Gifts

So, yesterday neither of my boys appreciated my post. Being the ever thoughtful and loving mom that I strive to be, I responded with "tough". However, I do want to give a bit more insight to my boys. Talking about one of the very few mistakes Casey makes may not be completely fair.
Casey has always been a responsible kid. He is 18 months older than Charlie, so they've grown up best of buddies and worst of enemies. Depending on the mood, the time of day and all the other crumbs of human nature thrown in. Hey, my feelings about them change from moment to moment too, sometimes.



When Charlie came home from the hospital, Casey loved him. Charlie was a Christmas eve baby and his first day home we had him in a bassinet in the living room with all the extended family "oohhhing" and "aahhhing" around him. Casey wanted to show 'Bubba' his new Christmas gift, a Fisher Price recorder with a microphone attached. He was too small to see into the bassinet, so he threw it in, hitting Charlie in the head with it, as a handful of adults watched in horror. Casey did it in love, but Charlie still blames Casey for any trouble he has thinking...lol. But, Casey has always loved and tried to take care of Charlie. Every morning we'd find Casey in Charlies crib. He'd climb in and cuddle with Charlie sometime during the night or early morning. It was cutest thing we've ever seen.

I don't ever remember Casey being jealous of Charlie...or vice versa. I've always been blessed with them. Both boys were great babies, sleeping through the night 90% of the time from the time they were newborns. They've never had any major illness, rarely been sick at all. Being so close together, and Charlie being such a big baby, they've nearly always wore the same size clothing, played with the same age appropriate toys and have always had each other to play with.

Don't get me wrong, they were total nightmares on occasion. Charlie has never felt fear in his life. He'd jump on and jump off of anything thing he could climb (still does). He's had two black eyes at the same time from different accidents.

Taking them to the store was pure hell as soon as they were big enough to walk, with them hiding in clothes racks at the department stores, disappearing down isles at the grocery stores. Lord...my hands shake just remembering it.

They giggled together, they fought together, they controlled my mood and my life together. I wouldn't change a thing. They made my days worth living. No exaggeration. I waited 15 years to have kids with every specialist from every fertility related field telling me it was impossible, that I could never get pregnant. Look at my miracles. I look back now and realize why it would have been a mistake to have had them any sooner. My life wasn't where it needed to be until the day I got pregnant with Casey. Thank God for His greater understanding.

Okay, back to my kids. They've always held up for each other. Our neighborhood was full of kids near their age while they grew up. My best friend, Mac (who lives across the street), has a son, Dusty, that is right in the middle of the boys ages. Also across the street was Abi (that leaves comments on my blog all the time), and her younger brother, Jason, that is also Dustys age. Abi and Nikki (who lived next door to Abi) are 5 years older than the boys and when they were old enough, they babysat for the boys. We've been very blessed in our neighborhood. There were four other families that had kids that were in the boy's age group on our block, so we always knew who our kids were with and where they were.

This is a picture of Jason (Abi's brother), Charlie, Dusty, Shelley, Abi (behind Dusty) and Casey.

While I'm here, let me show you a couple more recent pics

of Abi:This is one of my favorites, I made it into a magnet on our fridge.

And one more she sent to me recently:

So when you see Abi comment, give her a wave and tell her she really needs to set up her own blog.

So, again, back to my boys. They've always been best friends, always wanting to be together.

People have always told me that I must've had my hands full with them being so close. Maybe, but I can't imagine it having been any better than it was.

Casey has always been the big brother, the one who looks out for them, takes care of things. He'd always want to help me take care of Charlie, by bringing diapers, bottles, putting ice on his boo boo's, whatever.

I've always been able to depend on Casey.

I suppose the last blog about him messing up wasn't quite fair. No, it was fair. But my point is that it was something rare, and though he is more than trustworthy...things happen and because they do, parents worry.

Casey cooks, better (and probably more often) than me, cleans up after himself and others and does his own laundry. He gets himself up every morning at 5:30 a.m. to go work out, comes home around 7 a.m., and goes back to bed for an hour before getting himself up to go to school. He drives himself, and works out for football for an hour after school each day. He's an amazing kid.

This first picture was Christmas of '03 in Taos:

The second picture was Thanksgiving of '04:

And, of course, my favorite picture of them, while the three of us were having dinner on the Riverwalk in San Antonio last year:

These are my guys, and my greatest blessings. I can't begin to tell you how my life changed because of them, how many smiles and laughs a day they provide me with.

Yes, this weekend Casey had a lapse in judgment and it scared the hell out of me. But, I think if that's the worst he has done in 16 years, I can deal with it.

Casey...Charlie, I love you both so much it hurts. I'm so thankful to have you. You'll never know until you have your own kids how much joy you bring me.

Thanks to all of you for reading this. Pride is a hard thing to keep hidden for long.