Well, today we had the privilege of celebrating Mark's official birthday. I say "official" because we had quite a blow-out for him a week ago (that had more people at our house than any birthday I've had in recent years). Man, does that little guy know how to throw a party. (You wouldn't believe how much chocolate cake we found hiding in his cast.)
Mark holding court in his birthday crown. "My vassals, bring me my cake. Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I shall have a belly-ache."
As is our custom, it was breakfast in bed--or, in his case, breakfast in crib. Then, it was indulgence all day, capped off by a trip with his Dad to see the movie, "Bolt". I highly recommend it actually...but not for two year olds. He kept climbing into my lap and saying "skirrt" (translation: "scared"). It kind of reminds me of the time I took a date to see "Braveheart". Oops!?!
A couple of bed-heads having breakfast-in-crib. It only took me a half an hour to extract myself from the crib. :)
Anyway, that little buster is becoming quite the little man around the house. It's difficult to imagine that it was two years ago that Jean and I were racing down to the hospital after she started going into labor during our last date before 3 kids. (Funny side story: It was very late at night. I pulled up to a stoplight with my foot on the brake, but itching to hit the gas, because going into labor carried more concerns with Jean's particular situation than is usually the case for most mothers-to-be. Well, when I came out of the stoplight a bit faster than normal, the guy in the big "monster" truck next to us thought I was looking for a little drag racing action. So, he floored it just to show us what he had under the hood. Naturally, he won. And I must say, there's no satisfaction quite like whuppin' up on a guy who's rushing his pregnant wife to the hospital. That's one to tell the buddies at the water cooler the next day :) But I digress...
Mark has been such a bright spot in our lives, as all of our now-four children are. When Jean and I first had Caleb, it was difficult to imagine how you could love a little human being so much--especially since they were unable to interact with you in any way. And then when we were preparing to have Andrew, we began to wonder how you could have enough love for two. But with each successive child, God has expanded our hearts so that the love never stops flowing. (Of course, when our little munchkins look as cute as they do, what's not to love? How quickly I've forgotten the infamous "Chicago incident". :)
Happy Birthday, little buddy! I love you much more than I could ever put into words. 
Happy Birthday baby Mark! You'll always be our baby! :) Maybe next time we see you we can have a little of that leftover cake you're storing away in your cast!
Posted by: Mandy Leech | December 18, 2008 at 04:41 PM