Brought to you by the Letter T and the number 2!

Tommy's birthday weekend began with a nice hot breakfast,

I would like to say I do this for them everyday but that would be an outright lie.... 

dry cereal or graham crackers are our usual's.... sometimes toast when we are feeling fancy.

Isabella requested a mickey mouse pancake, and I wanted to do something special for Tommy since it was his birthday, so in case you can't tell that is a 2.... and I am quite proud of it!

Something as silly as a "special" pancake on a birthday, but somehow it makes my heart swell and my eyes water just a little because it was one of those rare moments when I know we are at the beginning of a family tradition. I know we will do this again.  It doesn't matter what the tradition is, it is beautiful because it binds us together as a family just a little tighter each time we share it.

...Ok, now stop laughing at the thought of me weeping into my pancake mix....

So after breakfast we moved on to another tradition, cutting down our Christmas tree. This is something both of our families did growing up. I was more than a little excited because FINALY it was snowing! I had prayed for this and was doubly blessed because not only do I love snow while we are cutting down the tree, but I love snow on Tommy's birthday too. I have very sweet memories of watching big fat soft snowflakes fall on the city while I cuddled my new little man in bed all day..... today was not a day to stay in bed all day (and there was only a little snow)  still it was nice. Now back to getting the tree....

So we all bundled up.

And we hit the road.... with refreshments.

we made some new and unexpected friends (this patient old guy was tied up

by the sample trees at the tree farm.)

We debated and found the perfect tree, and then found it had a tag.

So we debated some more and found the truly perfect tree and we all took our turns helping Daddy.

 

 

 

Almost all of us....

Once we had the tree cut, tied, and loaded up we hit the Burger King drive-thru. (believe it or not this IS a tradition started by Tom's family....  a yummy one!) and we headed home to thaw out. Come back later for the fiasco that was decorating. Surprisingly this was made difficult by the vacuum and not the children... for once!

Looking back to look ahead

Two years ago tonight I was laying in a hospital bed awaiting the birth of my second child,  my first son, my sweet Tommy.

Here he is only a few minutes old (and already I could tell he was gifted :)

I can't imagine that it has been two years, I feel like I blinked and here I am.

I want to rewind and do it all again, I want to go back to that hospital room on that very snowy morning and hold that warm little body on my chest again, and smell him, and feel his fuzzy little head on my cheek.

I want to relive all his firsts, 

I want to watch him meeting his big sister for the first time.

I want to see him on his first Christmas in his tiny little sweater vest.

I want to watch him scoot around the living room on his belly.

I want to watch him in the pool with his Pap for his first swim.

I want to see him dig into that first birthday cake just once more.

But if I could go back I would miss this Tommy....

Our Little Man, who makes us laugh almost constantly.

His open-mouthed kisses (with sound effects) are a vital part of my daily routine.

Watching him dance is better than anything on TV.

Waking up to his voice calling me Mama is almost enough to make me forget how early it is.

I can't go back and I can't stay here either, but I can write it all down so that someday when two years has turned into twenty I can look back and savor all these sweet and fleeting moments just once more.

Happy Birthday Little Man! I thank God everyday that you are ours!