Year End

Dear Son,

A few things I will remember from '08:

*You saying "I wanna hold you" when you want ME to hold YOU.

*Watching you dance.

*Jesus Loves Me, Jingle Bells, You are My Sunshine

*"Thank you very much"

*Booster Seat

*"Luca are you ok?" . . . "I'm ok Mommyyyy"

*Big Boy Bed

*"Whatchu Doin?"

*Taking you with me when I voted

*"Ha-Ha"

*Thomas The Train

*"Merrrry Christmas and Goooood Bless You"

*The Medicine Incident

*Ten Little Monkey's Jumpin' on the Bed

* "You name not angry, you name Mommy!"

*Counting to ten [english and spanish] and saying your ABC's

*"Happy Halloween, Ribbit Ribbit"

* "Dance With Me Mommy"

*Little Lambs

*Your face when you watch fireworks

*"You hafta fix it Mommy"

*M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

*"I need a change"

*Watching you ride a bike for the first time [today!]

*The Make-Up Incident

*"Tell Luca Sorry!"

*Taking you to work with me

*"cheeeeese"

*"uh-oh"

*your first trip to the dentist

*"you ok Mommy?" . . . .


" . . . . I'm ok Luca."



I love you Son.

Eternally.

Heres Hoping You Had A Very Merry Christmas

Rainforest Adventure Pigeon Forge 08

[yes that is a snake around your neck]

Dinosaur Walk: Pigeon Forge TN, 08

Seriously.

Said by you today after an exhausting temper tantrum:

"I'm sowwy I yelled Mommy."


[.... you're two.]

Your First Gingerbread House

Family

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Son,

I could not be more thankful for you.

In Case I Haven't Mentioned . . .

Dear Son,


You make me better.


I love you.

Thank You

Dear Son,

The pajamas you gave me for my birthday are lovely. However did you know just the kind I like!? Your grandmother said you picked out my card all by yourself as well.
She asked if I knew why you chose that one. I told her no, and she said - "because it has a ladybug on it."

Of course.


I love you. Thank you for making my past three birthdays the best of my life.

Shortcomings

Dear Son,

Today I failed you a little bit. Perhaps more than that. I wasn't as patient as I should be with a two year old. Actually, age shouldn't even be a factor. I wasn't as patient as I should be with you - at any age. Period. I won't go into the reasons or try to explain - for there are no worthy explanations or excuses.

Today I raised my voice. For that I am eternally sorry. I never thought I'd be 'that mom' - but today I was. I promise to pray for more grace and for more of that . . . that 'it' thing that separates 'just ok' moms - from moms that all little boys wish they had. I forever want to be in the latter category.

Tonight - you showed me the magnitude of your forgiveness and unconditional love when you said to me:

'You need to close computer Mommy . . . Want to dance with Luca?'


And so, we danced.


I love you.

And I promise you - the very next time my patience feels thin . . .

I will remember that I am the luckiest person in the world.

A Bit of History - from 11.04.08

Happy [late] Halloween!

Dear Son,

This year for Halloween you picked a frog costume. You were beyond adorable saying "trick or treat, ribbit ribbit," although you said it a lot more in the car than to the people giving you candy. You also 'helped' me bake a ghost cake. :)

I love you,

Mom

Oktoberfest 08

Dear Son,

When I was a little girl, Grandma and B-ma took me to the Oktoberfest each year. I've continued that tradition now with you . . . your first you were but 6 months old, and your second - 18 months.
It was mostly you riding in your stroller being dazzled by the lights [and combating all the "oohs and ahhs" of everyone who looked in your direction and was awed by your adorableness.]

This year was different. This year you actually were able to get on a few of the rides. Most of them were geared for older children . . . much to my dismay - as you cried to get on this contraption that went very high into the air and then flipped upside down and then plummeted back to earth again. [seriously] Yes. You cried to ride it. [seriously] We made it through though, and you managed to quite enjoy a pirate ship and a caterpillar that went around and around on a track.

I figure I've got another good ten years of explaining/convincing you that you aren't big enough to ride "those" rides. Yep. Ten years . . . I'm going with it.

In Our Front Yard

Your First Ride