Lance Turns Three!

Someone once said to me, "The days are long but the years are short." I can think of no truer statement as it relates to parenting little ones, and I was very much aware of this fact as we celebrated Lance's third birthday yesterday. I know it has become almost cliche to say it, but where has the time gone? How can my baby be a three year old? It feels like I lost a year in there somewhere.

I spent the day yesterday playing the "Three years ago at this time I was... " game. It is hard not to when you had such a memorable day. Three years ago at this time I was 42 weeks and 1 day pregnant and getting ready to go to the hospital for a C Section. Three years ago at this time I was in labor and walking the halls of the maternity wing with Josh and my Dad. Three years ago at this time I was in labor - in the painful, blurred, better not to remember labor. Three years ago at this time Lance finally made his debut, the spitting image of his father with a head full of dark hair. What amazing memories to relive.

When you have your second child I think you expect many things to go like they did with your first. You know that they are going to be two different people, but I think you still have certain expectations. I did anyway. Lance challenged every single one of them. He is as different from Clark as he probably could be and it is both fascinating and challenging for me as a mom. I am amazed at how two children can come from the same parents and grow up in the same house and be so unique in the way they think, in the way they respond, in the way they love. It has given me such a greater appreciation for the creativity of the God who made them.

Lance is the wilder of my two Wild Things. He has one speed and one volume:  fast and loud. He is wide open from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep. He lives intensely, and he loves fiercely. He will not do things just because everyone else is doing them. He has no problem doing his own thing and being his own person. He is very physical, which means he loves nothing more than to wrestle his Daddy or snuggle his Mommy. He loves to make people laugh and has a mischievous smile that will melt your heart, especially if you're trying to discipline. He has the most kissable, soft cheeks and I am so grateful that I get to be the one to hold him and kiss him every day.

Since yesterday was his birthday we let Lance control what we did. He chose to spend the morning playing at the splash pad. After Josh got off work he chose to eat dinner at his favorite restaurant - the Happy Meal House - followed by a doughnut from Krispy Kreme and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. It was a fun day to spend just focusing on the boys, especially Lance, and celebrating the crazy that is life with little boys.

Our First Visitors

We were so excited to have our first visitors here in Springfield - my Mom and Dad. Getting ready for their arrival probably took a week. Cleaning the house is a two steps forward, one step back situation for us, plus we had some odd projects still unfinished from the move that we wanted to get done. But we did our best to get it all clean to show off to Gammy and Papa.

I love it when my parents come to visit. My parents are fun to spend time with. I'd probably want to hang out with them even if they weren't my parents, although they may not want to spend time with me. Ha. Thankfully I'm theirs so they do not have a choice. For the last several years our visits with my parents have had to be short due to my Dad's work commitments, but now that he is retired they were able to come and stay for a week. It's a good thing too since it was a two day drive for them to make it here. They needed time to recover.

My parents are always a blessing to us when they come, and this trip was no exception. Whether it was bringing us shelves for our garage and helping to set them up, paying for a lunch out, repairing my swing that got broke in the move process, cooking dinner for us, or letting Josh and I get away for a little date night they found so many ways to give us a hand while they were here.

We had plenty of fun though. We had fun showing Gammy and Papa what life is like for us in Springfield. We took them to story time at the library, to our new church, even bowling. Mom and I were able to get away for an impromptu shopping trip and some much-needed girl time. We stayed up past bedtime to chase fireflies and light sparklers and get ice cream. Even the adults stayed up late playing games and watching movies together.

It was hard to say goodbye. My parents have their own big move coming up in the next couple of months and we do not know when we will see each other again. But we have some great memories from this trip and we will keep a running list of all of the things we want to remember to do together next time.

It took almost a week for us to recover from all of the fun (and the lack of sleep!). But the best part? We get to do it all again next week. Josh's parents are going to be coming for a visit and we cannot wait! Guess I might need to get started on the cleaning...