Will Bug!

Dear Will,

I am so sorry I have not written you since your first birthday.  My only excuse is that your little brother or sister has made Mommy extra nauseated and extra tired!  I am doing much better now, so it seemed like a perfect time to sit down and write you.  

Will, there are no words to describe just how much I love you!  I tell you all the time, "I love the stew out of you".  I am not even sure what Mommy's crazy expression means, but I do know that it is my attempt at telling you how incredibly happy you make me!  I am here to tell you that you just keep getting better too!  These last few weeks, you have grown before my eyes.  Not just in terms of getting taller and outgrowing half of the cute longalls I had bought you that you never got to wear...but you have grown emotionally and mentally too!  You have gotten so much more personality and you understand so much more than I even realized. 

You are still not talking a ton, but you understand just about everything that Mommy and Daddy say to you.  The words you say the most are:  Daddy, Mommy, "what's this?", Ga (Gus), Che (Cheney), jus (juice) and you love to tell me long stories that I cannot understand.  You are so cute when you tell a story because you use a lot of inflection when you talk, and even use your hands!-I can't imagine who you get that from!:)  You LOVE bath time and could live outside, you love it so much.  You are a high-energy little boy and won't sit still long enough to realize how fun cartoons are!  Your favorite foods are CHEESE, mangos, scrambled eggs, blueberries, Nilla Wafers, goldfish, Ritz crackers, homemade pasta Depalmas, black olives and pickles.  You literally ate an entire jar of Claussen pickles in a day and a half!!!  

You started walking around 14 and a half months and once you started, you never looked back.  You can crawl up the stairs in no time and you've gotten very good at coming down them too.  Your favorite books to read at bedtime are "tractors" and "I love you through and through".  You still love to be rocked before you go to sleep...and I sing a medley of "Jesus Loves Me", "Hush Little Baby", "You are My Sunshine" and "Victory in Jesus".  Victory in Jesus may seem random, but growing up Southern Baptist it is one song that I know every word and every stanza to...so you'll probably grow up knowing that one:)  

You adore your Daddy and nothing gets you more excited than seeing him come home!  Before it started getting dark outside so early, we would wait in the front yard for Daddy to pull  up and you knew the minute you saw his truck at the end of the street that he was coming and you would start giggling and grinning from ear to ear.  I know that after being at work all day that nothing brings more joy to Daddy's heart than to see you light up at the sight of him!  

We have lots of play dates with your friends William Remmert and Caroline Brignac and little William answers the question, "who's your buddy" with the answer "Will".  It is so precious to me to see two little boys become buddies at such a young age, and my prayer for you is that you will always maintain good guy friends.  Guy friends that will have shared values and guy friends that will encourage your walk with Jesus.  Your daddy is so very blessed to have so many outstanding guy friends, so that will forever be my prayer for you too-that and that you marry a good girl that mommy loves:) Ha!

Just this past week, you have started playing Wheel of Fortune at night while you eat your dinner.  It is hilarious!  The show comes on and when a new puzzle pops up, you yell out, "ga la ma ma daadaama!"-or some other crazy phrase, and then you clap like you think you got it right!  It is truly hysterical!  You have also started taking Mommy and Daddy's keys and you take them to all the doors in the house trying to lock them and unlock them:)  You are so observant of all that we do...and I am starting to notice that all the more!  

Will, I am so excited that you are going to be a big brother and that God is going to give you the gift of a sibling relationship.  I am already so proud of the influence you will have in your little brother or sister's life, and it is going to be so fun watching you emerge into this role.  I love you Will bug and cannot thank you enough for the joy you bring to my heart!  Please know that whether Mommy writes to you every week, or every 6 months, that it does not change the overwhelming amount of love I have for you!  

Love you to pieces!!!

Love, Mommy

Oh yea...I have a blog!:)

Oh my...I have not blogged in ages!  I am here to tell you that it is so hard for me to remember to write...and so I applaud all of those out there that are far more self-disciplined than I am!  So much has happened since my last post...on June 4th (just a mere 5 months ago!)  Our little Will turned one in May and we celebrated his birthday in June with an elephant themed party.  It was wonderful to have so many of our friends and family come to celebrate with us!  Will's party is proof that it's not necessary to "break the bank" on a birthday party that they won't remember anyways!  

Cutest and yummiest cake ever!  

Will is always a big hit with his cousins!

Will did not love the cake, but he was such a precious boy all day!  

Around mid-July our little guy started walking...and once he started, he has not stopped!  He is so adorable walking around like Charlie Chaplin:)  

For Father's Day, my friend Laura and I got Will and Ashley together to make surprises for their dads:)  I saw this idea on Pinterest, and just like everything else that I "pin", it looked so easy...it was however NOT.  This little idea became a huge act of love as we chased our little ones around, poured sweat as we hauled rocking chairs up and down the Riverwalk looking for decent lighting, and as we got sympathetic stares from all of the walkers and joggers. The end result however, was a precious frame of pictures spelling D-A-D that now hangs in our living room:) 

In August, Cullen and I found out that we are expecting baby Smith #2!  The baby is due on April 21st and we have decided not to find out the gender with this one, since it will likely be our last one.  I will admit that at first I was opposed to this idea (it was Cullen's idea) but the more time that has gone by, the more excited I have become.  I keep picturing that day in my head...planned c-section and getting to watch Cullen's reaction as they pull he/she out!  I am even more excited when I think about him getting to go to the waiting area and announce it to our family and friends...such a fun and old-fashioned way of doing it.  The "planner" in me is going crazy because I can't have everything ready...but I have to remind myself, the baby won't care:)  

That is my summary of events...just hitting the highlights because I know I am leaving out all kinds of fun things!