My (not so little anymore) man!

I never realized just how much our hearts can truly love until my nephew, Hughes, was born.  This little man means more to me than I thought was possible.  Now with my own son about to be born in May, I cannot fathom the love I will have for him.  Hughes has grown so fast and never ceases to amaze me with the knowledge he shares with us.  He turned 6 in January and is going to be in first grade in the fall. Unbelievable.  He has the sweetest personality and is truly a caring and loving child.  He has been such a blessing to our family and I can always count on him to make me laugh.  Thank you Lord for such an amazing gift to our family.  I honestly think I could write a book about this little guy, but I will spare you and share a few pictures with you instead. 

Dana sent me a picture of Hughes the other morning where he had lost yet another tooth.  At that moment, it hit me that my little man was slowly becoming my "not so little anymore" man.  Makes me a tad bit sad, but I am so proud of him and love him more and more everyday. 

WOW!!  He is the cutest little toothless boy I have ever known.

Last, but not least when I say this boy is sweet I really mean this boy is SWEET.  His thoughtfulness at 6 year old blows me away some times.  One of those days being last Sunday.  We were at mother and daddy's eating lunch after church (an every Sunday ritual) and he came to me with this little bitty green plastic frog.  Now, let me inform you, that ever since Hughes found out he was going to have a little boy cousin named Hampton he has been ecstatic.  So excited in fact that he felt the need to "name" him himself.  So, to Hughes, I am having a "Harry" not a "Hampton" and he will not let you refer to him as Hampton without correcting you.  Did I mention how hysterical this little fella is?!?  Anyways, he places this strange tiny frog in my hand and the conversation goes like this:

Me:  "Oh, what is this little thing?"

H:  "Well, I want you to give this little frog to Harry to keep forever.  I have the blue one just like this one."

Me:  "Awe, Hughes that is very sweet.  Ok."

H:  "And I want you to tell him it's from me and that way he'll know we will be best buds forever.  Because I have the blue one and he has the green one."

To say the least, it MELTED MY HEART and I had to turn away for him not to see the tears swelling in my eyes.  Who knew some plastic little frog could leave such an imprint on someone's life as it has mine?!?  Every time I see this little frog now, I can't help but hear Hughes' sweet little innocent voice that day telling me to give it to "Harry" so he will know they will be best buds forever.  As cheesy as it may sound, it brings tears (joyfull, of course) to my eyes each and every time.

Needless to say, this tiny plastic frog has already made his home in "Harry's" room on his shelf with some of his other animals and will forever be a part of his life.



Just the thought of Hughes makes me smile and now this little green frog does too. :)