Eight Years

It's hard to believe that tomorrow, on the 28th, we will have been married for eight years.

Time has flown by and the busyness has kept this freight train moving along at a pace I'd never imagined.

I guess graduate school, police academy, one, two and three babies, four different addresses, building a home, burying loved ones, and changing careers tend to do that. I keep waiting for that time when all will be on auto pilot. Where I wake up refreshed and no one has peed in the bed, everyone's slept through the night, no one's feverish or grumpy, there are no errands to run and messes to clean, and where the two of us have nothing to do but be.

That hasn't happened yet...well, at least not on two consecutive days. Maybe we'll find it in the next eight years.

Until then, I'm hanging tight onto you, Brian. Fast rides scare me.

Itty Bitty is Six Months Old

Hey, ittybittybubba...you're six months old now! I took pictures of you today as you are nearing your seven month birthday. It was overcast and we had a horrible thunderstorm last night where I had to sleep in Josiah's room to keep him calm. Poor little fella kept covering his ears with his hands and whimpering every time he heard the thunder.

But today is calm and peaceful, and the ground is covered with what we've needed: rain!

And I needed to get this photo shoot done. You were such a wiggly little thing and had no interest in being my muse. You tried to crawl away...

you tried to shimmy off the window seat...

you rolled around until I had to call reinforcements: Daddy, Levi and Josiah.

But we managed to capture you, little man.

See? Here you are upside-down right before you tried to roll over again and I got those sweet baby blues on film.

I love your little nose as it starts to curl up; you're really happy when you're curling that nose up.

I hope you like these when you get older.

I hope you realize how much you are loved.

And how this face makes my day.

And that I love these hands; did you know you rub your eyes with the back of them when you drink your bottle? I get to kiss your palms when you do that.

And that these feet are perfectly chubby.

And that your daddy loves you in all your unplanned perfection.

And that you and Levi of you have a bond beyond words already. Boy, does your big brother love you and can make you laugh at the drop of a hat.

Yep, you're surrounded by love. There's no escaping now.

There is a reason we named you Gideon. In the Bible he was the "least" of his father's household, but the mightiest.

You may be the youngest in this household, but we've ended on a high note.

Tying his own shoes...and now this!

Levi lost his first tooth tonight, on his daddy's birthday.

We both had no idea this was going to happen, and it came as much of a surprise to him as it did me. He pushed it out with his tongue and there you go: a reason for the Tooth Fairy to visit!

Now, normally this kid would begin weeping and wailing at the site of the few drops of blood that came out. But not this time; he was just too excited, and had to call all the relatives to let them know he "losed" a tooth.

Seems like yesterday that we rejoiced at the arrival of that little tooth.

And now we rejoice that it has moved on, making way for a bigger one.

I guess that's what parents do: rejoice with our kids, no matter how small the accomplishment.

It's all big stuff to me.

The Face That Changed Everything

Poor Brian. He was happily traveling through life doing his thing and then this happened:

That face changed it all.

You'd think that having nine months to prepare for someone would be long enough, but then it happens and you realize that no one can prepare you.

You draw a new limit to your patience.

You discover a new depth to your love.

You decide to be a different person.

Because this little person is watching:

Good thing for him, his daddy is worth looking up to.

Happy Father's Day, Brian.

When the Weather Gets Tough...

...the tough go sprinkling!

Well, I wouldn't exactly call these tough...

I'd call them really really white. But I think they're having fun

Or at least I hope so. I'm not really sure; they hide their enthusiasm so well.

With these two, it's always a mystery how they're feeling....

Pride

Levi decided he'd learn how to tie his shoes yesterday

And after five times of his daddy walking him through it, he got it.

Not only did he get it, he woke up remembering how to do it. Or as he put it, "rememberizing" it....with no help from either of us.

It's a wonderful thing to watch this boy learn something new and how to do it well....

The pride is written all over his face.

Clone

I've heard that Levi looks like his mommy, but ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you Exhibit A:

And Exhibit B:

I rest my case.