This and That

A few random pictures of what we’ve been up to lately:

Our first BOY cousin was born a couple weeks ago, on March 14. We all headed down to Salem to meet baby Edmund. Here are some pictures I took of our cute and chubby new family member:

Look at those arm rolls!

Seth and Sam loved meeting him and cried when it was time to leave. It made Ben and I very excited to have a newborn again in the fall!

I’ve been progressively feeling less nauseous and having more energy—which means I can finally do fun things with the boys again! One Saturday morning we made gluten free brownies together. I sure miss baking with all this food allergy stuff!

While I was tired and sick during that first trimester, I would frequently zone out on pinterest. Now I am actually doing some of the pins around the house and with the boys. This particular pin I’ve been wanting to do with Sam and Seth for a long time; not only is it crafty, but also great for them to learn the days of creation. Now that they are on the wall, it is easy to review with the boys what God made on each day. (A word to any mom that’s thinking about doing this craft with 3.5 year olds: maybe split the activity into 2 different days. By days 6 and 7 we were all getting a bit antsy of doing the art project). (pin here: http://pinterest.com/pin/502573639636502143/) Seth still struggling with that picture smile Sammy

(Seth, Sam) This was such an easy and fun craft. I just put a color dab on the start of each line so the boys would know what color to paint. These look beautiful up on our wall! (found here: http://pinterest.com/pin/502573639636905909/)

Much to my joy (and I’m sure my neighbors too), I finally took down m Christmas wreath at the end of February. Last week I made this one to replace it. Inspired by this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/502573639636886218/

Very springy indeed

And now for one final (and hilarious!) picture of Seth and Sam. It’s from this morning, and while you may think they are dressing up like old, blind people—nope. They are “soldiers.” As we’ve been reading books about Easter and the soldiers arresting Jesus, they’ve really picked up on the soldiers part. When I delicately tried to tell them that pretending to be the soldiers that killed Jesus might not be the best role to play, they very matter-of-factly told me that they were “good soldiers that were gonna cut the soldiers that were hurting Jesus.” Ok. Sounds good boys. Glad that you’re the good guys. Sam, Seth (this is their mean soldier look)

Oh The Things They Say

(I’m pretty behind on reporting S & S’s funny phrases, so don’t be alarmed that some are from Christmas time.)

-While on a walk as a family, somehow the subject came up that Sam’s real name is “Samuel.” “I not Samuel,” he says. We explained, “You are, buddy. That’s your full name. Your name is Samuel David.” “NO! I NOT Samuel,” Sam said, getting quite concerned. I’m still not sure if he believes us that Samuel is his real name.

-While pretending to hunt, the boys showed how many times they’ve heard Ben and Nate’s latest elk hunting story. “Is this fence private?” Seth asked Sam, pointing to the couch. (Basically Nathan shot his elk right before it jumped into private land.)

-I got the kids their play Nativity set out just hours before we went out to eat at PF Changs. I had shown them who Mary, Joseph, the Wisemen and the Shepards were.  If you’ve ever been to PF Changs, you can picture the large stone statues that are decorations there—they are warriors in armor. They boys wanted to know which statue was Mary and which one was Joseph.

-Seth, talking as the sheep in the nativity, said, “I’m Nicholas Batum.” (For you non Blazer fans out there, it’s a Blazer basketball player. Apparently we’ve been watching a lot of Blazers lately).

-As I was putting on make-up, Seth came in and was asked what I was doing; “I’m putting on make-up so that I can look pretty for daddy.” Seth’s reply, “I want you to look pretty for me too.” And then he ran into the living room and told Sam, “Mom’s gonna look pretty for ALL of us.”

-Seth: “Kanga (referring to me) can I crawl in your pouch?” (Because he’s “Roo” and wanted to snuggle.) Oh how it warmed my heart!

-This is a conversation that most dads probably haven’t had with their boys: “Dad! Dad!” as Sam runs to him naked right after taking a bath, “What color are your underwear?” "Um, maybe blue,” Ben replies. “Well you should check,” Sam says. Seth chimes in, “Yeah Dad, you need to check”. Ben confirms they’re blue and Sam yells out, “Yah! They’re blue!!!” and runs to his room to pick out his blue undies. Yes, our boys want to have even the same underwear color as their daddy on.

-One afternoon while the boys and I were running errands together, we ran into some road construction. We actually had quite a fun time watching all the equipment as we were stopped, and I explained to them that they were building another lane because there are too many people in the area for just a two lane road. When Ben arrived home that night, I was prompting Seth and Sam to tell him what we saw. Seth told Ben, “They’re adding another lane to the road cause God made more people!”

-Sammy: “You can only see Thunders’ head. It dark blue.” (I got the biggest kick out this…what else is a kid supposed to think when he show them thunder head clouds?)

-After I finished praying the other night at the dinner table, Sam immediately said, “Wait…you didn’t say thank you for baby!”

-I heard the boys in the other room talking about their daddy’s age (a frequent conversation). “Then he’ll be 32, and mommy will be 31…” I was only half listening until I heard, “And then he’ll be 37. And then he’ll die.” Where they got that idea, I’ll never know!

-Sam asks Seth, “How do we play the bouncy ball game?” Seth’s reply, “Whoever gets the most bounces, he gets to be the handsomest.”

Ben spiked their hair this weekend—this is actually a good picture of both of them! Seth, Sam Crazy pictures Silly boys!

Dirt Pile!

This may be one of Sam and Seth’s dirtiest days ever, thus making it one of their most fun days ever. You should have seen the bath water!

Sam, Seth

The boys then decided that they should take off their socks because they were getting dirty… Gross. I’m still trying to decide how to clean out the inside of the boots… Look at the dirt sock line Somehow Seth thought that the top of the dirt pile was the best place to take off his boots? Sam’s beautiful blues

Cutest little dirty boys in undies ever! (Sam, Seth)

The BIG announcement!

Seth and Sammy are going to be big brothers! Just one baby this time, due September 8. We are all so thrilled!

After two years of trying for another child, we found out we were pregnant on New Year’s Day. How’s that for an exciting way to start your year and have your prayers answered? It was so fun to tell family and close friends that we were finally pregnant, as so many of them had joined us in prayer for this little one for so long. But our favorite people to tell were Seth and Sam. I really wanted another child for many reasons, but one of the most prominent was that I wanted them to get to be big brothers. They are SO excited and talk about “our baby” a lot. Sam wears his big brother shirt almost every day. They talk about what they will do with baby, or what they will teach them. Initially Sam wanted a boy (“because then he can wrestle with daddy), and Seth a girl. Now they’ve switched. Ben and I are pulling for a girl.

I’m currently 13 weeks along and starting to enjoy life a bit more. It is amazing how quickly we mom’s forget the misery of the first trimester! This time around mine was exacerbated by food allergies…meaning that most restaurants and convenience foods are unavailable to us. But, thanks to a wonderful husband and flexible kids, no one starved and we’ve made it through! Cravings have included PF Changs and Subway (both have great gluten free options), Honey Chex Cereal, bananas, rice cakes, and carrots. I haven’t been able to cook meat, but somehow have been able to boil leftover rotisserie chicken bones and make spicy cilantro chicken soup from it—another craving (weird, I know!) Every day I put the boys down for a “rest” where they play quietly together in their room for an hour or two, and I take a nap; every day, I sleep for exactly half an hour. It’s very bizarre. My stomach, thanks to being nice and stretched out, popped out quite quickly. I started feeling baby moving sometime last week…it was quite magical.

So now this blog isn’t just a twin blog, but a twin and baby blog. We’re blessed, thrilled, and so thankful.

February

Here we are: the last day of February and I’ve been a pathetic blogger this month and taken very few pictures (AND I didn’t even finish this on the last day of February, sigh). Not that I haven’t written an update on the boys about ten times in my head. Here’s my attempt to put some of those memories into words:

-If I would have written this update last month, I would have focused on how bossy Sam has become. However, since it’s a month later, I’ll write on how bossy Seth is. Yep, they did a complete switch in a span of a month. So let’s just say whoever is “the boss” of the month spends their days making sure their brother is in line. Nothing is built without “the bosses” approval and the “the boss” loves to tattle to mommy whenever “the understudy” is doing something out of line. In January, Sam seemed much more aggressive; February, Seth is having a hard time keeping his hands off Sam.

-It is so fascinating parenting two boys of exactly the same intellect level. Their rhetoric and arguments with one another are exactly the same—no one has an advantage. I find I’m spending a lot of my words saying things like: “Mind your own business,” “You can’t control what he’s doing, but you can control your own body,” “That’s his choice.” But having them be at the same level has a lot of positive aspects as well; they are the closest of buds. Their humor is exactly the same, so they laugh A LOT. Daily while they are at rest, I enter their room to find them sitting side by side reading to one another. So special!

-After watching a couple of Uncle Levi’s basketball tournaments this past month, Seth and Sam are spending lots of time playing basketball. Sam is obsessed with learning to dribble and is getting pretty good for his age. Seth loves to dunk it hard. They love fouling, getting fouled and shooting free throws.

-They are starting to be a bit less shy, meaning that they warm up to extended family members quicker than they used to. Seth has even said, “Hey,” to a couple of people walking by (a first for them!)

-They have been struggling with fear lately, which is very sad to watch as a parent. Sam struggles especially and doesn’t like to venture into the back of the house by himself at night. Most of the time, Seth will go with him and help him to be brave as they put their “binoculars" (their fingers around their eyes) and look for monsters (all their idea). Along with fear has came bad dreams and waking up in the night. Yuck.

-One of Seth and Sam’s best traits is that they are VERY helpful. I’m so thankful for their willingness to help! Ben has been having them help him unload and load the dishwasher after dinner and they LOVE it. When I do yard work, they are right by my side raking, pulling weeds, and digging.

-They still are asking thousands of questions every day. Especially Sam. Oh so many questions.

-Seth is good for one at least one special snuggle a day. I love it.

-I started going through a couple preschool workbooks with them last week. They LOVED it and would have blown through the entire book in one sitting if I would have let them. It was very fascinating for me to watch them exhibit very different learning styles. Sam’s tougher to teach initially; he quickly gets frustrated and will cry if doesn’t understand. However, he’s SO determined that once he learns something, he will obsess about perfecting it. Seth is a quieter and more steady learner. While Sam will blow through pages in a workbook somewhat sloppily, Seth doesn’t worry about speed and traces those lines perfectly.

Sam set up this “drum set” all by himself. Check out the cowboy hat on the vacuum: it’s a cymbal!  Sam keeps asking me when we’re gonna get a real drum set. I tell him to ask his daddy. I made Seth pose for me this day because he was “camo man.” Unfortunately his cheesy smile has not improved.

-The boys and I spent a few hours at the zoo this week (I love having a zoo pass!). It was a slightly rainy day, but those days are perfect for us. There are plenty of inside exhibits to spend our time at, and not many people brave the zoo on rainy days, so Sam and Seth have the run of the place.

The polar bear cave (Seth, Sam) Watching the Chimps (Seth, Sam) Baby elephant Lily was lots of fun to watch! Sam and the red tree frog The giraffes were walking back and forth—I was in awe of watching their long limbs work! “Mama, what’s that giraffe doing to the other one?” My reply, “I think it’s a mama giraffe prodding her kid along…like I do to you!”

Sunny Winter Day

We woke up Saturday morning to SUNSHINE and very mild weather. So like any true Pacific Northwest residents who have been stuck inside all winter because of rain, we headed outside and stayed there all day (well, at least Ben and the boys did!) In a true stroke of irony, exactly a week after we sold our truck, we decided we wanted a load of gravel to make a pathway to the new shed, so had to pay for delivery. However, there was a  perk of this $30—we had a dump truck come to our house and the boys got to watch! They then spend all afternoon scooping gravel with their daddy. Then we all took a walk to the park. It was so wonderful.

Seth, Sam

Poor Seth got stuck with the little shovel to begin with Sam boy looking like a little man Shovel upgrade for Seth The pathway to the awesome shed that Ben built

Such hard work deserves a trip to the park; Seth with Ben, Sam on right

 

Sammy, Seth   Such a good daddy. Such a great day. (Sam, Seth)