Mommy's Little Boy

***Edited to add:  These are GREAT!!  Thanks for sharing with me, please keep it up :) I love reading all of your thoughts and your wisdom.  It's fun to see so many of these things repeated and I now know some toys that I need to stock up on!***

So on this Monday afternoon, I've been thinking.

About lots of things, but mostly my kids. 

Specifically, Carter.

There is something sweet and unknown and challenging and wonderful about having a son.

I thought the same thing about having a daughter but it wasn't quite so daunting to me, because I am also a girl.  I was raised with girls.  I "know"the world of girls :)

 But, to be the Mom of a darling daughter and now a precious son...Sometimes the wonder of it all stops me in my tracks. 

For the last few days, I've just been contemplating the grace shown to me in the gift of Carter.   Not that I don't feel that same grace in the gift of my daughter, but because I am not a man and now I've been chosen to raise one, I suppose it is a little different.  I suppose I feel a little like Travis must have felt when Ava was born.  An overwhelming sense of, "now what?" 

 In many ways, my kids are alike.  Babies are babies, no matter what their gender and yet, there are already differences that are beginning to surface.  Thankfully I have a husband, a Dad, brother-in-laws and of course, The Lord, to draw upon.  But none of them are ever going to be what I am. 

Carter's Mom.

Yep, there are differences.

Differences that I am embracing and lessons that I am learning. 

This morning, I watched Ava skip around the house in her red tutu, singing and dancing and picking up her babies every so often to hug and kiss and feed.  As I smiled watching her, I thought to myself, "I get her."  I did the same thing as a little girl and honestly, if I had a red tutu myself, I just might consider giggling and dancing around the house today too :)

But then I looked at Carter, dressed in his blue and brown, and wondered....

"What are you going to be into little guy?" 

I know you'll sing and you'll dance and you'll run around the house, but I doubt you'll be in a red tutu!

I know you'll like some of your sister's toys and inevitably will be subjected to more pink than you might like, but what will you spend your free time doing?  Will you crash trucks into each other, take things apart, make lots of noises and climb like a monkey with no regard for safety?

Or will you love to draw or read or build things?  

Maybe? Or maybe not. 

I do know that God designed you and created you and crafted you to be someone special.  Someone unique.  Someone with purpose. 

YOU! 

As I've thought about being Carter's Mom and what that's going to look like, I think God has really impressed upon my heart a desire to know each of my children and a longing for the wisdom to help them become who God created them to be.  Not who I think they should be or what the world prefers, but who they are.  Who Carter wants to be.  I will admit, there is immense pressure when I think about the ramifications of my mothering.  Someday, Carter will hopefully be someone's husband, father, co-worker, friend, etc.  How I've modeled motherhood and feminitity will play a big role in how he responds and reacts to the women in his life.  That's daunting. 

But it's also a long way from today.  And today, I'm learing to take all of this one stage at a time.  To trust God in the details and to rely upon Him for the big stuff.  For the unknowns. 

I love having a son!

I love the invasion of blue in my world and the loud grunting noises that are often coming from my son's mouth.  I love the way his face resembles his Daddy's and the way he bats those big blue eyes at me.  I love that he lights up when I smile at him and that it only takes seconds for him to relax in my arms.

I love being Carter's Mom. 

(And so that there is no confusion, I also love being Ava's Mom!)  

Now, I'd love to hear from you today about raising a son! I had a zillion baby showers for Ava and got lots of those notecards with "advice" about having a baby or raising a daughter.  I love those things!  But Carter came quickly thereafter and I didn't need any more showers, so I missed out on those for him. So today I'm wondering, would you help me?  Will you give me  your best advice, some observations you've made, things you wish you'd done differently or tips you've picked up along the way?  Funny, serious, long or short, I'd love to hear it.  If you're a lurker, will you de-lurk just for today?  :) I'm enabling anonymous comments on this post to make it easy for you...

Thanks for chiming in, I know I'm going to love reading these!