Happy Birthday Crew!!

Two years ago I gave birth to our last son. Jared Crew Baxter. I can't believe how time has flown. He's the perfect ending to our Baxter legacy. What a joy he has brought to our lives! He was the only child that had any hair, and boy did he have a bunch. I always joke that Heavenly Father couldn't send me a girl, but he did the next best thing and sent me a boy, with hair! The best thing about it is ,that his hair stayed with him. My favorite moments are still the times that we rock and sing and read stories and I can just sit there and run my fingers through his hair. I have him primed for some lucky girl! Did I mention that he has curls too? We had the hardest time coming up with a name for him. Jared gave a talk in church two weeks after he was born, and he announced that his name was Ryder. I love that name, but you will find out ,that the more children you have, the more of an imput they all seem to have in choosing a name. We finally chose his name on the Sunday of his Blessing. His three most favorite things right now are his blankie, cars and balls. He has all three of his brothers under his little finger. He can call them all by name and if he sees them he will yell their name and run to them for a hug. It's so fun to watch them take care of him. They will even read him stories and put him to bed. He will put their baseballs on the tee for them at batting practice. He is trying to teach them patience and I do see glimpses of it in my boys every so often. He is our little glimpse into what heaven is and I thank God for him every day. He has the ability to make me stop and slow down in this hectic life, to see things that I have forgotten existed. Snowflakes on your tongue, doggie kisses, robins nests, blue skies, running streams, fish tanks, how easily an "owie" can be fixed with a simple kiss, the pure delight in catching a ball, the lovely orange stain that puffy cheetos leave on your fingers, flour footprints across a dark wood floor.......Happy Birthday baby, I love you.