The boys sleep in bunk beds. They've never even tried to sleep in the same bed together before. So needless to say I was a little surprised when I went in their room to check on them at 4:00 in the morning and found this...

Makes me want to crawl in bed with them and snuggle, snuggle, snuggle.

you can't turn your back on this kid

I left the kitchen for 10 seconds...

baby on my head

This is a typical position for Reichen when he's watching tv. He will stay in this position much longer than I would like him to. I'm glad he's able to relax. I may need a chiropractor.

Reichen's first day of preschool

Reichen started Preschool today! I was really worried how he would do, since he melts down in the nursery at church. But he did absolutely great! He didn't shed a tear. I cried for an hour, but now I'm over it. Oh, and he has the same teachers that Avery had in 2 year old preschool, and they are my absolute favorites. I wish they could follow the boys the whole way through school.

The play by play of his day

The food was his favorite part... as always!

He stood at the door for about 30 seconds before crossing the threshold.

Felt like the longest 30 seconds of my life, since I wasn't sure if he was going to cry or not.

reichen sleeping

Sometimes Reichen sleeps like this... (in his highchair)

or sometimes like this... (in the front of a shopping cart)

or sometimes like this... (standing up, leaning over his crib)
in all of them he is OUT!

madras shorts

I've tried to take a picture of the boys in their matching madras shorts.  Of course they didn't cooperate, because they're boys and they're 1 and 4.  As much as I want to yell at the top of my lungs "JUST STAND STILL, LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND SMILE AT THE SAME TIME!", I know it wouldn't work and they would cry and run away.  So after deleting countless blurry photos and close-ups of Reichen's hand reaching for the camera, I'm left with Avery doing some sort of Indian dance move in one picture and in the other picture Avery is holding Reichen still with his hand on his head.  Not great pictures, but they catch the boys in true behavior.  Life with men....

can't see the forest for the teeth

I can't tell you how many times I've used the phrase "can't see the forest for the trees".  And chances are I'm referring to having a guy look for something (no specific guy of course).  Well, the other day I had a "guy" moment.  Reichen has been drooling all over the place.  I change his shirt about three times a day because it's just drenched.  His little chin and mouth stay red and chapped no matter how much vaseline or burt bee's pomegranate is put on him.  And his gum is bulging.  I didn't need my college degree (that I don't have) to figure out what was happening.  Tooth number five was FINALLY about to cut through.  It's been trying for what has seemed like forever.  So every day for the last couple of weeks I've been staring at the spot where tooth five is coming through.  I've even subjected my finger to being bit off by rubbing the spot to see if there's any progress of the  jagged dagger.  So this past Wednesday was no different.  Reichen was cracking himself up while he was eating, so being super smart I decided to take advantage of this situation to see if tooth five was in.  It was as if someone turned a floodlight on in his mouth, or perhaps my "guy" blinders had been removed.  Little did I know that this whole time I've been staring at tooth EIGHT!  Five, six, and seven were already out and about in the little guy's mouth chewing cheerios without my knowledge.  How could I have been so blind?  I have no idea.  Maybe I'm just really focused (on one spot).

another milestone

This afternoon Avery and Reichen were having "brother time" in their room.  This would also be known as mandatory play in your crib while your brother plays with his cars on the floor, so mamma can have a cup of coffee on the couch and watch FOX news time.  

Half way through my cup of creama dreama, Avery starts yelling for me to come in their room.  By his high level pitch and the urgency in his voice, I knew something "big" had happened.  In the 18 steps it took me to get to their room I had exhausted every scenario my wild imagination could come up with.  Did I forget to put up the side of the crib?  Reichen wasn't crying... but maybe he was knocked unconscious, or maybe it was going to be that cry that has no sound for 30 seconds because he has inhaled the entire room for what will be the siren of all cries.  But I hadn't heard a horrible thud, so it couldn't be that.  Did Avery give him one of his cars and Reichen was choking on it?  I don't think Avery would do that, he's been warned enough that he knows his hiney would be tanner than his mamma's if he did.  Maybe Reichen fell asleep in the midst of the airplanes taking off and landing in the middle of their room.  Couldn't be that, I haven't experienced those kind of miracles yet.  Two more steps and I'm in the room, cell phone at the ready in case I need to dial 911.

As I round the corner I see Avery standing in the middle of their room with one hand on his hip and one waving up and down at Reichen saying, "look what our baby did for the first time!"

He pulled himself up to a standing position all by himself.  

I guess it's time to take down the mobile in the crib.  

And I guess it's time for me to drink less coffee.

Merry Christmas!!

giraffe raffe flashback friday

Flashback Friday with giraffe raffe!  Avery was giraffe raffe for halloween when he was 14 months and this year Reichen was giraffe raffe at 8 months.  Reichen will find out the hard way that I enjoy putting my babies in their costumes at random times throughout the year.  So giraffe raffe will appear again, not sure if Reichen will be near as happy as he was this time.

our first trip to a pumpkin patch

Last Sunday I planned a little family outing to a pumpkin patch.  Now the first sign that this was a bad idea should have been the fact that I planned it.  See when I plan things (especially if my friend Megan is involved, but she actually wasn't this time) they tend to tank.  I don't know what the deal is.  None the less, I planned and we went, some reluctantly.  I talked it up big time on the way there... we'll be sitting on bales of hay, there's a bunch of farm animals that we can pet, pumpkins that we can pick out of the actual patch, and think of how cool you'll look in your orange shirts!  Turns out it's a hayless tractor ride, animals behind fences that aren't hungry and that you can't really pet, and pumpkins that are lined up on a board for you to "pick" from the patchless patch, and 50 other kids looking cool in their orange shirts!  Oh, and then there's the mother trying to take a picture of her 3 men that went over as well as usual (that mother would be me).  Reichen won't look at the camera, Avery won't look at the camera, and Wayne has his patience tried with the camera lady saying "one more time".  Next year I'm going to the pumpkin patch my friend Jana suggested.  And the boys will be forced to go because momma has planned.

beautiful weather and beautiful boys

It was 66 degrees outside so the boys and I headed out to play and enjoy the weather.  Thought I'd share the cute pictures I took before being attacked by the menacing mosquitoes.

Why does it take 20 of this first one to get one good picture?

Is he doing CPR?                           Reichen saying "Gnarly" with his hand

God works through poop... baby poop.

If the word poop offends you, don't read any further.

When Reichen was five weeks old I took him to see the doctor (who we think is the best pediatrician in the world).  I was taking him in because I thought his poop looked funny.  What can I say, I'm a first time mom with my second son as well.  Well, his poop was colorful but fine.  But God used his autumn poop for us to find out that he was very underweight.  We thought he looked skinny, but I guess because we saw him every minute of every day that we didn't realize just how skinny he was.  At two weeks Reichen was back at his birth weight which is normal.  But at five weeks he had only put on about 5 ounces which is a dangerously small amount (if babies don't put on the right amount of weight, it can affect their brain development among other things).  So we were sent to see a gastro specialist (who we think is the best gastro specialist in the world).  The goal was to get Reichen to double his birth weight at 6 months while still being able to breastfeed.  Each time we went to the specialist we saw improvements.  Last week was his 6 month checkup and let's just say the boy is a porker.  He has some pants that he should be able to wear, but can't because they won't go over his thunder thighs.  I guess he gets that from me too!  So what started out as a concern about the color of poop, ended up potentially saving our little guy's life.  

For the past four years God has used my boys to speak to me.  And of course this situation was no different.  And what could God possibly say?  I have spiritual poop.  Yes, spiritual poop.  God's Word goes in my body (or in this case spirit) as truth.  I chew on it, digest it, and God uses it to get rid of the toxins in my body ( or in this case spirit).  But to keep those toxins from coming back in, I need to be more observant of what they are.  It's easy just to flush, but maybe I should examine it first... and allow God to use it for something good.

Reichen at 6 weeks above.

Reichen at 6 months below.