Happy Birthday Thomas

Out little Tommy turned 2 years old today. It's amazing how much he's grown up in just the last few months. He is truly a delight to have in our home. He is so full of love, always quick to forgive his brothers. His eyes are constantly lit up as he finds joy in such simple things. He loves to snuggle and give kisses. He brightens our home and fills us with great happiness.


Here are some things about him at this stage.


Thomas....

• says "Oh....yea!" in response to almost everything



• is becoming very independent- walking down stairs by himself, getting out his own diapers, unwrapping his own candy and insisting on walking everywhere rather than being held



• has learned to count to three, but he gets confused since he hears his brother's "counting down" quite often. When I prompt him by saying, "one," he follows with, "too, tee, too" (two, three, two).



• has found that his finger fits quite nicely in his nose (unfortunately he learned this from his brothers and loves the reaction he gets from them)



• chases his brothers around, wrestling and playing with them



• loves to play baseball by pretending to hit the ball, then yelling, "home run," as he runs around the living room



• sings along with me at night as I sing him "I Love to see the Temple"



• can put shapes in the shape box all my himself



• loves cars, trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, helicopters, garbage trucks and basically anything else that makes a loud noise as it moves



• has a sweet tooth just like his daddy



• is fascinated with babies, calling out "beebee" whenever he sees anyone younger than him



• finally goes to nursery without crying
  

Here are some pictures of the birthday festivities, as well as the video of his second year.

We love you Thomas. Happy Birthday!

Lost and Found

Today I lost William in Walmart....I know it sounds awful. I have never really lost a child before and I have to admit it was really scary. Once I realized he wasn't with me I tried to remain calm, knowing that William is the type to just wander away without looking back; however, after only a few moments of not finding him I began to feel really nervous. At first I figured he had just gone to the next aisle, but after checking all the nearby aisles I realized he really was lost. My motherly instincts wanted to start screaming out his name, but instead I just began to quickly check aisles that were farther away. Still no William. I asked an assoicate if she had seen him and she began looking around, but to no avail. She then called customer service, but no one had reported a found child. At this point another associate came over and asked for a description of William. He was about to give a "code Adam" over the intercom when another associate came and said that he had been found and was waiting at the fitting rooms. I hurried over there as fast as I could and was so relieved to see him sitting there calmly. A sweet customer and her daughter had found William wandering around in the infant section (far away from where I had been). They said he calmly went with them to the fitting rooms to wait for me. I was proud of how calm William had been and felt so grateful that it was a kind and friendly person who had found him and taken him to safety. Anything could have happened in that 10 minutes while he was gone. I hope I can remember the feelings I had during this experience when I'm tempted to become frustrated with my children. They are just too precious! Nothing else should really matter than loving them, completely loving them!