Archives for July 2008

My dear boy,
You are five years old today. I can’t believe it. I’ve heard the saying that the days are long but the years are short and today I really believe that. Five years ago today, I looked into your face for the first time and I knew you right away. You rushed into this world (and I mean rushed) surprising all of us with how big you were. Nine pounds, three ounces! Two days earlier the doctor told me you’d be around 7-8 pounds. You had enormous hands and long skinny feet. Your head was covered with the most beautiful white fuzz I’d ever seen. That was a special gift from God as I had secretly been hoping for a blonde baby. And you, my boy, have managed to stay big. Of course, you are no longer covered with all the adorable, squishy rolls and your cheeks are no longer fat and full, and I think you may have finally grown into those hands. No, all those things have been replaced by the body of a child. A grown up boy. Today, after lunch, daddy and I took you on a walk. You rode your new Razor scooter and we just marveled at how big you’ve gotten. Your arms are long and spindly, your back ripples with fresh little muscles, your legs are so skinny and strong. You’re a kid! How did that happen?

I love you so dearly. You are full of spunk and life. You are genuinely a funny kid. For a long time you were funny without even trying – now you are learning to be funny on purpose, which is even funnier. You are turning out to be a master mimic like me. You hear voices and you can repeat them quite well. It’s not a trick that will take you far in life, but it’ll get you a lot of laughs. You are polite and caring. You love to learn and read and hear new stories. You love it when I make up stories at night, but there are certain rules that I must always follow: the story must always revolve around a little boy, a little girl and their mommy, and it must always include some sort of talking animal. Telling you stories is an exercise in imagination for me, and memory as once I tell one you like I have to tell it over and over in minute detail. You are extremely athletic and amaze me at some of the things that you can do. Already at five you are riding a bike with no training wheels, swimming independently, climbing up poles, riding a two wheeled scooter like a maniac and scaring your poor mama half to death, and a whole host of other things. You amaze me sometimes, well all the time really.

I do confess that sometimes you are hard to parent. You challenge me in a lot of ways. I am sorely lacking in patience and some days you take mounds of patience. You are a great kid, but you are a bit too smart for your own good and sometimes I wonder if perhaps you may grow up to be a lawyer because I’ve never met someone who could argue and negotiate with abounding energy. I do not always handle things well with you and there have been many nights that I laid in bed praying that the Lord would protect your heart and mind from my failings. Despite my shortcomings, however, you are turning into such a gentleman. The other day we were in a store and you saw a young lady struggling to get out the door with a stroller. Without being asked, you walked over and opened the door for her and let her out, then told her to have a nice day. It was so grown up and I almost cried.

I pray that as you grow, you begin to have an ache in your soul for the things of God. I pray that the fire with which you approach situations is channeled into the things of the Lord. I pray that you know Him and love Him and grow up to serve Him and model Him. You are asking a lot of questions about God and Jesus and salvation these days. Your heart is ripe and I pray that your daddy and I have the wisdom and grace to answer your questions.

I love you so much, Sloan. I am so grateful that the Lord chose me to be your mom. I have enjoyed these last five years and look forward to the next five. Now that I know how fast they go, I will try harder to cling to the precious moments. You are a gift.

We took the kids out in the boat last night to watch the fireworks. This could have gone one of two ways – it could have been a wild disaster with tired kids melting down and Landon freaking out from the loud noise. It could have been hot and muggy and we could have gotten eaten by mosquitos. OR it could have been perfect, with the kids being absolutely angelic, Landon sleeping forawhile then waking up to watch the fireworks with big, curious eyes and no major melt downs. You can probably guess that the latter is what happened. The kids were spectacular, the fireworks were amazing and the night was all around wonderful. The weather was perfect, there was a nice cool breeze and not a mosquito to be found. We anchored out in the Gulf and all around us we could see fireworks bursting in the air, a kaleidescope of color. When the Clearwater show finally started, the kids were primed and ready and ooo’hd and aaa’hd the whole time. Landon was, of course, an angel baby and genuinely seemed to enjoy the show. Even though we didn’t get back until 10:30 and to bed until 11:00, they were all great. They did wake up a little before 7:00 this morning, which was not ideal, but whatever – it means I’ll get naps today. Sloan was hilarious last night. There were some people parked in a boat next to us that kept yelling and whooping and hollering. Sloan joined right in and yelled over and over, “Yeah Baby – that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” It was great. Hope everyone else had a fun day!

So I’m sitting here listening to the radio, my hair still drying after a nice hot shower to rinse the beach sand off me and the kids. We smell of soap, coconut and chlorine. Our tummy’s are filled with chocolate chip ice cream and we are sufficiently worn out. We’re having a blast. The only challenge has been figuring out sleep arrangements. We’ve got Sloan sleeping on an Aerobed on the floor because Tia moves all over the place when she sleeps and she would probably beat him to death if they shared a bed. Sloan keep waking up at 4:00 thinking it’s time to start the day – not cool. I’m exhausted, but we’re having fun – minus the sunburn. I try so hard not to burn but today was one of those overcast days where you don’t realize how much sun you’re getting. I got some cute pictures of Landon at the beach today. He enjoyed himself, and he ate a ridiculous amount of sand. I’m sure his poops will look great tomorrow. So that’s the update for now. Not that exciting considering all we’ve done is swim all day every day. As soon as I figure out how to get pictures onto this computer I’ll dowload some. G’Night!

I almost busted…
We are here after a rough travelling day. Tia had a terrible afternoon. She did not sleep well last night – she woke up crying at 1:40 for reasons unbeknownst to me, then at 4:30, Sloan came tearing into the room saying she was missing…apparently she’d fallen out of bed and went right back to sleep on the floor halfway under her little bed. So she did not have a good night’s sleep. Combine that with no nap and you get a screaming, litterally uncontrollable screaming, child for the last half hour of the flight into Tampa. Oh, and to the man sitting in front of us who kept shooting us dirty looks and shaking his head in disgust…dude, you chose to sit in front of me so back off!

Anyway, Tia also scared the bejeebers out of me in the airport when we lined up to get on the plane (we were on Southwest). I thought she was lining up behind us but when I turned around she was gone. I started frantically looking for her and could not find her anywhere. My spidey senses kicked into hyper drive as I turned around in helpless circles. Finally Sloan said he saw her up at the front of the line. I ran up there calling her name and someone told me she was boarding the plane. I tore past the lady taking tickets and ran down the gateway and found her almost on the plane! Did no one see her? Geez! She kept me on my toes today for sure.

Now everyone is asleep. I already took them swimming and sufficiently wore them out – something I plan on doing pretty much every night for the next 26 days. I’ll update with zany tales when I can! Until next time – good night!