T Turns 3

Hopefully this will be a little bit happier of a post than the one from earlier today! :)

On Friday, Tyler turned 3. And what a birthday it was! He got showered with presents and the best present of all was an entirely SURPRISE visit from Grandma and Grandpa T. They showed up on our doorstep and rang the doorbell on Thursday night to everyone's surprise and delight (ok, well I was in on the surprise, but Garrett and Tyler were not. And they were indeed surprised!). It was a quick trip, they went home Sunday afternoon, but it was SO fun and made Tyler's birthday so special. Needless to say, we started celebrating his birthday Thursday night and pretty much celebrated until Sunday afternoon! I'll post more about the celebrations next, but this post is all dedicated to a boy named Tyler.

As I sit here thinking about Tyler, of course I am overcome with love and amazement. With Tyler being my first child and my first experience in seeing a little one grow, I have been amazed by the entire process. I am constantly reminded of how much I love him and all the little "things" I love about him too. I love his great big brown puppy dog eyes and those amazing daddy long leg eyelashes. They are killer. I love his smile as it's so easy and so natural and very often on his face. He loves to laugh and run and has a very carefree side of him, but can be very intense at times too and really has a 'fire' in him sometimes. I love his love for chocolate--he is definitely my child! It's great to see a little bit of me in that daddy-look-alike. I love how convincing he can be. (ok, really, I have a love/hate relationship with this trait, as you can imagine. I just have to remind myself that hopefully this will make him a GREAT missionary one day!) I love every little 'Tylerism' that comes out of his mouth the older he gets. There are enough to post an entire blog about, but a few of them include that he loves to "Eat Fresh" every chance he gets (he really truly loves to eat at Subway more than any other place on the planet and every time I ask him what he wants for lunch he says "eat fresh".). He asks for snacks or other food at home and requests them with "a Diet Coke and Fries". He is insistent that coffee is for aiding people who are plagued with a bad cough. So, of course, I have been told one more than one occasion: "mommy, I have a bad cough. I need some coffee". And I of course think it's hilarious that he put those two things together since they sound alike. He is pretty good to say please and thank you and even says "no thanks" when he doesn't want something. Which happens a lot. Conversations have often gone like this--"Tyler, do you need to go potty." "mmm, no thanks." He is proud to tell people that he was born in Iowa (as I think he should be!). I am proud to tell people the same. He loves Thomas the train and literally knows the name of every character on there, I swear. Even the old engines (narrow guage engines, to be exact), the diesels, the steamies, etc. He is smart!

And as I said, I am pretty amazed by him as well. As we were talking with Garrett's parents while they were here, we got to thinking of the many things Tyler has done in his 3 short years of life. He has spent exactly half of his life living in Iowa and the other half in Louisiana. He has flown on an airplane on 6 different trips--to Idaho 5 times and to Florida once. He endured a very long car ride from Des Moines to Idaho when he was 3 months old and a very long car ride to move from Des Moines to New Orleans when he was 18 months old. He has rubbed shoulders with people in high places. He watched a Nebraska Huskers football game in the skybox in Lincoln as a guest of Clarence Thomas (yes, that would be the Supreme Court Justice!). He rode on the carousel at the zoo in NOLA with Brad Pitt's kids. And I can't even begin to list all of the experiences he's had since he's lived in Louisiana. Did I ever imagine that my kids would celebrate Mardi Gras? Well, Tyler has and he loves it.

But as I really, really stop and think about my Tyler, I don't know if I can put it into words. I know (and have truly learned this year) that you love each of your children the same amount, but for different things and in different ways. They each hold a different spot in your heart. And to me, Tyler holds the spot--a very special spot--reserved for the child who is responsible for making you a mother. For three years ago Tyler was born, and I became a mom. And I will never be the same. I have loved more, laughed more, cried more and been more fulfilled by this job than any other job I've ever had. So Tyler employed me three years ago in a position which I am happy to renew my contract for many more years--an eternity perhaps. It's not a job I plan on quitting any time soon (although, as it goes when working with any boss, I have had my moments where I've considered it!). And yes, I don't always see eye to eye with my boss, but working for him has indeed been a pleasure, and you know it's a job worth keeping when I can safely say that I am 100% head over heels in love with my boss!

Happy Birthday Tyler!! I love you! I can't wait to be amazed by you even more in this next year.

And now share with me, what is your favorite thing about my boss? :)

And here are a few of my favorite photos from the last three years (hard to narrow it down to a few!)

Newborn

10 Days Old 2 Months Old
1 Year Old
1 Year Old
18 Months Old
18 Months Old