Year In Review: 2013

I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at the year 2013 on this blog. Here are a few highlights from the Nullmeyer family!

January: The beginning of the year was all about cleaner eating by making more snacks from scratch. Homemade crackers anyone? It was also a month of intense bonding between the boys as Lucas became more mobile.

February: Adam won the husband-of-the-month award in February.  He built me a bed frame to match the headboard he had made last year. He also bought me my sourdough starter!

March: We had our first professional photos taken as a family of four! We also celebrated Easter.

April: Adam turned 32 and Ryan turned 3. This was also the month that Lucas started walking.

May: This month we started building our front porch (I use the term "we" very loosely). We also celebrated the boys' birthdays by having a joint party at our house. Ryan still talks about that jump house! My 4th niece, Isabella, was also born this month!

June: We completed our porch this month and Lucas turned 1!

July: Lucas got his first (traumatizing) haircut in July. I turned 31 and we celebrated by taking a family trip to Gilroy Gardens.

August: I got my wild mane of hair chopped off this month. Poor Ryan had his first cavities filled.

September: Stitch Fix entered my life! Ryan got his first bike and Lucas apparently ran around shirtless.

October: Much of this month was spent at the local pumpkin patch getting in the Halloween spirit! Lucas dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Ryan was Lightening McQueen.

November: In November the boys practiced for future bunk beds. Ryan went bowling for the first time. Oh and we cut down a Christmas tree in Santa Cruz!

December: Lucas pulled down our Christmas tree and the boys happily posed for Christmas card pictures. And then we had Christmas!

Whew! What a year. And what a lot of photos! God truly blessed us this year and I can't wait to see what 2014 will bring.

A Terrifying Story

There is a small creek near our house with an opening in the chain-link fence just barely big enough for a toddler to fit through. Whenever we walk by there, I imagine what I would do if Lucas or Ryan somehow slipped through the hole and fell in the water. It's something I don't even want to picture happening, but I have imagined myself hopping the fence to save them.

Today something just as frightening happened. I was playing at our local elementary school with the boys. They wandered away from the playground to the chainlink fence that separates them from the parking lot and street. I was literally 1 foot away from them and in the blink of an eye, they found a tiny opening in the fence and shimmied through. I reached out and my fingertips touched Lucas' shirt but I was too late. They were on the side of the fence next to the street, and I was stuck on the other side.

I tried to crawl through the opening but I was too big. There were at least 5 other adults nearby, with one man sitting just a few feet away from me with his daughter. Ryan and Lucas took off running across the parking lot towards the street. I screamed at Ryan to STOP but he didn't listen. I desperately tried to climb up the chainlink fence but it was just too high and I couldn't get a good foothold. By this point the boys had reached the sidewalk. I yelled at the man sitting near my "WHAT DO I DO?!". I am so angry now that he didn't try to help by climbing the fence.

He very calmly responded "There's an open gate down at the end there". Sure enough, there was an open gate off in the distance. I took off running as fast as I could. I kept my eyes on the street as I ran. Lucas didn't stop on the sidewalk with his brother, but ran straight into the middle of the street. A somewhat busy street. I kept screaming as I ran but Lucas wasn't listening. It felt like forever but I reached the gate and bolted across the parking lot, never taking my eyes from Lucas. I finally reached the street and ran out without even looking. I scooped up Lucas and carried him back to the sidewalk, just before a car came whizzing by.

I put the boys back in the stroller and headed for home. Once I caught my breath and my lungs stopped burning, I started shaking. Halfway home I started crying. I have never experienced such a horrible feeling. To see your child in imminent danger and feel completely helpless. It was absolutely terrifying. I felt so guilty afterwards for not being close enough to grab them away from danger. I know that just a few seconds difference could have resulted in something terrible. I'm thanking God for keeping his protective arms around my boys when I wasn't able to.

Christmas 2013

Both boys had so much fun this year on Christmas morning! We had to remind Ryan in the morning that it was indeed Christmas. He had forgotten and didn't even notice the presents from "Santa" until we pointed them out to him. Ryan did get pretty upset at one point when he noticed there was no snow outside. Apparently he thought it always snowed on Christmas. Poor guy was so disappointed!Lucas was really excited to open and play with his new toys (and in the empty boxes).

You're So Silly Lucas!

Lucas, I have been wanting to write this about you for a while now. Your personality right now at the age of 18 months is so incredible. Yes, you have many loud tantrums during the day and you can be downright ear-piercing when I don't understand what you are trying to tell me. But for today, I want to focus on your silly, funny entertaining side.

I find myself saying "You're so silly Lucas" all the time. Adam thinks you are hilarious, and your Grandma Jan always says you "light up her heart".  You love being goofy and intentionally do things to make us laugh.

Lately it seems like you understand almost everything I say. At night before I lay you down in your crib, I always tell you to close your eyes. You giggle while you scrunch up your eyes, almost as if you know how ridiculously cute you look.

Maybe most toddlers are like this? I don't really know. All I have to compare you to is Ryan, and he was always much more serious. Here is one more example of your silliness in a video. You absolutely love to dance and watching you always makes me giggle.