Overheard

I've wondered how our children, especially Peregrine, have been affected by losing two tiny siblings through miscarriage. We gave names to those babies and keep their memories alive by talking of them being in heaven, but it's hard to know how much our kids grasp the reality of that. A few nights ago I asked Peregrine to pray for someone who lives in our home, and this was what he prayed: "Dear Jesus, please don't let our baby go to heaven. Please help him to live a long time, until he's old, and then when he dies please help him to go to heaven then. Amen." Last night he prayed a similar thing, and it's made me realize how losing these babies is a very real part of his experience. He dearly loves this little baby brother of his and is so excited for him to be born. I think his prayer is precious, but I also don't want him to live in fear. 

On a lighter note, Poppy is really enjoying playing with dolls and being a "little mama" to them. Sometimes she pretends that she too has a baby in her tummy. The other night I was asking her about her baby, who was, of course, a girl. I asked what her name was and she answered "Dot!" I don't think she's ever heard the name Dot, but it was explained when she followed that with "She's my Daughter!" Then today we took a walk and she got out of the stroller for a while, stopping sometimes to tend to her imaginary babies. As we walked together she said contentedly to me "We're both mommies!" I love seeing how nurturing she is, and am interested how she'll be with the new baby.