Dear Nitro.

Dear Nitro,

You just joined our family tonight! And you have filled a void in all of hearts. We met you a few weeks ago at "the pound" and you instantly grabbed our heart strings, as you looked just.like.Pugsly. It was quite shocking, actually, but it was special to us. 

You were in an awesome program where a troubled youth worked with you 3 times a week for 8 weeks. You bonded and trained, and today you graduated. 

We waited for you, and everything fell into place in an oddly perfect way. You love to run, you love to jump, you love to play. You love a good ball, and your friends sent you home with about 20 tennis balls. Jax loves to play fetch with you. T hopes you'll snuggle. And Ryan...well...he's in love. 

Thank you for choosing us as your forever home. We can't wait to have fun with you, work with you, and have you fill our hearts. 

Love,

Mama 

Dear Jax, 18 Months

Dear Jax, You are 18 months old. Well on your way to 2, but acting like a crazy little nugget. You keep us busy little man. In fact, just this morning, your Daddy posted this on Facebook: All I want to do is take a shower. Meanwhile in the 12 mins Jaxon wrote on his face with a hi lighter, broke the stand off a picture frame, took the rugs from kitchen to living room, opened the spice rack, pushed the panic button on the remote for the house alarm, and then looks at me like he's bored. This made your Mama laugh out loud. But it's pretty much you in a nutshell. You love to get into things, to see how they work, to see what they can do. For instance...our tables are covered in pens, pencils, crayons. Our remote control is always missing. Our pictures are always on the floor. Our home smells of garlic and onion - your 2 favorite spices to dump on the floor. Our books are always strewn across the house. Our pillows are always thrown off the couch. But without those things, we wouldn't know your presence. You, little man, LOVE to wreck it. And we love you for that. We actually embrace it quite well. It's become sort of funny, after many months of being consistently astounded at how different you are than your sister. You do love to sit still and rest sometimes though - and that is when you are being read to. Much like your sister, you LOVE a good book. You love to read, you love to be read to. You love to curl up in a lap and turn pages. It doesn't really matter what book, but for some reason you have an odd obsession with the bible. You also love books with dogs in them, and train books. Speaking of trains - just like a true boy - you dig them. All kinds of trains "choo choo" is what I hear when you see them. To say that you melt hearts is probably the biggest understatement ever. You are an adorable little nugget and so easy to fall in love with. You wear your heart on your sleeve and you melt hearts. I can't wait until your in high school (not). You have quite the vocabulary these days: Daddy, Mommy, Tay Tay, Ja-tin, Puppy, Tain, Cow, Moo, Hello, Hi, Bye, Papa, Nana, Moo-ey, the list is really quite long. I can't even think of all of them. Oh Nugget, we love you so much. Thank you for keeping us on our toes. Love, Mama

Dear Brothers

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? 

 I had to say that...I couldn't resist. Anywhoozle.

 Dear Brothers, You are two amazing rockstars who don't get enough cred on this blog, so here's your time to shine. 

Dear Old One, 

 Yes, you're old. I like to tell you that, because I know it drives you a little batty. But don't worry, you have noone everyone convinced that you get better looking with age. So you're good to go. But really, you drop everything when I throw a fit and need something. You watch my kids when I am fresh out of babysitters. You stay home with Jax when I am in trial and Ryan is gone working. You treat Tatum like a princess. You pick up the phone even though you know you are about to embark on a seriously negative conversation. You construct on my house as if it's your own...for free. You lend an ear, you lend advice. I remember the day so clearly that your rock bottom came - and that was rock bottom for the rest of us, too. But the way you have pulled yourself up is an amazement to all. You have it all - marriage, career, sobriety... You, Old One, are something amazing. Thank you.  

Dear Dennis,

 Ryan and I call you Dennis because of "Dennis the Menace." I'd be lying if I said we didn't have our disagreements. But there's something about you that keeps you tucked deep into people's hearts even with your menacing. Sure I wanted to kill you until sometime in my mid-20's. Sure you did things for the sole purpose of making me crazy. But now that I am wise, I realize it's.just.you. Maybe it's my age...or MAYBE it's because my children are you. I now see what a true blessing you are. You are a menace, but your heart is the size of Montana. You love to push buttons, but that's only because you're so damn smart you get bored easily. Your generosity is not surpassed by anyone, and your happiness is contagious. You are considered "laid back" but it should really be called "in perspective." You don't let the small things bother you - and what a blessing that is. You have life figured out. In a big way. You too, have it all - amazeballs wife, rockin' nuggets... We all think you're damn cool. 

 So, Dear Brothers, Thank you. Thank you for being my hero's all my life. Thank you for letting me be a spoiled brat and still loving me. Thank you for giving irreplaceable advice and an ear when I need one. You are both rockstars and I am truly blessed that you're my brothers. Love, Jill