Not Feeling Well

Poor little guy woke up at 2:30 last night and then again this morning was complaining of being sick. He's pretty much just sat on the couch all day and stared off into space. He never naps anymore and this is how he looks right now. Poor little man!

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy

I cannot believe that you are 4! You woke up today so very excited to be 4 and was happy all day. We headed out to Cox Farms again and you went down the slides on your own several times. At your check-up yesterday, you were 41 inches and weighed in at 38.7 lbs.

You continue to be the love and heart of my life. It has been awesome this year watching you develop into a great big brother and, while I miss Daddy so much, I love how much closer this deployment has made us. I love you so much, Liam and thank God every day for bringing you to me and making me a mother. Daddy and I are so proud of the little man you are growing up to be. Happy birthday, Liam. We love you!

Happy Birthday, Sweet George

George, in some ways this is a very difficult post to write. A year ago today, you were born into not only our family, but the Army family. When you were just three months old, we said goodbye to Daddy and sent him off to war. It has made for a very difficult year in some ways with Daddy gone and often I feel that you are both blessed and cheated. Blessed because you will not remember this 15 months without Daddy. But cheated because you had much of your first year without Daddy and with a very tired and stressed out Mama. I'm not always sure that I have done the right things for you these past 12 months, but I am sure of this...Daddy and I love you so very very much and I wouldn't trade this year with you for anything.

It has been such a wonder to see you grow so much so quickly. You are already crawling at high speeds, cruising all over while holding onto things, drinking from a cup, and harassing your big brother. You say "more", "this", your own version of "dog" and babble "dada." You can wave bye bye, show touchdown, and send kisses in the air. You adore your brother like he is a God and want to do and have everything that he does and has. You are happy. Truly happy and content and I hope you keep that part of you. I hope you are able to hold onto that relaxing part of your nature.

Your Daddy will see you again in 7 days and it will be a wonder to see him react to all the changes that you have gone through. It will be awesome to watch you and Daddy get to know one another again. God willing, the coming year will bring your first steps, Daddy coming home, a move, and hopefully a christening. There are so many joys to come and I cannot wait to share all of them with you. I am loving that I am able to stay home with you now and thank your Daddy every chance I get for enabling us to do that. It is such a special time in your life and I don't want to miss a second.

Your first birthday was a bit stressful, but fun. Your brother had a difficult time sharing the limelight, but you took it with such stride and showed him that you will not always be willing to be pushed around. :) You enjoyed your first cupcake and first gifts tremendously. The firetruck that Liam gave you was an instant hit. I loved being able to spend today with you. It brought such a warmth to my heart. I love you, sweet George. Always have, always will. Happy birthday, baby boy.

Evaluation Results

I received the official results for Liam's eval yesterday. He off course passed vision (I could tell that right away with his Kung Fu Panda answer..ha ha).

For motor, the cutoff score is 5 and he got a 9.

For concepts, the cutoff score is 8 and he got a 14.

For language, the cutoff score is 8 and he got a 13.

So well outside the range.

Yay!

Rock It, Mr. L

So, if you've been around long enough, you know that Liam was a bit slow on getting going in his early years. He crawled (if you can call it that) at 11 months, pulled to standing at 14 months, and walked at 18 months. All of this involved early childhood intervention, which I am all for when needed. He exited out of the program a year and a half ago, but this did not withdraw us from the Army's Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). The program exists for the protection of family members that may need extra services that are not provided at all locations. Because Liam's services were through the state, Taylor cannot be stationed internationally since Liam could not be serviced there.

Anyway, as we are waiting on orders and hoping for England, I am in the process of getting us out of EFMP. Part of this process involved Liam getting evaluated on Monday. In past evaluations (a long time ago), he obviously came up with delays. While I am okay with that, it still is frustrating at the same time. You have no idea. Anyway, this evaluation was AWESOME. As Taylor put it....Mr. L finally got vindication. Things he was asked to do and performed perfectly included:

sorting, cutting on the line, counting, naming colors, naming shapes, catching a bean bag, skipping, vision test (where he called the picture of the panda "Kung Fu Panda"...funny b/c he's never seen that movie), naming objects (he called the pop-up toaster a "TV with bread coming out of it", pronunciation, body parts (missed ankle), copying building objects, counting out objects (could do up to 3), etc. There were more things, but cannot remember them now. I was amazed by some of the things he could do. Some items I teach in kindergarten. It was such a difference to not only not see him qualify, but do an amazing job. Blew me away.

Oh and the other thing he missed....he said his name was "L". Hee hee.

Single Digits

Yep...that's right. Just nine days left of having an infant. And it's killing me. I just want to scream "MAKE TIME STOP!!!" And yet, so excited because I'm so lucky to have such a happy and healthy little guy and 3 days later will see his father for the first time in 6 months.

But for right now, I'm mourning the loss of my "baby George" and at the same time looking forward to the next year with my sweet George.

Love ya kiddo....just try not to grow up too fast. It's hard on us mommy-types.

Did the stars fall out of the sky?

A couple of days a week, I pick up my friend Meredith's children from their school and take them home for her. They attend private school (one that doesn't bus) and they get out about 30 minutes before Mere's school does. In exchange, we go over to her house every Wednesday night and she cooks dinner for us.

Tonight was crazy, though. I picked up Brandon, like normal, at 3:00 p.m. Headed to the boys' school and picked them up. Drove to the house for 20 minutes. Headed back out with all three boys to the private school and picked up the girls from their Volleyball practice. Then took all five kids to McDonald's for dinner. Since Meredith had to be in a meeting until late today and couldn't cook, she wanted to buy us dinner. She choose McDonald's so Liam could try going on the playplace there. He had never been and having three helpers and friends to play with him provided the opportunity to try it out.

Well, he had a blast:



Afterwards, me and the five kids headed to Meredith's house so I could drop them off. At that point, Meredith was almost home, so I decided to wait for her just to say "Hi." Saying "hi" took us 2 hours. :) The boys always love it there and it gives us a chance to talk and hang out for a bit.

When we did leave, it was dark out. Rarely do I drive at night because I have the boys home and in bed by that point. As we were driving home down a dark road, Liam asked me why there were lights on the floor. Not knowing what he was talking about, I told him I didn't know. So, in the sweetest little voice, he asked me, "Mama, did the stars fall out of the sky?"

Something about that question just melted my heart. I love that pure innocence he still has. It is such a fabulous reminder to appreciate and notice the little things in life...especially on the eve of such a tragic and life-changing day. It's rare that we stop to notice the small things that make life so magical...including how the reflectors on the road seem to sparkle and shine at night like stars.

It is also so comforting to be able to assure my son that, no, the stars did not fall out of the sky (they are just fine). It is a comfort to be able to assure him that he not need be worried about the dark because I am there to keep him safe. And it is such a comfort to be able to tell him that even though it is tough to have Daddy gone, his Daddy is making a difference and doing some really great things for some really good people.

Taylor...we are so proud of you and will be thinking of you tomorrow, as always. You are such an amazing role model for our sons and it is such a nice feeling to be able to tell them that you are truly working to keep us safe so days like September 11th do not happen again. And while I agree with Liam sometimes that "they gave you too much work", I know you are making a difference in the world and make a difference in our lives every day. We love you and miss you.