Then & Now

I'm obsessed with pictures. Taking them & looking at them. In fact, I probably drive some family members crazy with my tendency to pull out my camera at the drop of a hat. But if so, they're polite enough to roll their eyes behind my back. :) Of course my favorites include my boys. I never took a lot of pictures before Jacob was born. But now I have thousands of them saved on our computer, filed in folders for each month since June 2005. On occasion, when I'm feeling nostalgic, I like to peruse through the old pictures. When we put our house on the market in March, this particular computer with all of my pictures was stored. I've missed them. But tonight, said computer is back! First thing I did after my cleaning frenzy was over? Relax & look at pictures. :)
Jeff approached me after I'd only gotten through 2 months' worth. He told me to follow him because he had something to show me. I figured it must be important since he was interrupting me during my first chance to relax today. So we head up to our favorite room in the new house (after the boys are in bed, one of us asks the other, "Ready to retire to the relaxation room?"), which has our sofa & Jeff's new projector. And as I walk in, I see, taking up the majority of the wall, the video footage from Alex's birth. There, larger than life, was me holding my baby right after he was born. Is there any mom whose eyes don't well up every single time she watches this? And after seeing that, of course we had to watch Jacob's video too, which garnered just as many tears.
So is it any wonder that now I'm feeling sappy & emotional? As if the old pictures didn't tug hard enough on my heartstrings, then I get to relive my boys' first moments in life, and my first meeting with them. Their births really don't seem that long ago- Alex's was only last year- but they've both come a long way. Alex is walking all over the place now, sleeping through the night (for the most part) in his crib, nursing less & less, eating table food (and dog food), and this morning demonstrated his newfound ability to shoot webs like Spiderman. Adorable, by the way, and quite good. He has, after all, learned from the expert in the house. In less than a month, he'll be a year old. I can't believe it.
And Jacob is no longer a baby or toddler. He's a preschooler and a big boy. I can have actual conversations with him. Sometimes he even calls me Lauren! There's something very strange about hearing your child call you by name. He's such a polite little gentleman (most of the time), saying "Excuse me" in the grocery store when people or other carts are blocking our aisle. And when we met a new neighbor this week, Jeff & I shook her hand and introduced ourselves. Then Jacob stepped up to her, held out his hand for her to shake, and said, "I am Jacob." When did he get so grown up?
It's going to be hard for me to choose, but I thought I would share a few oldies (but goodies) of my boys. This way, I'm multi-tasking: blogging AND looking at old pictures. And you get to walk down memory lane with me.

Jacob

June 2005


July 2005


August 2005


September 2005


October 2005



November 2005


December 2005




January 2006



February 2006



March 2006




April 2006



May 2006


June 2006- Happy 1st Birthday, Jacob!




July 2006



August 2006



September 2006


October 2006


November 2006



And even though you can't really see him in this, I had to add it. It's one of my favorites of Jeff & Jacob.


December 2006


January 2007


February 2007


March 2007


April 2007



May 2007


June 2007- Happy 2nd Birthday, Jacob!




July 2007


Alex enters the pictures

August 2007


September 2007




October 2007






November 2007




December 2007



January 2008




February 2008




March 2008



Now:






They've grown up quite a bit, don't you agree?
Looking at old pictures and watching the videos of my boys as newborns, I found myself thinking, "Maybe we'll have just ONE more baby."
Uh-oh. :)