just some stuff

does a switch flip with every birthday? because since brooks has turned two, it's like time is moving at triple the speed. he's like a grown up. a little grown up that still wears diapers and calls me mommy.

he's stopped saying "yes" and has moved on to "yay-uh". i know we have southern accents...but his is ridiculous. and also really funny. we're working on "yes ma'am" and "yes sir". "yay-uh" just isn't gonna cut it. he's using his spoon finally, and doing very well at it, always insisting that "brooks do it!" everything, in fact, is "brooks do it!" ok, ok, mr. independent...

he's totally into the trains he got for christmas, and has even been setting up his own track, something he's never done before. i love watching him play, seeing his little face as he concentrates, has successes, gets frustrated, or starts laughing with delight when things go the way he hoped. his battery-powered train runs off the track a lot, prompting a "mommy! thomas stuuuuck". the southern accent strikes again...

tonight, i heard him and his daddy laughing back in our bonus room. i tiptoed back there and caught them playing golf on the wii. brooks doesn't quite know where to look, at the screen or at what he's doing, but he loves doing whatever daddy does. he holds his controller like a champ, and swings away at all the wrong times. those two playing together is precious. such an answer to prayers from long ago. they called out to me eventually, "mommy! bowling!" i picked up a spare before they moved on to tennis, and totally forgot i was there. my boys...

we read some books and snuggled for a bit. i hope i never forget the way his hair smells, how his little hands reach over to mine and pull them around his body. those little hands push me away sometimes, so when they pull me to him...it's magic i never want to take for granted. we are so in love with this boy, with our little family.

two

i was at kroger a few hours ago, buying stuff for fruit salad, some milk, and an elmo balloon.

'cause our boy will be two tomorrow.

i simply cannot believe he's only been in our lives for two years, and yet i can't believe how quickly the time has gone. we've been together a long time, and have so many great memories that happened pre-brooks...but it's like we started all over when he got here, and i almost don't remember our lives before him. in a really good way.

we never thought we would have this boy. that God chose to give him to us is our huge blessing. a blessing that doesn't get old, one that we haven't forgotten.

i prayed for a child who would call me momma. i prayed for hands that would reach up to mine. i prayed for a boy to spend time with, to tickle, laugh, sing songs, color, and play outside with.

maybe you're tired of hearing all of this. but we aren't tired of praising Him for all of it.

and tomorrow, at 8:50 am, he turns two.    wow.

he's so big. he told me so, just today, as he was sitting on the edge of the couch. he's been watching rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and keeps telling me he's "in-de-pend-dent" and that he wants to be a dentist. he loves to sing, particularly if he's standing on the hearth (his "stage"). his current song favorites are the alphabet, twinkle twinkle, and a song his gigi made up that we'll call "up high". he loves the moon and stars, sitting on his rocking horse, watching super why, thomas the train, elmo, and mickey mouse. he likes to throw things and hit things and sometimes people (we're working on it). he's feeding himself with a spoon and fork, is afraid of the vaccuum, hated santa this year, and likes to have his back rubbed. he runs as fast as he can to greet his daddy when he gets home from work each day, yelling "daddy home!" he tells us "wuv you", and gives the best hugs and kisses. he loves any sport with a ball, and told me today that he likes to "play and scream". when i asked why, he replied, "cause it's fun!"  duh.  he speaks in complete sentences regularly, and daily says things that we have never said in his presence (today he told me our neighbors were gypsies. i kid you not.) if you ask him what he did on any given day, he'll tell you he went to church. his glo-worm is his "sweet baby" and he loves to read, especially llama llama. we laugh a lot. we talk a lot. we snuggle and get cozy a lot.

it's been a fantastic two years. i want to freeze time. and i can't wait to see who he grows up to be.

happy birthday brooks. momma and daddy love you more than you can ever know. i hope you love your elmo balloon.

a hunting trip

yes, that's right. i went hunting. i know several of you are shocked and appalled. some have even threatened to withhold their friendship. perhaps i was channeling my inner redneck. maybe i lost my mind for a few hours ('cause it was COLD!). or maybe i just wanted to hang out with some of my favorite people, and they wanted to hunt. 

our day started at 0430. not because it had to, but because my mother can't seem to set an alarm clock properly. her "phone messed up". uh huh. sure it did. an hour later, when it was actually time to get up, i put on my five layers, coat and gloves, got my chapstick and my hand warmers and waddled out the door into the crisp, dark morning (i feel certain that my comma placement in that sentence is lacking, but i just don't care). 

we were in boze hollow, a magical place that my grandparents own. my grandfather built the cabin himself, years ago, then added on to it later to make it a perfectly livable place. there's electricity, heat, running water, two lofts (so fun to sleep in), a king-size bed and even a jacuzzi tub and washer/dryer. it's down in a valley (the "hollow") surrounded by beautiful, deer-laden hills. he has tree stands and blinds built all along the property. you can actually even hunt from the front porch if you're so inclined. my grandmother has made it beautiful with plenty of warm and cozy things, cabin-appropriate decor, and yummy food. my mom and step-dad had decorated it for thanksgiving and the big stone fireplace had been roaring all week. 

stepping out into the hollow is one of my favorite things to do. it's just really such a beautiful place. on this morning, it was still dark, with thousands of stars shining brightly in the sky. we walked in silence, the three of us, towards the deer stand, our boots crunching softly on the frosty ground. we squeezed ourselves into the tall stand, arranged ourselves and our gear, and we waited. i think i fell asleep at one point; i'm not very good at waiting. then my mom and i got the giggles and couldn't stop. by that point, we had only seen a couple of young does (which we decided not to shoot at), our giggles had likely scared away every animal within a few miles, and we were freezing, so we decided to pack it up. 

no sooner had we stood up and started moving our gear around did we hear a rustling down below us. we all froze in our tracks and looked out of the stand. the two does we had seen far off in the distance earlier had returned, and were standing just below our deer stand. they were prancing through the grass, picking their feet up quickly in a staccato-like movement, to avoid the cold ground, something i have never seen. they looked right at us and just stopped, their fluffy white tails raised high (in what i am told is preparation for something fairly PG-13). they pranced around for a few seconds, stopping to look our way a few times, and then they were off, bouncing through the woods. i'm sure there was a buck nearby, but we never saw him. we got back to the cabin, warmed our bones by the fire and with strong coffee, and haven't been able to stop talking about the beautiful does we saw. so near to us. so quiet. 

i went hunting to be with people i love. it isn't something i thought i would enjoy, but i actually kind of did. it was cold, and early, and maybe i'll take a book next time, but i'd like to go again. maybe one day i'll even learn to shoot and grow a beard.