Lucky.

I am just plain lucky.  Lucky to have met the man I married, who devotes himself wholly to me and my boys. 

Lucky to have given birth to two happy, joyful little boys.

When I think back to the excitement we felt as we drove to the hospital to have Henry, there were so many unknowns.  Every day is still filled with unknowns with this one; specifically, what in the world is about to come out of his mouth now?!?  This child keeps us on our toes constantly, and Paul and I constantly catch ourselves making eye contact and trying not to laugh out loud at his antics, imagination, and never-ending chatter.  Our house gets eerily quiet at 7:00 p.m. when this one goes to bed, and while it is a total relief at this stage in our lives, I am already in total denial that this one will ever enter the teenage years where he's too cool to talk to me.

 

And this one, the one that I spend half my time "chasing" because he thinks it's a game, is already working to break my heart daily as he begins to refuse my help and is determined to learn his way around life on his own.  This age will forever be imprinted in my mind as the era when Walter looked over his shoulder, daring me to come chase him across the room.  All chases were completed by tickling him until he laughed so hard his giggles went silent.  Afterwards, he'd roll on his tummy, get his chubby cankles under him, jog ten feet away, and then start the entire process over again.  Precious.

We are lucky these boys love each other.  I suspect there will be moments where they don't like each other, and moments they may even question whether they actually love each other.  But their foundation is strong, and they won't have much of a choice from their Mama when it comes to how they treat each other.

 

We are lucky to have grandparents that love every ounce of these boys. 

We got luckier by having one set of them nine houses up the street.



 

We are also lucky to have each other.  I foresee lots and lots of fun in our future, and pray our house is filled with warmth, love, and memories that make these babies want to come home when they're grown and on their own.

As always, a giant thanks to Jeremy Schmucker for his beautiful photos.  His sweet family is getting ready to move to Pennsylvania, and while we are selfishly bummed, we are so excited for them and their new adventure!!  Little does he know, we very well may try to catch up with him and get him to photograph us when we're up visiting the other set of grandparents, who don't live far from his new town.  If you think about it, say a quick prayer for this family as they get ready to embark on a church-planting mission.  Hope we get to visit their new church sometime soon!