I love my boys

Perhaps Mother's Day has made me extra emotional, but for the past couple of days I have been creating a running list in my head of all the things I love about my boys. Lord knows the days can be long with 2 little monkeys in my life (and only 1 is mobile right now, what will my crazy life become when Joe is on the move?!), but I do count my blessings every day and at least start and end each and every day thanking God for my 2 greatest gifts...I admit that there are many points throughout the day when I am far less grateful than I should be and my annoyance level is much higher than my appreciation level.

So here, in a nutshell, is what I adore about my boys right now...

BEN, BEN-BEN, BENNY BOO, BOOGY BEAR, BOOGS:

1. Ben has a zest for life. Ben may look like his daddy, but his personality is all mommy. Ben operates on all cylinders at all times. He bounces out of bed with a smile on his face and doesn't stop moving (running more specifically) until his weary head hits the pillow at night. The fact that we are one in the same both excites and aggravates me, sometimes at the same time. Ben is VERY emotional. He is super excited about life and all of the amazing things there are to discover each day. He is also quite sensitive and can get wounded easily. Speaking of being emotional...myy mom always says that I have to keep having kids because I need a girl, to which I reply I do have a girl, her name is Ben. (sorry benny!)


2. Ben is HIlarious. In my opinion, there is no comedian who can hold a candle to my little man. He makes me laugh so hard and not always intentionaly. Ben makes great faces and has a way of making every situation fun. His laugh is so contagious; it gets me everytime. The other day in the car I was laughing at something Ben said and I looked over and there was an older man in the car next to us looking over and smiling...I think he was enjoying watching us enjoy each other.


3. Ben is very kind and sensitive to others feelings. I am really proud of the person I see Ben becoming. He is so gentle with little kids and is usually the first to welcome other kids into a group to play. My sister Mallory came home with me this afternoon to hang out for a couple of hours and Ben was playing in the backyard with our neighbors. When he saw Mal standing at the window, he came running in and said "Hey Mal-Mal, want to come out and play? I love you Aunt Mal-Mal!" It melted my heart and I think my smile was even bigger than Mals. Also, yesterday I was driving the boys to my parents house so bampaw could watch them while I went to get a haircut. Ben said "mommy, I don't want you to get your haircut. I want you to stay just the way you are!" The sweetness ends there though, because he really seriously isn't a fan of my haircut and kept telling me all day today that my hair looked "wierd" and "kind of crazy."

JOEY, JOE-JOE, JOE BUG, BUGGY BOY, BUGS:

1. My little marshMELLOW man. Joey is honestly the easiest baby on the planet. So easy, in fact, that it totally freaks me out when he cries and I call Dean at work panicing that something is really wrong, only to be reminded by Dean that normal babys cry. Oh yeah. I forgot. He so rarely fusses that I automatically assume the worst.


2. When he is not being a puddle of love and peacefullness he is greeting the world with a smile. Joey LOVES people. He thrives on just an ounce of attention and always rewards people who talk to him with an enormous gummy grin and a shy shoulder shrug. He is a tremendous flirt and attracts admirers everywhere he goes. Joey is not very discriminating with his smiles, but he does save his best grins for his big brother. No one on earth enjoys Ben more than Joe. They are truly best buds already and I absolutely love watching them interact. I suspect there will be a time in the future when they don't get along perfectly, but it is really hard to imagine right now. The love passing between them is palpable and makes my heart glow.


3. The third thing that I love most about Joey at this moment is that he makes me slow down. Much like Mr. Ben I am constantly on the go, go, go. Joe forces me to stop, whether it is because he has a need that must be met (i.e. nursing, diaper changing, etc.) or sometimes his sweetness just drives me to INaction and I have to stop what I am doing and lay on the floor to play with him. You can ask Ben, it is really hard for me to stop in the middle of a task and switch gears, but Joey has the ability to stop me in my tracks and all I want to do is snuggle and soak up his drooly goodness.

I could obviously drone on and on about my crazy kiddos but I will stop here. Suffice it to say on Mother's Day and every day I am the luckiest woman on the planet. I never would have imagined how fulfilled I would be simply by being a mom, but without a doubt those 2 boys are my greatest accomplishment in life. I hope they realize how much they mean to me and how amazing my life is with them in it.

addendum...

I decided to add a note (sorry if this makes you puke Craig and Michelle) about what I love most about my husband right now since he is the reason that I am a mommy:

Dean-Dean:

1. He makes life fun. Much like Ben, Dean has a way of making every task enjoyable. He is almost always in a good mood and it is nearly impossible to be crabby when Dean is by your side. He has a way of making me laugh even when I don't want to.


2. He works so hard to support our family, but doesn't lose sight of what he is working for. No matter how hard Dean works, and he works very, very hard, I never doubt that the boys and I come first. He is so great about leaving work at the office and the minute he walks in the door he is all ours. I really admire that about him and appreciate his ability to come home and play all evening when he really probably wishes he could just sit and chill by himself sometimes.


3. He loves us unselfishly, unendingly, unconditionally. I love watching Dean with the boys. They all love and enjoy each other so much and I am lucky to be a part of the love fest too on occasion. Dean is really good about letting me know how much he loves and appreciates me and the sacrifices I make for our family. His sacrifices don't go unnoticed either, though admittedly I am not as good about thanking him as he is at thanking me.