Happy Birthday Timothy!

Can you believe this sweet little baby is two years old now?

Timothy's birthday was this past Saturday and I still can't believe it's been two years since this wonderful gift from God came into our lives. He has been such a blessing to us and it's so amazing to watch him grow and learn and know that God has entrusted Brandon and I with this gift. I don't know if it's an extra dose of pregnancy hormones or what, but this birthday was so much more emotional than last years. Even today, I ran by the house after I dropped him off at day care on my way to work and happened to turn the TV on and Finding Nemo was on and I watched like 10 minutes of it and cried like a baby.

Timothy was born 11 minutes past his due date at 12:11 am on Wednesday April 19, 2006. I woke up at 3:30 am on the 18th with labor pains and knew it was the beginning of the real thing. They weren't too bad and not too close together but I couldn't sleep so I got up and shaved my legs (of course!!) and waited until Brandon got up. I decided to go on into work because the contractions had slowed down a lot and I thought I may have been wrong...by noon I was feeling them again so I decided to go home. I had a doctor's appointment that afternoon and told them I had been having contractions but of course when they put me on the monitor nothing happened so she told me to go home and wait until they were closer together and then come to the hospital. We went home and decided to walk around the neighborhood until they got closer...so we made about 2 circles around the block and then I knew it was time. They were about 5 minutes apart (luckily we only lived 5 minutes from the hospital) so we headed back. When I got in and they checked me, I was already dilated to a 6 so I was able to go straight to a delivery room and get my epidural. That was probably around 9pm...three hours later...there he was! I only had to push for half an hour, it was great. The best part for me, and the part I'll never forget, was when he came out and was crying and they laid him on my chest and I started talking to him and he just stopped crying and stared at me like, hey, I know you! It was so amazing. I can't wait to do it all again.

Two years later...he is the sweetest and funniest little boy I know. For example, Sunday night we got in the car to go to church and he was throwing a fit about something and I got into the drivers seat and looked back and said, "Timothy, these are the days that mommy just wants to scream sometimes" and he looked back at me and said, "Mommy, I need ice cream". I couldn't help laughing. He is so smart and helpful and he loves to go to church and to Bible class. Don't get me wrong, he definitely has his moments and "no" is a regular word around our house. But the blessings are so abundant I can't help but smile.

Onto the stats...he had his two year check up today and he came in at a whopping 30 pounds 12 ounces, 37 inches tall. He's HUGE!! Off the charts for height and head measurements...and around the 75th for his weight. She said everything else looked great and he seemed like a healthy happy little boy.

His birthday party was on his birthday and we celebrated with all the grandparents and lots of family and friends. He had a blast, he was so tired that night. He loves all of his toys, I think his car and his golf clubs are the top picks. I'm sure his sand/water table will be a hit once it warms up and we can go outside. That was the other memorable event of the day...it SNOWED!! It has actually snowed every day since Friday night...crazy!! I'm so ready for spring, it's not even funny.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has been a part of his life these past two years, I know you've all had a hand in helping him to be the wonderful child of God that he is and Brandon and I appreciate it so much.

I Like It!

Can I just say that this time last week I was still at work and worked almost 20 hours of over time that week and this week so far I've been home by 6pm every night and I'm so incredibly happy!

That aside...our little guy has really started picking up on the phrases that we use around our house. For instance, usually when I'm asking him to do something, I'll end the request with, "ok?". He has really picked up on that one, and will just ramble off talking about who knows what, but he always ends it with, "ok?". The other night he wanted to pray again after we had started eating dinner so we asked him to say the prayer so he mumbled a few words and then we heard, "amen, ok?". It was funny.

The newest one that is a little annoying is "I need". I think he got this from when he would fuss and I would ask him, "what do you need?" so now he thinks whenever he wants something he just has to say, "I need _____" and he'll get it. Sometimes it's cute, but sometimes it can get annoying or frustrating.

His other new phrase is "I like". We were eating dinner a few weeks ago and he asked for some milk and after he had a drink he said, "I like milk". It was funny to hear someone that small say that...just too cute. The other night in church we were sitting behind the Brazile's and Timothy went and stood behind Randy's chair (Randy just came home from college and is joining the Marines...he's a pretty big guy, really tall!) so Timothy climbs up on the back of Randy's chair and just barely touches him on the back of his shirt. Randy turned around and Timothy fell apart giggling and said, "I like it!". He's really just not very shy, do you think?

He's very excited for his birthday coming up. I can't believe he's turning two already. Every time he sees a cake he has to sing "Happy Birthday to Timothy". He also has a new favorite book. We got him a little boy Bible story book for Easter and he LOVES it. Every night now we have to read "God". He gets really excited in the beginning when it talks about creation and then when we get to the part about baby Jesus we have to stop and touch the baby in the book and look at all the animals (and sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" - he thinks sheep say, "baa baa black sheep, have you any wool, yes sir yes sir" - every time we ask him what a sheep says that's what we get).

Anyway, as you can see, our lives are filled with free entertainment. He really is so sweet. Not much new in baby news, she's moving around and kicking a lot more, but nothing new to report! I go back to the doc on the 15th so we'll see what happens then! No pictures for now, with such a busy week at work, I just want to relax when I get home! Anyway, I need to run and make my lunch for tomorrow...I'll get some pictures of the family up soon!

Happy Easter!

It was a beautiful...rainy...windy...45 degree day in the Pac NW today, but it was Easter so we braved the cold weather anyway and got dressed up and headed to church. It was actually a really nice Easter despite the terrible weather. Timothy woke up and got his Easter basket and figured out pretty fast that those eggs had candy in them! We did go to church and it was a great service and then headed out to mom and dad's for lunch and spent the afternoon over there. Timothy didn't each much (regular food, that is...he had plenty of m&m's and jelly beans!) but he took a great nap so we all got to rest. And thank you again to everyone for my birthday presents!! I love them all!! I'm pretty tired so not going to say much more...just pictures for you to enjoy. The one with the Jr. Fire Fighter sticker came from the fire man that was at our neighbor's house yesterday and we went out for a walk and just happened to be going by when the fire truck was leaving so they stopped and gave Timothy a sticker. The whole way home he kept saying, "thank you fire man". Anyway, hope everyone had a good Easter!

Rejected

So tonight was the first night ever that Timothy has asked for Brandon to put him to bed. I finished drying his hair after his bath and he reached for Brandon and told me, "bye bye mommy". I tried to get him to come to me, but he only had eyes for daddy tonight. I went in his room with them while Brandon was sitting down in the rocking chair to read to him and Timothy actually hugged me, kissed me, and then pushed me away. I'm trying really hard not to cry. I'm really happy that he's turning into such a daddy's boy lately, but this little bit of rejection was hard. Anyway, nothing new to report, just a sad night for mommy!

Pink or Blue?

So we had our ultrasound today and as far as we (or really, the sonogram tech) can tell...it's a...GIRL!!! He tried for a good hour and I rolled from side to side and tilted backwards and forwards and after all that he still said he wasn't 100% sure but if he had to say one or the other he would say it's a girl so that's what we're going with. I figure they kind of have to say that when it's a girl because there is always room for error there, but his word is all we have to go on for now so it works for me.

I don't think it has sunk in at all...of course, I do already have bedding and nursery stuff picked out...and we do have a name picked - I know that's pathetic, but we've had the name picked for two years now and I'm so excited...so since you're all dying to know...she will be Charlotte Dyanne. I know there always a chance that at the next ultrasound things will change, but this is what I'm going with for now! Anything we buy between now and then we'll just keep the tags and receipts and return it if needed!

Timothy was very excited...not that he understands, but we told him he was going to have a baby sister and he said, "baby sister...yeah!!". It was pretty cute. Sorry it took so long to get on here, by the time we were done and went back to Ft. Lewis to pick up Timothy and then went and ate lunch it was time to get up to the church for our enrichment conference and then we had to go buy Grammy a birthday present!

So pray for us and our little girl, she's been really active this week, last night she kicked me the whole way home from dinner...it is so weird to type "she". I'll get some pictures up later of Timothy in his Easter clothes...but just wanted to share the news!

Monkeyin' Around

So Timothy learned a new trick on Saturday. I had put him in his crib for a nap and he wasn't particularly tired so he played for a bit. I was on the computer and I could hear him talking and then after about half an hour of that, I heard his door open and he just came walking out with a big smile on his face! I was a little shocked and surprised so I made him go back into his room with me and I put him back in his crib and asked him to show me how he climbed out. He didn't even hesitate and grabbed onto the rail and swung his leg over the top, hung from the side for a bit and then dropped down onto the floor! So we have a little monkey on our hands now. He'll stay in there and go to sleep if he's tired, but if not, he just climbs on out. I guess this will make a good transition to a big boy bed, but it's earlier than I had hoped.

In other news, this weekend was so beautiful! We spent most of Saturday playing outside and then decided to make a Home Depot run and get some supplies to build a rail around our deck. Lats week was horrible and I had to work a lot of over time. We did have a good anniversary (4 years!!) but Brandon had to eat dinner with Timothy and then I ate by myself when I got home...pretty sad. We're going out to the Melting Pot on Saturday though so that should make up for it!

We find out (hopefully) on Friday when baby #2 is...I can't wait. I've decided on how I want to decorate rooms so now it's just a matter of knowing which bedding we need to buy (blue? or pink?). I really hope the little guy/girl cooperates and gives us a good picture! We also have our Church Enrichment conference this weekend, I'm so excited. They're going to have some really good classes and free childcare so it should be a good weekend all around!

So with the time change and all, I'm exhausted so I'm going to go to bed (it's like 8:45 here, but hey, I'm tired!!). But here are some new pics from the weekend and Timothy making a nice little chocolate mustache from the yummy cupcakes that Aunt Brittany made for us!

Bedtime Routines

Timothy has a pretty normal bedtime routine - brush teeth, go potty, take a bath, put on diaper and pj's, hug his bear, pick out a book, read the book, turn on songs, say prayers, hugs and kisses and then in the crib he goes. He's really great about it too, he will fall asleep for pretty much anyone which comes in handy with baby sitters or when I have to work late.

The funniest part of the routine to me, is picking out his book. He has five choices that we read from at night - The Velveteen Rabbit, The Night Before Christmas (I know, it's not that time of year anymore, but he got hooked on it so now we have to read it occasionally), My Little Book About God, Runaway Bunny, and Goodnight Moon. He calls them - Rabbit, Santa, God is Great, Bunnies, and Moon. He almost always says Santa as his first choice, but we don't actually usually read it first. He gets two stories, either the same one twice or two different ones. I know it sounds like a lot and it sounds confusing, but it's really not that bad.

He has a favorite page in each book and he gets so excited when we get to that page. For Rabbit, it's the page when the fairy comes out of the flower and he grabs my face and points to it just to make sure I can see the little girl. For Santa, it's the "dash away, dash away, dash away all" part which he then repeats until the end of the book. For God is Great it's the page that shows the daddy giving hugs and we have to say, "nice daddy". For Bunnies it's the page where the bunny and his mommy join the circus and we have to point out the horsies and the bunnies and the clowns. For Moon, it's the page that shows the three little bears sitting in chairs which we have to call high chairs. He also likes to whisper "hush" with the old lady.

It's just crazy to me how much he is a creature of habit. While I love it and I think it's great, it's just funny to watch how he remembers things and repeats them. Tonight in church we were singing "A Common Love" and after everyone else belted out the first line, here's Timothy singing "common love!" so cute! The other night we started to sing at church and he sat there in my lap singing his ABC's. At least he knows we're supposed to be singing. He will now randomly sing "Head Shoulders" or "Itsy Bitsy Spider"...and he just does it at the weirdest times, like when you're changing his diaper or when he's coloring, I would love to know how that little brain works.

Anyway, I know these were just random thoughts, but he was so sweet tonight at bedtime that I thought I would share. To add to the randomness, here's some pictures from the last week. He has re-discovered his love for his dump truck.