Happy Birthday, My Son!

R.J., today you turn nine years old!

It's hard to believe that many years have already gone by.

From the moment I knew you existed, you captured my heart.

As you grew in my womb, that special bond between a mother and a son was formed and has never, ever changed.

Although you arrived earlier than we thought (Thanksgiving week too), our arms and hearts were ready to hold you.

R.J. - our first born son!

When I looked into your beautiful face for the first time, I promised God that I would try to be the very best parent I could be, even though I was slightly scared about how I was going to know what to do and that I would be able to raise you right.

November 26, 2002 ~ just hours old

One day when you are older and become a daddy, you will understand that there are no guarantees that your child/ren will turn out the way you want them to be...

But, you know what?

I got lucky right from the start!

You are such a good boy and a wonderful big brother.

You are handsome and very, very smart.

You like to draw and read, and you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE football...AUBURN football the most!

You like your Wii and Nintendo games almost, but not as much, as you like the outdoors.

You are witty and charming and you have a caring and giving heart.

You love the Lord and your kind spirit shows others you do too.

You're obedient and respectful, and you are careful not to intentionally hurt someone else's feelings.

However, if pushed, you can be as strong and tough as they come.

You aren't afraid to say, "I Love You!" to those you do.

As I continue to watch you grow, I marvel at the person you are...so very proud you are my son.

I cherish the pictures and memories I have of you now, and I look forward to more of both as I follow the bright future and full life that lies ahead of you.

I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I definitely must have done something right!

Happy 9th Birthday R.J. - - I love you with all my heart!

~Mommy

9 years old

8 years old

7 years old

6 years old

5 years old

4 years old

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear R.J.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Who Are You Calling Turkey?!

Evidently, my child was chosen as the "head" model for the Turkey hats they were going to be making at daycare this week.

The teacher, Ms. Nancy, said that all she was trying to do was get a size estimate as far as how big/or small to make the paper headbands on the hats, but once she put it on Colton's head, he didn't want her to take it off.

As his mom, I found that description very interesting because at home whether it is a hat, pajamas, diaper, shoes, etc. he will fight you tooth and nail just to:

1. Get him to be still enough to put the item on, and

2. Once you do get the item on, he's usually trying to remove it.

Maybe I need to have Ms. Nancy move into our guest room???

Colton is obviously much more cooperative for her...LOL!

Okay, back to the hat.

It's still missing the multi-colored paper feathers and cute little orange accordion legs that will dangle from the sides, but nevertheless you get the "PICTURE"...LOL!

I've got to give a big shout-out thanks to Ms. Nancy and her camera phone for capturing candid shots of my babe.

After all, she knows this momma loves her some pictures!

Gobble, Gobble!

See below for wording on poster

All turkey birds are different
From sea to shining sea
And you'll never see another bird
Like this one to you from me.
Can you see what makes him different?
Do you need some helpful hints?
I made him from my very own
Thumb and fingerprints!
~Marsha A. Burks


GOD BLESS AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

A Hard Lesson "To-e" Learn!

When I was pregnant with my second child, I cannot tell you how many times friends and family told me, "Be prepared Tracey, no two children are ever alike."


And every time I heard that I thought, "Eh, how different can two kids (same sex siblings for that matter) really be?"


Well, let me tellya' folks...my two boys are as DIFF-er-ENT as different can be!!!!


With R.J. (my oldest) I could tell him "No" and he would accept it and move along.


Seriously, no questions asked.


No whining.


No crying.


No little hissy fit.


At his youngest of age he totally understood the sternness in my voice and figured out early on that when mommy said, "No", she meant it.


Till this day he is pretty much the same way.


Don’t get me wrong, he may try to barter his way out of a "No" sometimes, but for the most part he knows I'm serious when I say it.


Enter child number two...my youngest...my baby...my 17-month old toddler...C-O-L-T-O-N.


Oh, dear Lord, were my friends and family ever right!


I guess you could say that from the beginning Colton was different.


R.J. was a very colicky baby and Colton was as laid back as the day is long.


Good indicator of a laid back personality, right?


WRONG-O!


This sweet, smiley, blue-eyed child is wide open!


And now that he has found his "walking" running feet - - look out world!


Compound his uber energy with the fact that not only does he not like to hear the word, "No", when he does hear it, he either:


A. Continues to do what he's doing (ignoring the fact you ever said it);

B. Breaks out into a tears running down his face, can't catch his breath, ear piercing cry (as if you'd burned him with an iron);

C. Throws himself into a belly flop on the floor writhing and kicking like he's a fish that's been thrown onto the waterless surface of a boat, or

D. Temporarily stops what he's doing only to look at you with a sly little grin on his face and in less than a nano-second goes right back to doing whatever it is he's not supposed to be doing, touching, pulling at, destroying, playing with, sticking in his mouth, running away with, etc.


Honestly folks, this is going to be my child who when I tell him the sky is blue, he's going to INSIST that it's purple.


After all, he knows it's purple.


And you cannot tell him it's NOT purple!


He is stubborn with a capital "S" - - must take after his er, um, daddy…LOL!


You get the picture, right?!!!


Well, the other night there I was in our kitchen headed to the pantry to put a box of cereal away.


You know, just your average, run-of-the-mill, tidying up the kitchen activity.


EXCEPT, I forgot to tell you one other thing about Colton...


He is attached to me like a flea on a dog's back.


Everywhere I go (especially when I’m inside the house) he is either following me, hanging onto my pants legs while I am walking around, climbing on top of me if I am sitting or laying down, or raising his arms up to be carried if he's too tired of being my shadow.


Soooo, you can just forget about him staying in another room with his daddy and big brother if mommy is up and milling around in the kitchen.


Anyway, when I opened up the pantry door, as is typical, Colton is right behind me.


That is, until he stepped aside and spotted all of the colorful cans on the bottom shelf of the pantry that were also within arm's reach of his little toddler hands.


As he stretched out his arms to reach for one of the cans, in my identical Michelle Duggar-ish calm and gentle voice immediately I said screamed out like a mad Italian woman "NO, Colton!"


To which I was met with his quick glance of defiance just moments before he grabbed the family size can of Beef-a-roni (Sssh, don't tell my mom, but the kids like it) that promptly fell smack dab on his pajama legged, barefooted, big toe.


Within a mini-flash, he let out the most blood curdling crying scream.

And, when I looked down this is what I saw...

OUCH!

I felt so bad for him.


I mean after all, no mommy wants their child to be hurt and you gotta' know that this definitely hurt...BIG TIME!


When I finally got him to calm down, I gave him some Motrin for the pain and cradled him to sleep in my arms, all the while covering him with kisses.


While I was looking at him peacefully asleep, glad that he was going to be okay (albeit he may lose that toenail), I realized that this was a very hard lesson for him to learn.

But, moreover, I hope he realized that when mommy says, "No"...

She.

Means.

NO.

From Pumpkins To Potter And Sick In-Between

Can I be honest? (like when am I not...LOL!)


I am just THAAAA-RILLLLED that October is O-V-E-R!


And, no, it's not because it means were inching closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas.


It's because October held yucky, yucky sickness for my sweet boys.


Our youngest, Colton, came down with strep (for the bazillionith time) and had probably one of his worst respiratory 'bouts yet.


I was out with him for a week administering meds and doing nebulizer treatments...fun, fun, fun - - NOT!


Poor baby.


He did start feeling better after staying at home for all those days being cared for, so we piled up the kiddos and headed to the best Pumpkin Patch EV-AH!


It's called Dreamfield Farms and it's located here in Alabama.


We had an perfect autumn family day.

R.J. posing for the camera

We couldn't get Colton to sit still for this one

The "corn" box was a big hit!


Especially for Colton...

 So was the "cow" train!

We've even got video to prove it!

R.J. thought the animals were cool, but he thought the fact that his new "transitioning" eyeglasses was even cooler since they turn into sunglasses when he's outside and there's sun glare.

All of my boys enjoyed the hayride (and Mom did too, but as usual I'm the one taking the pictures).

Picking the pumpkins was best of all!

Here are the finished products!


R.J. did a double-sided pumpkin...

Side 1

Side 2

 And Colton did a wee little skeleton...

The "perfectness" of our fun-filled October day ended with the pumpkins and the Patch because just when we got the baby all well and back to daycare, my oldest, R.J., starts running a super high fever, throwing up, coughing and loses his appetite and energy.


Off to doctor with him - - TWICE.


Hello, Mononucleosis!


Good-bye school for a week.


Welcome to our house - UGH!


Seriously folks, I have never seen my son so pale and lethargic.


This mono stuff truly is no laughing matter.


Being sick is not fun.


Being a kid and being sick is even worse.


Being sick during trick-or-treating time is the worstest!


R.J. had been home for a week resting and taking his medicine, but we really weren't sure if he was going to feel up to going trick-or-treating, and if he didn't feel like it that was completely okay with us.


October 31st came around and he decided he wanted to give it a try.


For the past few years we've been meeting up with my friend and her two children.  They live in a really good neighborhood to go door-to-door.


Harry Potter-ville, here we come!

R.J. as Harry Potter and my friend's daughter as Hermoine



Daddy was Dumbledore
(Michael's mask scared Colton so much that he had to take it off)

Mommy (yep, that's me) was Professor Minerva McGonagall



Colton was Hedwig the owl
(Okay, so I know Hedwig was white, but this is when he was a "baby" owl...LOL!)



My friend's son was the Transformer Optimus Prime
(Sure, sure, Transformers were NOT in Harry Potter, but Hogwart's School
taught wizards, and we all know that wizards can be ANYTHING they want!)

R.J. was quite the trick-or-treating trooper and tried to put on a happy face, but after about ten houses he was so exhausted that he and I turned around and headed back to the house while the others finished their rounds.


In contrast, Colton had enough energy for ALL of us and would have kept on going until midnight if we had let him...LOL!


So there you have it...like I said, from pumpkins to Potter and sick in-between.


So long October.


Delighted to meet you November.


Please be good to this family.


Thankyouverymuch!