Adventures of Team Tkill: Dear Xander,

Dear Xman,

I have happy tears in my eyes as I sit down to write your letter this year. What a privilege it is to be your mommy! We began 2009 with your "4 1/2" birthday in January. I think this year you have grown from a preschooler into quite the young boy!

This year you played t-ball for the first time. Coach Bobby was your first real coach - and you loved him. You were a Muckdog. Daddy and I were so proud of how attentive and focused you were on and off the field. While the other kids wandered around quite a bit - you sat on the bench in the dugout or played your position on the field. Always the rule follower. This fall you played football for the 5 - 6 year old Falcons. You played tackle for Coach Mook. No one cheered louder than daddy and I. You also became a Walnut Grove Warrior wrestler this year. You and I both aren't ready for you to compete yet, but you love to go to practice.

One of my favorite things about you is that you are so personable to be around. Not only are you a blessing to me, but everyone we come in contact with adores you too. You are always smiling. You are very much into Star Wars (with the millennium falcon topping the list in your letter to Santa), super heroes, and legos. You are always thinking - the man with a plan. I love when you tell me "Mommy - this is how I role" followed by some logic that makes perfect sense to you, but I would never have thought of it. You have grown nicely into the little brother role. You love sissy - you want to be where she is, do what she is doing. You also love to aggravate her!

For the first half of this year, Mommy kept Eliot and Preslie while their moms worked. You enjoyed having daily playmates since Mikaela was away at school every day. The three of you were like the Three Muskeeters - always into something! This year you graduated into your big boy bunk beds. You got superhero sheets and comforter. You started the year on the bottom bunk, but then moved right on up to sleeping on the top bunk by the summer.

You adore dressing up and pretending. You and your sister are constantly creating songs, skits, scenes and shows for me to watch. You continued your hat phase at the beginning of this year - with your favorite hat being the one Grandpa Choo Choo gave you. Every time you wear it you remind me that grandpa choo choo gave it to you before he went to heaven. Mid year you became a blazer guy - wearing a black blazer jacket everywhere we went - no matter what the weather was like!

I enjoy traveling with you. You always have so many questions and are so interested in learning about the places you go. You want to know how many miles away places are, how long it takes to get there. You are still a bit impatient - wishing long car drives were much shorter. This year we took many trips and enjoyed some new, and some old places. We returned to Disney in October for a week. You adored meeting all the characters, riding the rides and eating the treats. Your favorite moment of this trip was attending Jedi Training School and fighting Darth Vader. I was so excited for you - you wanted so bad to be chosen to participate, and you were!

You are an awesome helper. You do a great job of cleaning your room and helping me with chores. You love to cook. Nana got you an apron set and you wore it every time you helped me with Christmas baking. I love that you are such a great eater - and will try new things. Your favorites are mexican cheese dip (probably because I lived on it when I was pregnant with you!), salads, zaxby's chicken - buffalo style, pepperoni pizza, and peanut butter brownies. You don't like hot dogs or macaroni and cheese - your sister's two favorite foods.

Mommy and daddy prayed and talked a lot about where we would choose for you to school for the 2009 - 2010 school year. We decided for you to become a kindergartner at bright beginnings at our church this year. You started off the year unsure about kindergarten, but by Thanksgiving you really enjoyed attending. You have lots of friends - Jacob, Ryan are two of your favorites. This year you were chosen to be the blue wise men in the Christmas program for school. You came so excited - sure that you were going to be "the three wisemen - bringing gold, frankenstien and mercy to the baby Jesus." You took your role very seriously and paid close attention in all the rehearsals.

You and I worked hard this year on helping you learn coping skills for anxiety. It was so challenging for you. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you for pushing forward with me. You give everything you try everything you have - one of the many things that make me so happy to be your mother. From the moment Dr. Lowman handed you to me, within seconds of being born - I knew that you are I were bonded - forever. We begin each day snuggled together - sharing our dreams, our goals for the day, just being together. I know you will outgrow this soon so I cherish each of these moments that I wake and find you next to me.

Your faith is amazing. You are a wonderful prayer leader. You lead our family in the blessing at every meal - you volunteer. Many times over the course of this year you have been approached by strangers who have been blessed by one your blessings (you often pray loud enough to bless an entire restaurant). I don't know what God's will is for you life yet. I pray daily that God helps me guide you for I know He has great things in store for you.

God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.
Phillipians 1:6

I am so thankful that God gave me you - to love, to adore, to teach me about life, to play legos with, to jump in rain puddles with, to snuggle during movies, to remind me that life is funny, to show me how to dress "fancy", to help me vacuum, to make me smile, to push me out of my comfort zone, to put puzzles together with, to enjoy board games with, to read pop up books with, to remember the joy of being able to be a reader, to improve my video game playing skills, and to keep me youthful.

Xman I love you to Millennium Falcon and back

you make me so...................HAPPY