29 months

Today my baby boy is 29 months old! How did that happen?! He has turned into such a beautiful, smart, ENERGETIC, loving, CRAZY little man! There are days that he gets me so frustrated, but then I remember he's only 2 and he really is still a baby.

He is so deep into the exploration phase of toddlerhood, and he asks so many questions on a daily basis :-). That's why he's so smart, he is always asking questions! His favorite question being "what ya doin' mommy??" About a million times a day! We are also knew deep in discipline issues...ugh! We are quickly learning about time outs and swats. His worst thing is messing with the dogs, he is just relentless with them, he will not leave them alone! We end up just having to put them up for their own sanity.

He is still loving gymnastics that we go to once a week. Next month he will have his end of year "mini Olympics" performance! He has gotten so good about going down into the gym by himself without mommy or daddy , and he just loves mrs. Jackie!

He's starting to tell us that some stuff is scary, such as lawn mowers/weed eaters, but he doesn't seem to bothered by it, as he just keeps right on playing in the yard when he hears them.

Really he is a pretty good boy, and we are really working on listening better to what mommy and daddy ask him to do/not do. We are looking forward to the warm weather and lots of fun outside activities now that he's a big boy!

Time heals

11 years ago today my life changed forever. I'd like to say that it was for the better and that I'll never forget that day. But it wasn't for the better, and sadly that day is engrained in my mind forever.

April 2, 2002, I lost two of my friends in a single car accident my freshman year of high school. The two survivors of the accident were my best friend and her brother. My mom, brother, and I were about the third or fourth car on the scene of the accident. I remember being so scared and sick because I knew what had happened. No one had to tell me. I didn't get sat down and told the horrible news that my friends had been killed, I saw it with my own two eyes. And it hurt. It hurts just as badly today. Those were my friends, it just as easily could have been me and my brother in the car with them. To see my best friends like that changed my life.

I learned that day that life is not forever. That no matter how long you think you have, you really don't know. I spent the day with them at school that morning and then we all went to the orthodontist together, them in their car and us with my mom, normal day. And then they were gone, just like that. I learned that the memories left behind are there to cherish. The one thing I will always remember about my friend is how she always had a smile on her face and how much she loved to make people laugh! That was what she loved to do!

I think about that day all the time, but especially today. I see their siblings, who were just kids when the accident happened, having their own kids and going to college. It really strikes just how long they have been gone, and how much I miss them. Love the ones you have, you never know when their time is done and they are called home. <3