One

It was one minute ago he crawled up and snuggled on my lap.

It was one hour ago I heard him talking to himself in bed, after a nice long nap.

It was one day ago he covered me in slobbery kisses while playing tag.

It was one week ago he fell asleep while on a 4-wheeler ride through the snow.

It was one month ago he started insisting on doing "big boy" stuff on his own.

It was one year ago that our lives changed forever... because of his surgery.

How thankful I am for the journey we had to travel and even more thankful that time truly heals all wounds. I feel honored to be his mommy and to have learned from his silent strength.

If you were not here with us on our journey of craniosynostosis you can read more about it here, here and here.

And if you were here for the journey thank you for your love, support, prayers, and words of encouragement. We couldn't have made it without you.

I love my little Beckam and know that this experience was one that not only changed his life forever but many, many others as well.

We love you our little Beckam and are so thankful for you!

*yes, I did rewrite this post. The previous one just did not sit right with me and do the whole situation justice. It was truly an uplifting journey with little moments of heartache not one of complete despair and desperation. We truly felt the arms of the Lord around us the entire time and feel blessed to have had this entire experience.

Seriously...

Can I ever get them both to smile at the same time....

Nope.

Gotta love brotherly "love"

Cade Originals

-Cade was playing a game on Jared's phone. He won. He took the phone to Jared and said, "look dad, I won!!" Jared says, "Wow Cade, that is great!" Cade responds, " I know.... I am just awesome."

-We were playing memory and it was Cades turn. I look at him and say, "now think really hard because I know that you know where some matches are." He looks and me and says, "I know mom, I am just thinking about them in my smart brain."

-We were on our way out the door, a little late, to preschool. I had already gotten Beckam in the car and turned around to see Cade still on the sidewalk. He was drawing something and so I called to him and told him to hurry. Once he made it to the car I asked him what he had been doing. He said, "I was drawing X's on the ground so if anyone wanted to know they would know where to find me." When I made it back home, sure enough, there were X's all the way from the car to our front door.

-Cade has PJ's that have a shark on the shirt. He pulled them out the other day and informed me that he would be wearing them to a sleepover with his cousins because, "they would totally freak out if they saw his shark."

-It was snack time and I asked Cade what he would like to eat. He thought for a moment and then informed me that I would need to guess what he wanted. He said, "I will give you a clue. It is round and sounds like muffin." I replied, "would you like a banana muffin." His eyes light up, he points at me and says, "that is correct!!"

-Cade told me a fib and I said to him, "Cade, we do not lie." He looked at me smugly and said, "But we can trick and I was just tricking."

Check it out!

Now is your chance to win some SUPER cute Christmas cards... honestly, does it get much better!?

My cute sister is having a give-a-way that you do not want to miss.

Check it out... you wont be sorry!

Halloween Surprise

Halloween brought something different to me this year. Among all the screams, guts, ghosts, and monsters I found something unexpected... love. I have always loved my boys... adored them really, however I had also, unknowingly, fallen into a "tasking" mode. I had all my balls up in the air. All my duties, chores, and errands were lined up and checked off by the end of the day. Even though I might have been productive and I still loved my babies at the end of the day, I never realized how much I had missed... until I got sick. This past week I picked up some type of stomach bug. I was so sick, so tired, so dizzy and so consequently I spent a lot of time laying down. Literally being on the boys level allowed to spend more "slow" time with them. Time that I heard their tender words, their funny jokes, their witty comments, their new found words. Time that I saw their smiles, their new found independence, their growing understanding. Time that I felt their slobbery kisses, their big bear hugs, and their snuggles.

I have read many blogs over the past few years and have come across a couple of moms who would gush about how much they love their kids. Something that, honestly, kind of bugged me a bit. I didnt know if it was because I thought they were painting too "rosey" of a picture or if it was because I felt a tad bit guilty, I am not sure. However, something clicked inside of me this halloween season. As I spent this unrushed, uninterrupted time with my boys I started to realize how much fun they were. I found myself having more funny stories rather than frustrations. More laughs than time outs. More yeses than nos. And it was as we were walking the dark halloween streets, begging for candy, it donned on me... I am totally in love with these boys.

Are there still days that they make me crazy... yes.

Are there days that I am ready to turn in my "mom badge"... absolutely.

But am I totally in love with them... without a doubt.

How thankful I am to have realized, even if it was a little late, that their childhood is not coming back so I must enjoy it now. Now is the time to sit down and play games. Now is the time to roll the ball back and forth. Now is the time to listen because I will miss it if I don't take the time. Now is the time to soak them in.

(Bumblebee Transformer)

Halloween was great. Full of candy, candy, candy. I got to take the boys trick or treating. Cade would go as quick as he could from house to house and then stop to have a "candy break." Beckam insisted on walking. It took him FOREVER to get from house to house but he would get SO excited once he made it to the door. He would smile, speak some kind of gibberish, and then wave goodbye. He could make it for about 5 houses until he would just plop down out of sheer exhaustion.

It was a good holiday full of treats for us all.

(Boxing champ)

Average who?

Went to the doctor for the boys yearly check ups.

Cade 4 years

Height- 42 inches (75%) He jumped up and said "yes! I am getting so big!" when the nurse told him how tall he was.

Weight- 39.5 pounds (75%)

Beckam 15 months

Height- 32 inches (50%)

Weight- 25 pounds (50%)

Head circumference- 48cm (50%)

(and finally walking)

All I would like to know is who the heck are they measuring to get their percentiles because Cade is not a 75% and Beckam is definitely not a 50%....

have you held the kid!?

They both had to face the mean nurse with the shots. Beckam was quickly calmed with a sucker afterwards. Cade on the other hand... well he is still nursing his "wounds" when it is convenient (i.e. chore time, bed time, and when there are no friends to play with) I guess milk the sympathy as long as you can, right.

2 Stories and Lots of pictures

The other day Beckam somehow got an apple out of the fridge (Cade claims Beckam did it by himself however I think he was assisted by a certain someone) and went to town. He chowed on that apple as if he had never eaten before and was as protective of it as a mother bear. I could not resist the urge to pull out the camera and capture all the little details of his 15 months.

Just as I was "admiring" his "I can walk but am too stubborn to" legs. (yes, my 15 month old still prefers to crawl. ugh!)

I hear Cade start yelling for me in the house. Since that is a common occurrence in our house I did not feel too urgent about it. Until...

I saw him come tearing out the door saying, "mom, you have got to come quick and see this!" I ask him what is wrong and he starts spewing out details having to do with a hotdog, the microwave, and a big bang.

I couldn't help but smile/shake my head. As I entered the house I immediately smell hotdog. Cade runs to the microwave and says, "see mom, see mom, it blew up!" Apparently he had taken his hunger into his own hands for the 10 minutes I was outside and gotten a hotdog for himself. Minor detail: microwave and not knowing his large numbers. Sure enough... it burst. All over. yum.

Beckam didn't mind though. He had his apple. He got every penny out of it.

This morning we headed out for some mini races at the Rec center.

Needless to say Cade was pumped and took "fire up your engines" rather seriously. As soon as "go" was said he took off and peddled as fast as his little legs would go.

He took first place in a few races and tied a few others. It was really fun to watch him think he was in the Indianapolis 500.

Way to go bud.

There is nothing like being a mom of 2 boys.