Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Tomorrow, November 19, I will celebrate the birth of my third child! Ethan was born at 7:37AM. He was the third and final son to be born on a Sunday! My labor was less than 6 hours with him and I remember when the doctor held him up and then placed him on my chest, how blessed I felt. My heart felt like it would burst with love just like it did when Jared and Erik were born. Ethan looked like his brothers - we joked with our nurses that there was no reason to put a hospital band on him....he was definitely a McGraw!
The other boys had a cross stitch birth announcement done with in months of them being born. I made them each one that said their names, birth weight, height, and time. For some reason I didn't get around to getting Ethan's finished until he was diagnosed with cancer. I remember feeling awful that my son could die and I didn't even record his birth! So a cross stitch was finished when Ethan was 7 years old announcing his birth. He was happy to finally have one and I was glad to finally have a record that he was here.
This will be the 5th birthday we celebrate without Ethan physically. For some reason, this one is making me quite emotional. Little things all week have popped up that have just taken my breath away with memories....children that come up from behind me and hug me - just the way Ethan did a couple of days before he died....somebody said "what's up? Chicken butt" today- Joe and Ethan used to say this to each other all the time....I watched a mom and middle school child hold hands today in church and I was reminded of walking to McDonald's for the last time with Ethan - we held hands on the way there.
Tomorrow I will remember and celebrate the life of my third child - an incredible gift given to me by an incredible God and I am so thankful!