Tristan has his own Christmas tree

Whenever a baby is born in my or Trayc's family, my mother or mother-in-law makes a huge, beautiful bow for the hospital door and then it is hung in their room for years to come, actually Tanner had his up until we moved in August (he told us he is almost a teenager and it would look babyish - he's 11, oh how we long to be older when we're young!) Because of the uncertainty of Tristan's life I did not want to have a bow made for the hospital door, bring it home and then have it in the closet for years to come - that would just be too sad. I wanted something that would be sweet, precious, memorable and something really unique for us to look at every year. So, we came up with the idea of Tristan having his own Christmas tree since he is due in December. We bought a table-top tree, my mom made a little blue bow, Tanner took stickers and made Tristan's name coming down the ribbon and then we added miniature ornaments, miniature lights, a miniature tree skirt and a silver picture-ornament that says "Miracle Gift 2007". Tonight we all sat at the table and decorated the tree, it was fun and really special because we did this for our precious unborn baby boy and the boys did this for their little brother. We will take it to the hospital and place our family picture beside it and then every Christmas we will place Tristan's tree beside our family tree to remember this very special time in our family's life and for the "Christmas miracle" that Tristan is to us. One of our greatest desires since we found out about Tristan having Trisomy 18 was that we want to keep Tristan's life alive in the hearts and minds of our 2 boys, in the years ahead, with special things like the tree we just made and a plaque we just bought and put on our wall that says "I am a dream come true" which will hold a picture of the 3 boys. This is not only for the boys to remember they had a brother but for them to see that no matter the storm's of life, no matter the tragedies in life, no matter the uncertainty of the situation, no matter the statistics given by doctors, no matter the circumstances we face, as Christians, we are to love the Lord Jesus with all our hearts, we are to honor Him in all that we do and we are to trust in His will even when we don't understand and in return the Lord will bless us in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. This time has also become a training opportunity for us, with Tanner, because we realize he is watching us in ALL that we say and do. We want him to see that his mommy and daddy love Jesus and will obey Jesus regardless of the situation and regardless of what we were told by the "high-risk" doctors. As parents, we teach by our example, the power lies not in what we say and teach, but in what we do, it's not in the way we think but in the way we live and believe we must live, teach and raise our children in accordance with the commandments He has given us in His word.

Deuteronomy 6:1,2,5-7 says: "These are the commandments...which the Lord your God commanded to teach you..that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart...And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart...And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."