A New Year...

Well, there's no doubt every year brings about some changes, challenges, and surprises to our lives, but I imagine this year has more in store for us than we can imagine...bringing up 2 little red-headed boys is no walk in the park, but it is certainly worth the ride!


We had a wonderful December, with lots of excitement and chaos of getting ready for Christmas, but we truly enjoyed it. There's nothing like anticipating the excitement of your children for Christmas, and telling them the story of Jesus...knowing it's new & fresh to them somehow makes it go a little deeper in your own heart, seeing it through their eyes some instead of thinking I've heard and know this story...what an unexpected blessing! I went through the Jesse Tree for the first time this year with Drew. And while his attention span was about 1-2 minutes, it was still fun to know that it was the beginning of a new family tradition. And, he 'got' some of the things I talked with him about, so that was great too. Noah was just happy to sit in our presence and hear us talking! :) We also got the boys a felt Advent calendar where the daily pieces were characters in the story of Jesus' birth - Drew really enjoyed this, so I was happy about that - a bit of a simpler concept, but a cool way to talk about the story more. He played with his 'Little People' nativity set almost every day, so that was also fun, though he still is not 'filled with the Spirit' in that one day we were playing and I asked if I could play with Jesus, and he screamed "NO! That MY Baby Jesus!" Ok, so not so great at sharing the gospel with others yet! HA! He also loved all the Christmas decorations, especially the plush animals that dance & sing - we heard those alot! And he was surprisingly good about not messing with the ornaments or the tree too much - what a difference a year makes! Noah loved being near the tree & just gazing at the lights - he was mesmerized! He was pretty content to be laid under the tree & just look up into the lights - I'm kind of sad that easy entertainment is no longer available! :)


Drew continues to entertain us with some of his conversations or responses to things. A few favorites from this month are, we are hearing lots of: Buuut; Sooo; Weell...at the beginning of his sentences, with the wrong meaning of course, but these are apparently heard from us quite often! One day at school he woke up from his nap because of a bad dream and was pretty upset about it - when asked what the dream was about, he simply stated "Jesus & soccer"! Not sure how that can be so bad, but I guess we weren't there! He didn't want to go to the nursery one day while I went to Biblestudy...when I asked him why he didn't want to go, he said it was because he had an allergy! What?! I have no idea where that came from!


Drew is starting to show more imagination, coming up with his own stories and role-playing while playing with dinosaurs and animals and Legos - we are just thrilled - what a fun time this will be! He continues to hate getting his haircut - often ending up in Daddy's lap & hair all over the place! We can't wait for him to get over this! He refused his picture with Santa, despite being excited all the way up to the point we were walking up to see him. And Drew fell asleep in the middle of church in Daddy's arms - this is quite unbelievable - Drew is just not that kid that falls asleep anywhere. But there he was, snoring quite loudly, all the way through the Cantata (a yearly service that is purely music with a orchestra, etc. - it's quite good & quite loud!) How he fell asleep amongst all that, we'll never understand! Oh, and his school had a little Christmas program for the 18 months and older kids. Drew's class was last and they walked in with their teachers, helping push in the cart with Jesus' Birthday cake - Drew's smile couldn't have been any bigger! They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and then we all got to eat the cake. It was adorable!


Mommy & Daddy are very tired from this month due to both boys causing us to lose sleep...that and we just can't seem to get to bed early enough to make up for it. Drew is waking up even earlier, sometimes at 5AM, and will not go back to sleep, despite every effort on our part, except for just leaving him in his room to scream...but it may have to come to that if it doesn't stop soon! He is also going through a phase of being scared of everything at night, making bedtime exhausting for us, and he will wake up quite a bit in the early hours from a bad dream, etc. - there are 8 night lights in his room for when he needs it! It's just crazy and we don't know how to make it stop! Noah is still good about going to sleep on his own, but the length of time between feedings at night seems to be getting shorter...the opposite of what I've been looking forward to! For the most part, he's still only waking up once in the middle of the night, but it's smack dab in the middle of my night, so my sleep is very disrupted. And there are nights of course where he is waking up more than that...oh, to not be sleep-deprived again!


Noah is getting stronger & stronger, rolling onto his side lots and bringing more and more things to his mouth, including his own feet! He's at the beginning stages of seeing something not to far off and trying to actually move to get to it himself - since he's not real mobile yet, he's often not too successful obviously, but we are excited that his motivation is there, meaning the movement isn't too far behind. And his reaching skills are much improved - going after toys in his activity gym or bouncer all the time. He did (finally, if you ask me) roll over from his stomach to his back - he's not a fan at all of tummy time really, but the PT in me forces it on him, and Christmas day at Nana's house, he rolled over for the first time! YEAH!


He is for sure aware of who Mommy & Daddy are, as well as Drew - lighting up when he sees us - which of course makes us light up in return! He's awful cute about it sometimes - seeing us & smiling real big, and then turning away as if to be shy or bashful about it, but then turning back to smile at us again - just adorable! He is so giggly & ticklish too - probably my favorite thing to do with him still is just tickle and kiss him til he laughs!


Noah is just a great baby - but even better in public than at home! He is not the easy-going 2nd child that is just content to play by himself - he likes to be around us and will let us know if he needs more attention. But in public, he is almost always so good - happy, quiet & content - very easy going! When it's close to nap time, he'll get a little antsy, etc., but it is usually pretty tame & easy to make him happy,. Even if he ends up missing the nap (which we don't like to do very often of course) he's usually pretty cool with it all!


He ended up getting his right eye tear duct probed this past month - the pediatrician noticed his eyelid wasn't opening as much as the left & wanted us to go ahead and see the eye specialist just to make sure. He thought it was due to inflammation from the plugged duct, and though he was a little on the young side, since Drew had a bad one, he went ahead and thought it was a good idea. It went just like it did with Drew - a short bit of VERY intense crying, but recovered almost immediately and then zonked out in the car! The eye cleared up within a day or two and now all is good! YEAH!


We did start feeding Noah cereal just at the end of the month. He wasn't too sure about it, and if you saw the stuff, you wouldn't be either, but for the most part, he did pretty good. So, the process of solid food begins...fun & exciting & alot more work involved than just nursing, but a very good thing. Drew was very excited to see Noah eating food - so much so that right after Noah ate, we were getting ready for dinner & Drew had snagged a waffle (that coincidentally had been dyed green for Christmas tree waffles) out of the fridge and was munching on it...when we both looked over to find Drew trying to feed it to Noah! Right...something else we'll have to watch for this time around! :) Oh, the fun we have with our boys!!!

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!

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!