Zachary's 2nd Birthday

Dear Zachary,

Today is your second birthday, and you've had a GREAT day! We had a family birthday party at the house with Gramma Jo-Jo, Nana, cousins, aunts and an uncle. There was cake, there were presents, there was swimming, and you enjoyed it all!

I am so proud of you and can't imagine loving you more than I already do. You are a wonderful son, and as happy as I am that you are growing up, I found myself feeling a little sad today, too, because my baby is growing into a little boy. I have truly soaked up your babyhood as much as I possibly can, and I've loved every moment of it. Still, this Mama knows that time marches on and that my baby can't stay a baby forever.

All I can say is I love you forever. You have my heart, and you always will.

Love,
Mama

2 years old!

Wearing a new outfit from Mama's friends, Anne and May.

Jilly who is expecting baby #3 in the fall!

You got a splash pool for your birthday!

The cousins LOVED playing together in the pool!

Brothers!

Blowing out the candle!

Nana giving kisses! 

Cousins Jason and Jeff

Elaine and Jill

Milestones (Warning: I talk about poop here.)

Dear Jeremy,

You've done a LOT of growing up over the past couple of months. You're daytime potty trained now, and you've graduated from your crib to sleeping in a bed.

Quite a few of our conversations are about wearing "big boy pants" and sleeping in a "big boy bed".  I'm really proud of you.

You have also made me the proud owner of three tiny potties. One for upstairs, one for downstairs, and one that I keep in the car in case you have an emergency.  One of my friends gave me the brilliant idea of keeping one in the trunk of my car, in case you have to go while we are at a park and there is not a bathroom nearby. I thought it was genius, but so far, you haven't needed to use it. I think you have a bladder of steel.

Also? I think you might be inheriting my appreciate for bathroom humor. Whenever you poop, you ask me to come into the bathroom, close my eyes, and then open them for the big reveal. Once I've looked, you enthusiastically tell me what shape the poop formed in the potty.

"Look, Mom! It's triangle poop!"

"Look, Mom! It's snake poop!"

"Look, Mom! It's tree poop!"

Seriously, your ability to see shapes in poop rivals that of the best cloud-gazers!

Once you show me your poop, I usually do some kind of celebratory cheer and dance. And if I forget, you're not shy about reminding me that you'd like some kudos for your good work.

What can I say, Jeremy? You keep our house full of fun, and your enthusiasm for life is contagious! I have a feeling (and I sincerely hope) that aspect of your personality is here to stay!

I love you with all my heart,
Mama

Beautiful Brown Skin

Dear Jeremy,

I'm in the process of working on our family photo book for the year 2011, and I just finished a page with the above images. I would entitle it "The Many Faces of Jeremy" because it totally shows what a character you are and how expressive you can be.

Sometimes when I'm putting baby lotion on your skin, I'll say, "Jeremy, what's beautiful?" and you'll enthusiastically reply, "Beautiful skin!" It's become a bit of a ritual, and a little fun thing that we do. You and your brother both have such gorgeous skin, and I hope you'll always embrace it as one of the many wonderful characteristics that God gave you when He made you.

Sadly, you may encounter people in the world who will try to tell you otherwise. One of the things that breaks my heart is the thought that you might (and probably will) encounter people with racial prejudices. They might say hurtful things or act in ways make you feel inferior, less than. I wish I could protect you from all harm, and I hope the world you are growing up in will be a kinder one than generations past.

My only advice to you is to disregard that negativity as much as you possibly can, and remember that you are exactly who God created you to be. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! (Psalm 139). I want you to know, also, that our little ritual isn't just my way of trying to build your self-esteem (although I hope it does!). It is the truth. You and Zachary both were born with the most beautiful skin--just look at the photos above...it is just radiant!!!

And what is most beautiful to me (even more than your gorgeous skin!) is your radiant spirit. May it always shine brightly! Thank you for lighting up my world!

Love,
Mama

Legacy

"May the tenure of our life on earth be characterized by one simple word: Jesus." ~Beth Moore

Dear Jeremy and Zachary,

Dad and I recently spent the better part of a day completing an exercise called "My Life Plan". The workbook we used plainly stated that in order to make a plan for your life, you have to know where it is you want to go. In other words, you must begin at the end and then figure out the steps you want to take to get you there. The idea is to visualize how you would like to be remembered by the important people in your life, and then to make a plan accordingly. The workbook suggested that I take a moment to imagine my funeral, and then to think about how I want to be remembered by God, my husband, my children, my parents, my colleagues, and my friends.

I had no idea what an emotional experience it would be to write down my thoughts about all of this, and I was most moved writing about how I want to be remembered by you, so I thought I would share my thoughts with you here:

I want my children to remember me the way we remembered John (my stepdad) at his funeral: as someone who spoiled us with his love. If my children remember me for nothing else, I want them to remember me as a mommy who loved them so lavishly and fiercely that there is absolutely no doubt in their minds that they were the apple of my eye. I want them to remember me as their champion--that I was on their team, not matter what. That I was their protective Mama Bear when they needed someone to defend them. I want them to remember me as their cheerleader, the president of their fan club, the person who believed in the beauty of their dreams, the person who believed in their ability to achieve their dreams, the person who believed in them. As they become adolescents and adults, I want them to remember me as their dear friend and confidant--the person they could come to with absolutely any thought, any question, any hurt or heartbreak, any joy or triumph, any issue to process. I want them to remember me as someone who gave great hugs. I want them to remember me as being both gentle and fun. I want them to remember me as someone who gave them the gift of my time. I want them to remember me as someone who prayed for them and helped introduce them to Jesus. And even when I'm long gone, and their memories of me begin to fade with time, I want them to remember me when they look in the mirror at themselves--not because we look anything alike, but because the Light that shines in their own eyes and hearts will be the same Light that shone in mine...the Light of Jesus. I want them to feel the love of Christ resonating in their souls when they remember Mama. 

I love you with all my heart,
Mama

Jeremy, you totally get it!

Dear Jeremy,

I have heard all my life that the people in the family who are most alike tend to get on each others' nerves the most. Sweetheart, we are no exception. One of the things I marvel at with our adoption of you and Zachary is how much you and I have in common. We are both actors, we both have a flair for the dramatic, we are joyful souls, we have artistic talents, and we both want the complete attention of whomever we are talking to. Don't get me wrong, with all this in common, we aren't constantly at odds with each other. In fact, we get along famously! It's just that we also know how to press each others' buttons. So it's more like we're constantly getting along AND bugging each other all at the same time!  It's not uncommon for us to be laughing one moment, bugging each other the next and then hugging and making up two seconds later. That just seems to be how we roll.

But my do we have FUN! Since I love photography, you have grown accustomed to regularly mugging for the camera, but you're not always in the mood, which results in many of photos of you ignoring me, making silly faces or running around like a crazy person. Imagine my surprise and delight when this morning, you put your arm around Zachary while you were sitting on the sofa and said, "Mama, take picture!"

"Yes!", I thought to myself, "Jeremy totally gets it!"

After that, you wanted me to take pictures of you dancing. Your one-man dance parties consist of you hurling yourself across the floor in a break-dancing sort of way, accompanied by an occasional somersault, and general swaying to the rhythm of the music. It's awesome.

This morning, during one of our many regular mall walks, we passed an open door to a closed off warehouse area, and through the door, we beheld the beauty of many Christmas trees and decorations being prepared to deck the halls of our local mall.

"What are those?" I asked you.

"Trees!" you responded.

"What kind of trees?"

You paused for a long while, then a look of cautious optimism flashed across your face as if you weren't sure you wanted to risk saying it out loud. "Christmas?" you asked so hopefully.

"Yes! Christmas!" I confirmed.

"Mama! Me feel SO HAPPY!"

Mama does, too, Jeremy. Mama does, too.

In that moment, I felt so grateful and thrilled to have a son who is so much like me, who delights in the same things that I do. I don't care that Halloween hasn't arrived yet. I LOVE seeing the store windows beginning to be trimmed with lights and trees. Jeremy, I look forward to a lifetime of sharing in the sheer JOY of Christmas with you, year after year after year!

God bless us, everyone!

Love,
Mama

Three!

Dear Jeremy,

You're three! I feel like we've been celebrating your birthday for days because, well...we have! On Wednesday, you got to bring cupcakes to preschool to celebrate your birthday with your classmates. You've been asking for "cupcake football" for weeks, and finally the day was here. The result? Pure JOY!

The next day was your actual birthday, and I just had to do a little photo shoot of you on the day you turned three. You are truly beautiful inside and out!

Nana came over on your birthday to spend some time with you and to give you this awesome birthday present...a see-saw!

After your nap, I asked what you wanted to do the afternoon of your birthday, and your reply was "cupcake"! (Do you see a theme emerging here?) So Nana, Zachary and I took you to a local bakery for a special treat. You loved the sprinkles!

Today, we had your birthday party. Because you can't get enough of baseball, football, basketball and soccer, we went with a sports-themed party. We all decked out in sporty clothes!

Even Zachary was a little slugger!

We had a soccer ball piñata...

football and baseball cupcakes...

...fun with family and a few close friends...

...and oh, how you love opening presents! You definitely understand the concept now, and the best part of it is that you respond with the best and most expressive comments. Here you said, "Boots! Me cowboy!" With each gift you shouted and squealed with delight, and I'm not kidding when I say that you were hoarse by the time the party was over from all of that joyous squealing!

The family really loved watching your expressive reactions to each gift you opened....

...and the big hit of the party was this gigantic inflatable soccer ball that your aunt, uncle and cousins gave you. There are openings for a child to climb inside and then they can be rolled around the yard. It was so much fun--even Aunt Jilly climbed inside!

Jeremy, one of the things we love most about you is your zest for life. You live "in the moment" and I stand in awe of the way you truly are so full of life and joy!

 We are so glad God gave you to us to be our son, and we are so excited to see the journey God will take you on through the months and years to come. God bless you, our precious son!

Love,
Mama and Daddy