Tuesday, January 31, 2012

MY HEART


This will be the post that I will have to try not to drown the computer from tears pouring over it as I type.

Four years ago Amanda was packed and ready to head to the hospital to deliver my husbands little namesake…We were so honored that this boys name would be Jack Voss, named after both his grandfathers.

It was Super Bowl week and coincidentally Eli was the winner that next Sunday…and look who is playing this Sunday..

Parker had been “the one and only” for so long. 
Then Greg married Dana and Austin joined our family, BUT could I love another little boy the same. 

Parker had lived with us, he had grabbed my heart and I had held on tight.  That’s one I can’t explain.
 
Amanda and Micah were so gracious to let me stay in labor and delivery with them and be there when Jack made his entrance to the world. 

(My girl has babies easy) with no drama…I remember seeing his face and instantly falling head over heels in love…instantly…He was perfect..

we laugh now…if we had only known then how different his personality would be from Parker’s.
Parker is quite, Jack is loud.  On the third day he came home totally fine or so we thought…

I have written about what happened next but 2 days after he came home we were in the NICU with him fighting for his life.  He had meningitis.
I will always believe had Amanda not gone with a gut feeling something was wrong, we would have lost Jack. 

He was a very sick little man and we did not take a deep breath for a couple of weeks.  It was one of the scariest times of my life.

Today he turns 4!

Totally fine, the funniest kid ever, a laugh a minute, a strong willed child, a talker, a climber, a mess.  No one makes me laugh like him. 

He breaks things and he’s sorry but don’t make a huge deal about it because he doesn’t care that much. 
He puts stickers on everything and he has signed his name on a wall or two.  He is free spirit. 

You do not want to have a discussion with him in the toy aisle of Target.  He will win.  (At least with Grammy)

He does not like gul stuff…that’s girl in Jack language.  He really thinks he is Woody from Toy Story and don’t try to convince him he is not.
 
He thinks he speaks Spanish because he watches “Dora”!  He tells us certain words he says are in Spanish.
 
He hates talking on the phone so don’t call him. 

I cannot imagine life without him.  So today we are celebrating  the gift of Jack.  We call him our little hippie…

He has long hair with culs (curls)and he does not want them cut off.   The red on his nose in the picture below is because he decided he wanted to be Rudolph and proceeded to color his nose. 
Guess what?  He has my heart too.

Some of the many faces of Jack.

LOOK AT JACKS EYES....HE IS a LOVER
                        

new years jack

Jack rudolph


cute Jack 2


JackMobile

amanda and Jack

Alvin and Jack


Serious JackI LOVE YOU JACK STROTHER


On a very serious note, please pray for little Crew as he has his first surgery on Thursday at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
I was not sure what it would be and his Mom said it was fine to share the details.   
The first surgery will be very long.   
It will be to move the belly button up to the right place, putting the bladder in his body, breaking/dislocating (not sure which one they will have to do) the pelvis. He will have a scar from his belly button to the pelvic bone and he will be in a body cast from his chest down. His arms will be free. The cast is for his pelvis to heal and he will have it for 4-6 LONG weeks! It breaks my heart to think about it.  So please remember the entire family in prayer.
    
Crew and Marie


           Crew and his Mom Marie 

13 comments:

Love Being A Nonny said...

Love several things about this post!
~LOVE how you divided it into paragraphs. So easy to read!
~Love how adorable your Jack is!
~Love how Jesus is going to take care of Crew!!!

Theresa said...

Happy Birthday JACK! I know he is the life of every party:) I adore that picture of him with the red nose and YES, he has your heart!

I will surely pray for Crew! Bless that sweet heart!

Have a blessed and restful day dear friend, HUGS!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh that little Jack stole my heart a long time ago. Who wouldn't fall in love with that little character? He's a sweetie and obviously the apple of your eye.

I just emailed Marie again this morning and shared a little more of what we went through with our daughter. Nobody knows like somebody's who's been there...done that. I pray I can be a rock for her and lift her up.

Happy...Happy Birthday Woody!!!!

God bless ya and have a great day celebrating this little four year old miracle. God is good!!! :o)

Lindsey said...

Happy Birthday!

I am planning a local blogger get-together...
http://www.louisianalivin.blogspot.com/2012/01/local-bloggers-get-together.html

Unknown said...

I'm on a semi-blog break but of course, I couldn't resist seeing Jack's gorgeous face radiating from the screen. The littles have got to stop growing up so fast. I can't believe he's 4! You have a huge bouquet of flowers, my friend, each of them, one of a kind and Jack has got to be the most whimisical one of them all. (I just can't think of a whimisical flower at the moment.) Hope he has a great birthday!

Mikki said...

What a beautiful miracle!

Thanks so much for joining Flock Together riday at Mom’s Best Nest . I am now your happy follower and look forward to reading your posts.

Julie H said...

Oh my goodness! Poor little Crew and his mom. Thank God he was born in these days when they can fix almost anything.

Came here from the blog flock!

Oh and happy birthday to your little Grandson, what a cutie :)

Tara said...

Happy Birthday! You have such a great blog! I'm now following from Welcome Wednesday. Feel free to follow back at www.dandygiveaway.com :)

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Keeping Crew in my prayers.

Happy 4th Birthday Jack. How blessed your are to have him and Parker in your life.

Sue said...

Hi Teresa, thank you for visiting my blog and for taking the time to leave me such a sweet note. I am so happy to be able to wish Jack a very happy Birthday , what adorable photos! And a beautiful story too.
I will also be praying for Crew and hi family.
Sue

Unknown said...

That's a beautiful post on the love of a grandchild. Happy Birthday to Jack. He's so cute! I remember telling my Dad when my son was born that I never knew I could love so much.

Marie and Crew are just beautiful in that photo. They are in my prayers as well as you and the rest of the family.

Warm hugs...Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute ♥

P.S. I love seeing your sweet face in the facebook photo above.

Annesphamily said...

What an inspiring story. Jack seems like a wonderful healthy boy! He is handsome as can be! Good to visit you here today.

Ruth Dennison said...

Love your blog. Glad I found you on the weekend blog hop! Blessings.