Happy Birthday Andrew!

Dearest Andrew,
Today you are three.  THREE!  Wow!  I am so happy to be celebrating with you.  We have already had your party of course, but I still wanted today to be special.  We sure had a good time! :)  I let you chose what we did.  I figured after we went out for breakfast (where I let you get the most unhealthy breakfast in the world since it was your birthday), the aquarium and the library, you would want to go out to lunch or playground or something, but no, you wanted to come home and play with your new toys. :)  I totally understand that!  You got so many great ones.  You sure are a blessed little boy!  <3  I had such a great time with my buddy today and I finally accepted you are three.  Sigh... :)  I love you so much, I just can't even say! :)

Andrew Celebrates Birthday Number Three!

Dearest Andrew,
This birthday was by the very best yet!  You had such a great time and you were involved in most of the decisions.  You were SO excited about your party and we talked about it for weeks before.  Last year I chose trains as the theme because you just didn't realize exactly what a birthday party was.  This year you were very much aware and chose Thomas as your theme.  Of course. :)  I was going back and forth trying to decide what we would have for lunch and I finally realized I should just ask the birthday boy.  You were quick to suggest pizza, so that's what we had.  It was delicious too!  I decided to get you an ice cream cake since you love both cake and ice cream and let you choose the flavors.  It was so fun to watch you get so excited and for you to help plan.  We celebrated with the same crowd as usual, but this year your Uncle Stephen, Aunt Renee, Zane, Sky, and Charis were able to join us.  You were thrilled!  And when it came time to open your presents, you were nearly beside yourself! :) You gave the best reaction to each present too!  It was wonderful! I hope you realize how extremely loved you are!  I am so thankful for such wonderful family and friends!  We are all so blessed.  Happy Birthday my sweet boy! <3

Andrew and the Long Overdue Update

A picture of you today just chilling. :)

Dearest Andrew,
Well, I have just been the worst mommy blogger ever!  I am sorry!  I need to do your updates for the last few months for sure!  I may just do one big update since I haven't been blogging anything.  Here are just a few highlights of the last few months of all things Andrew: :)

• You are POTTY TRAINED!!!  Yeah, I am sure you will love reading this when you are older!  Haha!  But buddy, you were amazing!  You potty trained in less than a week!  I still have you in pull-ups at bedtime, but I really don't know why because you don't seem to need them.  :)  That is just amazing! :)

• You have been trying new things left and right including a few fruits and veggies.  You love corn! :) It's not always the easiest thing to get you to try new things, but at least you do!

• You talk ALL THE TIME.  Like seriously!  Hehe.  It's adorable. <3

• We took a week long vacation to San Antonio and not only did we have a blast, you are the easiest kid in the world to travel with!  Sleeping in the same bed with you...that's another story. Haha!

• Your brother finally has a name!  Daddy chose Aaron.  He will be Aaron Joseph. :)

• You will be THREE years old in just six short days!!!!  I am utterly in shock about this.  Sigh...

• Daddy made you a big boy bed and you slept in it for the first time yesterday during nap time.  You did a great job staying in it for the most part.  You actually slept just like you do in your crib even though you have the option to get up any time you want.

• We are getting ready for your birthday this weekend.  This is the first year you are excited about it.  You chose Thomas as the theme and pizza as your birthday lunch.  I love how excited about it.  You jump up and down when we talk about it.  It is, you guessed it, SO CUTE!!! :)

There is so much more that has happened in the last few months and I do intend to write some of it on here. :)  I love you to pieces my big boy!

A Love Letter to Andrew From Mommy

Dearest Andrew,
It has been far too long since I wrote on here!  I need to get with it.  I just wanted to take some time and record a very special moment I had with you tonight because I do not EVER want to forget it!  I think you were a little tired after such a wonderful Easter day (I'll have to post more about that later), but after I got you all ready for bed, we climbed up in your chair and got ready to read, sing, and pray.  We read a book called I Love Dad (and of course we read I Love Mom the night before, hehe) and then I sat and listened as you sang "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" and "Jesus Loves Me" and even sang along a bit.  You then curled up in my arms and stared into my eyes as I sang you all the songs I used to sing to you when you were a baby.  I almost started crying because it was just so special and sweet.  We used to sing those songs every night, but now since you sing along, we have a different playlist. :)  After we prayed and had a drink of water, you looked at me and said, "One day I am going to be a train man."  You were very certain of this.  I love it. :)
I pray you always have big dreams.  I pray you always realize you can be whatever you want to be.  I pray you always know how very, very special you are to me and to your dad.  You have made me a better person in so many ways and I cannot express how much I love being your mom!  I have said it before, but I was made to be your mom. It is such a special calling, and it's so very important too.  Your Daddy and I have a great responsibility to teach you so many things, including how very much God loves you.  The bible says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14) and that God created you to be YOU before you were ever born.  He put a plan and purpose in you and I cannot wait to see what that is!  I know God is going to do great things in your life, although I am definitely not ready for you to grow up yet! :)  I am fully enjoying each day I have with you!  You are just the funniest, most awesome person to be around and there is never a dull moment! I cannot begin to describe my love for you, so I will just say I love you.  With all my heart.  God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave me you!

Andrew and the Apple

Dearest Andrew,
So...you are a very picky eater, did you know that?  Like VERY.  No child can be perfect though, right? :) Anyway, we had to run into Wally World to get some oil for Daddy and when we walked passed the apples, you went right to them and asked if you could have one.  We were like, "Uh...YES!!!!"  Lol.  You picked one up and I took the sticker off to give to the cashier and cleaned it for you.  I.  Was.  Thrilled!!!  I took a little bite out of it so it would be easier for you.  You turned the apple around in your hands, licked it, took teeny tiny bites, and repeated this process for a minute or so.  Then you promptly threw the apple down in the cart like, "Well, that was a fun experiment!"  Booger. :)  I guess that was a good thing because I only then remembered that apples are priced by weight.  Oops.  So I guess I am glad only one bite was missing, but oh how I wish you would have really dug in and eaten that apple!  A mommy can only dream! :) I know someday eating an apple will be no big deal, but I was thrilled even with your attempt to eat one.  We'll get there.  Someday you will be eating apples (and other fruits and veggies) like a pro.  And they won't even be mashed.  Hehe.  Love you bug!

Andrew and His Awesome Green Shirt

Dearest Andrew,
Happy St. Patrick's Day!  We didn't do anything special to celebrate (even though Mommy made a St. Patrick's Day board on Pinterest...oops), but you did get this awesome shirt from your Aunt Amy.  You looked so cute that I had to snap a picture. :)  We still had a lot of fun today as always.  Well, there isn't much to this post, but I just wanted to share your cute pic.  I love you so very much!

Andrew's First Prayer

Dearest Andrew,
Tonight you prayed by yourself for the very first time.  Mommy's heart melted.  You have repeated prayers and even once said, "Dear Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen." (Hehe), but this was your very first prayer all on your own.  There was one place where Daddy prompted you, but every other word was yours alone.  Yes, there are a few times you said something you hear every night when Mommy or Daddy prays, but I love that it has stuck with you.  I typed as you prayed (I just had to document that!) and watched your face as you contemplated what to say next.  There were some garbled and even made-up words, and a bit of laughter here and there, but it was the sweetest, most sincere prayer I have ever heard.  There is just something about the prayer of a child that gets to you.  Gi Gi pointed out that if it touches our hearts so much, imagine what God must be thinking?  I have had the same thought before.  When Mommy isn't feeling good, a lot of the time I will ask you to lay your hand on me and repeat a simple prayer asking God to touch me.  I know He hears all our prayers, but I have to think all of Heaven stops and listens when the sincere prayer of a child is lifted up.  I could be wrong, but there is just something special about a prayer prayed from a pure heart.  So, without further ado, here is your very first prayer.  I hope there are many, many more to come. <3

Dear Lord,

Thank you for this day

Thank you for my family

My house

Lord touch my shoes

Thank you for my hammer (I guess you are referring to your little plastic one in your tool kit :) ) 

And paint

Thank you for my family

for trucks

touch Mama’s belly

Help him get into the doctor (I think he was talking about me, although I don't know what this means. :) We are working on calling girls "she" and "her" instead of "him" and "he" :) )

Keep us safe and healthy (prompting from Dada)

Help us to get in the sky (again, not sure what this means, but sweet :) )

Pray for fishies

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

How lovely is that??? I can't tell you what joy it brings to my heart that you wanted to pray!  I have to admit, I am surprised there was no mention of trains in your prayer since that is what 99.9% of your day consists of. :) Hehe.  I sure love you my little pal! <3