and friends and food.. notice the estrogen overload.
we decorated. yes i made those puffs.. they were supposed to be easy cause martha said so but i found them a bit more time consuming than i thought..
the cakes of all cakes. thanks to amanda of course. the boys were speechless and couldn't believe they had theire own lightening and doc. the cakes alos tasted AMAZING!
and what party would be complete without presents. the boys were thrilled!!
and after.
It’s hard to imagine those little teeney tiny guys in the NICU are now these handsome stocky boys. I celebrate you today Ari & Noah not only for who you are but who you have made me.
Ari you are so goofy and fun loving. You are stubborn and hard headed. You are funny and love to play rough. You love trains, tractors and anything with wheels. But your heart has been stolen by anything from the Cars movie. You love Mack and Lightening and all their friends. You have an incredible imagination and can keep yourself occupied coming up with new scenarios for all your four or two wheeled friends.
You have a love/hate relationship with growing up I think.. you are still holding on to your soother (thankfully only for naps and nighttime) You were fully potty trained till this week when you decided you didn’t want to be anymore and could care less how much pee you walk around in. You love to drink out of cups but often want to be carried like a baby. You still love your frog stuffy. And there are not many places you go where he doesn’t follow.
I see strength in you and the quality of a leader. I can only hope you continue to grow in your individuality. I love you.
Oh Noah my sweet soul. You have a depth of character already and such a sensitive heart. You are hurt easily but after some cuddles can usually bounce back quickly. As much as you love people you also love quiet time. You use imagination as an art form. You can quickly immerse yourself in the life of tractors and trailers and ramping any emergency vehicle you can get your hands on. You love to be held and carried and I often feel such guilt when I realize all you want is my attention. I find some days I just need to sit and watch you in order for you to feel content. Like your brother you love anything with wheels. I find you talk more than Ari not necessarily to anyone but you love to make up games in your head and talk to your cars. You also love to drive and point out where we are and what we passed. You yammer on and on about combines and busses and tractors and the bells in the tower at the church down the road. I hope you continue to love people to wholeness.
I love you through & through.
Bedtime has evolved into such fun these days (ok still some fighting too but mostly fun) you must read books and daddy reads them the best (let me tell you a secret though and one day you will find out he doesn’t really read the words but is awesome at telling the story through the pictures) You then curl up in your big boy beds and we sing three songs.. Jesus loves me, Alive Alive and Deep & Wide... the later two thanks in part to Shirley. We then go through the list of your favorite people and pray for them including things you may have seen that day.. ie. praying for buses, excavators and bells.
I can't wait for you to see what we got you this year. An awesome train table with some train sets. Hopefully hours and hours of fun.
My wish for you this next year is that you would always feel safe and loved, unafraid to try new things and that we would instill a sense of identity in each of you that is unlike any other and each your own.
Love love love you.
Mum
I also found this picture which was taken a month later... on our tour across Canada we stopped in Manitoba and after a long talk with Emily and a sleepless night I decided I wanted him to have my heart.... and here we are 6 years later.
Our dinner party decided to go with a spring theme this year and we decided on Citrus. If you are unaware of our group.. we take a theme and we try to create things that challenge not only our culinary skills but also our pallets.
so we have entered new uncharted waters here at the difran house... not going back either. we are had a successful week of potty training. monday went really well. tuesday was horrible till later in the afternoon then it seemed to click. and since then it's been amazing. so i am pleased at the progress. i was ready to give up but am so thankful for people encouraging me to stick with it. it is so worth it.
and going for walks.
