November

I try really, really hard to write these before the next big event happens in our lives.  At the very least once a month, I try to get their pictures up and the sweet memories jotted down.  As I right this, we are well past November and even past Christmas.  But I will still try to do the posts one at a time, just so I don't overwhelm us all!

This is one of Brayden's photos that I had to share.

The boys had fun playing in the leaves again this year, but they had to wait quite a while to do it.

We just couldn't quite seem to get a pile together for them! 

And then it was C.O.L.D. without snow.

Which was nice if you were waiting to play in the leaves!

Jack decided his toast or bread or sandwich was a dinosaur

whenever we had them.  It was always fun to watch him roar and move his 

lunch around like a t-rex. 

As soon as I took this picture, I immediately thought "oh my gosh, they look like teenagers".

Little did I know what kind of foreshadowing this was.

They have been acting like teenagers, too!

Brayden has been saying things to me like "let's talk about this...how about we watch Dragon Movie?  Everyone LIKES dragon movie."

And Jack.  Jack says unbelievable things for a two year old.

  Like, "What da heck!" and "that'd be pretty cool".

He thinks it is so funny to pull my maternity/yoga pants down and try to see my "butt cheeks".

He laughs like a little maniac.

I am just grateful he stopped poking me in the butt with a screwdriver when he does it!

When we are teasing, we ask either of them if they want a poop sandwich, 

and now Jack asks in his sweet, baby voice..."Do you want a poop sandwich?"

Which is irresistibly funny to the rest of us.

They love their daddy and can't get close enough to him when he is home.

This was the beginning of the piles.

Now they make piles that include every blanket in the house, plus all of the toys.

The good news is though...they put them all away when they are done!

It might help that I hold lunch/dinner/snack hostage until they are put away, but still.

We catch Jack trying to sneak into bed with his "brudder" all of the time.

He wants to "kiss brudder".

Or, if we need to seperate them so they actually sleep,

Jack has been known to say  "I want to sweep wiff my friend!  My brudder!"

When Brayden does big boy stuff, Jack doesn't seem to know what to do without him.

He celebrates Brayden's return like he is a hero and has been gone for months.

Brayden tolerates this pretty well.  :)

When Jack wakes up in the morning, he heads for our bedroom, to snuggle and sleep a little bit more.  He gets as close to me as humanly possible, with his little arms and legs pressed into my back if I am facing the wrong way.  Then he says "Mama, can we get closer?"  I tell him No, that is not possible, but do you want me to hold you?  He always says yes, so I roll over and wrap one arm underneath his silky head, one arm over the top of him and then curl my legs up so they are touching his feet.  Then he is happy and we usually fall back to sleep.  He loves to snuggle and always wants to be touching when we read books (as long as he can be independent and free any other moment of the day).

For our little baby's second birthday (the last birthday where he will be our little baby),

 we celebrated it with his favorites:  tractors and trucks.

I am pretty sure he was thrilled.  :)

I will do anything to hear that little maniac's giggle.

It is about the sweetest sound on the planet, so it was a fun day.

He enjoyed being the center of attention and all of the gifts.

His big blue eyes were lit up all day and

he was so excited for his party.

He was so happy to see his favorite book character, "The Little Blue Truck"

on top of his birthday cake.

At two years old, he is very loving and sweet.  He is quick to share and say "I sorry!", smitten with his brother and sweet as gold to Grizzly.

I love to hear him say "merry Christmas" talk about his Bible and say the word "salad".

He still shouts "AMEN!" when we pray before dinner.

His tough as nails sweet little self is terrified of the dark and monsters,

but he thinks nothing of any physical feat and throws himself around like nothing could hurt him.

Except when something actually does (two fat lips on one week!) and then he cries his poor heart out (why would anything ever hurt him like that???) until he feels better and says "I no cry anymore mama!" and he runs off to finish playing.

He has to learn everything the hardest possible way, and is so rough with his little self.

But his heart is broken if he breaks something or hurts someone.

His little heart completely breaks into pieces when he gets into trouble and we always,

always hear "I sorry!".  

He is impossible to be angry with.

We are so grateful to be this rambunctious, loves to be naked,

wild, sweet little man's parents.

Photo courtesy of the proud big brother.  :)