birthdays

eddie had a birthday in february. noah turned 6 on the 22nd of this month.
i let christmas come and go. can't let the boys i love think i don't care enough to post about their special days.
so here goes...

eddie turned 11 on valentine's day.
that was sunday.
on saturday morning he attended his first party.
it all started when he was abducted.
a minivan arrived early in the morning.
little feet and big feet tread upon the stairs as they traveled up to his room.
he was sound asleep.
the big footed person gently woke him and then proceeded to place a large pillowcase over his sleepy head.

it was pretty funny actually.
he had no idea what was happening.
"what the *#@&!"
"what's happening?"
"is it my birthday?"



he was taken by minivan to places unknown.
45 minutes later he arrived at an undisclosed location.
he had no idea where he was.
when the hood was removed...
...surprise!!!!

at staci's house for breakfast! waffles and sausage and fruit and juice and whipped cream.

his dream come true.

eddie's second birthday occurred on sunday, february 14.
his actual birth day.
he had requested ribs for his dinner.
ribs?
i've never cooked ribs before.
i've never purchased ribs before.
i was able to do both. not too hard i discovered. (they didn't taste too great though. eddie liked them. that's all that matters.)
eddie was, again, in heaven as he fed himself ribs. too bad i didn't get a picture of his face and hands.

our after dinner treat was reading ripley's believe it or not.

"ewwwwwwwwwwww-ah!! that is so gross! look at this!"
"oh, i can't look at that take it away, oh wait, let me see that again..."
"sick! sick! there's an eye on her tooth!"
"no? that is too gross. show me."
that after dinner treat lasted about an hour.

party #3: a few weeks later.
after the snow had melted, eddie gathered some friends and we traveled to powhatan to run the woods and shoot air soft guns at passing bodies.


eddie's grandma (and me too of course. "sure. we don't have to clear the leaves away. nothing will happen. chris is crazy. go ahead.") almost burned the town down as we tired of waiting for chris to ready the fire pit for s'mores. it was only a few short moments of panic. (water works wonders with fire.)

love you! love you! love you! eddie. you are the very best.

and then it was noah's turn.

he's 6. he's fun. he makes us laugh. he's full of energy.

six. six. six. six. six.

i don't miss the diapers and the constant taking care of things and having to hand feed him and carrying him on my hip and bathing him and i'm glad he's potty trained and sleeps through the night.
i love that he can put himself to bed and even take a quick shower if he must.
he can write his full name. he can add. he can spell. he can even read.
sometimes i just wish he was small again.
tiny.
wrapped up in my arms.
asleep,
as i stare down and trace his every feature with my eyes,
marveling at the miracle that is mine.