I can't believe my "baby" is actually 2.

I'm very emotional about baby Jack turning 2. It just hit me last night when I was putting him to bed and rubbing his sweet little happy face - that 2 years ago yesterday my 3rd child was born. My 3rd child that was conceived 3 weeks before my husband's vasectomy was done - my 3rd child that delivered 4 weeks early ( and after being awake for 36 hrs ) and the thought of scared me to death. 2 kids was already more than I thought I could handle, then to have 3 of them so close together? The timing of conceiving him made me feel like he was going to serve a bigger purpose in our lives, and I couldn't have been more right. Our son Jack is pure innocence and love. He is happiness and silliness, he is intelligent and has struggles, he makes me slow down and appreciate life - and I wish I could express how thankful for him I am. He is a complete mama's boy and 99.99% of the time I love that - I need him and I'm glad he needs me.

Looking back when he was born, I couldn't stop saying I can't wait until my kids are 2,3,& 4 - or even more frequently 3,4, & 5 ( but of course I'll need to wait until next year for that post! ) But last night, I just sat there crying to Robert about how my baby isn't technically a baby anymore - yes he doesn't talk and yes he is still in diapers, but the fact that he is 2 just means that there is no where left to go but easier. ( based on my last 4 years ) During the years I've really had a lot of struggles, but looking back it all passed in the blink of an eye. That's a little scary - when you are going through something difficult it seems like time is standing still, but reflection on those same struggles make them seem shorter.

We had a nice day yesterday ( his b-day ) We went to Angie's house with Kim's family and the kids had so much fun. Angie has stairs so they all spent much of our time there running up and down the stairs - they played tag and were very good with Jack who couldn't run up and down the stairs as fast as the other kids. She also had a dirt pool... their kids like to play in the dirt as well, so they smartly filled a kiddie pool with dirt instead of getting it out of the flowerbeds! I took pictures, and I'll post them later - I don't have them on my work computer. My kids all fell asleep on the way home ( 10 minutes only before we got home ) and wouldn't take another nap when we got home. Even Jack - no nap for the birthday boy. He actually didn't do too bad - BUT the surprising good news with that, is early bed times for a change. Jack: 7:00 - Kade & Kyla: 8:20 - and mommy got to watch Desperate Housewifes without hitting pause to re-place the kids in their beds. Of course Kyla and Kade didn't sleep well ( they never do when they skip naps ) and ended up in my bed, kicking Robert out and kicking me all night...