To 3-Month-old You.

It's true what they say, the time passes more quickly with the second babe. I can't imagine what the third, fourth and fifth times feel like - something like leaping into the future with each passing moment? I perhaps that's what all this is, anyway. This thing called living. Raising you. You're an absolute joy, Daxton bear.

Of course, the exhaustion isn't a surprise. But it is just as brutal as I remember it being with your big brother. Somehow I forgot how debilitating lack of sleep can be. The morning fog of feeding you, changing you, making your brother breakfast, gulping down water and vitamins in a flurry of getting him off to preschool, and then a hazy crescendo into the quiet of laundry, cleaning the kitchen and coffeeing my very soul.

You, my son, are just as perfect as can be. You are sweet and good, and your calm heart actually ministers to my busy jumbled self. You help me slow down. You help me remember my purpose. Not because you scream or cry (you do these things, but not nearly as much as I expected you would). But you have helped me realize that mothering you and your bro is just the absolute privilege of my life. Even when I am frustrated that I didn't get my workout in, my blog posts have gone unfinished, my kitchen is a nightmare and my sleep is interrupted - I am certain that you are part of my very purpose here on Earth. And I am changing the world, just by being with you. You are going to do brilliant things with your hands, your heart, your words. Your life is already rippling the destiny of so many others, causing and affecting great wonders in all the Earth. I am so proud of you, beautiful boy. You are growing stronger with each breath. You are mighty, in fact. And you are so long.

Somehow you are three months old. These days you are smiling, right at me. You are talking. (Okay, you are cooing, but I know you are talking right to me when you do it.) You are aware of all of us and you love when your brother gives you kisses. You have a little fox stuffed animal that has been named "Bear" for you (thank you Everett?) and I actually think you like that little thing. You aren't a fan of hats, but kid - it's been really cold outside. I'm sorryyyyy. You look handomest in blue. You are wearing 12-month onesies. You like seeing yourself in the mirror. And you have already changed all of us for the absolute better.

You are such a piece of Heaven. You are my peaceful one.

I love, love love you. Thanks for letting me be your mom.

A Name for Little Brother.

His name will be Daxton Spencer Hale.

Daxton - Warrior who conquers great obstacles.
Spencer - Dispenser of provisions.
Hale - Healthy and hearty, free of disease.

I thought I would go ahead and share his name with you, since we are upon the heels of meeting him (I hope?) and we have been calling him by his name for months now.

Stevie and I wanted to find something in the same genre of Everett's name, with a bit of an English background, since we both have English heritage. We went through lists of names, rifled through books, and of course did tons of Google searches. When we were in London this summer we even looked at all the street names, and kept speaking them aloud, seeking to hear just the right fit for our little boy. We came across the name Daxton in an online search, and continuously said it out loud to ourselves. It sounded so different, so uncommon, but was it too different? We tossed the name around for about a month before deciding on the perfect combination. And Everett has everything to do with us finally settling on it because he refused every other name we tried out - he literally yelled "No! No! No!" to every name option, and when we asked him what his baby brother's name should be, he responded every single time with "DAXTON!!!!" It was one of our road trips games on the way home from our month in New York - how many times we could get him to plead with us what his brother's name should be.

Daxton Spencer Hale. He sounds like quite a Brit, eh? Spencer is my maiden name and I've always known I wanted to weave it into a family name somehow. I'm excited that Daxton will be the keeper of that bit of heritage.

We also like to choose a bible verse to declare over our boys, to hang in their room and remind them of who we see them as - like a seal upon their lives. It took me a while to find the perfect verse for Daxton, but when I did, Stevie and I read it over and over again like, yes.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best, and may be pure until the day of Christ; filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God."
- Philippians 1:9-11

We are so excited and so ready to meet our baby boy. I am a few days shy of 39 weeks, so lets get on with it, mister Daxton! I can't wait to meet you!

P.S. - When we decided Everett's name.
P.P.S. - Custom name print by Jenny Highsmith - isn't she crazy talented? She's my go-to for hand-lettered prints.