A New Mother’s Birthday, Lisa Cartee….and What A Wonderful Birthday It Will Be!

 

I must admit that the first two weeks of having a firstborn child have been somewhat intimidating for me, however, Lisa, a first-time mom, has handled these life changes like a true champion. You would think that she had previous experience raising children of her own.

Celebrating Lisa’s birthday today feels a little extra special because we have an additional new family member presence to rejoice with, our baby girl, Annabelle. Of course, Annabelle’s birthday just happens to be this same month as Lisa’s birthday, which with years to come, will also have significant meaning. My birthday happens to be in July as well. Summer will, indeed, be a festive time for us.

Lisa seems naturally gifted at motherhood, and even though fussy sometimes with loud whimpers of crying, Annabelle often seems comfortable in Lisa’s arms, feeling right at home. On this birthday, I get to spend this memorable time with my two ladies of the house! We have many blessings to celebrate this year, including Annabelle and one more year in the life of my love and partner, Lisa Joy Cartee!

Lisa, I am especially privileged to know you and spend my life with you and this baby girl. Thank you for all the wonderful acts of service you do for both of us! Happy Birthday to you on this most blessed of days! I love you!

-James Cartee

“May he give you the desire of your heart
    and make all your plans succeed.”

Psalm 20:4 (NIV)

(*Many thanks to Diane Babb Simmons for the wonderful photo session.)

Have No Fear! Annabelle Is Here! My baby girl comes home….

 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

-Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

We arrived home from the hospital yesterday. I must admit that Annabelle was fussy until the wee hours of the first night in our home. My wife, Lisa, has been a real rock star, taking care of our little one. Honestly, the action of a mother caring for her children makes me love my wife all the more, like getting married a second time, starting all over again (even though we have been married all along). With many costs and sacrifices made, a new adventure begins!

Over an eleven-hour span, I watched the entire delivery journey unfold before my eyes like a live Broadway play. The curtain rises. The performance begins. The performance tells the story of creation. Then the performance concludes with a happy ending. The curtain drops. Then an audience of angels erupts into cheers among thousands of heavenly hosts, clapping hands with trumpets and horns singing throughout the heavens.

While stunned at the idea when asked of me, staring silent for about twenty seconds, I reluctantly agreed to cut the umbilical cord. One finish line of life was reached while another race begins with our daughter, Annabelle. This symbolic action represents the start of something new and beautiful. While most know life that is going to be hard, the tribulations usually refine our greatest accomplishments. God did not promise the journey would be easy, however I believe God promised the journey would be worth it in the end.

Perhaps that is why I have a love-hate relationship with running. It hurts when I aim for long distances. But in the end, to reach a finish line and receive a medal, it often becomes worth it! That is why most do not choose the marathon distance. It is hard and requires that deep degree of sacrifice, like raising a child.

Honestly, and I am okay admitting this. I know nothing about the process of parenting. I will figure it out because I am a pretty smart guy. For the present moment, I am just glad my baby girl is home, alive, and well. If you will continue to follow my blogging journey, I would love to have you as a spectator of great things to come as we explore, venture, and discover what the most important thing in life really is all about – family.  

The Waiting Is Killing Me! Annabelle, Where Are You?

Daddy, I Double-Dog Dare You To Be Positive!

There seem to be many things in life that pull a person down, sometimes even other people. Annabelle will be coming into the world soon, and while I am extremely excited to be a Dad, other people can encourage or possibly even discourage a person. In the world today, it is definitely hard to keep one’s head up, especially with all the negativity perpetuated in the media and then again by individuals on social media interjecting their opinions on every topic possible.

I seek to look forward to the birth of my daughter, and in the midst of uncertain times, my nerves sometimes get the best of me. The littlest of worries can start to snowball and then cause a mountainous volume of negative thoughts caused by the daunting anxieties that exist right in front of me. Society does not tend to help these circumstances because media seems to thrive on making people feel afraid. I have never really understood that approach to news outlet rhetoric where experts think ratings depend on generating fear into the souls of other people. All the major news media outlets seem to do it, and I am convinced it is not a healthy approach to messages being sent to the general population at large. Making people afraid for the sake of self-gains does not sound like an approach to truth that honors God.  

I desire that Annabelle comes into a safe world where she feels safe at home. Perhaps that is the primary responsibility of a parent – to keep a child from harm, no matter how that looks like. I suppose that is where faith comes in. We pray. We learn. We know that God is looking out for us, no matter what circumstances surround us. By having faith in him, we then begin to have faith in ourselves as well.

I want to be a positive synergy source for the people around me, fundamentally and most importantly for my daughter, so that she feels the light of Christ in her soul with the abundance of hope positivity brings. That is my deepest desire for both me as a leader and future father.  

(*Many thanks to Ysabella Jones for the wonderful portrait session.)

Babies Are Hard Work! The Annabelle Train Is Coming! ….A Miracle To Be Cherished!

Even before Annabelle arrives as a real live person at birth, we have been preparing for what seems like months for her. Getting her nursery ready and having all the necessary baby products prepped becomes all-encompassing in terms of the time commitments to come. After moving into a new bigger apartment, my Dad spent hours with Lisa assembling all box-ready-made nursery furniture delivered from Graco’s manufacturer lines. My Mom also worked extensively cleaning and organizing our new home to make sure it was spotless and ready for our little baby girl. 

However upon her delivery, I cannot help but think there will be an experienced pride and joy unlike any feeling ever before encountered in my existence. I am trying to mitigate my own expectations without really trying to expect anything in my own preconceived notions. In other words, our preconceptions can sometimes disappoint us or maybe, on the other hand, even exceed our expectations. I personally think it is best to enjoy each moment coming without preparing too much for the future. One cannot imagine the arrival of a firstborn child. One can only embrace it with the immaculate conception of a child of God coming to their earthly home.  

While I am not the usual person with a type one personality to let go of life so easily, I think the approach to letting go and trusting makes raising children more blessed. When consumed by worries that typically no one has control over, the gratefulness to simply have a beautiful child can be overlooked by focusing on the things that never will be. Sometimes we give the most attention to those thoughts and things that absorb all our energies to zap the good that remains before our very own eyes in the present. There is good in the creation that we currently stand in, and a child is no miracle that should easily be taken for granted or overlooked by anxious afterthoughts. A child is a miracle meant to be cherished. And that is the reality that parents should focus on most.  

(*Many thanks to Ysabella Jones for the wonderful portrait session.)

Fatherhood Folklore and Urban Myths – What’s True?

This past weekend my wife, Lisa, celebrated two wonderful baby shower events with friends and family who blessed us with an insurmountable number of gifts to prep for Annabelle’s arrival. Thank you to everyone who contributed to these two delightful occasions!   

Let me tell you what I found out through these experiences – many will provide an opinion and advice on how to raise a baby in a thousand different ways with a thousand methods on how to do every single action, however some close friends and family members offer this information in love.

Occasionally I still hear individuals contribute the old southern sayings of “ball and chain” and life, as we know it, “coming to an end,” as if having a child is some grand tragedy. In my world, it seems that some couples take these mottos to heart. I think some individuals truly fail to realize how these negative phrases might influence new parents and their own nervous feelings before a baby is delivered as a newborn beautiful creation of God.

While reorganizing some budgetary monthly decisions, I recently met Jared, a manager for the local Regions bank branch in Franklin, Tennessee and a proud father of two children. Last year Jared took both his kids, less than five years old, to Iceland, where they climbed glaciers together as a family. He is also currently planning a trip to Argentina where I would imagine some of the same adventures will occur. Honestly, I feel sorry for the parents who truly think kids become a burden that then ends their passions, dreams, and goals. Annabelle will not be the reason I quit on my adventures. She will be the reason I strive for them. She is not the end of my life. She is a new beginning.  

Like I said before, everyone these days has an opinion about something. I hope that Annabelle does not end my desired destinations but rather gives me one more precious person to share them with. First adventure before birth, we are moving to Knoxville, Tennessee, where we will cheer on our new hometown team, the Tennessee Volunteers. Close by with summits to climb and forests to explore, The Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Appalachian Trail are calling our names! And together to search those very same mountains, rivers, and trails, we must go!