Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!


Well, I think this is the most excited I've been about Christmas in a long time...the anticipation for Drew's excitement is just about all I can think about! It's been fun sharing the story of Christmas with the boys, and seeing how much or little Drew picks up and understands. One of the first Sundays of December his Sunday School class learned about the first part of the story...when I asked Drew what they learned about, he emphatically moved his hand from side to side and said "NO MORE ROOM!" Ok, so he got that part!


I took Drew to Benbrook's annual Christmas kick off - every year Santa rides into the park on a firetruck and they light up their Winter Wonderland display and set off fireworks. Drew was pretty excited about and waved his mightiest as Santa & Mrs. Claus rode by. He was pretty stunned when the fireworks started - I could tell he liked how they looked, but did not like the sound! So, we slowly made our way back to the car - we could still see them of course, but were getting further away from the noise, which Drew liked. When I asked him later if the fireworks were pretty, he said, "No, the lights in the sky go boom!...Too loud!" But I think he liked them overall...we ended the night driving around the neighborhood looking at the Christmas lights - that he loved for sure!


I took the boys to get Santa pictures, and took my niece Taron for back up...I knew that was at best a 50/50 shot of getting Drew to cooperate, so I thought Taron could handle Noah and I'd deal with Drew. But he was all excited about it, getting all sorts of giddy talking about it. He even knew he wanted to ask Santa for a camera. Well, the excitement lasted until we were next in line, and then the fear and hesitation set in...as we were walking toward Santa, Drew was using all his might to get as far as possible from him while still staying in my arms. Noah, as you can see, was perfectly fine. Drew wouldn't even take the picture with me next to Santa. He just wouldn't have it...oh well. It will always be a special memory for me regardless. When we were waiting to get the picture printed, Drew told Taron "I took picture with Santa, but I not!" Translation: I was supposed to take a picture with Santa, but there's no way I was going to do that! I guess we'll see what next year brings!


Grandma Palmer helped both Luke & Drew celebrate the Christmas season this year with tons of books about the Christmas story, winter, etc. - one book to unwrap each day from December 1 to 25! It was lots of fun to see which story we would get each day. She also had the boys over to make sugar cookies - now that was funny! Drew helped me roll out the dough, and then attacked it with a cookie cutter - so I of course had to go back and do some repairs! When it was time to decorate, he loved painting on the egg-wash, bu my slightly texture-defensive child wanted nothing to do with the sprinkles - it led to screaming and throwing a fit & running away from the cookies. That is, until Luke showed Drew his cookies, and then he was perfectly fine with it - so much so that his cookies were COMPLETELY covered in sprinkles! That kid is a trip!


The weekend of Christmas we packed up the car and drove to Houston to be with Grandpa, Nana and Uncle Kevin for 4 days. The boys did great traveling. We drove through Austin on the way down to see Denise & Emmeline that were in town from North Carolina for the holidays - it was a nice treat to see them and get a break from the car too! We had such a wonderful time in Houston with the family. We kept it pretty low-ket and just played with the boys as much as we could...it was very nice! We made some fun, yummy Christmas treats (Pinterest inspired of course!) and really just enjoyed each other's company. Drew was fun to watch open presents...his reaction was more of a "Huuuuuuuuhhhhhh!" (Sucking in his breath, excited, I can't believe it, kind of reaction - pretty funny! I don't remember how it all happened, but he somehow started taking a bow over and over again and saying "Thank you, Thank you"! Where that came from, I don't know if we'll ever know! What a hoot! We were sad when the weekend was over, and packed to the brim in the car thanks to the over generosity of the family & extended families! The boys slept almost the whole way back home, which was fabulous!




We got back home Monday night, unloaded the car and made sure the living room was clear for Christmas in the morning. Drew had a blast opening up all his gifts & helping Noah with his too of course! Our house was a HUGE mess! We had so much fun shopping for the boys this year...a little too much fun really. It was fun to see what excited Drew, and what he could have cared less about. But he was pretty interested in most things, wanting to get everything out of the boxes immediately and play. He was bouncing from toy to toy all day...it obviously was exhausting having so much fun!


We went to the Palmer's house that evening for Christmas with them. They are such a loving and fun family to be with, it was great for us all to be together. We had a yummy dinner and then opened more gifts! They were too generous as always - Drew was so wired from it all, he was hard to control. But he loved all his new toys & playing with Luke best of all! Noah got to be held lots, so he of course liked that! :) It was a late night, but lots of fun - love that Palmer family!


The rest of week was spent trying to get the house back to normal. My one big regret from this year was not taking advantage of our family time that week between Christmas and New Years. As is usually the case, I was too to-do list oriented and didn't slow down to enjoy the time the 4 of us could have spent together...hopefully this will be a lesson learned for all the Christmas's to come. And as for New Year's, well, we were exhausted, as parents of 2 small children are...we were in bed by 10pm, and up at 6 or so...about the opposite of how I'd choose, but again, these boys are worth it!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Another month, and we can't remember what it was like before we were a family of 4




It really is amazing how quickly the time goes by. And seriously, I feel like we've been a family of 4 forever now. I absolutely love my boys and while there are certainly challenges and rough days, in the end, I will always rejoice in the Lord for the blessings He showers on us daily. It feels like we are getting to the point where we can 'handle' the daily routine for the boys and for ourselves. Drew is getting more and more verbal and independent, and Noah, for the most part is a happy little kid.


Noah's growth stats from his4 month appointment were: Weight: 13 lb. 15 oz.(25%) Height: 26.5 in(90%) Head: 41.5 cm(33%)Noah's big achievement for the month is his giggling! His first true laugh was on Nov. 15, and since then, we do all we can to hear it over and over again - it is just the sweetest sound; we can't help but smile from ear to ear when we hear it! The best way to get it is tickling up his tummy to his neck, or giving lots of kisses near his neck & face - he just loves it!


He also likes to play peek a boo more and more, and follows the sound of his brother everywhere! Their faces just light up when they see each other - I so hope it stays more that way than the alternative! He also likes to play Pat-A-Cake, and Drew loves to play it with him! We just have to watch that Drew doesn't rip his arms off when he 'throws it in the pan!" Drew just loves playing with and being near Noah, a little too much at times - we have to tell him to not lay on him alot, and he wants to turn his head to look him in the face lots, and gives full-on mouth to mouth kisses - there's no doubt he's loving!


Noah is also getting better at grabbing at objects - our faces, toys, and his own feet. But more than anything, he always wants something in his mouth! He is such a drooler! He will chew on ANYTHING! so we now understand why there are bibs for little babies - we didn't need them with Drew, but happy to have them for Noah!


We are getting out and about more - going to the park, walks in the stroller (a bit of a workout for Mommy when it's the double stroller!), one of Daddy's indoor soccer games, and even had a baby playdate with a good friend of ours. Mommy also went back to work this past month for the first time since Noah was born, but we all did great, but we are happy that I'm not full time at this point especially!


Drew is learning more and more every day...it's amazing what he picks up on his own, what he learns from his teacher & friends at school, and how quickly he can learn some things we teach him - truly a sponge just soaking everything up! He uses some really long sentences to communicate with us, shocking us at times; and then other times he just points & grunts! He has developed somewhat of a Texas 'drawl' to his voice which is funny & adorable & kind of surprising since neither of us have thick Texan accents, but it's so cute!


He's definitely all about being independent, so we are hearing lots of "I get it" & "Let me do it" & "I have an idea". He remembers all sorts of things we tell him, sometimes without us even trying - he will remind me to take the lid off his cup if we are in the kitchen, because it's not on carpet...that may seem silly, but that wasn't something I was intentional about teaching him, but he knows it! And he's all about stopping at stop signs, and red means stop & green means go. and he has some of the best manners, saying Thank you, Please, Scuze me, and Bless you without being prompted!


He's still the rough & tumbly boy that he's always been, lately loving to play soccer with Daddy, and play baseball and catch. We're pretty sure he will be super excited to start playing 'team' sports as soon as possible - he already talks about it..."when I get older, I play soccer like Daddy!" He's all about sword fighting too, and has added in quite the fancy footwork at times! And yet for having no fear of anything physical, it's becoming more and more apparent that he's got quite the complicated little personality...he is fascinated & excited about all sorts of things, but when it comes down to actually doing it, there are times he will just fight & scream & refuse! For example, his class had individual school pictures this month - well, he loves taking pictures, but he would NOT sit for the picture. They told us he cried so much, there wasn't even a chance. This of course is fine, but it just perplexes me sometimes how he would happily jump off any height ledge, but refuses to sit for a picture...if only I understood his little brain!


We had a lovely Thanksgiving, spending the day at Grandma & Papa's house - we always have such a good time with the Palmer family! The food was delicious of course, and we love the company! Though we left earlier than planned - Drew was so torn between playing with cousin Luke & being absolutely exhausted & needing a nap, that we had to just go home & Drew & Noah both crashed immediately! I guess it took it out of them! Then Grandpa & Nana came for the rest of the weekend for a visit - helping set up the Christmas trees and Black Friday shopping!


We are excited about Christmas, and know it will be here before we know it!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

1/4 of a year already!





Yeah for fall and all it brings! We are loving the cooler weather here toward the end of the month, and happy to use the A/C less and less. I've spent quite a bit of time switching both boys to their respective fall weather clothes, but we are now prepared! Whew!


So Noah is 3 months old. When I asked Matthew what he would say about Noah in the last month, he quickly had only one thing to say - his smile! Yes, he started smiling last month, but now, we get them ALL the time & they are just precious! I forgot how much I loved the gummy/no teeth smile! It's just so sweet! And we are now able to catch it a little better on camera - this makes me so happy! I love to think it will be remembered and shared! He absolutely loves 'face time' - when you spend time with him face to face you can just see it in his eyes that he's saying 'This is the best part of my day!' And when I stop what I'm doing, and sit down to play with him, I forget about my to do list, and it's the best part of my day too! To add to the fun, he's starting to 'talk' more - lots of cute coos and sweet noises - such an innocent, precious sound!


Noah is starting to open his hands some more now, instead of just keeping them clenched close all the time. He loves to suck on them, and has even found his thumb a few times - he tends to prefer the right over the left - opposite of Drew. He is also very slobbery - even getting a bit of a 'rash' under his mouth because it's impossible to keep it dry. He's an expert at spitting up and getting it on places you wouldn't think of - he'll somehow find the smallest little gap to let it drip down your entire shirt and or pant leg, not finding it until later...needless to say, I spend my days in cotton clothes that are easily washed! He is also starting to move and play a bit more, 'batting' at toys, kicking his legs, and rolling from his back onto his side. He does NOT like tummy time, so we are making slow progress there...but it will come.


Noah's sleeping is getting much better...his naps are overall much better, settling down in just a few minutes usually. The late evening nap is still hit or miss - I'm looking forward to it being over all together really. But his nights are awesome! There are lots of nights where he sleeps 10-12 hours! Aaahhh! On the nights he doesn't, he usually wakes up between 2-4am and goes easily back to sleep after nursing. We are SO thankful for this, no doubt! His growth check did show a bit of a drop in percentiles - without discussing it with the doctor, we are blaming it on the fact he's sleeping so long at night - not what's expected at this age...that might not be all that's going on, but he continues to grow, and seems perfectly healthy, so we'll be happy with that! We'll see if the doctor agrees in a month for his next visit or if we'll need to up his feedings or something. He currently eats about every 2.5 hours during the day. But, all that to say, his weight is 12 lb. (25%), length 25 in. (80%), and head circumference 40.5 cm (33%).


Now onto Drew...he is loving being a big brother still! He just loves doting on his little brother, and puffs up a little bit when we talk about how he's the big brother and is supposed to protect Noah! He calls him "My Noah" quite a bit, and can spell his name, kind of, "O-N-H"! He still struggles with sharing time with Mommy & Daddy, but we are working on it. We hear alot of "Come pay wif me!" Being 2, he's also going through a huge "NO" phase, responding with no sometimes regardless of what's presented - not the most fun, but hopefully it will pass soon too.


We are enjoying more outside time and more and more games. Drew loves playing soccer with his Daddy. He gets all excited when he sees Daddy getting ready for his soccer games, saying "I play socca wif Daddy!" And Daddy loves it too! We are looking forward to soon being able to take the boys to watch a game hopefully. Drew is also starting to really like playing baseball, especially hitting the ball. His hitting facial expression is just hilarious - so serious and menacing! It cracks me up what he comes up with on his own!


A funny little thing he's started doing lately is telling us "Everybody dance!" when he starts playing music or beating on a drum or singing! He's also caught us off guard with some of his responses to our conversations or questions, or just what he instigates on his own...these are hard to re-invent in paragraph form, losing the tone that comes along with it, but we are enjoying it, often ending in lots of laughter for us all! The more he gets more imaginative, the more fun we are having. Though one adverse reaction to this is it seems his nightmares are becoming a little more frequent, causing some frequent interrupted nights and a very sad and upset Drew. It seems we may be over the worst of it, at least we hope so, but it was certainly not something we were expecting - being more tired from Drew's waking up than Noah's at this point!


In true 2 year old spirit, he's also very adamant about becoming more independent, and joining in on everything that is going on...sometimes it's nice, sometimes it seems to 'get in the way', but overall, a very fun stage of him learning and exploring!



A few special treats this month included a visit from the Seller family - Drew of course had a blast with Jake, and Jake did a great job playing with Drew!


That same weekend, we also got to go to the Benbrook Cowboy Roundup...a small little fair, but we had fun checking out the miniature horses (though wouldn't get too close!) and liked watching the Folklorico dancers!