Time Flies....

One of the biggest pieces of our hearts!

Oh, how we adore this little man!

It's been quite a while since I've updated on how we're doing, and boy, it's been chaotic and crazy and busy.  But that's our life and we wouldn't change it.  The lows allow us to reach for highs, and the highs allow us to see how God brought us through the lows and to the place where we stand now.

Today, I wanted to give a quick update on a very special little man, our A.J., who just happens to turn SEVEN YEARS OLD today.  SEVEN?!!  How could that possibly be?  It seems like it was a just a year or two ago, when we were handed this precious bundle.  Yet, at times, there are days when I can't even remember life without him in it.  Sometimes, I even forget I didn't carry him in my womb, as I said to Scott one night, "Remember when I was pregnant with AJ....."  and he looked at me a bit bewildered.  We both laughed.  I totally had forgotten I didn't.

So, here's where this little man is in our lives right now.  HE IS PERFECT!  He is still definitely, "AJ".  The entire family refers to him as "my little bowl of sugar", because I don't think there's a sweeter little boy on earth.  That is, when he's not running around hog-tying the dog, leaping from the bunk bed as if he could fly or wanting to desperately come over and help cook by tossing some ingredient in when I'm not looking, and then sheepishly saying, "I added some sugar for you, Mama.", when I am making hamburger or something that definitely does not call for sugar.

He is rambunctious and definitely all boy.  He loves to imitate his Daddy and can give you a hundred reasons why it's perfectly okay to go outside without a jacket when it's 35 degrees and raining.  Sometimes, very few...but sometimes, he *almost* makes a little sense.  ;)

He's a star student in school and a math AND reading wiz.  He is very proud of his accomplishments and beams when he is praised.  He has a wicked imagination and his 'stories' can go on for quite a while.  Sometimes, needing time limits before he begins to tell them so that the others can get a word in edgewise.  

He is funny.  Hysterical kinda funny.  He comes up with stuff that cracks me up, usually out of nowhere when we're driving in the car or something.  He has a fantastic memory and if you make a promise, you best be sure and keep it, because he will never let you forget.

He loves God with all his heart and gives me chills many times when he's saying prayers.  He also loves the Bible and soaks up our Bible study every night, remembering details that sometimes I don't even catch.

He's a fanatic for all things electronic and hence the reason those things are under tight control around here.  But, also loves to use his imagination playing and is a pretty darn good artist.  He's created  things from complex leprechaun traps to ingenious ways to have Hot Wheels roll through things from one end of the living room to the other without stopping. 

But want to know what one of my favorite things about him is?  He's a Mama's boy!  Oh yes!   My little man has been sick on and off for a couple of months and he absolutely soaks up the fact that he's in our bed, being snuggled, kissed, hugged and loved on.  That makes it sound like he doesn't get that stuff EVERY DAY - don't be fooled, he does.  He just likes the 'added loving'.

I love that he's told me that when he grows up he's going to live next door with his wife and kids so that he can be close to me, and when there are lightning storms and he gets scared, he'll bring his family over so we can cuddle.  Oh, how I wish sometimes he wouldn't grow up.

So, today, our sweet baby boy is seven years old.  Wow!  Where has time gone?  I wish I could have captured every smile, every tear, every emotion, and every moment and put them in a place where I can rewind them over and over as he grows.  He is growing way too fast.

AJ, thank you for being such a huge blessing to our life.  You are a gift from Heaven and we praise God for his goodness, every day, in giving us the gift of YOU!