{My Boy}

Today my little boy turned two years old. Seriously, I feel like he was just a teeny little chicken-legged newborn who stayed curled up in a ball when I took him out of his car seat. And now he is two. Two!
Dixon has grown in so many ways, especially during the past few months. He hasn't had much of a vocabulary. For example, I was "Nana" up until about a month ago. Every girl was "Sasha". He said typical boy words like "ball" and "choo choo" as well as a number of other words like "shoe" and "eat". But lately his vocabulary has exploded! He repeats words he hears and is even putting together simple sentences like "I yuv you, Mama." Yeah, that's my favorite one. And he tells us he loves us ALL the time. But it'll never be too much.

Dixon has also begun to really get into sports. He would love to be outside playing with balls, riding on bikes and tractors, and running around the yard during every waking moment. He also looooooves Thomas the Train. I got him Thomas Crocs recently and they have to be on his feet from the moment he wakes up till the moment he goes to bed. And if Dixon had it his way, he'd sleep with them on, too. At his birthday party last weekend he got lots and lots of Thomas trains, clothes, books, movies, and other items. He loves them SO much! He is a boy through and through.

I'm so grateful that God gave us this adorable, smart, ornery little guy to love, teach and nurture. He is a gift . . . a dream come true.

Happy Birthday, Robert Dixon! We couldn't love you more!

{Peep Invasion}

Last night forty of these peeps and their eggs decided to nest in my kitchen. Although they sure are cute, they thankfully made their way to Sasha and Clara's classrooms this morning so the kids could enjoy them. Bye bye birdies!

Cheep Cheep!

{Chocolate Vampire}

This is what happens when you give an almost 2-year-old boy a Tagalong Girl Scout cookie and he holds it in his mouth too long. Attractive, isn't it? I think he's onto something here. Enough of this bloody vampire stuff that's so popular right now. Chocolate is the way to go! I'd grow fangs if it meant I could drink chocolate all day . . . wouldn't you?

Aside from his shiner, red marker spots, and overall messiness, he's a rather handsome vampire.

Eat your heart out, Edward.

{Future}

The final Joy Of Love assignment: What do you see in your future? Truthfully, I don't know what the future holds for us as a family. Heck, I don't even know if our family is complete yet! But I do know one thing for sure: We will live in our dream home someday. That is our ultimate goal, the focus that keeps Cory and I driven to succeed. We aren't positive about where this dream house will be, but we do know of a couple of options right now. One is the old stone farmhouse he grew up in in St. Thomas. It is currently vacant and he has wild dreams of gutting it, remodeling the entire thing and adding on a big wing. The problem is that I am not sold on the idea for a number of reasons. But because I don't want to squash Cory's dream, it remains an option. The second possibility - the one that I am really hoping becomes reality - is to build on a section of land that used to be a part of my grandparent's orchard. There are approximately seventy acres of cornfields, fruit trees, and woods that are singing my name to come make them home. I can just picture raising our family there, and watching the kids run through the fields and exploring nature without worrying about street traffic and neighbors. It is the picture of peaceful utopia. Here is a picture I took in 2009 of the clearing at the base of the mountain where we would likely build our home if this dream came true. No matter if we end up in Cory's childhood farmhouse, on the piece of farmland or somewhere different altogether, I know that Cory and I will enjoy many more years together with our family. We will grow old together, hopefully enjoy grandchildren, and will spend evenings on a porch in rocking chairs. That is a future that I can look forward to.