Thursday, May 8, 2014

Happy 9th Birthday to my Oldest (Annual Birthday Letter)











My dear little man,

Today you are 9.  You are half way through your childhood, in only 9 more years you will be an adult. But, no matter what age you are, you will always be my baby.  It’s hard to believe that as quickly as time has passed in the past nine years that in the same amount of time, you will be ready to go out into the world on your own.  The realization of this makes me want to treasure our time even more.  I do love spending time with you Nicholas Gabriel.  You are so funny and smart.  We can have the most amazing conversations and laugh over the silliest things.  Some of my favorite times with you are just sitting on our front porch swing talking. 

I also love your adventurous spirit.  This year you were able to go snorkeling for the first time.  It was such an amazing experience.  Swimming beside you and holding your hand while we explored the reef, pointing out the fish, swimming AWAY from the barracuda, being brave, having fun, and being in awe of how clear and blue the water was and of course, making memories.  I loved watching you as you took in the beauty and the wonder of this new world you had never before seen.  So many wonderful memories.  Thank you, Nicholas, for giving me the opportunity to experience the world through your eyes and helping me to see the beauty.  Sometimes as we get older, we forget to notice how beautiful the world is.  We get so busy that we just don’t take the time to see.  I pray, my extraordinary little man, that you always remember to take the time to see the beauty around you and remember to thank God for it.  Never take for granted how blessed we are with the opportunities we have had.  Be thankful and be humble and with every opportunity, share those blessings with others.

Speaking of sharing, I am in awe of your heart.  Your willingness to help others amazes me and I also pray that you never lose that.  When you came up with the idea, all on your own, to donate money to weather disaster victims, instead of getting birthday presents, I could not contain my joy.  I have always tried to teach you and live by example that we should do all we can to help others; I am thankful that you have listened and stepped up to help fill needs when you see them.

Your first year at the “Big Kids” elementary school has been outstanding.  You have maintained straight A’s the entire year!  Please know, my bright boy, that as happy as I am that you have all A’s, what is most important is that you do your best.  I have always told you that it does not matter to me if you win or lose, if you get the best grade or the worst, as long as you truly did your best, as long as you are kind, as long as you don’t give up.  Those are the some of the things I want most for you.  Your character is more important than any grade.  The type of man you will become, the way you treat others, the life you lead, the love that you share and what you do with the blessings God has given you will always be what matters most.

This past year was the first year you played football.  You also continued with baseball and soccer.  It’s amazing to me to see how much better you’ve become!  You have really grown as an athlete.  Your first time up to bat this year you scored your team’s first home run of the season!  How exciting!  Always be a good sport, my precious son, be humble with your gifts and encourage others.  ALWAYS.  I will love you and be proud of you no matter what, but when I see you encouraging others and being a good sport, even when you are losing, I am more proud of you than if you were to hit a home run every time at bat and catch a pop fly during every inning.

In closing, my sweet boy, I will simply say I love you more and more with each passing day.  You and your brother are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the reason I am on this beautiful earth.  You help give me purpose, you fill me with love, you amaze me, you fill my heart to overflowing.  Thank you, Nicholas, for being you.

I love you!  Always and forever, to the moon and back,


Mommy

His annual birthday video can be found here.

Last year's letter can be found here.

Friday, January 17, 2014

A Letter to my Four Year Old










My sweet baby boy,

Yes, I know you aren’t a baby anymore, at least not chronologically.  But know that in my heart, you will always be my baby.  The fact that you are now 4 years old is hard to believe.  It is bittersweet.  I am so excited for the big boy you are becoming and sad that the time seems to be going so quickly.

To see how much you’ve grown, not just physically, but your character and personality, is astonishing.  Over the past year, you have proven to be one of the most selfless 3 year olds I have ever met.  You always think of others first.  At this young age, that blows me away.  I have seen you get a snack and when I ask why you have two, your reply is, “One is for me, one is for Nic.”  When I ask if Nic asked you to get him a snack, your reply has been, “No, I just love him so I’m going to do this for him.”  This isn’t just a rare occurrence, this happens almost on a daily basis.  If we are at a store and I offer to buy you a surprise, before saying yes, you always ask if Nic can have one too.  Your heart is amazing.  You always want to do for others, to make others happy, before thinking of yourself.  What a gift you are!  I can not tell you how much my heart swells during these daily moments.  I am blessed to be your mother.

What a year you have had my beautiful boy!  We had so many adventures, from your first trip to Tennessee, to your first helicopter ride, to your first trip to Florida!  In January we went to Rez Kidz for your birthday trip.  We had so much fun in Gatlinburg dancing and singing at your first Go Fish concert.  They are still your favorite group and your favorite song by them is Five Little Monkeys.  We were fortunate to have great weather and to be able ride on the ski lift.  I was nervous, you were not.  We spent the long weekend just being a family, enjoying the sites and celebrating you. 

Then there was Myrtle Beach.  My little beach bum, you love playing in the sand!  We had a great vacation with your favorite babysitter Nikki.  Because we had a sitter, you and your brother each got to be king for the day.  While one of you stayed with Nikki, the other went with Mommy and Daddy and we did whatever you wanted.  You wanted to ride the helicopter, so that’s what happened!  Then we went to the amusement park and had dinner.  It was a fabulous day!

Our third trip of the year was to Florida.  Just you, Mommy and Nic on our first road trip with just the three of us. It was our Mommy-son adventure!  We went to see your God-family in Naples and had a blast!  You love your God-family so much and look up to your God-brother Jacob.  We played in the pool, went to the park, the children’s museum and just spent wonderful time with them.  Before getting to Naples, we made a pit stop for a couple of days in St. Augustine.  The hotel we stayed at had its own huge water slide.  I thought you would be intimidated.  I should have known better!  I tried to go down with you the first time to keep you safe, but you didn’t need me.  You were so fast that you started down the slide without me.  From that point on, you just did it all by yourself.  You and your brother climbed those stairs and went down that slide for three full hours!  You couldn’t get enough!  Seeing your smiles and your joy made my heart overflow.  I couldn’t believe what a great little traveler you were.  We had the best road trip ever!

I almost forgot that you also went to Baltimore for the first time this year.  You got to see lots of fire trucks at the Firehouse Expo.  You still love your fire trucks and I would not be surprised at all if you grew up to be a firefighter like Mommy. 

You continue to do great in school as well.  Your teachers often have funny stories or share how helpful you are.  Again, you have an amazing heart and personality to boot!  You are doing well writing your name, as well as other small words. You love to read, color and especially love to build things. You are also great with puzzles. Your favorite thing to play with is your railroad tracks. You are constantly taking them apart and putting them back together in different configurations.  It’s the best of both worlds, a cross between building and puzzles and incorporates trains, which you are CRAZY about right now!  We are thrilled for you that you love school and love to learn.  We pray that stays with you.

My hilarious child, every day you make me laugh.  Every. Single. Day.  Without fail.  It doesn’t matter what type of day I’ve had, you can pick up on how others are feeling and know how to make them smile.  It is a gift.  You are a gift.  You have great comedic timing and a wonderful sense of humor already.  You are quite the character. 

We also see your faith growing, which is the most important.  Now, instead of saying the typical “Now I lay me down to sleep…” prayers, you want to speak from your heart.  You always take the time to thank Jesus and acknowledge Him at this young age.  We could not be happier.  My sweet, sweet boy, please know that in all of life, this is the most important.  Keep that faith, that thankfulness and that humble heart.  Always rely on God, trust Him, He knows what He’s doing! 

As I close this letter, my heart feels torn.  I am beyond happy to see what an amazing little boy you are becoming and also sad that it seems to be going all too fast.  I look forward to what this coming year holds for you.  I am blessed beyond measure that you call me “Mommy.” 

All my love forever,


Mommy

I also made a video for you again this year, like I do every year, you can watch it here.

You can also read last year's letter here.


Monday, January 13, 2014

An Update from the World's Worst Blogger

I miss my blog.  I think about blogging quite often.  A great topic comes to mind, I have a brilliant epiphany that I am compelled to share and then…..BAM!  Life happens.  I forget to blog about whatever stroke of genius graced my feeble fleeting mind.

I’m not complaining though.  While I do miss having the time to blog, I have found that the time I used to spend blogging has been replaced with other loves.  Loves that fill me even more.    I do want to get back to keeping up my blog, though.  As I looked back through the years of posts this morning, I read things that I had forgotten.  Re-reading old posts ignites memories and reminds me of things I’ve learned along this journey.  It reminded me why I blog, not only to help retain my memories and share them with my children when they are older, but also to share with others lessons and laughs.

What are the other loves that have taken away from my blog you ask?  Of course, I have my beautiful family, but they’ve been around a long time.  The big change for me has been my return to school.  Finally, I’m getting my degree and I have to tell you, it’s fantastic!  I’ve always been a bit of a nerd.  Now, I’m a full grown nerd.  I love to study, to read, to (EEEK) take tests!  As bizarre as it sounds, I find comfort in these things.  I am blessed beyond measure to have such a wonderful, supportive husband and wonderful children.  They share my excitement, give me time when needed for studying and are truly happy for me.  I couldn’t do it without their love and support.  The most surprising thing to me has been math.  It was my biggest fear.  I HATED math.  My motto had always been, “What do I need it for?  I have a calculator!”  Now, with learning architectural design, math is a MUST.  When I saw my first lesson that included fractions and ratios I thought I was going to DIE.  Imagine my surprise when I aced my first math exam!  Now that I’m more than half way done and have maintained straight A’s, I can say that I actually (gulp), enjoy math.  It’s official, I’m living in bizzaro world and I love it here!

Since my last post, the boys and I took our first road trip together.  Everyone said I was crazy.  Well, duh!  What fun would life be sane?  With just my two little guys, we went to St. Augustine, FL for a couple of days before heading to see my best friend in Naples, FL for a week.  I drove the entire trip, with two kids and it was the BEST!  We used the time in the car to talk, to sing, to connect.  Still, to this day, I can not believe the boys did not fight at ALL!  It was truly a lot of prayer that helped us along our trip, I’m certain of it.  Typically, it takes about 5 minutes for arguments to start in the car, but not this trip.  It was perfect.  The weather was great; the hotel we stayed at in St. Augustine had a huge water slide that they let Caleb go down over and over and over again.  Seriously, the boys went down this slide for THREE HOURS straight!  There was a little outdoor grill beside the pool where we sat and ate lunch, we went to see the lighthouse at St. Augustine and danced on the beach to live music. It was Caleb’s first trip to Florida and it couldn’t have been better.  Then, when we arrived in Naples we had a great time with my best friend and her family (who happens to be Caleb’s Godparents).  The kids got to go to a great children’s museum, swim, play and Nic and I even went to the Keys for his first snorkeling adventure while Caleb got some one on one time with his Godmommy.   It really was perfect.















Now, my “baby” is getting ready to turn 4.  My oldest will be 9 this year.  Nine.  The last year of single digits.  This year will be our 5th anniversary.  It’s hard to believe we have been together for 6 years and married for 5.  It’s hard to remember my life before him and impossible to think of it without him, he is my soul mate, that is for sure.  Our business has grown by leaps and bounds and 2014 looks to be even better.  We are humbled and thankful.  Since my last post many lessons were learned.  There has been some family that has grown apart, new life, lives lost, some new friendships have budded and old friendships that have only strengthened.  There have been disappointments, tears and struggles.  There has also been joy, blessings and love. I wouldn’t have it any other way.