Lance is ONE!

My poor December baby. Part of me still feels guilty about his birthday, as if he has any idea what a birthday is, and am afraid he will need lifelong therapy to get over this tragedy. Nonetheless we did have a family birthday party for the little dude and although he was not interested in opening or playing with his gifts whatsoever, the rest of us enjoyed ourselves! Here are a few (alright a ton) pictures of the festivities...


Here's his actual birthday. First birthday breakfast!


Opening his first gift from our dear friend (and mother of his namesake) Melanie.


So excited to have his own silverware! Although he still steals mine as well.

He's Walking

Some days I still cannot believe I am a mother of two. I keep waiting to feel like a grownup. Like someone who has been married for six years and has two children, a minivan, a dog, a mortgage, and two "small businesses."


This little face reminds me though that I do have all those things. When will I be a grownup? I don't know. But seeing my son take his first steps puts everything into perspective. Being grown up can wait until tomorrow...right now I am going to play with my kids. :)

In Case You Didn't Know...

Boys are different than girls. Even at 10 months old the difference between my son and daughter in attitude, appetite, and aptitude is staggering. When a boy is hungry, he's HUNGRY! So the other morning I was taking a little longer getting breakfast ready than my son would have liked. He took it upon himself to quietly find something to eat and help himself.




While I appreciate the sentiment, I would rather my infant not have Ritz crackers for breakfast...although I guess it could be worse!

Going...Going...Gone

Here are some pictures of Lance's first time having spaghetti at the Spaghetti Factory. Quite appropriate if you ask me :)


Not only did he LOVE it and make that very verbally known (to anyone within shouting distance) he got the hang of noodle slurping right away!


I am so proud.

The World of Lance Tyler

Lance, our energetic little Bubba. He's 8 months old now and he is EVERYWHERE. Crawling, pulling himself up on anything that will hold still long enough, playing in the dogs' water bowl, cruising the furniture, growling, yelling, playing in the dogs' water bowl, pulling himself up and ...well you get the picture.



His favorite things are following his sister everywhere she goes, trying to take her toys, climbing on her, grabbing her hair, pulling on her clothes and just generally being a little brother. :) Here is one of them being cooperative, isn't that nice?

His other love though is the bathroom, specifically the bath. The boy can hear the bath running anywhere in the house and he's there!


And even when there's no prospect of a bath, he's still there...giving me this look.



Is it wrong to give him a bath 5 times a day if he gives me this look?


He often can be found looking like this. With his little tongue sticking out. Is that the cutest face you've ever seen? My heart just melts when I see his sweet little face. And then I want to go find Ben and tell him we need more little faces in our lives.



And speaking of faces...this is a face we see quite often in our house. It's that scrunchy face, with air being pushed forcefully in and out of the nostrils. He does this when prompted, and when he's frustrated, upset, irritated or bored. It's cute and highly encouraged by all members of the family.


This is him, such a smiley, happy boy. He's always laughing and squealing, especially at everything his sister does. Oh the sibling love, please tell me it will stay this way. Please?

Comparison

I have had several people comment on how much my children look alike, and likewise, have had several people tell me they look nothing alike. So for comparison purposes I dug up pictures of my children at approximately the same age, doing the same thing. What do you think?

Summer Fun!

As a child summer was always such a fun time. The sound of the ice cream truck, the smell of chlorine and freshly cut grass. Riding bikes and watching my brothers play football in the front yard and then beat each other up when they disagreed on which down it was. And if they are reading this they are probably so proud I know what a down is, well, sort of. Anyhoo...



And the exhilaration of playing chicken with the waves at the beach.

This was the biggest "wave" we saw, but she still thought it was hilarious to crawl away from them. What a goofball.




Meet Sarah. My daughter's "sister from another mister." These girls were destined to be best friends before birth... mostly because we told them so. :) They don't seem to mind.





While vacationing in San Diego with the kids we were lucky enough to be let in on a little secret. There is a place at the beach on base (a place I lived just minutes from for 5 years and never knew about!) that has two very long jetties which makes the water virtually wave less.

How wonderful! The girls got to enjoy the water, and we got to go to the beach without wondering how many times they would be swept off their feet and into the foam. Though the lack of waves makes NO difference whatsoever that you always return with the entire beach in every crevice of the kids bodies, trust me on that.




This lack of waves gave me time to dig a hole in the sand and make it look like my son could sit up by himself. Which by the way, he can now.




And it gave my son time to explore the sand.





Translation...it gave him time to eat as much sand as humanly possible before I began to worry about his future diapers and put him on a blanket, which he screamed bloody murder about.




But then he got over it.

My Son's Namesake

Memorial Day.

A day that used to mean a day off from school, a long weekend, barbecues with family and friends, and a hint of the summer to come. How much more this day means than most people realize. Today I am reflecting on my son's namesake, Lance M. Thompson. Lance was killed on November 15th, 2004 in the same accident that wounded my husband. He was 21 years old. He was a patriot, a wonderful friend, and most of all, he loved the Lord.

In a letter Lance wrote to his father a few months before he was killed he wrote this..."Freedom is not free. It requires sacrifice." And he truly believed that. What a wonderful legacy to leave my son. And though I say his name daily, true reflection on his name and the man my Lance was named after always makes my heart ache, as a wife, as a mother, and as someone who loves this country.

I know Lance believed in what he was there for. But I wonder what he would think of this "transformation" that is supposed to happening to our country. Can things in this country be improved? Of course. There's always room for improvement. But does our country need to be transformed? No, that would imply that it's not the greatest nation on earth, that it is wrong in it's entirety. And I don't believe that. I believe that there's always room to IMPROVE, yes, but transform, no. I believe Lance fought and died in Iraq to continue our freedom, our liberty, and to give those people even a glimpse of the freedom and blessings we all enjoy here. I don't want to see this nation transformed, that's not what he fought for, that's not what he died for.

This Memorial Day, instead of gathering for fun and giving no thought to the true meaning of this important day, I will hold my family close. I will look my husband in the eyes and thank him for his sacrifices. And I will look at my son, and remember a man. A man who gave his life for what he believed in, and gave my son his name.

Three Months Old

It's hard to believe our little man has been with us for three months already! He is such a joy to have in our family and already so BOY! He is always grunting and growling, among the many other boy noises his body makes. :) He loves playing in his excersaucer and seeing glimpses of his sister as she plays and runs by. Sleep is slowly starting to get better around here. Sure a lot of it is in his swing, but we're getting there! Most nights he is sleeping at least one 5-6 hour stretch and that is so nice. Ben's schedule allows him to be up late at night and most nights he takes care of at least one of Lance's feedings so I can sleep. I love that man, he knows what is truely important to me these days! Here are some pictures of Lance on his 3 month birthday. Happy 3 months Buddy!