He even had a special, surprise visitor... Everyone loves Carson! He's such a sweet little guy!
Although there were many gifts that Wallace loved, the hit was probably the aircraft carrier... At 9 he still hopes to join the military as a fighter pilot some day. Let's hope I can have some influence on him before he's 18...😬
Fun with most of the siblings...
Michael is such a mess! He's always goofing around and sometimes it makes it hard to get a decent picture! 😜
Fighter jet brownies...
The birthday prayer...
It's hard for me to believe he is 9. NINE! He has such a good heart and I'm so very proud of who he is becoming. I love to see him looking to do big things and taking courage and having no fear. I pray that he doesn't lose that.
I love how he wants to do the things his older friends are doing and would rather work with them than play (most of the time).
I love how he is constantly looking to be a protector and a defender for the weak.
Something that is interesting about Wallace...he had just turned 7 when William died. He had spent nearly the entirety of his 7 years looking out for his brother, keeping him safe, helping him with every task he could. He was not a daring or particularly courageous-seeming boy. He never played outside unless William did. And, even then, he only did things William could do. I did not notice it so much at the time. I guess I just thought he wasn't very active or rambunctious.
But the day of William's funeral, I learned something about this wonderful son. He was more in tune with things than I gave him credit for. He actually bridled his own desires for William's sake, without me even recognizing it. After the funeral, we were moving William's things back to the house and he asked to do something very daredevil-ish. I probably should have said no. I have no idea what made me allow him to do it. I remember thinking at the time that he would have never asked to do it before because he would have been with William and he knew that William couldn't. But I allowed it and he was proud of himself and he's had no fear of anything ever since.
This birthday is somewhat of a difficult milestone for me, as William will never see his 9th birthday. William and Wallace used to tease each other about who was the "big" brother, who was the "older" brother, who was the "taller" brother. When Wallace caught up to him in size, Wallace would claim he was now the taller brother and William would of course claim his place as the older brother. Wallace would reply that he was now the "big" brother, but William would say, no, he would always be the big brother because he would always be older.
Now Wallace actually IS the big brother. He takes the responsibility seriously and he's very good at it. I'm so thankful that he remembers William, though. He doesn't talk about him very often and he's very selective about who he does talk to, but when he does, my heart just overflows for him. He seems so old and sad. He misses his brother so.
This week we also switched out the boys' clothes from spring to winter. It took me 6 full days to get it done. It's one of the hardest things I ever do. I dread it every season. Every size...I remember William in those things. Now I am buying things for a different "oldest boy" and it's just another reminder that he is not here. It's hard. But Wallace helped me get through the clothes and get them changed out. And we had some laughs, too. It's times like these, when the memories come in hard, crashing waves, but don't knock me down, when I think...we're going to do more than just survive.
