Much to your dismay....

I keep wondering when the year will come that you are happy to collect donations instead of gifts for your birthday - this year the push back was a little less than last year. But we're not quite there yet. Nonetheless, we collected donations instead of gifts again this year, and you picked your charities.

Cole, you picked NICU - which I love so much.

And JD, you picked the Annapolis SPCA. Someday maybe we're going to make the dream of a pet a reality for you - but not quite there yet.

There's not a thing that the two of you "need" so I'm hoping that the desire to help others and give instead of receive will take hold at some point...

Great job boys! One birthday at a time, we're chipping away at life's lessons. Love you both so much.