I be two

Ask KJ how old he is and he will be glad to tell you "I be two" while working hard to try to hold up just the right number of fingers. Our little man turned two almost two weeks ago and while we definitely celebrated (a couple of times), the important day went by unrecognized in the blogging world...sorry, buddy. I'm sure more of the "terrible twos" may be headed our way, but for now I love having a two-year-old (most days). He comes up with the funniest things to say and do and we are always laughing. Yesterday I was taking a rare opportunity to lay in his bed with him while he was going to sleep for his nap. All of a sudden he rolled over, held my face with his two little hands and very urgently declared "i want pancakes...ok, mommy? Pancakes. Ok!" What a funny boy! Another of my recent favorites- We were all 4 in KJ's room one afternoon. RRL and I were talking or something and not completely paying attention to the boys. Suddenly we heard "ride, ride, ride". C-bug was laying on his stomach and KJ had straddled him, was holding on to the back of C's shirt collar and going for a ride. Oh, what a mess.

Here are a few pictures from our recent bday celebrations.

Peanut,

On your second birthday, I want you to know that you are such a joy to your Daddy and me. We love the way you always make us laugh, are ever ready to smother us with hugs and kisses, and how you are quick to apologize when you know you have hurt us. Your baby brother already looks up to you and adores you. It is amazing to see how he watches everything you do and can pick you out in a room. So many others love you, too, friends and family alike. When you walk through the doors at church, more people recognize you than they do your Mommy and Daddy. As your little blond head prances down the halls and you show us "this way, that way" to go to class you leave a trail of smiles. One of my favorite things about your birthday party was how you displayed such pure joy at every single present anyone gave you...each was your very favorite. You seemed to know, already, how to show your gratitude and make the giver feel so appreciated. I am already praying that you will always bring that same sunshine and joy with you wherever you go and that you will never grow too old to use your gifts to make others feel welcomed and loved.

You are learning so much right now. I love that you light up when you count or say your ABC's or spell your name. It cracks us up when you tell us "Mommy name is A____, Daddy name is R____". It is not enough to see a truck, you like to know exactly what kind it is and that makes me smile (and also brush up on my construction trucks knowledge). I love that when we go the park to climb and run and play you come home sweaty, dirty and smelling like a little boy. You tell us all the time that you can do it "by self" as you climb to the tallest slide or eat your favorite foods or brush your own teeth. And indeed there are more and more things that you can do all by yourself now than you could one year ago.

As I think about the year coming between now and your third birthday, I know you have a lot more to learn. We're working on listening and obeying on the "first time". Sharing with friends and especially your baby brother are going to continue to be tough lessons to learn. And who could forget that we've still got potty training ahead of us! Above all, though, I pray you will continue to learn more about our sweet Jesus. I love to hear you tell about Jesus riding on the donkey or to tell me you are ready to go to class to learn about Jesus. I love to hear you pray "Thank you God for this day" and recite the things you are thankful for. It is so special to me to hear you sing "God is so good" and other songs you've learned in chapel. Your sweet voice singing about Jesus nearly brings me to tears. But baby boy there is so much more to know about Him. Thank you for being such an inspiration to me to want to learn more about Him, too. Your Daddy and I can't wait until the day that you accept the Jesus you are learning about as your personal Lord and Savior.

Thank you, KJ, for all you do for our family, for the joy that you are and for the way you make me want to be so much more.

I love you,

Mommy

One of the coolest days ever...

As my brother M (the older of my two brothers) pointed out, May 28th was one of the coolest days EVER for our family. The baby of our family graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in both Civil and Environmental Engineering and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the United States Air Force. How many people can claim that in their list of lifetime accomplishments?




Mr President, meet 2nd Lt DMB.


Whatever your political opinions of George W. may be, you have to admit that standing in the misting cold rain to salute and shake hands with every single one of the 1000+ graduates was pretty amazing of him.





Although we are incredibly proud of his accomplishments at the academy and his commitment to serving our country, our favorite thing about him is his role as Uncle D.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU, DMB!!!!!!

Love,

ABL

How KJ spends his time these days...

Reading with Uncle M

Drawing uncle M's hand

Having Uncle M draw his hand

Watching TV with Uncle M

Going night-night with Uncle M

Going to the park with Uncle M
Looking for fish with Uncle M
Do you detect a theme? After 3 years in South America, we are ALL so happy to have Uncle M for a visit. No one is happier than KJ, though. He wants to be by his side at all times and watches everything he does. I'm so thankful that they are getting to spend time together. Not to be left out...C-bug has been getting his share of snuggles too, but for some reason the pictures came out blurry.

side note: Yes, KJ still occasionally wears one (or two) blue gloves for no apparent reason...even when it is 90 degrees outside!

Lots of random thoughts...get comfortable

1) We took both of the boys to the doctor today. It was 2 years for KJ and 4 months for C-bug. To see them you might think we only feed one of our children. KJ is at the very bottom of the charts, height and weight. C-bug is at the top, weighing in at an amazing 16 lbs and is already 26 inches. While we were there, KJ learned a new word...stethoscope. He can say the whole thing, all three syllables. His vocabulary totally amazes me these days (I am slightly biased, though). Here is picture of them from this week (can you tell that C-bug has the sweetest dimple in his left cheek?)...

2) I've taken to calling the baby, "C-bug" (insert his name where the 'C' is). I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but think it evolved from snuggle bug. It really stuck when KJ started calling him by that name and it is ever so sweet when big brother says "Its ok, C-bug, don't cry, baby brother" or "watch this C-bug" or C'mon C-Bug, go to K's room" (as if any day now his baby brother will get up and run with him) or "mommy, where's C-bug go" (KJ always says "where's insert name go?" sort of combining the two questions).

3) I was starting to feel like we were really over the hurdle with our little (or big) C-bug but the last week or so has been a little rough. He is still sleeping great at night but will have major meltdowns at least once a day where nothing will console him. He arches his back to the point that you cannot even hold him. These usually happen in public. I know I shouldn't be, but I can not help but be terribly embarrassed and feel like everyone is staring. Recently we were in Target and having a major scream-a-thon. I finished as quickly as I could and left. As soon as we left, he was fine so we went to another store in the same area. I was oh-so-pleasantly greeted in the second store by someone who recognized us from Target and just HAD to say "Oh, look, its the screaming baby from Target". Thank you very much.

4) On that note, Saturday at church a very nice man asked me how old my baby was. I told him 4-months and he responded "wow" (in a moment of vanity, I thought he was going to say "Wow, you look great for having a 4-month-old) but instead he completed "wow, you look REALLY tired. Have you been up all night?" Thank you, Lord, for that little dose of humility.

5) Speaking of Church, have you read, Screwtape Letters? I'm getting it out to read again because I feel some of the tactics of ugly Wormwood and Screwtape might be at work in my life right now. To be more specific, I am starting to wonder if these little demons wait for me at the door to church trying to ensure that I have a miserable experience each time I show up to worship. More specifically, I feel like every-time we walk through the doors one or the other of my children so drastically consumes my attention or frustrates me that I forget altogether while I am there. I say this slightly tongue-in-cheek, but I do believe in the spiritual battle that goes on for each of our souls and I do believe the devil knows I crave the fueling I get by worshiping my Lord with my husband and by being in our small group bible study (neither of which have happened a single time in entirety since C-bug was born). I'm not really looking for advice here since I think it is somewhat of a personal battle, but I would appreciate your prayers.

6) While I'm on a C.S. Lewis kick, (one of my favorite authors by the way) I thank God everyday for a good friend who recently celebrated her birthday! This quote from C.S. Lewis very clearly defines how we became (and remain) friends. Happy Birthday, Tara.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

We've had so many of those moments over the last couple of years as our oldest boys are 3 weeks apart and amazingly, our youngest boys were also born 3 weeks apart. Really, I might go insane without her encouragement and reminders that in some twisted way, what I'm going through is normal. Here is a picture of our oldest boys. They sure love each other.

Amazingly, I think that is about all for now. I guess if I posted more regularly I would not have to go on these marathon sessions.

ABL

Tagged by Elisa

Elisa tagged me. I do not think I have ever been tagged...if I have I do not think I responded. Says a lot about my consistency (or lack thereof) in blogging. This one is pretty easy, though, and light-hearted and fun so I thought I would give it a whirl...

What three skills or hobbies would you learn if you had unlimited time, money, and tools?

1) COOKING- this is one that I stole from Raina, but actually totally agree with. I would love to pay someone to teach me to shop and cook on a time and money budget. I would love to have a large index of recipe's that I am confident making in my brain. I'm not a terrible cook, just never have time to think through the meals that I fix ahead of time and I am not creative at all.

2) SWIMMING- What I really want to do is a triathlon, but the major hurdle is swimming. I am not necessarily afraid of water, but I am not very confident in it, either. I would love to be a strong swimmer and have an "efficient" stroke- not one that leaves you worn out after half of a lap.

3) DRIVE STICK SHIFT- Ok, I know this is lame and I debated even listing it, but I really would love to learn to drive a stick shift car. We do not own one so there is no need for this skill, but it is just something I have always wanted to learn. In college Mel would occasionally let me shift while she drove (and did the clutch) which was the coolest, but doesn't really count. I seriously used to have nightmares that I would be out somewhere and someone would get hurt or something terrible would happen which would lead to me being the only one available to drive for help. I would jump in a car with great urgency only to realize it was a stick shift and I was STUCK.

Does it say a lot about my life right now that those are my 3? Maybe one day, when my boys are grown or at least big enough to tie their own shoes, I will pursue cool hobbies and skills. Until then...this is me!

ABL

"No time to say 'Hello', Goodbye...I'm late, I'm late, I'm late"

The title, as stolen from a line in one of my favorite stories, pretty much summarizes my life these days. I cannot seem to get it together, in general, but especially when it comes to communicating. If you are one of many who feels disconnected in relationship with me right now, just know it is not a lack of interest, just lack of sleep. I'm sorry! Someday soon, hopefully, I'll make time to stop and at least say "hello" to those of you who are significant in my life. In the mean-time, here are some pictures of the boys I spend time chasing after (and dressing, and feeding, and changing, and loving on).

First, my BIG 3-month-old. I can't believe how time has flown by with this little dude. He is developing quite a personality. There is no "luke-warm" with this child. When he is happy, I've never seen a baby smile and laugh and talk like he does...but watch out when he is not happy.




Easter was great. We went to Saturday night and Sunday morning services, both were uniquely wonderful. The first two pictures here are Saturday night and the last two are Sunday morning. In the second one you get a glimpse as to why C's eyes are HUGE and look a little scared in most of the pics of him with KJ.

We love playing with CT and LT. Recently when they were visiting at our house they were both so sweet to our baby C. LT gave him his paci so gently (big brother should take some lessons) and at one point even went into KJ's room to find a book to read to baby C. See him "reading" below...HOW SWEET!

At 22 months, KJ finally got his first ever haircut. The "mullet" is gone. If you look closely in the Easter pictures you can see that it was pretty long in the back. Daddy did the honors and it was all I could do to keep from crying. I video-taped the entire thing.

Here is a post-haircut picture.

We took a recent trip to the Zoo with our friend AKH. This year is so much more fun than last year at the zoo because KJ really recognizes animals, knows how to watch for the animals and was just so very excited. I made the mistake of telling him a couple of hours before we went that we were going to the zoo to see all the animals. He kept saying "zoo, see animals". I tried distracting him by saying "we can't go yet because the animals are asleep", to which he answered "be bery twiet" as if that would fix everything. Next I decided to just shoot straight and tell him that the zoo did not open until 10 o'clock. Then the broken record changed to "time is it?" I have learned not to tell him anything before it happens!

Quick disclaimer about the next picture, there were adult hands very close, my baby was not in danger. Also, check out the rolls on those little thighs!

Here is one tired little boy, after a day of watching animals!

Ok, hope that gives you a glimpse into life around here!

Better run, I'm sure I'm late for something...

ABL

Let the MADNESS begin

March Madness, what a glorious event. Check out last year's post, about this same time, for more information on our family's philosophy on this topic.

My philosophy for bracket selections has not changed, especially since I watched even fewer regular season games this year. DU Blue Devils all the way, and as many TN as possible going as far as practical (regardless of silly things like records or rankings). With 5 (yes FIVE) teams from the wonderful state of TN including an amazing year for my Volunteers, and Duke with a number 2 seed I actually had one bracket with 3 teams from TN and Duke in the final four. How wonderful would that be? Not likely (especially since this includes Vandy), but that is what makes this tournament so much fun. Anything can happen.

For our family challenge, I was a little (only slightly) more conservative.

I have TN (over UNC), Georgetown (over Kansas), Duke (over UCLA) and Memphis (over TX). For one of the first times in as long as I can remember, this elite 8 is actually all 1 and 2 seeds. We'll see how that works for me.

What are your picks?