all? Ten years ago when I became pregnant with our first baby I called 'it' "Gabby", short for Gabrielle Nicole, after Nick of course. Then we found out we were having a boy. Our plan was to name him Gabriel but decided on Roman Gabriel. We fell deeply in love with this boy God had given us. Our precious Roman, smart & adventurous.

A few years later we decided it was time to add to our family & we prayed for another baby. God blessed us quickly and again, I was convinced I was going to have a girl. That's how it goes right? A boy then a girl? That's how it happened in my family growing up. This time we decided to name her Sicily Bianca. Then we found out we were having another boy. Not disappointed at all, we were excited. Then came along our Dallon Vincent & another love story.. This boy was painful coming in to this world but a bundle of joy when he arrived. He quickly grew to be a massive sized baby with rolls upon rolls and the curliest hair. Now he's our small little man, so thoughtful & caring.

For a while we decided we were complete. But I had a restless stir a few years later and started talking about trying one more time for our Sicily. That curly redheaded girl with freckles. Or would she have Daddy's thick wavy black hair? Well, Nick went on his 2nd missions trip to Brazil with our church and when he returned I hit him up to try again. We got pregnant right away. I mean, within two weeks we had tested positive and were telling people. Overwhelmed with joy we knew we would be ecstatic with a boy or a girl. We agreed on Sicily Belle for a girl or Thadden Rocco for a boy. Rocco (goes by his middle name according to his brothers) was born 35 minutes in to March, 2006. This boy has completed our family with the endless love he has brought to us. When I was pregnant I felt God telling me over & over that this child would be a 'Reconciler.' I don't know exactly what that means yet. But I know it was strong enough to know that it was coming from our Maker. I'm interested to see. Maybe he'll grow up to be a Marriage Counselor?

There is just something uniquely special about being a mom of three boys. Can I get an amen?

At times I feel overwhelmed, other times unworthy, most of all thankful.

Raising Boys

Roberta I. Teague

I scrub the wall of fingerprints,

Pick up the mounds of clothes.

I sweep the dirt that shoes track in-

Wish I could use a hose!

Meals are served from dawn to dark,

Dirty dishes crowd the sink.

Just when they’re washed and put away-

Everyone wants a drink!

The washer pulls the dirty grime from pants worn thin and patched.

They look so very neat and clean-

Yuck, look what the pockets hatched!

Broken bones and bloody knees,

I should have been a nurse.

I take it all in shaky stride-

Just grateful it’s not worse!

Screams and shouts and arguments test the keeping of my cool.

They left the neighbor’s faucet on-

See their new front yard pool!

A soothing bath is ecstasy,

A reward at the end of my rope.

Raising boys isn’t really bad-

But first I must wash the soap!

A rose can say I Love You, Orchids can enthrall;

But a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,

Oh my, that says it all!

**I should take this time to be thankful for Dr. Dobson's book 'Bringing Up Boys' because I lean on the things I have learned through it daily.