Turning TWO!

I just tucked in a one year old for the very last time. Tomorrow our baby turns TWO (technically Feb. 29)! Birthdays for our boys bring this mama all sorts of emotions. There is a reason God planned their birthdays to fall 5 days apart from each other.  He knew that I wanted to get the emotions out all at once and be done for the year. Every birthday I am so thankful to their birth parents for choosing us to be their parents. What a gift they are! Tonight I celebrate K and J.  THANK YOU for the gift of Jakob. We love you both so very much!

Tears filled my eyes as I snuggled Jakob in the rocking chair tonight.  Two years ago we went to bed completely unaware that our lives were about to change.  We had no clue that we were about to get a phone call from a friend who would put us in touch with Jakob's birthmom. A little over twelve hours after that phone call a five pound gift from God would make his arrival and our hearts would be forever changed. He was five pounds of strength and courage. Five pounds of pure love and joy.  Five pounds of complete fiestiness and a man on a mission determination. He endured the NICU, three surgeries and overcame hearing loss, all within his first year of life. He is a true miracle and is proving that he can overcome anything.
You, my son, are the busiest little man I have ever known.  You make me sweat changing your diaper and getting you dressed. You jump and climb EVERYTHING. You rearrange my pantry on a daily basis. Chasing you is my work out routine (12,000 steps so far today just chasing you) and the word no is just a suggestion in your eyes. You have this smirk and we can tell you are thinking"oh ya, I am gonna do it anyway", and you do! Even through the busyness, I wouldn't change a thing! I am honored that I get to be your mommy.  My prayer for you is that you grow up knowing the love God has for you, the love we have for you and the love your birth family has for you.  May you never forget how precious and beautiful you are.  May you grow up to be whatever you desire (as long as it's legal) and may you know that your dad and I did our very best every single day loving you and praying for you. Happy 2nd birthday to our baby boy.  Time can slow down. Then again, it is always exciting to see what you will think of next. We love you.

22 years and counting

Valentine's day is always a little special for us. We are high school sweethearts and began our crazy love story in the hallway of our small, rural high school exactly 22 years ago on valentine's day.  It is fun to reflect back on those days. I still remember it like it happened yesterday. Our student council was doing a fun activity and all the boys had hearts around their neck and gave them to whoever they wanted. Branden gave me his. Believe it or not, I still have that construction paper heart in a box packed away with all of the paper notes we used to pass each other in the hallways at school. Texting was not in existence for many years to come! I am happy I hung on to those paper memories to reflect back on. On occasion we have looked at the notes and have laughed about how young and in love we were. Such an innocent type of love back then. Sometimes I wonder what God was thinking all those years ago when he worked out the details for us to be together. We had no clue back then what life would hold. We were 9th and 10th graders who had no idea that 22 years later we would be celebrating another valentine's day together.  Now our love is stronger than it ever has been.  Every day is a balancing act. There are days that we barely get to say more than a few words to each other without interruption from our two little boys.  Even when our days consist of absent conversations, we have this mutual understanding that we are a team and we are in this together through thick and thin, through chaos and calm. No matter what.
 I wonder if God chuckles sometimes when he looks at our life. I know I do. I would never have believed that 22 years later I would still be with that cute boy, and that he would still make me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. Or that he would still give me butterflies and make my heart skip a beat when he walked through the door. Yes, sometimes it is because he is home to take over and give me 2 minutes to pee alone, but hey, whatever. That's love right there!
 This valentine's day I will spend it with the 3 guys in my life who all have my heart and have helped write this story we call life. It is years in the making, filled with drama, tears, happiness and love. I could not have written a better story and I can only hope and pray that God will give me many more years on this earth loving on the boys who have my heart.  One calls me his wife, the other two call me mommy.