4: A Letter to My Big Boy

My Sweet Isaac,

Someday, many years from now, you'll look back on your life. If you are like me, it will naturally divide itself into very distinct chapters.

Less Than 2 Weeks Old You.

My chapters look like this:

Chapter 1: My Childhood: Mullets, Music, and Magic
Chapter 2: And Then There Was Ryland....
Chapter 3: College, Marriage, and Teaching
Chapter 4: The Infertility Fog
Chapter 5: God Gave Me You
Chapter 6: Tunia, the One Month Whirlwind
Chapter 7: (TBA, In Progress, Under Construction)

Beautiful new you.

6 -Month-Old, Sitting-Up, You.

 

9-Month-Old, Crawling, You.

Chapter 6, your chapter started exactly 4 years ago. I spent a day in labor with you amazing Dad. We had waited for years and figuratively climbed deserts and swam oceans to get to that sweet day. Then you came. Angels danced and a waiting room full of praying family members rejoiced. Years of saddness melted away for me, and you were one of the greatest gifts in my life.

1st Birthday, Cupcake Face, You.

I cannot believe that I've taken 4 rides around the sun with you. I will treasure those sweet first weeks and months of your life where my joy was to sit and hold you and talk to you for hours. What a gift it was as I watched you roll, sit up, crawl, walk, run! The sweetest music was the first "momma" you spoke. As you discovered your first books, tastes of food, movies, and friendships, you brought me along and I got to experience the thrill of rediscovering them with you.

20-Month-Old, Halloween Costume, You.

And now you are spelling words, recognizing and writing letters, loving your friends, playing sports, and growing. Your love for God and tender heart for people is inspiring. You love bigger than anyone I've ever known.

2-Year-Old, Painfully Cute, You.

 

You are excited about everything. You enjoy everything and make the best out of every situation. Sometimes you ask deep questions, and understand things far beyond your years. You are a constant reminder of God's goodness, and not a day goes by that I am not thankful that God chose me (ME!) to be your Mom. No one deserves a child as wonderful as you, but I am glad for the opportunity.

2-and-a-half, Silly, You.

My prayer for you is that you will be brave, that you will love God more than anything, and that you will become more and more like God as you grow. I pray that your innocence will stick for a LOOONG time, that life won't make you jaded, that you won't worry about the small stuff. I hope you'll find a girl that loves you (almost as much as me) and that you'll love her and care for you just like your Dad does for me. Speaking of your Dad- you already love music and are a song-bird like him. You are sweet like him. And you have the cutest little tushkin just like him. (Go ahead, be embarrassed, someone has to preserve your history!)

3rd Birthday, First Friend Party, You.

Isaac, I love you more than you'll ever know. I love that you are the one that made a Mom out of me 4 years ago. I love that I am the receipient of all of the hugs, questions, and memories, that will form your Chapter 1. It is an honor that I take seriously, I hope I help you to write it well.

You. 2 Weeks Ago. Perfect.

I hope that someday that my Chapter 6 ends with "......and he changed the world." My big boy, no longer a baby, I believe you can.

Love , Momma

Get By With a Little Help...

For a grown up like myself, there are lots of figurative giants out in the world- the economy, a mortgage, saving for retirement, college funds, your firstborn heading to kindergarten.

When you are two, there are literal giants- like the big slide on the playground.

Here you stand, 30 inches tall and this behemoth, yellow, curly slide looms over you. It is a literal Colossus at age 2. It may have well been a skyscraper to Hope's little eyes.

I watched something quite beautiful transpire between my kids at the park.

Hope climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym and looked at me from the top of the slide. I shouted encouragements and promises to catch her from the ground that must have seemed miles away below her. And she climbed her way to the safety of a lower ledge. It wasn't enough for her this time that Momma was there waiting. It was still too risky.

Isaac, a seasoned playground veteran, watched his sister struggle. He slowed down, climbed the where she was and put his hand on the small of her back. He leaned down, like an adult talks to a child and talked to her. He said, "Sis, don't be scared to go down the big slide. It's not scary."

He lead her to the top of the slide, where she stopped, still not quite convinced. Isaac said, "Sissy, you can watch me do it." He slid down and yelled from the bottom, "See sis, I'm a big boy."

She hesitated at the top as Isaac climbed his way back up. He looked at her and said, "C'mon sis, we can do it together."

He patiently helped her sit down and folded his arms and legs around her and helped her slide down. They hit the bottom and he cheered for her, calling her a big girl. She beamed at the praise from her hero. I cheered too, through the tears under my sunglasses and the giant lump in my throat.

They aren't always sweet and encouraging to each other, quite the opposite sometimes, but I hope that long after their Daddy and I are gone that they still love each other, and encourage the other through their fears. It was one of those moments that this Momma never wants to forget.

My cup runneth over.

Even on their sweet days, they still don't pose for Mom's camera.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Russell Family

 

 

The Fruities...

 

 

And the Cuties!

You've Got a Friend in Me

 

Isaac's favorite movie right now is "Toy Story 3". If you can't tell, he's a pretty big fan of Buzz Lightyear. Or Buzz Light"hair" as Isaac would tell you.

 

But, he thinks Woody is a fantastic sheriff too.

 

 

And whatever Isaac thinks is cool.... When in Rome......

Naturally, we love the music from Toy Story, especially when sang by the cutest 2 and 3 year olds ever to don spacesuits.

 

So I have declared "You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman the official Russell family song.

 

Here are the lyrics:

 

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You're gonna see
It's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

 

 

I hope my people always know that that they've got a friend in me. And I hope that when I am a grandmother that I'll still be able to hear my kids' voices in my mind singing. And I hope my mind will be able to recall them dancing to this little gem from "Toy Story 3".

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mBo6lOpJuQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mBo6lOpJuQ

Life Long Love

                                        

This is the book we've been reading at bedtime lately. Isaac almost has it memorized. I think he has good taste in literature.

Because this was one of my favorites when I was close to his age. This was my book. My mom is not much of a sentimental hoarder. But she kept a set of books from a Dr. Seuss book club that she enrolled me in when I was a wee toddler. And now I get to share them with Isaac. I love that she wrote dates in some of the books. And I love that I have a little book lover in the making.

 Another book in our rotation is this one:

I distinctly remember reading it in Mrs. Littleton's first grade class. And here I am reading it to my kids. Isaac has this one memorized. We own it in both hardback and board book editions. Isaac has the hard back in his room for bedtime use, and Hope chases us around with the board book, hopping in our laps at every opportunity so that she can point out the animals on each page and make the sounds. Isaac sometimes will "read" it to Hope, which melts my heart.

There is a page where the text reads: "Children, children, what do you see?"

Isaac "reads" it this way, "Chrildren, chrildren, what do YOU see?"

It's stinkin adorable.

My teacher heart hopes and prays that I am raising literature lovers. My mommy heart is so so SO grateful that I had a mother and great teachers who valued literacy and provided opportunities for me to enjoy books and reading. It truly is a life long love of mine, and I hope it will be for my kiddos too.

Thank You for Taking Care of Mary

During bedtime prayers last night I took a moment and prayed, as I often do, for Isaac's future wife and Hope's future husband- the people they will marry. When I pray with the kids I try to model a conversation with God, and use simple language. I prayed that God would take care of them and protect them until the appointed time.

I didn't really think he was listening because he was fake snoring in order for Ryland and I to kiss him and "wake" him up. He's three- I'm wordy. Sometimes his attention span doesn't last through my prayers and daddy's too.

Then it was Isaac's turn to pray. We had to kiss him awake, of course. He deviated from his regular script.

He said, "Dear-a Jesus, thank you for taking care of Mary, I thank you so much for my mom, my dad, my Hopey, and thank you for loving me. Amen."

His daddy and I were a little confused. I asked him who Mary was. My assumption was Mary, the mother of Jesus- I thought maybe they had talked about her in pre-school.

He said, "a girl, I'm going to marry her and take care of her."

My heart simultaneously bursted and melted. He was listening! And it's stinking adorable that he prayed for his wife. I hope that continues, even if he doesn't fully understand yet.

Then he told me, "Momma, you can sleep in my bed." So sweet, my heart exploded.

Between his silliness and Hope's giggles- I'm a goner.

Even after weeks of cranky sickness, fits, messes, constant chaos, surgeries and just plain HARD moments- I get these sweet little reminders of the gift of my children, and the sweet hope I have for their futures.

I'm a little bit of an over-planning, over-protective, over-analyzing, over-everything momma. I struggle daily, okay hourly, with placing them in God's hands. But the beauty of grace is that they are in his hands whether I choose to place them there or not. I wish it was easier for me to let go and rest in that fact.

As for now- I hope my heart can withstand all the bursting, melting, and exploding that my children cause. I am so grateful for this sweet pre-school season of life. The days are long but the years go fast. May I be conscious and soak it in.

Worms

My kids are a little belly button obsessed this week. They always point them out whenever they are shirtless or bathing.

Today Isaac crawled up in my lap. He asked to see my belly button. If it were anyone else I would be telling a chump to put their dukes up, but for my baby boy, I obliged his weird, yet innocent request.

Bear in mind, my stomach has seen happier days. Flatter days. Days when it wasn't marred by the evidence of two very indulgent pregnancies.

Isaac pointed out my belly button and then touched one of my stretch marks and asked me what it was.

If I were answering honestly, I would have said something along the lines of him and his punk sister ruining my belly and preventing me from ever wearing a two piece again. But I didn't answer honestly.

I told him they were love marks from when he and Hope lived in my tummy as babies. Maybe it was kind of honest. Having those two is worth having a ruined body. I'd not trade a thing.

But Isaac promptly disagreed, telling me matter of factly, "No, I think they're worms."

What do you even say to that?

I just tickled him and laughed and silently vowed never to eat chocolate again.

That vow lasted about 10 minutes.

Judge if you must. But someone has to feed the worms......

Christmas Take 2

I have tried twice to post these pictures. I have tried twice to blog our magical Christmas experiences. I had this post completely finished, scheduled to post, edited, etc. And it did post, but it was empty, the whole thing eaten by some internet monster. I was T.O.'d. Now it is almost March and I am going to hum "Jingle Bells" and try to muster up nostalgic holiday feelings so I can caption these as beautifully as I did the first time.

Tunia: Holiday Fashion

Comfy.

 Unwrapping a smile.

 Deck the halls.

 Momma's favorite- a Christmas tutu!

 Elmo pj's from Mimi.

Chritsmas Eve Couture.

A Visit to the Man in Red

We went to Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa this year. This was Isaac's first experience with the big guy. The only gift he consistently asked for was a Dragon Happy Napper.

 Waiting in line.

Tunia is happy here. But five minutes after this photo I handed her to Santa where she screamed her guts out. We have a great photo of it, but alas, it is packed away. It's an actual picture- not digital. I'll apologize to her in the form of paying her therapy bills for her irrational fear of red velvet.

Polar Express Party- GCK

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job? Our pre-school had a Polar Express Party as one of several celebrations of the season.

At this party our assistant director thought it would be fun to use packaging popcorn as snow. After this the assistant direction was tar-and-feathered. Just kidding, she was just fired. Just kidding again, she was chastised in good fun.

The kids voted her as queen of the universe. They loved every minute.

Isaac had a grumpy minute. I sympathy grumped.

This is his buddy, M.

His other little buddy, A, was having a moment.

These kiddos had a Polar Express Parade, and marched through the church office ringing their bells.

The Christmas Train

We went to Dry Gulch USA to ride the Christmas Train. Of all our Christmas outings, this was the one that Isaac talked about the most. He loved it! You take a train ride where you get a kid friendly, reader's digest, pictoral version of the Bible. I am looking forward to taking the kids back when they are a little older and we can discuss what they see.

Isaac with his boarding pass.

Tunia and Daddy, ready to ride.

I had stomach flu the day before, but I was NOT going to miss. I'm glad I sucked it up and went.

They may have been a little nervous about this one...

Stockings!

Our Christmas plans change from year to year. But we have decided that our "thing" that we will keep just for us, is the stockings. This year we did them before any family arrived. Even though it was mostly dollar store goodies, the kids loved it. And it was great to get to watch them enjoy their gifts in a non-rushed environment.

Bubba is ready to dig in.

Sissy loves it!

So many fun treasures.

The loot.

This.

We tried this:

It didn't work. I hope his college room mate will be cool with changing his diapers.

Russell/Gardner Christmas

Mimi, Poppy, and the Gardner cousins came over to our house on the 23rd for what I hope will be an annual holiday get-together.

Gram Rosie went on a cruise (the nerve!) and sent her gifts to the great grands.

Joia gave Hopey a ride on her new princess scooter.

Digging in.

"The Grinch" was Isaac's favorite holiday movie this year. So naturally we had to have this shirt!

Hope's biggest cousin giving her princess couch training.

"Why can't my grandkids just smile for ONE picture!?!?  Everyone else gets cute pictures of all their grandkids!"- Mimi Cyndi

At least Jaisa was smiling.

Candlelight Christmas Eve

Our church has an annual Christmas ever service. We sing Christmas carols by candelight and reflect on the birth of our savior. This year we were joined by Mimi and Poppy. Mimi joined Ryland onstage at the piano, and Poppy held Petunia who was bribed to sit still with a sucker.

Poppy and Petunia.

Isaac and "My" Kara onstage listening to the message.

Later we went to Dewey for dinner at Aunt Judy's and gifts at Jeje and Pawpa's house.

Jeje and Uncle Lane.

So sweet.

Feeding the Reindeer

At my Grandma Bonnie's house, the little kiddos have began feeding the reindeer a bag of glitter and oats in recent years- oats to eat and glitter to reflect the moon and help them see where to land.

Daddy and Isaac pouring out the feed.

Christmas Morning

This was the first year EVER in the history of my life that I spent Christmas morning in my own house. It was glorious. Waking up, being home, having a big yummy breakfast. Lovely.

Isaac got Buddy the T-rex from dinosaur train.

Hope got purple fairy princess things.

She also got a sing-a-ma-jig that Pawpa enjoyed too.

Somehow I won the Christmas morning lottery and I got ALL the kid's grandparents. I get teary thinking about it because it was so precious and I doubt it will ever happen again. I loved every minute.

Having a yuletide cinnamon roll.

Such a happy boy! Fueling up for more presents.

Grannie B's

Great Aunt Glenda and Chris helped Isaac open his gift.

This is the last Christmas we will spend in Grandma's home of over 30 years. There are a million images in my mind like this one. All precious. All greatly treasured. All will be very missed.

The kids and I made all the Grandmas and Great Grandmas a hand painted calendar. Isaac delivered Grannie B's to her and identified EVERY picture to her.

Chickasha All the Way!

Our last scheduled stop was at Angie's house in Ry's hometown of Chickasha. The Gardner girls and Isaac decided to sing and dance for us.

So painfully shy.

They dressed Isaac like this. He liked it for approximately 10 nanoseconds.

Isaac decided HE needed a solo. Again, so shy. Not.

His adoring fans.

Even Hope was bitten with the performance bug.

When his cousins did this to him, we knew we needed to call it a day.

We retired to our hotel, only to wake up in the night with a very sick Hopey. I took her to the ER with a high fever and a respiratory infection. And hopefully we will have the ER bill paid off by next Christmas.

Yes, we were sad to see Christmas go, but we know it will be back before we know it.