Gabbling With The Gersts: Reflections from Mommy

Tonight, I had the opportunity to have a "date night at home" with my favorite little man. Daddy went to watch football, so Elijah and I spent the evening just the two of us doing all of his favorite things: Eating bananas (definitely his favorite food right now!), tub time (nothing makes that kid happier!), taking pictures (maybe more MY favorite thing, not his), reading, singing, nursing, and cuddling (all good things!). The more I do it and think about it- the more I know I was MADE to be a mom. Honestly, there are no other words to describe how much I completely love every minute with my son and how much I adore him and am honored that God chose me to be Elijah's mom.

I was reading from another blog, After-Belly, and was completely inspired by one amazing woman's entry. A quote she shared that I really enjoyed...

by Joni Eareckson Tada…

"'People with disabilities are God's best visual aids to demonstrate who He really is. His power shows up best in weakness. And who by the world's standards is weaker than the mentally or physically disabled? As the world watches, these people persevere. They live, love, trust and obey Him. Eventually the world is forced to say, 'How great their God must be to inspire this kind of loyalty'..." Elizabeth goes on to say, “You as a family have been chosen in a special way to display His unique Masterwork. I pray that your roots of faith will grow deep down into the faithfulness of God’s loving plan, that you will exchange your inadequacy for the adequacy of Jesus’ resurrection power, and that you will be awed as you witness the fruits of the Spirit manifested in your family.”

Colin and I have only gotten closer to our Great God as we learn how to be parents and love our little man. Lately, I keep saying how I cannot wait to have another baby! Colin is pretty sure I'm insane! But- I just feel like being a mom is what I'm made to do in life. It's where my heart is when I'm at work. It's all I want to do. I strive to be a great mother and can't wait to add to our family. BUT- for now we're happy with just our one little man and can't believe it's already been almost 7 months with him in our lives. I can't imagine my life without him now. He lights up our lives, melts my heart with his amazing smile, and he brings so much joy to us every day!

An Update on Elijah: We received the DNA test results back. It was confirmed that he has Oculocutaneous Albinism Type 4. Basically- not a lot different than we already knew. Type 4 is more rare. 1:100,000. (Meaning he's that much more Special!) We already knew that! We also learned that this specific type is most commonly seen in Japanese culture (odd). BUT- it is also frequently seen in those of German descent. So-for us- it seemed like that finally explained it. We're a very German family- Haan and Gerstner! OCA4 is also known to have less severe vision loss (praise God!) but we still won't know the extent of his loss until he is older. For now- he's doing fabulous! He's reaching for everything, which has become quite the challenge and nuisance, but one we rejoice about because it means he's seeing those things! :) We'll be doing another developmental assessment soon, but for now we have no worries! The last ophthalmologist appointment was wonderful and his vision is looking great right now! We are so thankful! We have started getting used to the comments people say. The most common: "Look at his eyes!" "What is he looking at/for?" "His eyes are so COOL!" "He sure is a Toe Head" "Look at that Blonde hair" "His eyes are lavender!" "Elizabeth Taylor had lavender eyes" "Why are his eyes moving so much?" "A lot of women would pay a lot of money for hair like that" "His eyes glow red." We're getting good at not even being bothered by the comments. Sometimes someone might say something that stings a bit, but for the most part, we're proud of who he is. Often, we don't go through the effort of explaining WHY his eyes/hair are the way they are. We just agree with the comments. Sometimes, we'll explain. It really depends on the time we have or the desire to get into a really long discussion! He's PERFECT the way he is! :)

Ok, almost done:

One more quote from the previous blog I talked about:

"Have you ever had your heart broken and been totally changed for the better because of it? If you know Jesus, you know he is in the business of taking our broken hearts and making them new, rebuilding them into better condition than they were in before if we let him. He uses our heartbreak for the good giving us a reason to live. He is about using the weak to shame the strong."

We thought our hearts were broken when Elijah was diagnosed with albinism. But- We learned about his albinism, who he is, and how God will use this to work in his and our lives. We now contribute it to one of the greatest things that has shaped us as parents and as children of the Lord. God used this as a special way to teach us more about his goodness, his mercy, and his unending love and admiration. He gave us this task, this sweet child, as a way to teach us more about HIM. We've drawn closer to each other and to our savior each day because of this amazing blessing.

How GREAT is our God!? I've been wanting to write all of these things for some time now. I finally took the opportunity to sit, reflect, pray, and write. Keeping this blog is a way for us to remember- sort of like a new age Baby Book. But also a journal of becoming parents; learning, and growing in so many ways.

Enjoy some of the pictures I took tonight- Elijah is 6.5 months old!

Tub Time is ALWAYS a blast with this little man!