To Silas a Belated Birthday

Silas-

August 6th came and went and your poor mommy completely forgot to write you a letter for your birthday. She was a little busy at the time.

Turning one wasn't that big of a deal to you. You are alway so happy and ready for anything. You always have a big toothy grin spread across your face and you are a delight to be around. (Most of the time, if you are teething you're not much fun!) You have this laugh that pulls people towards you and you have those big blue eyes that let you get away with nearly anything you want.

You were starting to cruise around the furniture and even taking 2-3 steps just as you turned one. You were an excellent crawler and could get into anything you wanted. You are fascinated with the toilet and all manner of things you could put into it, mainly your hands! You love peaches and sweet potatoes and your favorite thing is to eat and nurse!

You have become quite fond of a friend of mine, you even call him Dad!  His name is Erick and two days after you turned one, I married him!  So calling him Dad is totally fine and to be honest he lights up every time you do it. However, you seem to forget that I am the one that has fed and changed you the majority of your life and I am your favorite! As cool as Erick is, Mom is the favorite, got that?

Right after you turned one (well a month) you were playing at the park with your brother and sister and well, Grace tried to "help" you up the slide and fell on top of you. Sadly, she broke your leg and oh she was devastated that she might have hurt you!  You only fussed a little bit but didn't act too distraught. You wanted to nurse, something I am still trying to figure out how to get to you to stop and well when I tried to get you to walk to Papa about an hour later you wouldn't put any weight on it. A buckle fracture right below your left knee.  You didn't let that slow you down though! You quickly learned to crawl and get around with the cast and even had to have it replaced because you wore a hole in it!

You love to be outside and I could fill this blog with so many pictures of you covered in dirt, out in the garden helping yourself to tomatoes!  Or my basil that was by the front door! As soon as the front door is open you are gone! That goes for any door for that matter. If you see your chance you take it! You love to be outside to play in the dirt and just be a boy!

You are a delight my fat baby Si and I can't look at you without being so happy and grateful that I am your momma!

Love,

Mom

To Grace on Her 6th Birthday (Okay so I'm a couple of weeks past due)

To My Dearest Grace-

You never cease to astound me. 

You have had an incredible year! You got to meet all of your favorite Disney Princesses just after you turned five.

You conquered an ocean and you have learned how to swim!  

You completed preschool and even started kindergarten. 

You have shown me how very strong you are and how resilent you are. You lost your best friend and the man you loved and knew as Daddy in March and you tell me nearly every day how much you miss him. You give me hope because you seem to know that this separation is only temporary and we will get to all be together again one day. 

You got a new baby brother this year and you adore him! You are such a good big sister. Henry is your best friend and you two play so well together when you want to, other times you are not so thrilled about playing with a BOY, but you generally can be found playing hide and seek or curled up next to Henry playing on the iPad or watching a movie together. Sometimes you even read to him, I love it when you do that! 

You love to go to Church and sing primary songs. You want to learn all the songs for the primary program and you even memorized your part. "My life is a gift, my life has a plan!" You were so brave to get up in front of everyone and tell the whole ward your line.

You keep me on my toes and you are very opinionated. You know how you want things and if they are not just so you tend to have something to say about it. 

You give me the best hugs and seem to know when I need them. You are such a blessing to me and you remind me how great it is to be your mom, every single day! 

I love you Grace Daisy!

Mom

To Henry on his 3rd Birthday

Henry-

First off I want to tell you how proud I am of all you have accomplished this year. I can't believe that YOU my little boy have grown so much.  You have been through so many hard things in your short life, and you always have a brilliant smile on your face. Except when making your angry face, I LOVE your angry face but even when you do that it warps into a smile in moments.

You started off your second year by learning to walk. Your first sure footed steps were to Mickey Mouse at Disneyland! I cried and your dad was so very proud of you.  The doctors had told us that you may not ever be strong enough to walk without braces and a walker but you showed them.  In addition to beginning to walk at two, you also really started to pick up sign language. You love to show off and are great at getting your point across. You are amazing!

Then you lost your best friend, he was mine too. I know you miss him, I do too but I know that he lives in you. You have his eyes, his smile, his sharp mind, his mischevious nature, his ability to make anyone fall in love with you, and his good heart. Today while you were walking to the bus I couldn't help but think of how proud your daddy would have been of you.

You had three surgeries in June (you had your tonsils and adnoids out, and something called a supraglotoplasty) and I was afraid I was going to loose you, and came pretty close to in fact. You had a rough go but once you healed you began to soar!   You started to make sounds I had never heard come out of your mouth before and you tried to talk! You are slowly finding your voice and I am so excited to see how much more you will talk this coming year!

You became a big brother in August and although you weren't so sure about Silas in the beginning you are now very protective of him. Whenever we get out of the car you very quickly remind me to get "EYE" (Si).  You love your brother and are very good to help me with anything I need for him.

You got to begin preschool at the University in October and you loved it.  Lil' Aggies has been great for you. You also got your iPad and although you can do pretty much anything you want with it we are both learning how to use your "speak for yourself" app.

You have had pneumonia twice already since November and have been feeling a little off, but you're improving and starting to finally feel better.

Now here we are to your birthday. You went to your first day of school at Canyon Elementary in their special needs preschool. THEY  LOVED YOU!  Your teacher Miss Jamie told me how adorable you looked and how friendly you were with everyone. You were such a big boy to ride the bus to school and you were so very proud of yourself carting your backpack behind you, its nearly as big as you are but you love it.

Your laughter and smile fill my heart with joy. I can't help but give in when you sign please and ask to watch your favorite movies, Mary Poppins has been in near constant rotation along with Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. You love music and will dance in your carseat when Luke Bryan comes on. You are so independent and smart. You have been eating oranges like there is no tomorrow lately and Mimi has had them in a basket on the counter, you went into the pantry and pulled out the step stool so you could get to them. You adore Papa and he is the first person you ask for when you wake up, after you have checked on Si of course. You love to tease Grace and when she is gone you miss her desperately.

Three is going to be a big year for you! I  can hardly wait to see you being potty trained (very soon I hope) and I am so looking forward to hearing you talk more!

I love you my dear, sweet, boy from that brief moment I got to hold you before they whisked you away I knew I would never be the same again. You have changed my life, my world and you have brought joy to so many. I love you so very much and your father loves you too, I know he wishes he was still here with you, you were the light of his life!

Love.

Mom

My Hands Are Full but So Is My Heart