New Skills At Our House

 Brahm is catching on quick.  Here he is posing for his senior pictures.  (What he doesn't know is that those are still 17 1/2 years away!)

 He is learning to play with others, too.  Especially when they just lay there like he does!

Ah yes, and sleep. He is doing very well sleeping for naps and at night...last night he slept 9 1/2 hours in a row!  Hip hip hooray!   I think part of that success is because he found his thumb a week or two ago...and now, he can pacify himself right back to sleep.......ahhh.  Love those thumbs!

Today is...

BATMAN DAY!!!

Catching Up

I am FINALLY finished blogging about December!  We had so much going on...and blogging was NOT at the top of my list...so here I am in January finishing up.  But IF you'd like to read about our Christmas, you can find them here:

Christmas Programs

Our Small Group Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Christmas Eve 

Christmas Day

Christmas with the Johnsons

Christmas with the Smith's and Hooton's

Here's to a slower January!  :-)

outnumbered

Our boys are sure tight.  Soon they'll have their own secret language...one that involves only burping and..., well, other noises.  

(Oh wait....they're already doing that!)

Brahm is in on the action, too, as evidenced by this video.  This is Brahm to a T!  Smiles and talking, spit-up, and other (ahem) noises.  

Lily and I are gonna have to stick together.  

Brahm--2 months

Brahm is two months old!  I love to see the changes that occur in the weeks following their birth...(especially the ones involving me sleeping longer...) 

Brahm continues to capture MUCH attention throughout his day--whether he's being held, carefully watched, or talked to.  And having lots of family around over Christmas certainly added to that!  We were so thankful that Joel's family was able to come and meet him.

At two months, Brahm:

*REALLY tries to talk to us.  He moves his mouth and sticks out his tongue in an attempt to voice his opinion.  And we eat it up!  He also smiles so easily, too--during his awake time, it's hard to pull myself away from those cute grins!!!

*has a definite best friend.  He and any ceiling fan hit it off immediately.  In fact, that's how he stays entertained while I get ready in the morning--he talks to the fan in our room!

*eats every 3 hours, almost on the dot.

*is completely unpredictable with sleeping.  (My mom was right--3rd children throw everything off!) ;-)  He HAS slept 7 hours at a time....but also can still wake up every 4 some nights, so we just don't know what to expect.  But thankfully, he continues to go right back to sleep.  (And the grunting has finally *almost* stopped!)

*is getting really good at taking naps.  His first 3 naps of the day are usually nice and long...and then his late-afternoon/evening hours are spent being more awake.  He sits in his swing or on his boppy a lot...and is usually entertained well there.

*is still getting mixed comments on who he looks like.  At first glance, he definitely resembles Oliver--but so many of his features are similar to Lily, as well.  He might just be a perfect mix of both!

We have his two-month appointment this week, so I'll be curious to see how much he weighs, too.  He's definitely filling out and getting those cute chunky legs and arms!

Lily's New Bike

Lily got some really fun gifts for her birthday--she is so into girly stuff right now!  Barbies, kitchen stuff, clothes, snacks...she loves it all!  When my sister called to find out what she got for her birthday, Lily answered, "pink cupcakes".  Of course, the food was the main attraction.  

But the BIG gift she got from Joel's family was a new big girl bike.  She LOVES it! She wakes up and (when its still dark out) asks to go outside to ride!  Thankfully, we've had a super warm week and had plenty of time to practice:

And...we finished out her official birthday day yesterday with a visit to Norm's with her little friend, Luke.  She dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake (well, the best she could!) and ordered a strawberry smoothie! 

Happy Birthday, Lily Mae!

Lily turns 3 today!  How fast these years have gone!  

We love our little girl SO much--she is spunky and sweet, helpful, kind and fiercely independent.  

 

We called her our little "hurricane" when she was one and would go from item to item, causing destruction and chaos wherever she went.  We're still seeing that two years later!  She doesn't sit for more than a few minutes--but rather jumps from toy to toy playing with everything! 

Lily loves to play with babies:  feeding them, singing to them, reading to them, and putting them to bed in her new cradle from Grandma and Grandpa J.   She also will frequently go to Walmart or Walgreens with her shopping bags, and spends lots of time playing in her play kitchen.

She loves having dance parties in her ballerina clothes, and will almost always have music playing...VERY loudly.  (She's known for turning on the CD player, and then going to play somewhere else, leaving us to listen to her music.)  She especially loves "rockin' music", and one time played the entire "Newsboys  Going Public" CD. 

She loves her brother, but knows JUST how to bug him.  When they're getting along, they play so well--creating rocket ships, playing mommy and daddy, or building with legos.  

Lily is incredibly observant, noticing exactly how Joel takes medicine, exactly how I get ready in the morning, and will often tell us just how to have our hands on the steering wheel to drive "both on top".  She doesn't miss a thing.  

 

We are so thankful for her--she brings such joy and laughter, silliness and sweetness to our family.  We pray that we have many more beautiful years with her--and that she'll grow to love the Lord and others in her very "Lily" way.

December {Christmas with the Hootons and Smith's}

The last week of December was spent celebrating and hanging out with Joel's oldest sister and her family, and Joel's parents.  We had a house-full--but it was SO much fun!  And with the beautiful weather we had, it made it a perfect week.  

 (You'll notice Ollie is stocked up on Cubs gear for the year!)

 Lily and her new (but vintage!) cabbage patch doll.  His name?  Zach.

 And Lily's early 3rd birthday party with lots of family! It was a Strawberry Shortcake themed party...

 Clara and Abi were a huge help and decorated these cupcakes for me!