Her's Cryin'

All Tanner wanted for his 3rd birthday was a baby. A "real baby". I thought it was so sweet that he wanted a "real baby" that I searched everywhere for the perfect baby doll. I found a Thumbelina doll that moved its head from side to side and cooed when you picked it up. That was about as "real" as I could get.

When he opened the present and picked up the doll he smiled sweetly and said thank you. But I noticed that he set the doll right back down and walked away. I could tell he was disappointed. Tanner did play with the doll eventually and enjoyed how real it looked. He rocked it and sang to it. What a sweet, tender little guy he was.

Tanner's birthday was in January. In April, we found out about our precious daughter, Natalie. She was too tiny to bring home from the hospital right away. In fact, she had to spend over 2 months in the hospital. As soon as we knew Natalie was going to be ours we took her 3 big brothers to see her. We decided to make a day of it. Before the hospital, Ron and I took our rambunctious boys to the Phoenix Zoo. They had a ball seeing all the different animals. I think the playful spider monkeys and bellowing elephants were their favorites.

Next we headed to the hospital to meet their new sister. She was just over 2 pounds at the time. As soon as they saw her they all pointed and whispered at once. Spider Monkey! Yes, she did look a bit like an adorable little spider monkey.

Tanner was so excited when Natalie finally got to come home. He proudly announced that she was his baby and handed me the doll. Smiling at my sweet little man, I took the doll and tucked it away for another day. Tanner took such good care of his little sis. She definitely was HIS baby. We would snuggle her in the big papasan chair like she was in big bird's nest. If I was ever busy in another room, and Natalie began to cry, Tanner would run to get my attention. "Mommy, Mommy, Her's Cryin'!"

It still makes me smile what a wonderful, big brother my Tanner was to his itty bitty sister. She may have started out looking a bit like a spider monkey, but she had marvelous protectors in her brothers. At 19 she is still blessed to have 3 big brothers just a phone call away if ever "Her's cryin'".

In Him,
Joyful
2-1-2010