Awww, shucks…

“Hey, Wes!”  “How old are you?”

“I’m three!”

As he keeps coming closer, he’s getting more and more excited.  “Mom, I said, I’m three!”

Technically, in these photos, he’s holding up six fingers.  I told you he gets excited about it.  One hand is simply not enough to convey the emotion of being three.  You need two, I’m tellin’ you! (for the record, when Wes throws both sets of three into the mix, it really screws with Ty’s head…)

“Gosh, Mom…”  “You already know I’m three.”

“Wes, you’re so stinkin’ cute.”  “Show me your 3 again.”

“AAAWWWWW shucks, Mom…..”

even with a dirty shirt.

When you can pull off a shirt this nasty, you know you’re cool.  Right?

Plus, he seems to be quite happy with the dirt.  Don’t ya think?

Three REALLY IS looking good on him.  He’s happy.  He’s healthy.  AND, he makes all the rest of us LAUGH daily.  I’m glad he’s so cool.

Even our dogs follow him around.  He’s like static cling – he pulls you right in with that big toothy grin and magnetic personality.

You simply know you’re in the presence of COOL when he’s around…

This pretty much sums up EVERY day of his life.

We celebrated in really rad style on Sunday, but today it’s official.  So, happy birthday my sweet, little man.  I love you.

You guessed it…. a BIG GREEN TRACTOR birthday, with a little Wally, Lighting McQueen, and sharks thrown into the mix.  All of his favorite people were there to help him celebrate AND blow out the candles.

Wes loves opening presents just as much as the next kid, but the funny thing about him is how much he LOVES opening up a card.  Yes, a card.  Don’t come to his parties without one.  He’ll notice.  AND, it’s even better if the card provides some sort of musical enjoyment or lighting effects.

This year he was introduced to Hoops and Yo Yo

and a birthday rhyme.  “Roses are red, Violets are blue.  It’s your birthday, how old are you?”  He’s been listening over and over ever since.  He wants to MEET Hoops and Yo Yo.  I’ve been trying to explain they aren’t real.  Is there a good way to get that across to a THREE year old?  Anyone?

We ended the party with a pretty big BANG.  Notice Ty doing his jiggy dance in the foreground…

Wes finally got HIS VERY OWN tractor.  Up to this point, he’s been getting the old hand-me-down tractors of Ty’s.  There haven’t been any complaints so far, but we thought he’d enjoy having a NEW one for a change.  This one has a built-in radio with digital tuner.  It was a BIG, BIG SUCCESS.

Now, if only the weather would cooperate so he could ride it somewhere other than IN Grandma’s house. 

Some things I want to remember about my little guy this year:

endless singing of “Big Green Tractor” – he knows all the words

long eyelashes that melt my heart

tickle fights in the living room with Daddy

dance moves that rank right up there with Christine’s (Seinfeld)

“Crap-Paw” (instead of Grandpa)

Snugglebug – he loves to cuddle with mama

waking up a million times throughout the night just to ask me to tuck him in again and again

getting to sleep in a “big boy” bed

his love for everything John Deere

his entirely hard-to-deal-with hair, especially after a few jumps on the trampoline

his love for DWago (Diego), dinosaurs, candy of any kind, Sonic (almost as much as Mama), grilled-cheese sandwiches, mandarin oranges, Scooby Doo, hot chocolate, going for a drive ANYWHERE, Target mini-pizzas (pizza hut), Batman, Grandma, Hot Wheels, and his brother who he absolutely adores.

Today is your day.  It’s a great day to be THREE!

Votes for this guy…

who I entered into the Gap Casting Call for no other reason than to win a FREE Jamaican Vacation.  Sad, isn’t it.

As I said before, I have no intention of making him the newest kid model on the block or of getting rich off of his seriously cute dimples.  Although, I must say the “rich” part would be rather nice.

Anyway, I was shooting some photos for a friend (I’ll post her pics soon) who was entering her daughter and I thought, why not.  If anyone could win it, he could.  Afterall, we do call him “Mr. Personality” for a reason.  Just look at his smiling face!  Who could possibly resist his charm?

I have to say, we’re pretty far behind in the running (I entered him a bit late), but even if we don’t win, these photos are my favorite photos of him to date.  It was definitely worth the time I spent snapping them.  And, if nothing else, it forced me to squeeze in the time I needed to take some photos of my own sweet boy.  Thanks for that, Gap.

AND, thank the good Lord above for this awesome and inspiring child who makes my heart smile each and every day.

Those delicious chocolate brown eyes and big-toothed grin save him from trouble regularly.   You see,  it’s nearly impossible to discipline a chunky, little boy who smiles in the face of impending doom and giggles boldly while showering his momma with slobbery kisses.  He’s very smart.  He seems to have it all figured out.  A yank here, a tug there, and his momma’s heart gives in.

and he is saved.

I can’t wait to get some of these framed and on the walls.  I’m thinking a collage of some kind – maybe square canvases.  I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Until then, I hope you all have a really fantastic Thursday.  Remember, this day is what YOU make it.  So, make it a light-hearted, fun-filled day as sweet as this lollipop.

Wes says so!

Oh, and if you haven’t voted, please do!  Wes and his momma could really use a few days on the beach.  All the links are posted up top there. 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!

Ty is entered too, but you all know how much he hates to have his picture taken.  I’m pretty sure it won’t matter that it’s the folks at GAP with the camera.  HA!

Here are a few of Wes’ photos from his session!

Which version do you like better?

Those eyes.  He’ll be using them against me until the day I die.

The funny thing about Wes is he is either laughing hysterically at everything or he’s a total sassy pants-cranky butt.  Can you guess what mood he was in for this photo?

I promise to do a real blog post SOON!

Happy humpday!

It's been a great weekend – pretty slow-moving and easy.  No sessions, which was nice.  We did have to make a trip to Wal-mart, which is never nice.  The boys were AWESOME except for dumping coke in the buggie, and we all made it out alive.  I'd say that makes for one happy Saturday.
 


 


Have I mentioned I absolutely LOVE living in the country on 10 acres?  I do.  It makes me smile.  It makes me happy.  I love our neighbors, the fact that we have lots of critters running around, and that my boys can jump on their John Deere ride-ons and head all over the place exploring.  It's perfect… 

EXCEPT for the whole "living in a tiny trailer until our house gets built" part!!!!!!

That part drives me nuts!  I HAVE to be outside if only for a wee tiny bit each day.  This winter stuff makes me BLAH!  Which is why the weather this past week has been so GREAT!  The boys got to play in the leaves and I got to take photos and play along with them.  Those photos are coming!

For now, I just want to keep staring at these brown eyes!  Please excuse the dirty face.  We have no time for wiping when the weather is pretty.
 

Even Zipper enjoyed some of the play-time action with us…

Here he is a year ago enjoying his first birthday cake.


In honor of his birthday today, here he is (in all his chubby glory) throughout this past year.

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

AND, February 2009…at 2 years old…getting into plenty of trouble.