There is no way it has been 2 years since Everett joined our family.  With two children now Everett’s life has gone by at warp speed.  Before he was born I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to love him as much as his brother.  Now I don’t remember life without him.  Everett has completed our family and I honestly love having my two boys and wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Everett came into the world quickly after being 10 days overdue.  We had a beautiful homebirth after a short 5 hour labor {our homebirth story}.  His brother woke up, then just shy of 2 years old himself, and met him minutes after his brother was born.  That day we turned into a family of four.  Now Everett is no longer a chubby cheeked and bald baby but a true toddler.  He has a mind of his own and is possibly the most stubborn child I’ve ever met.  One day I will get to tell him how I bounced him to sleep every day and night for 20 months of his life.

Watching Everett and Fletcher play makes my heart explode.  If only I could convey how well my boys get along and the love they have for one another.  Every day they race their cars around the house, pretend to be Transformers together, wrestle, read books, dance together, and make each other laugh.  They fight too but that’s normal for brothers.  I definitely hit the lottery when it comes to my two boys.  Fletcher was meant to be a big brother and Everett was meant to be in our family.

There are many, many days where I tire of Everett’s relentless cuddling and nursing.  Tonight on his last day of being a 1 year old I reminded myself to linger while he slept next to me in his big boy bed.  I let him have his way and allowed his arms to stay on top of me; this is his insurance that I won’t escape without waking him up.  This tactic normally annoys me to no end that I am trapped but this time I savored his baby-ness for the last day before his 2nd birthday.

 Happy Birthday Everett!