"Two of Hearts"

"Two hearts that beat as one"

I know what you're thinking, "Oh great, another boring Valentine's Day Post".  But you're wrong!  It's another boring birthday post.  So there!

Today is Jacob and Joshua's birthday.  They are now 7 years old.  How 'bout that!  My babies are growing up.  Which is fine by me since I'm done with babies.  I proved that I could do it and now it's time to move on.

Oh, speaking of kids, let me just tell you this quickly.  I actually went to a bar on Sunday to see my friend Anthony play.  I hung out for a whole hour going on and on about my kids.  I think the Gays next to me actually applauded when I left the place.  It happens!  I'll talk more about that in another post.  Or maybe I won't, who knows!

But today is about my boys.  They've been with us for almost three years now.  To me, they still seem like the four year old boys who came to us in 2009.  I know that they're getting older but I guess they'll always seem like little ones to me.

They blended perfectly into our Family as if they've always been here.  It truly was a perfect match.  I still, sometimes, find it hard to believe that we were chosen for these two.  I told you before that since, John was a handful as a baby, Fred said "no more".  Then I talked him into another because a kid needs a sibling, right?  Anyway, he agreed and along came Claire.  And as you know, we all revolve around her.  By the way, I think she's starting to realize that she has power over us.  And it took me awhile to convince Fred to adopt again.  Little did he he know that two would come along.  And now he realizes how amazing large Families can be.  Sure, it's tons of work and we don't stop until we hit he pillow at night, but still, it's worth it.

The twins look nothing alike and they act totally different.  Jacob, right above, is the more serious of the two.  He's also "the brains" and his sense of humor has us cracking up.  He totally borders on being a smart-ass so we have to watch that we don't break into laughter when he says something that he shouldn't.  After he's reprimanded, we laugh about it when he's not listening.  I'm afraid to encourage him.  He needs very little prompting in this.

And Joshua can melt your heart.  He's more social and more vocal.  Sometimes he has no clue what he's talking about, but still, he talks.  And you better make sure that if you want things private, you don't let Joshua know about it.  He'll blab it to the world.  He will NEVER be interviewed by CNN!

And although Jacob likes to play it cool and act like he needs no one, he's not fooling anybody.  He uses Joshua to do a lot of stuff for him.  We're always watching to make sure that he pulls his own weight.  And Joshua is totally lost without Jacob.  He follows Jacob's lead and depends heavily on Jacob's guidance.

I imagined a nice little photo shoot where I could take the boys outside and photograph them.  Sunday was extremely cold.  Standing and posing for me would be torture in itself for these two.  I couldn't have them doing it out in the cold.  So, we tried doing it in the house.  I bribed them with this candy to sit still for me.  I think it was the wrong thing to do.

Look, I won't go on an on today.  I'm sure you know that my kids mean everything to me.  I've written multiple posts about how I'm lost when they're not here.  All  of my children mean so much to me.  And these two have their own special personalities which I love so much.  And they're still small enough that I can carry them around and kiss their faces off while I'm walking.

Happy Birthday, Boys!

Jacob and Joshua's Dad, m.
p.s.  With the boys' birthday on Valentine's Day, the pressure's off of me to do something romantic.
p.s.s.(?)  Fred has been tinkering with this blog's look.  Don't be alarmed if you see changes.  I'm scared too!