I Heart Faces: Beautiful Black and White

Give me some alone time with my littlest while the other two are at their respective activities and we make some hilarious bath time fun!   Splashes, goggles, funny faces, and giggles, made me run for my camera.  I love my beautiful boy and the sweet and fun memories we made together in those few moments alone.  Love him!!

 This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

The things he can do (Happy Birthday, Landen!)

My Landen, he turns three today.  Three!  And in his three years, he has proved to me that he is incapable of almost nothing.  I mean, really, the kid can do some amazing things - including stopping this mama's heart a few too many times!  He is mischievous.  He laughs at danger!  He is fearless!  His sense of adventure is inspiring (and kind of tiring!  Ha!).

He possesses so much joy and enthusiasm; laughing so easily, and excited for the simple things in life.   One of my absolute favorite things in the world is when I come home after being gone - for any amount of time.  He runs to me, open arms, squealing with excitement to see me.  That will never, ever get old.

He adores his brother and sister.  He is so trusting.  And for as tough as he is, he holds the sweetest sensitivity, too.  He is concerned if he thinks I'm sad and his little lip quivers at even the thought of being in trouble. I pray that he holds on to some of those characteristics as he continues to grow and lose some of this baby innocence.

So, in honor of this special day, I decided to make a list of the amazing things this crazy, sweet boy has accomplished in his short three years, because really, he is pretty amazing.

He can (in no particular order - and by his own proclamation):
1.  Do cartwheels and flips over the scariest booby traps ("It's easy, Mommy").
2.  Yield a sword that would scare away Captain Hook.
3.  Insert the word "tootie" into any conversation more than any person I've ever met!
4.  Dance like a crazy belly dancer (I'll try to find video of this).
5.  Jump off of the tallest mountains (i.e. arms of the couches).
6.  Climb the highest countertops - with NO chairs.
7.  Almost run faster than both mom and dad... almost.
8.  Swing in the jungle (i.e. on the top bunk of his bunk bed).
9.  Transform into a puppy who licks people (a lot) in an instant.
10.  Sing the Jake and the Neverland Pirates theme song all by himself.
11.  Help cook entire meals daily (really - every single day) with me.
12.  Be the best hider (and be amazingly quiet) when playing hide and seek.
13.  Spell his name and write an 'L' with ease.
14.  Draw beautiful rainbows on a white board.
15.  Eat an unprecedented amount of yogurt in one sitting (when I was taking a shower one day!  Whoops!)
16.  Completely navigate my phone to get to what he wants to get to (his favorites: Angry birds, Easy Bake Oven, and the camera)
17.  Make the best pretend chicken noodle soup.
18.  Let me take tons of pictures of him - he loves to say cheese!
19.  Run around naked more than any kid I've met.  He LOVES to be nakey!
20.  Be the best care-taker of Braeden's puppy (every day he make it his job to take care of it well while Braeden is at preschool)

And just a few more of my favorite things about him:

He absolutely loves his blankey and carries it with him everywhere.
He is so, so ticklish.
He loves to be close, following me from room to room every day and sitting next to me when I sit.
He asks every night if I'll lay with him.
He is always eager to help me.
He is so, so silly.
He daily makes me laugh.  He is SUCH a joy to be around.
One of my most favorite times is when we're lying in bed together at night.  We whisper every night to each other the same things.  "I love you.  I love you more.  You're my best friend.  You're my big boy (yep, he says it to me, too).  Jesus loves you.   Sweet dreams."  Every night.

I love this kid with all my heart.

Happy birthday, my big three year old boy.  I love you, Landen!!

Here are some of my favorite memories with my boy.












































And some older ones:

























Three years!  It's gone by so fast!

Some Friday Favorites

As much as I talk about how fast time flies and how I wish I could hold on to these moments, which is still true, I think I feel an equal amount of excitement as I watch the dynamics and relationships grow and change as the days pass by.  My conversations with my kids, Emerson and Braeden in particular, get to hold substance beyond the short simple answers and vague conversations they used to.  And with it, the level of trust and friendship doesn't necessarily go up a notch,  but perhaps just a few notches deeper, if that makes sense.  Anyway, one of the new things I've so enjoyed is the notes that have become a habit of being found on Emerson's white board.  Everyday after she goes to school I check it.  Every day when she gets home, she checks it, because there is bound to be a continuing conversation about our days left on there.   It has quickly become one of my favorite things.

Sister and brother roles have made their adjustments, too.  One of their new pastimes has become Emerson reading her big-kid chapter books to Braeden (can I just throw in Junie B. Jones - hilarious!), which inevitably leads to a lesson in phonograms and how to sound out words, which made me feel kind of bad for Braeden because he couldn't just enjoy the story, until I realized her little lessons were working!  That kid can sound out words to both read and write pretty well now!  Who knew?!

Guess my job as mom is done!

Braeden has rediscovered his love for his stuffed animals (I've noticed the trend of certain toys continually going in and out of style).  These guys showed up to watch a movie with us the other day.

And then there's this kid.

Landen.  These days, this is how bedtime goes down.  Face snuggled into the soft side of his green pillow pet and my right hand cupped around the chub of his left cheek.  Soon, he begins to smack his lips, a signal that his eyes will soon be blinking their final blinks.  It's then that he tries to hold onto those last moments of consciousness by fidgeting around, rubbing his head and running his fingers through his hair.  Then, its my cue to take his hand, settling those figity fingers, and I give it one last squeeze, almost magically sending him off to dreamland.

Almost every night ends like this....

And since I've already got two pictures of this sleeping baby, here's just one more...

I don't think the joy of breathing in my kids as they sleep will ever fade.  

Oh, and I'm going to take a cue from several of my bloggy friends and do a Friday Phone Dump.  These are all pictures I've taken with my phone and are on Instagram (if you are, too, my user name is sandra_kelly)!

Until next time.... :)

(Linking up with Rachel at Finding Joy today!)

Fingers in my hair

My emotions have been running the gamut (did you know the expression "running the gamut" is actually a musical one?  I didn't until recently! Sorry, I'll now suppress the geek in me again! :) ), and it's been rather exhausting, honestly.  Surgery has now been rescheduled for September 28th.  Jon and I head out Sunday, the 25th and will return October 12th.  I'm bracing myself again for the goodbye's we'll have to say again and for the huge and difficult transformation that I'm facing (at least 4 months of eating nothing but blended foods - two of those weeks, nothing but liquid.  Kinda bummed, but trying to be as optimistic as I can about that!  Lots of shakes and smoothies - that's a good thing, right?!  Right?! :) ).  

Anyway, the routine that back to school has forced on us has been good for me.  And now most mornings, I have one-on-one time with this guy.  I've loved it.  I love him.  And he loves me.  And he cracks me up.  

Tonight I laid with him in the dark waiting for him to fall asleep and he threw his arm over my neck and said, "I luf you berry much, Mommy.  You MY big boy."  Yes, I tell him that every night.  :) And then he went on to run his fingers through my hair.  My hair is still falling out in small hand fulls, so I knew it was coming out in his.  But he said it tickled, and giggled, and I didn't care.  I cherished his sweet chubby two-year-old fingers running through and through my hair as his eyes blinked heavily.  

I'm anxious to be past this - to be past missing my kids before I'm even gone.  To know exactly what this is and how it's going to be - good or bad.  And I'll be glad to be home again with my kids and have this all behind me.  

So, the countdown begins again.  25 days until I say goodbye - again- to my kids and fly out.  Until then, I'll be working hard to make them good days together.