I have a new growth

I have growths coming off of my body lately and the Dr. calls them "Jake" and "Brock". These two will not leave me alone when they are awake. Kind of kidding, but not really. I love that they love me so much...but I am also looking forward to the day when they don't need to "hang" around all the time. Is that bad? I love them so much.

Wish me luck...me and my growths will be daddy-less this week. Joe heads off to the Rice mission trip in Baja, MX, so please keep them in your prayers. I so wish I could go, but we made the executive decision that because of the age that the boys are right now we do not need to be both heading off for a whole week at a time. Mimi and Sitte told us how sad and hard it was on them while were were gone at the end of last year for the wedding in MX and we don't think it would be best to do that to them again at this age. It is a MAJOR bummer for me, especially because a BUNCH of my favorite girls are going on the trip, but we know it is what is best for our family right now! I will be their number one prayer support!
We are so excited for the day when we can take the boys with us and serve as a family...but we have a ways to go to get there!

sitte + berger came to town

A couple of weeks ago Sitte and Berger were able to stop by on their way back to SA, and the boys really enjoyed some good play time. Joe and I took some pics and I wanted to post them here and say thanks so much for the sweet truck and lawn-mower and for taking the time to come hang!!

wild imagination

Jake has just begun to develop an awesome imagination within the past week or so and it is sooooo much fun to play in his world. He talks to "someone" on the phone whenever he can. It is the cutest thing to hear him conversing. I have no idea what he is saying, but he sure does have a lot to say!

He also started "getting us things" whenever we asked for them. It started with me needing to open something and thinking outloud, saying "man I need some scissors". Jake immediatly said "OK" and walked out of the room. He came back in with "scissors" in his hand (totally imaginary) and handed them to me saying "here you go" (more like "herego"). I could not get over it.
I then asked him to get me some tape.
Jake: "OK"
He proceeds to walk to the doorway only this time to pull something out of the sky and walk the "tape" back over to me.
I was laughing so hard because it was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Now Joe and I LOVE to do it all the time. We ask him for a glass of water, and he starts off with walking all the way over to the fridge to get it. But by the 3 or 4th refill his trip gets shorter and shorter to the point where he is just turning around and grabbing some water out of the air to give back to us.
Joe even walked into the Kids Klub one evening to pick him and Brock up and he was "eating" all the food in the set up kitchen that they have with one of this friends. It was awesome.
I think we are almost ready for home-made tents and the boys turning their room into a fortress against foes! (dorky, I know, just trying to learn some boy imagination terminology so that I can be kind of cool?!?)

room 4 rent

We have two little boys are are officially room sharers! We are so proud of them...Jake really enjoys having his brother in the same room as him...not possessive about it at all...so far...

I took some pics the other night of the new nightly routine...
-baths that are followed by wrestle time with daddy.
-more wrestle time in Jake's bed
-trying to get them to settle down (ya right)
-story
-prayers (with Jake and his amen claps)
-Brock goes into his crib
-Joe and I divide and conquor
-eskimo kiss, butterfly kiss, real kiss (which I have heard comes from a Berger tradition)

Some nights they chill together and fall asleep, some night there is some talking and yelling back and forth...either way they are really kickin' butt with the room sharing. Joe and I are so proud of them.
Now it is time to make it "their" room. Some painting, a little more furniture from storage and really turning it all into big boy's room. We plan on using the "nursery" as a toy room, for now. Pretty much turning the upstairs into a child's mecca. They already are getting so good at playing in the rooms together for little bits at a time by themselves. It is sooooo cute! Now we just need Brock to really master the stairs and I will no longer have to lock Rookie in.

he's growing up so fast

So, I write this tonight because I just put our little big boy down for the night without his night-time bottle for the first time ever. It is a little bitter-sweet. Awesome because this might allow us to read story time to both the boys together in the same room soon, but sad because this means Brock is growing up so fast. We are almost 90% off the bottle...the man has totally taken to his sippy cups like a pro. (sure is helpful watching a big bro do it all the time).

But, I just wanted to document the occasion and let Brock know, if he ever reads this someday, that I am already so proud of the strong big boy he is becoming.
My favorite little boy in the whole wide world!

clapping is what we do best

Brock LOVES to raise his hands and then clap with a big 'ole smile on his face whenever he gets excited...here is a video of the cutie....excuse the horrible "mom" voice in the background:

update 'round here

It's been a little while since I did a progress report on the munchkins and us...so this blog will be a quick update.

Brock is 100% crawling everywhere. He has now become the harder of the two to take care of. I finally get Jake to MDO on Tues/Thurs and then I still have the Brockster to tend to...which is NO EASY task anymore. I have officially decided to heck with getting anything productive for myself done during the day. Brock and I usually head to the gym and run any errands before picking big bro back up.
Brock is also pulling up and cruising around furniture. It is amazing to me how much he has progressed in the past month of so. He now gets around so well.
He still only has two bottom teeth, but I see the two top ones about to break through...sure wish they would hurry up! I feel so bad for kids and teething...one day maybe I will want to ask God about that one.
I have begun the process of getting off the bottle. He likes the sippy cups with straws already (probably because he see his brother doing it) so I put his formula in there for starters and finish what is left with the bottle. He is also now getting some water and a TINY bit of juice in the sippy cup to delay eating dinner officially with Jake now. I cannot believe how big of a boy he is.
He is a MAJOR squirmer. SOOOOOO much more than Jake was. He will not hold still while changing and dressing...I remember when friend's kiddos (Jake's age) would squirm like crazy, and I felt so lucky that I didn't have that problem with Jake...well, Brock is my "turn" if you will.
He is still INCREDIBLY happy, and love showing off his big old cheeky smile.
I tell my friends and family...he sure is lucky he is cute somedays when I want to ring his neck. I really do think that is why God made babies so cute :-)

Now Jake...he is turning GRADUALLY into a talking maniac. He is still not really good at it, but LOVES to repeat words and have a "conversation" with you. He is getting so much better at letting us know what he wants.
He is SUCH an amazing big brother. These boys are so blessed to get to have eachother. I am so thankful that he is so sweet with Brock (90% of the time) and does such a great job sharing. He also loves to (when he is being fishy) annoy his brother and then pat him to make him stop crying.
I can see it now:
"Brock stop crying, mom is coming"
It has been neat to see how much he LOVES school and all his friends. It also turns out that the little man has a sweetheart. I think it is just a good friend who happens to be a girl, but they hold hands on buggy rides and during nap time...ahhhhhh....
Jake is also the little terror that NEVER naps. He has to be put into one of the cage like cribs at MDO or else he keeps all the other kids awake. He still does not ever fall asleep in the car. It cracks us up.

And Joe...not sure if you all know, but he is officially 100% down at Rice FCA full time! WHAT A BLESSING! It has been so cool to watch him be able to really focus and enjoy those kids and coaches. Camp season is about to creep up on us, and we are so excited to be able to venture to those as a family. Brock will be walking and Jake will be running around with all the kiddos! It is going to be awesome.
He still absolutely loves his job and we LOVE being able to have him around as much as he is able to be around!!

Finally me...business is incredible. I have no idea, yet again, why I would be so blessed, but I am so thankful for it. I am trying my best to keep it all in perspective and really make sure that if it ever turns into "work" I will stop. It is not a necessity for our family, but a major blessing. I do not ever want it to take away from my ministry as a wife and a mother. But right now I do feel as if it makes me better at both of those because is makes me so joyful and for that I am thankful.

Well I should probably jet, as of today we have a leaky ceiling in the kitchen to tend to...oh yeah!! We have however done a TON around the house that I will show off soon. New dining room, new office (with amazing wood floors put in by my handy-man hubby) and sometime soon I hope to re-do the "boys/Jake's" room.