At Long Last...

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only."
James 1:22

Well, Butler is now 2 years and 4 months, and I'm just getting his pictures out. At least his 2 year pictures were taken on his birthday (which is pretty good for me), but I've been working on getting everyone else's late pictures out, and now it's finally Butler's turn.

I spent waaay too much on these pictures, but I really loved some of the other poses. They conveyed quite a bit of Butler's personality, but you couldn't see his face. BUT, the good news is, that I was able to put the usually useless 'mini size' pictures useful!!! I love practicality. I cut the little mini size pictures down and glued them onto the pictures where you couldn't see my little man's face, and the result was 16 extra wallets that are little collages! After all, who really wants a mini picture any more? This way, I get rid of the mini pictures for a change, and whoever gets the pictures, gets two for one!

Anyway, Butler is always on the go. He loves to jump - off of things, that is. And the higher he can go, the better. One of these days he's gonna break something and I don't mean his surroundings. He's very opinionated, and everything has to be according to how it was first ordained. Woe to the sibling who thinks they can get away with compromise when Butler is around! But he's also very sweet, and can be quite a little charmer when he feels like it. Particularly if I'm slicing olives or kiwi's or avocados. He's happy to flutter his eyelashes and give me a kiss for every single morsel he can wheedle from me. I'm enjoying it while I can, because one day he's going to be too grown up to give me spontaneous baby hugs or great big slobbery kisses.

I especially love his latest phrase of encouragement directed to me. If I'm doing something he thinks is commendable such as helping him zip up his jacket before he asks me to, or if I'm bringing an armload of firewood inside, or sometimes even if I'm just checking whatever dinner is cooking in the oven, he'll say in almost an awe-struck tone of voice, "Good boy, Mommy! Good job!!" Hey, I don't care if the shoe doesn't fit all the way... I'll wear that one any day!

However there are a few angles of Butler that are not so sweet and adorable. In other words, you can definitely tell that he's two years old sometimes. Some of the battles we have leave me wondering if we'll ever get through this stage. Sometimes I can't decide if he's actually more of a handful than the previous kids at this age, or if I'm just busier and it just seems that way. Maybe it's a combination of both. The good thing is, it is a phase, and eventually we'll be on to the next one!

Anyway, while I was posting pictures of Butler, I thought I might as well include the previous set that got lost in the chaos of life. These were supposed to be his 18 month pictures, but the one weekend in May that I could have gotten them taken on, snuck up on me by surprise and I just didn't get it done. Then I played the 'wait till the schedule is a little free-er' game, but things weren't slowing down any.

Before I knew it, Ricka had come early and it was all about adjusting to one more addition. I finally got Butler's picture taken in the middle of July (right when it was time for Ricka's one month pictures and PC's 5yr. pictures) and he was already 20 months old. So close to 2 years, that it almost seemed pointless, but I figured I'd probably wish I'd done later on if I skipped them. Then it took me so long to get them ready to give away, it was already time for his 2 year pictures so I put them away and still have the complete package. Kids grow so fast, their pictures get outdated without any help from me, but here they are anyway.

Butler's 18mo (actually 20 months)Picture

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
2 Corinthians 6:2