Hi.

The End of an Era

Well, Anders, considering the precedent your big brother set, you lasted a lot longer in your crib than I would have thought. Congratulations. Imagine my surprise when I was mowing the lawn during "naptime" only to see you standing outside with a pleased-as-punch expression as I rounded the corner. Your brother was not far behind you with a wide smile on face, flapping his arms in excitement: "Guess what I taught Anders to do!" 

And like that, the front rail is gone. 

Happy to help Mommy dismantle a piece of the crib. 

The Last Deployment Video

Throughout this deployment, I wasn't that great about sending boxes to Erik filled with snacks and love notes with cute themes and such, but I always did try to mail a little USB drive which housed a video compilation of two month chunks of time. The collective snippets of things like Landon learning to ride a bike without training wheels, Anders enjoying an afternoon with bubbles, the boys enjoying hikes, etc. You know, the everyday stuff that just happens when it happens, with no agenda. Those are the things I wanted to capture most for Erik this past year. I guess, in a way, the videos were my love notes.

I'm happy to say I've made the last video for this deployment. My iMac has just about hit the end of its lifespan in terms of ability to pull together videos, so it is good timing. [PS: Honey, I need a new computer.]

For comparison's sake, below is the first video I put together for Erik at the end of last summer. Landon has grown 2.5 inches and Anders has grown almost 4 inches! I feed and water them daily.

Quotes

[Scene: Driving in the car this morning.]

Landon: Hey Anders, do you wanna' play "booger catch" again?

Me: Wait, what?! What is that game? And what do you mean "AGAIN?!"

[Just so you know, it's a game where one brother picks a booger and (yes, you guessed it) throws it at the other brother.]

Mother's Day 2015

Dear Boys,

We made it another year. This one was a little bit of a solo ride with Daddy gone and I didn't know how it was going to go, but you made it simple, fun and humbling. 

Landon, your obsession with Legos this past year could have been predicted by your founding passion of jigsaw puzzles. Your "creations" and imagination have been an absolute joy to watch. And the fact that you let your little brother play with those creations demonstrates what a special big brother heart you have. Whenever I am laying down for a moment with my eyes closed, you come up to steal a light kiss on my cheek; you make me feel so very loved. 

Anders, your confidence and personality came out of left field this year, especially after Christmastime. For someone who wasn't a particularly smiley baby, you certainly are a funny guy and your laugh just lights up my world. You smile with your whole face - I love it. At the time of this writing, you are delighted by anything Rescue Bots or Transformers or Super Heroes. You love wearing a cape and slipping into your "Super Anders" persona; it involves a lot of running around and yelling "Pshooo!" with your arm extended. You give grade A hugs with your whole body and it reminds me of my mom's genuine hugs; thank you for continuing the legacy.

Together, you guys are one big, goofy energy ball. Whether its playing "goo" (in which you pretend to be stuck in blankets - aka goo - and let the other super hero brother rescue you) or "fight dome" (rough housing under the geo dome in the backyard - not mommy's favorite, but surprisingly a game that hasn't resulted in any injuries...yet), I see brothers. As your daddy likes to say, "Thick as thieves." 

I became more confident as a mom this year, for sure. I finally see the hard work starting to pay off when you stop and hug each other while reading a book (just because), when you express your feelings with words, when you demonstrate good table manners or when you utter "Thank you, Earth and animals, for this lovely food" before you dig into a snack. These snippets are a delight to see and rather incongruent to the constant feeling that no one is listening to me at all on most days. Thanks for planting some seeds of hope this year.

Love you with all my heart,

Mom

Mother's Day 2015