Happy Birthday Joe & Adam

Wow, where do I start with these two? I have so much I could say. I'll try not to go on too long. First of all Happy Birthday to Joseph and Adam. I guess I'll start with Adam, since he was born first.
February 26th, 1990, Adam was born. He was an emergency c-section. All drama, right from the start. I remember visiting him in the hospital like it was yesterday. Time goes by way too fast. When Adam was in his toddler years, I still lived at home. At different stages in his childhood, Stacy either worked or was going to school, so Adam spent a lot of time at my mom's house. He and I were good friends. We would hang out practically every day. I was part of the duo "Mimmy and Haus." I was Mimmy, and my mom was Haus (which was how he said "Grandma's House").

I have such a soft spot for this kid, I can't even tell you. We spent lots of time together going for long walks in the neighborhood, playing make believe in the back yard on Grandma's swingset, eating popcicles. We've gone to the park together, to the movies, to the zoo and to Disneyland. I've hid easter eggs over and over for him to find. We've read countless numbers of stories together and played endless games of candyland. There have been many sleepovers at my house where he, Joe and Jared would stay up late and watch movies and eat ice cream and be silly.

As he's gotten older, I become more and more proud of him. Adam is creative and extremely talented. I have seen him in all of his school plays, he is quite a good actor. His most recent play, "The Yellow Boat" he was the lead, and he was soooo good. Adam is also quite a good artist and writer. I love that he is so creative. Adam is great with kids. I think it's because he will always be a kid at heart. Even though he is 18 now, he still calls me "Kimmy", I love that. And thanks to him, I always have a good book to read. He is always introducing me to new books, and I always like them. We must have the same taste. My favorites he has introduced me to are: Inkheart and the Bartimaeus Trilogy. In case you can't tell, I love this kid! Happy Birthday Adam.

Now, about Joe....
Joseph was born February 26th, 1997. Seven years after Adam. He was born at 3:18 in the morning. The whole day, when people would come to visit, he was wide awake. I didn't know at the time that it would be a foreshadowing of things to come. This boy does not, and never has, liked to sleep! When he finally did start sleeping through the night, it was exactly 7 hours and then that was it. If I was lucky, I could get him to take two 15 minute naps a day and that would be it. I always felt like his mind was too busy for him to calm down and sleep. Even when he couldn't talk, I could see it in his eyes. Also, he doesn't like to feel like he's missing out on anything. If anything was going on, he was going to be awake for it. He seriously hasn't taken a nap since he was 3.

Joseph is such an awesome kid. I am so happy to be his mom. We do so many fun things together. My favorite is to read stories on the bed. When he was younger, he'd grab a bunch of books and bring them to my room and we'd read stories on the bed. Now that he is older we each grab our own book to read and hang out on the bed and read together. I love to read, and I'm glad that Joseph has a love of books also.

Here are some things you should know about Joseph:

* He prefers to be called "Joe", but I call him "Joseph, or Bo."

* He has the best laugh in the whole world. You hear him giggle, and you can't help but laugh along.
* He loves his hair and is immensly proud of it, although he knows that when he turns 12, he has to cut it.

* He is persistent. Sometimes that can be really annoying because he doesn't hear the word "No". He keeps trying and trying anyway to get what he wants. But I think it is a good quality because he never gives up. I know he will get what he wants out of life.

* He collects "stuff". He has so many different collections, it is ridiculous. His shelves are full of cool things he has collected. It's hard to be mad about it. I was the same way when I was his age.

* He is so creative. His drawings blow me away at how good they are. He's even taken to selling some of them at school. He also is good at creative writing.

* He has such an active imagination. I can always see the wheels turning. He is always creating some new superhero or villain, or coming up with ideas for a comic strip, movie or book. He also likes to come up with costumes for his characters, and will often walk around in some kind of costume throughout the day. He loves superhero action figures. Silver Surfer, Gambit and Black Panther are his favorite.

* Everything is drama with this kid. I swear he'll win an oscar some day. He can fake cry with the best of them. When I believe him and ask him what's wrong, he busts out laughing. Stupid me, I fall for it every time.

* He likes to eavesdrop on the phone. He can't stand being out of the loop.

* He has a sensitive soul. He can empathize with others. He doesn't like it when people are sad. He is a deep deep thinker. We have some really awesome conversations. I am amazed at some of the things he thinks about. I know I wasn't that deep when I was 10.

* He loves to be outdoors. He loves riding his bike and his wave. He recently got rollerblades. He would rather be outside running the neighborhood, than inside playing video games. Can I tell you how much I love that?

* He loves the beach. He is like a fish. When we go, he is in the water for hours and hours and never wants to leave.

* His favorite color is purple

* He loves to eat crab legs.

* He beats me at Harry Potter Scene it nearly every time we play.

I love Joseph. I am lucky to be his mom. Happy Birthday Joseph. Happy Birthday Adam.

I know this seems long, but believe me, I could have went on longer!