{My Silly Boys}

It doesn't get much better than this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh how beautiful weather makes brotherhood that much better!



{The Fro}

I can't even begin to count how many times we get asked where Ben gets his curls.  We think it my be my mother's father (my grandfather), but we still aren't so sure.  No one really has this type of curly hair in our immediate family, so it is quite the conundrum.  But oh do I love his curls! 

I think I love how unexpected it is.  Since Chat and I are very similar in appearance, I sometimes thought I would just know how our children would turn out.  And then came Ben...our little curly haired surprise.  His curls didn't really start showing up until he was about a year old which I think is a bit unusual too.  But boy did they come and they have stayed so far.  We are taking him for haircut #2 tomorrow, so with each cut we will see how long these curls plan to hang around. 

When it is super humid outside, he gets tendrils, tiny little curls close to his head.  But other days, when it is dryer outside, they air out a bit and you can see how long his hair actually is. His hair just kind of poufs out on some days.  And we see "The Fro"...

It is too funny!  He has such different looks because of his hair.  Some days his hair looks 100% different than the above picture.  It is really remarkable that his hair does these things because Chat and I have such different hair.  I just look at this picture and cannot stop laughing.  He is too cute for words!

Benny boy is such a little nut right now and his hair matches his personality perfectly -- crazy, cute, unruly, wild, a mess, and just absolutely perfect.  Good thing he is cute because I would have certainly given him away recently with all of his crazy tantrums. Just kidding...I think we will keep him!

{Luke: 4 Years Old}

My sweet Luke has been four years old for over two weeks and has been loving it!  He tells everyone (and I mean everyone, even random people on the street) that he is four.  He is one proud big boy!  We made it to his four year check-up yesterday.  Here is what is going on with my buddy boy...

 

 

1.  Luke is 3'6.75" (92%) so he is still on the tall side.  He is the spitting image of his daddy.  He wears pretty much all 5T sizes for shorts, jeans and shirts now.  I feel like he will be in the big boy section at the stores soon.  I feel he outgrows his clothes so quickly.  

 

2.  He weighs 45 lbs 6.4 oz (96%) so even though he is super skinny, he is dense and his weight proves that.  He is a super picky eater, so he mainly lives off of pretzels, dried cherries and apples.  And Chick Fil A nuggets for a treat. And milk. The boy loves milk and wants it all the time. But I can tell it is a comfort thing because he has to drink it from a certain cup and has to have his blanket when he drinks it.  He loves sprite and gets it when we go out to eat sometimes if we need an incentive for him to stay in his seat. Don't tell him it is actually half water and it isn't quite supposed to taste like that. 

 

3.  Luke passed his vision and hearing test with flying colors!  He actually enjoyed telling the nurse the letters as she pointed them out and had a huge grin on his face as he raised his hand when he heard the beep through the head phones.  As his mother, I was beaming with pride.  I know it seems so small, but to see him take direction so well and do everything with pride and a smile makes me tear up.  He truly is becoming my big boy.

 

 

4.  We found out that Luke hates to have his blood pressure taken.  He put it on okay, but as it tightened up, he pretty much freaked out.  Like really freaked out.  So needless to say the reading we got was not accurate.  We tried again with no success so we decided to give him a little bit of time. Just talking about it minutes later brought him to tears, so he just isn't quite ready for everything.  And that is okay by me.

 

5.  He wears an 11.5/12 shoe and his foot is still wide as ever.  If it doesn't come in an extra wide, we aren't buying it.  Which saves me a ton of money!  We order one sneaker every couple of months and that is what he wears till he outgrows it.  The only other shoe he wears is a croc because nothing else fits him. So although I am sad that he really only wears two types of shoe, it is actually better because it would be one more thing to grow out of pretty quickly.  Oh and he still calls his New Balances his 'rescue shoes' (still not sure why) and his crocs his 'pool shoes' even though we rarely go to the pool. 

 

6.  Luke is currently learning to write his name and the sounds of the alphabet. He knows all his numbers and can count backwards. He works on cutting with scissors too.  He goes to school three days a week -- Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 to 2:00.  He loves school and gets so excited when we tell him it is a school day!  I ask him what his favorite part of school and it is always "the playground".  He loves to be active and outside.   

 

 

7.  I had Luke evaluated for his speech due to some articulation concerns.  Although we haven't gotten the full report, it may be that he doesn't need therapy after all.  The therapist thinks that most of the things he is struggling with are age appropriate and will work out over time.  She even said some of his articulation is better than a kindergartner's, so that was great to hear.  He did great at the evaluation too!  The therapist said Luke was very observant as he pointed things out in the pictures that no other child had ever pointed out in all her years of doing this.  She also mentioned that he was one energetic little boy!  Apparently due to his chattiness and the way he liked to run everywhere, I got this comment. Ha!

 

8.  Luke's favorite thing to do right now is either ride bikes, play chase or play hide and seek.  He has started to really like Play Doh too and also build forts.  And of course, my little social butterfly loves to be with his friends.  It is his favorite thing of all.  His best friend is still Connor and he tells me he loves Connor at least once a day.   

 

9.  He has started to finally color!  He has never really been in to sitting still and using crayons or markers, but the past few weeks, he has flourished.  His drawings are getting more detailed and a little bit more accurate.  We spend lots of time now at the kitchen table drawing houses and dinosaurs and other things that really don't look like much.  But he is loving it and so am I!

 

 

10.  Luke still loves trains, but I finally see the obsession slowing down.  He still likes to talk about trains a ton and always gravitates to them when we see them, but he plays with them significantly less at home.  It is nice to see him have other interests! 

 

11.  He hates band aids.  He will scream bloody murder if I even try to put a band aid on him. 

 

12.  Luke is such a good big brother.  He loves Ben and has done a much better job of including him.  Ben has turned into quite an instigator though and will go up and just hit Luke over and over.  Luke gets really upset when this happens.  He will hit back at times and always wants me to go over and "tell Ben the rules" or put him in time out.  We are working on not hitting back just because Ben hits him and using his words to get Ben to stop (which Ben totally doesn't so he doesn't really see the point - ahhhh!).  Most of the time, they play well and it is wonderful to see.  When they are in moods and not doing so well, cover your ears because you just hear screaming ALL DAY LONG.  With lots of tears.  Just now, I heard all this screaming and so I walked in and asked what the problem was.  I got "Ben was bothering me."  This is VERY typical.  Brothers will be brothers I guess. 

 

13.  He is such a sensitive guy.  If I get mad at him, he gets very upset and says sorry over and over again.  Then he will ask "Mommy, are you happy now?" and will even cup my chin in his hands.  He really does not like to disappoint anyone, especially me or Chat.  He gets very concerned if we are upset with him.  A lot of times when I am fussing at him, he starts to cry and will say something like "you aren't proud of me" or "I'm not a good boy".  I realized that I had to change the way I corrected or 'fussed' at him so the focus wouldn't turn to him being upset -- that we would still be talking about the behavior I wanted changed. 

 

 

14.  Luke is very polite!  He says please, thank you and excuse me with ease and often.  He is a kind little boy who enjoys being nice to others.  There is nothing more that I wanted for my children -- to be kind, show compassion and be honest.   

 

15.  He goes to Sunday school each Sunday with ease.  He still doesn't talk much about God and Jesus, but I think he is listening.  We try to say a prayer before dinner and if not then, I try to do it with him before bed.  It is hysterical what he comes up with to pray for!

 

16.  He is still playing soccer and starting to get more into it and just started back up with swim lessons.  And the best of all, we start T-Ball in just two weeks!!!  We are pumped.  Bring on the orange slices because this baseball mom is ready!

 

I could go on and on about the changes and developments in Luke, but I guess I have to stop somewhere.  He continues to make us so happy each and every day!  As with all kids, he has his hard days and can drive us crazy at times but four years old has been great for our guy.  I try to remember what Luke was like at 2 (ohmylanta was that tough!) and how far he has come in two years and what a difference it makes.  Especially when we have challenges with Ben and his terrible twos.  It is not the kid, it is the age :).  I can't believe another year has passed...

 

{Birthday Boy Luke!}

My first son turned four years old this past Monday!  What a surreal moment to realize what that day four years ago meant and how much it has changed my life.  I think everyday, no matter how challenging of a day it is, I am so lucky to be this guy's mommy. He truly is my buddy and my heart almost feels like it is going to burst with love for him. 

 

We started out the morning with candles on his cinnamon roll.  Last year we did donuts, but since then, the boy has showed his love of cinnamon rolls. Or twists for that matter.  But you can't really put candles on a twist very well, so we went with the roll.  And he was absolutely thrilled!  I don't think they ever get tired of getting sung to and getting to blow out candles...

 

 

Luke is one of the last of his friends to turn four.  He has been to all the birthday parties this season and celebrated all of his friends and hasn't quite understood why he wasn't four yet.  I feel like we have been counting down for months now.  Probably because we have.  He always seemed so disappointed when he would meet a little friend and they would proudly announce that they were four.  He would always respond, "I'm three. But I am going to be four in February!" I couldn't wait to tell him on Monday that he was FINALLY four!  The smile on his face was priceless.  He was one proud little guy and it literally choked me up.  All the presents and cake in the world did not match the feeling of finally being four for Luke. 

 

So after all the candles and talk of being four, he headed to school for the day!  We brought train cookies with Thomas napkins to celebrate his big day with his teachers and classmates.  He got his birthday crown from his teachers and had a wonderful day!

 

Oh that morning before we got to school, he asked me, "How do you do four on your fingers?".  I made sure he got it right and he was pretty much doing this all day...

 

 

 

 

After school, we gave him his present...a brand new big boy bike!  I actually wasn't sure how he would like this. When we got him his tricycle a few years back, it took him awhile to take to it, so I thought that might be the case with this new bike.  But oh nooooooo, he absolutely loves it.  And we have been on very long bike rides every day (except rainy days!) since Monday.  He can ride so fast and since we live on a little bit of a busy street, I don't feel comfortable with him riding by himself.  So I put my running shoes on and we are off.  It is exhausting!  Luckily, Chat finally got out his bike and will ride next to him.  I wasn't sure how I was going to keep up with him day after day!

 

 

He now requests to ride it everywhere.  We told him on Tuesday it was time to get in the car and go to dinner.  He asked, "Where are we going?".  Chat told him that it wasn't far.  His response?  "Well, then I can just ride my bike."  He loves it. 

Chat had to go to school that night of his birthday, so once he left, we went over to a friend's house for cupcakes and some playtime.  We are so lucky to have such thoughtful friends.  Then after that, we headed to Sissy and Uncle Day-Day's house!  My sister had her birthday the week before so we had a joint little celebration...

Okay, truth.  We actually ate the cake without Sissy!!  But we did have fun playing over there.  Molly decided to take the boys on a car ride!

I picked up chick-fil-a on the ride home and we all enjoyed some nuggets before bath time.  Luckily, Chat got to leave school a bit early so he was able to tuck our little birthday boy in that night.  I am very thankful for an understanding professor that realizes some things are still important even in graduate school. 

We decided not to do a big party for Luke this year.  After Christmas and hosting a big party for Ben, I really couldn't think about another big party at home.  And anything we wanted to do outside is so iffy in February.  You never know what kind of weather we are going to have.  So we decided to ask a few of his favorite little guy friends over to run around and eat pizza the week before his birthday (which totally confused him -- he still didn't get why we were singing Happy Birthday to him if he really wasn't four yet).  Even though we didn't do an official party, we still had to have a cake all decked out with Thomas!

He had a great time playing with his best buds and it was a low key event for us which I was thankful for.  Next year, I am sure we will do something with all his friends for the big FIVE! 

We did bring him to his annual breakfast at Avalon Diner, but not till Thursday.  With Chat's work schedule and school schedule, that was the only day we could do it.  So it was eggs, pancakes and bacon a few days late, but still delicious!  It is fun to have more than just one day to celebrate :).

Luke has grown so much in the past year.  He is such a sweet, kind little boy that still has lots of energy.  I am so thankful for him and know this year is going to be wonderful.  We don't head to the doctor for his yearly check-up till March, so I will back with stats then!



{My Loves: Valentine's Day 2014}

Happy Valentine's Day!  I am slightly running on fumes from a bit of a crazy week and Chat being out of town all week and at school.  But I sure am happy I have these little loves in my life...

 

Luke, I love how sweet and polite you have become.  You truly have a kind heart and it shows when you talk with us and how you play with your friends. 

Ben, I love your laugh.  You literally have the best laugh of anyone I know.  I could listen to it everyday for the rest of my life. 

Boys, I love how you play together.  You are true friends.  Sometimes enemies, but for the most part, sweet friends.   

Luke, I love how personable you are.  It doesn't matter where we are, you love to introduce yourself and ask all about the person you are speaking to.  

Ben, I love how spunky you are.  Even though at times you bring me to my knees, I love the spice you add to our family. You are the perfect dose of sweet and sassy all in one.  

Boys, I love how you are complete security for each other.  You feel safe when the other one is around.  I pray that you feel that way forever. 

 

Luke is having his class party today and was super excited about it!  I mean, what is better than school with Chick-Fil-A and cookies for lunch??  Ben got to spend the morning with me and then go to lunch with Chat and me.  He is obsessed with chocolate milk at the moment, so that is what he got and was in hog heaven.  It is beautiful weather today, so it truly feels like love is in the air :).

Here is Luke's valentines he made for his class.  He picked out the Thomas whistles (shocker!) and I found a printable via Pinterest to match it.  Yes, he wrote his name 22 times (over several days) and we were both over it by the time he was done.  That took A LOT of patience.  But it was great practice! 

And then there is my other Valentine...Chat.  I have never been more proud of him than this past year.  The sacrifices he is making for us are incredible.  Things aren't always perfect, but I know I have a partner for life.  And that makes life pretty darn sweet. 

{Dressing Up!}

This past weekend we sent the boys to their grandparents and Chat and I had a big night out!  We were invited to help buy a table with friends for a gala benefitting the parks at a nearby neighborhood. We were excited for the opportunity to get a bit dressed up!  Which is totally not our normal style, but so fun every now and then. 

 

My two wonderful friends and I headed to get our hair done at a blow dry bar.  It was so fun!  We were pampered and made to look beautiful, all while drinking champagne and enjoying each other's company.  What else could we need?!?

 

Yikes!  Not the most glamorous selfie. 

(Note to self...wear make-up in close up pictures.)

 

Champagne was delicious!

 

Oh, hello...

 

Chat brought the boys to a birthday party when I was getting dolled up.  He loved getting selfies from me during this time and really encouraged me to get a beehive.  Ha!  After the party he dropped the boys off at my parents and then met me at home to get dressed.  We took this selfie of the two of us before we headed out the door!

 

 

We then headed to my friend Katie's house for drinks before we headed to the big event.  We laughed because we all felt like it was prom in our 30's.  It was way fun!!  All we needed was a banister and all of us to line up for a picture.  No such luck :).

 

 

 

 

We all did a little toast before we headed out.  I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends to have fun nights like this as well as evenings with kids jumping around and all of us in work-out clothes.  Love our dear friends!

 

 

The night was fabulous but of course I am always happy to be back home.  It was after midnight before we got home and it was so strange to be in our house without the boys.  We rarely do that.  I missed them.  But I did enjoy not having to wake up in the middle of the night at all (ahem...we have been having issues again).  We got up the next morning by 7:45 or 8:00 and enjoyed just laying in bed for a bit.  I miss that!  We went and got the boys around 10:00 am and got them home.  They were piled on me within minutes and I loved it!  Chat took this picture of us.  I am looking a little tired, right?!?

 

 

Such a fun night to celebrate and benefit the parks that we spend so much time at.  But I am still trying to catch up on my sleep!

{Ben's First Haircut}

It was a bit impromptu, but Ben got his first professional haircut this weekend at almost 26 months old!  I brought both boys to get Luke a haircut but ended up getting both of them a haircut. Up until now, I trimmed Ben's hair. It is so curly that it isn't obvious when it needs a cut, so every now and then I would whip out the scissors when it got a bit unruly.  But as Luke was getting his cut, I noticed how shaggy and full Ben's hair was in the back.  So when they offered, we went for it!

 

 

Ben did great!  He got to have two lollipops and was a dream kid.  Sooooooo unlike his older brother who screamed and had to be pinned down for the first year of haircuts.  Ha!  I guess seeing Luke get a haircut month after month has paid off with my second child because he was a champ! 

Someone was feeling very ticklish when the trimmers came out!  He was giggling up a storm.  Love that smile...

 

 

And the best part?  His curls did not go away.  I wasn't too worried about it, but in the back of my mind as she started snipping away, I started wondering if he would lose a few.  But I think they are here to stay my friends! 

{Ben -- Sleep, Babies and Being a Little Brother}

January has come and gone and I realized I didn't document much of the everyday happenings.  Which makes me sad because I look at the blog so much when trying to remember Luke and Ben at certain ages.  So I am trying to think of what I want to remember during this time so I have it on record.  And what I came up with was Ben.  My sweet and crazy Ben has been going through some changes in the past few months.  And I want to remember what it is like raising a toddler when you have an older sibling.  It is quite different than the first go round...

 

 

1.  Sleep.  Starting in the fall, Ben started having trouble going to bed at night.  I did everything I could think of to try to help him -- read more books, sit by his crib and sing to him, let him cry and try to work it out himself.  I figure it was a phase and that within a few weeks, we would be back to normal sleep and all would be well.  But it is over four months later since that started, and we are at a very different place than I thought we would be. 

 

Ben has dropped his nap for the most part.  I am shocked by this because Luke dropped his nap at three years old, and I felt like he was one of the early ones.  So for Ben to be dropping his nap at just over two years old, I thought it just couldn't be.  I even talked to the pediatrician to make sure this was even safe and that it wasn't an indication of something going on (which she said it is ok).  If he gets any type of nap -- even 30 minutes -- Ben is up until 9:00 or 10:00 at night.  If he doesn't nap, it still takes him till about 8:00 or 8:30 to go to bed.  The boy just rarely acts tired. 

 

For awhile I would fight it and try to think of ways or reasons as to why this was going on.  But ever since I started accepting it and making this our new normal, it is getting much better.  Even with no nap, he needs the door open, the hall light on and even sometimes needs to be rocked to bed.  The silver lining is that he is his best self at night.  He is happy, sweet and sometimes downright silly.  Some of his most precious moments have been in the late hours of the night.  So I try to cherish those...trying to forget about what I thought was 'normal' for his age and realize this is Ben and that is okay too.  And that karma is real...I wasn't much of a sleeper myself as a child.    

 

 

2.  Being a little brother is hard and wonderful.  I struggle finding the words to describe the relationship between Ben and Luke. 

 

On one hand it is hard -- two boys very close in age.  There are lots of fights, competitions and struggles.  Ben has a hard time when he can't keep up with Luke.  Luke is at the age where he is experimenting with calling names, leaves him behind or plays games when his friends are around like pretending Ben is the 'monster' and run away. Ben gets his feelings hurt a lot.  I can see Luke say one small thing and Ben's little heart breaks in two.  I worry about his little heart often.  Luke struggles when I need to praise Ben.  When I tell Ben how proud I am of him, Luke will shy away and tell me with tears in his eyes, "You aren't proud of me".  I am proud of both of them.  If they only knew the size and depth of my heart.

 

 

On the other hand it is amazing -- two boys that are true playmates that have a remarkable connection.  There are times when they play together for an hour or two straight and I don't have to do one thing.  I get to sit and hear their giggles and their conversations.  I get to see Ben start crying because he hurt himself and Luke ask 'where does it hurt?' and then kiss Ben's toe.  It makes my heart feel like it is truly going to burst.  Ben is doing so much more than Luke did at his age because he has the best teacher -- his brother.  He has a constant role model and just wants Luke to love him and include him which Luke does often.  They are friends -- true friends -- and it makes the fights seem so small and insignificant.   

 

 

They need so much from me and usually at the same time.  But they also need so much from each other.  And that is becoming more and more the norm.  Never did I realize the impact a sibling would play on the second born when I got pregnant almost three years ago.  Sometimes I wonder how much of Ben's personality comes from being Luke's little brother.  I imagine a lot, but I just don't know where that line begins or ends.  So we forge ahead and try to make special times with Ben, so he knows how to be just Ben. 

 

3.  For the love of babies.  Ben loves babies.  Like really loves them.  I noticed he would play with baby dolls whenever we were at friend's houses that had girls.  He has to point out the mama and the baby in every book we read and always asks "Where is baby?" if a book doesn't have them in a pair.  And then my sister had her baby boy Jack.  Whenever we are with them, he immediately says "I hold em" when he sees Jack.  He will pat him with his chubby hand and look him over from head to toe with the sweetest smile.  He is sweet and so loving and incredibly gentle for being such a big toddler. I love watching him love Jack (and I think Jack is pretty fond of him too!).

I love that Ben gets the opportunity to be 'the big boy' around his cousin Jack.  Ben is always the youngest in our family -- his brother Luke and then Molly.  But with Jack, Ben gets to be the older one and I think that is so good for him. What an nurturing side he has.

4.  Remembering that Ben needs his own experiences.  Today I brought Ben to his first Little Gym class.  He is two years and 1 month old.  Luke was in music, Little Gym and swim by 12 months old.  Ben gets to experience all sorts of things that Luke didn't get to at his age due to having an older brother.  He gets to go to fabulous birthday parties and do gymnastics and bounce houses, he gets to go to the park all the time and soccer practice.  But he wasn't doing some of the one-on-one things with me that I did with Luke out of pure logistics.  But they are getting older, so that is changing! 

We started class today and he did well.  At first he did not like it -- he started bawling when we were just sitting in a circle introducing ourselves.  Cue mommy guilt!  Clearly he feels most secure when his big brother is around.  Which makes me happy on one hand.  But he also needs to feel good and confident on his own.  So I am so excited we are starting this new chapter.

I am also considering putting him in soccer starting in March.  He has watched from the sidelines for almost a year now, so I hope he is ready!  But I can't help laugh thinking of a coach with lots of two year olds running around.  How the heck is that going to work?!?!

Good gracious, I love my 40 pounder (yes, he is really 40 pounds)!  He is absolutely huge and the funniest little guy I know.  I seriously think he could have his own reality show. And I just love that spice added to our family. Two years old is quite a wild ride...

{Train Show 2014!}

There is nothing like seeing your child's eyes light up with joy. Well...I have never seen Luke's eyes as bright as they were when we took him to see the Train Show in Houston in January.  It was beyond amazing!   

 

We learned about it just a few days prior to it.  Thank goodness a good friend mentioned it so I looked it up.  Immediately I knew we were going.  And it did not disappoint!  Luke was in absolute heaven.  HEAVEN.  He was so amped up on adrenalin that he was in overload.  He wanted to see it all...all at the same time.  Chat and I were literally running after him to keep up with him as he looked at everything.  It truly was incredible to see him so excited and into it. Seriously, it was rows and rows and rows and rows of trains.  And the coolest model train set-ups.  For someone who really never even noticed trains before I had Luke, I was so impressed.  We truly had a wonderful time!

 

I loved seeing all the little boys (and let's be honest...all the grown men...who knew adult men were so into trains?!?!) walking up to the convention center in their Thomas shirts and conductor hats.  It was adorable!  The boys...not the men.  Ha!

 

Of course I can't get a picture of the two of them both looking at the camera.

 

 

Guess who was there?!?!?

 

THOMAS!

Luke was super excited...

 

 

Trains galore!

 

 

 

Ben had a great time as well!  He is into trains - maybe not as much as Luke - but he loves whatever Luke loves.  He did have an epic meltdown towards the end.  So we had to get some popcorn and sprite to solve that problem.  But then he did not want to share any of it.  So after pouting for a good 10 minutes while we all regained our strength on our snack, we handed the bag and bottle over.  He had a death grip on them, and death look I might add to anyone who considered taking it.  He held it the rest of the show.  Which bought us another hour of fun!

Ben doesn't believe in eating one at a time...

Too bad the show only comes to Houston every 5 to 10 years.  Luke is still talking about it and I wish we could bring him back a few times a year.  It really was that special for him and that special for us.