Thankfulness

Chris and I got to experience our first preschool function today. Brady's teacher cooked all her little "indians" a Thanksgiving feast and the parents were invited to drop in to witness it. Chris and I enjoyed observing Brady in "his world"...his little world that exists without us. They were all so cute in their native American head dresses and their necklaces that they made. They each made a laminated placemat with a turkey on it for Thanksgiving. On it, Mrs. Janey added what they were thankful for..she obtained this from asking them individually early in the week what they were thankful for...so each placemat said "I am thankful for_______." In Brady's blank it said "My Mommy"..........awwww, I melted!!! What a sweetheart!!!

Halloween 2009

My boys made Halloween such a fun day for me!

Big dressed up as Handy Manny...one of his favorite Disney shows:

Little dressed up in the costume that Brady wore his first Halloween....a red hot chile pepper

I LOVE these boys!!!! They make everything more fun and the fact that I get to be their Mommy is just another small example of how "GOD is GOOD!"

Super Sweet 6!!!

I am starting to think they should call 6 months old the "Super Sweet 6" instead of calling 16 "Sweet 16". My dear sweet Evan is the sweetest baby in the world!!! I just adore him. He is that baby that makes you want another...in fact, I don't know how I am going to stop myself from wanting another little angel. I don't write much about my sweet baby on my blog because I journal about him and his firsts and development in his First Year Journal but I wanted to write a little update about Evan for those that keep up with us via my blog. I am his momma after all, so if I don't brag about him, who will?

• 6 months old on November 12th and as sweet as can be


• 26.5 inches long (60th percentile), 16lbs. 13.5oz. (50th percentile), 17 1/4 inch head circ. (50th percentile)


• at about 5 months we started introducing baby cereal to prepare him for food, spoon feeding, etc. so he would be ready by 6 months to really eat...not a big fan of the cereal at first, but then warmed up to it


• on November 13th he had his first veggie...squash...he was okay with it; then after a few days...sweet potatoes....liked them; today he had carrots for the first time and he liked them


• he has started vibrating his lips...like motorboating...so funny


• he laughs out loud, often, and it is the best sound on the planet


• he absolutely ADMIRES his older brother...always watching what he is doing and smiling and laughing at him


• he has started sitting up pretty well so he has been taking baths with Brady and it is so fun to watch them enjoy each other's company so immensely

Brady comes in the bathroom the other day while I was going potty, he kinda looks toward the back of the toilet...."Mommy, are you going pee pee out of your penis?" Oh goodness, I think to myself....I we at this point already?!?! Me: "No, buddy. Mommy doesn't have a penis." Brady, kinda smirking like I was kidding, "Yes you do, Mommy You have a penis." Me: "Girls don't have penises, buddy." Brady (really contemplating things): "Oh. Do you pee pee out of your bottom then?" Me: "No, not really my bottom, bud, girls have different parts." Brady: "Oh, okay." I am soooo glad that he didn't not ask me about those "parts"!!

Chris and I constantly find ourselves loving the way Brady says certain words. I think we don't always appreciate how cute it is the way little ones say things until they start saying them correctly and then you have that "awwww, remember when he said it like this" moment. Brady started talking VERY WELL young...he spoke in complete, articulate sentences by 18 months so now that he is almost 3 1/2 years old there are not many words that he pronounces "wrong". Some of our favorites are:

1. regulary...for example: "I don't want peanut butter on my waffle. I just want to eat a regulary waffle."
2. yesternight....instead of last night, Brady always says yesternight, like yesterday...this one makes me wonder: "Why isn't it yesternight?"
3. mapkin....instead of napkin
4. keepor (kee.pour)....when Brady and Chris play keep away with the soccer ball...Brady calls it keepor
5. jack o' lanterin....jack o' lantern
6. Handy Mandy....one of his favorite Disney characters is Handy Manny...he calls him Handy Mandy

Yesterday Brady and I had the UGA/FL game on in the kitchen while making some Halloween cookies that we were going to bring to our friends' house for a Halloween party. Chris is also watching the game...in the den. In Chris' typical charged up UGA football way, he went crazy in the den over some play and Brady yells from the kitchen: "Daddy, calm down. I am trying to make cookies in here." I LOVE IT!!

Adoration

My heart is most full when I see the love between my two boys. I have heard of this from friends for quite some time...just how great it is to witness your children interact in such a sweet way. I did not think I would witness it this early. Brady has adored Evan from day one. Of course it has taken some time for Evan to notice Brady and respond to him. Over the past month or two, it has busted my heart wide open to be able to watch their interactions. The way Evan looks at Brady with such adoration is chicken soup for the soul for sure! He cranes his neck to watch everything that Brady is doing...he sits in his car seat with his neck angled toward Brady at all times! Brady is always checking to see where Evan is and making sure he is okay...."Mommy Evan is fussing I will go check on him."; "Mommy don't forget Evan (as we are heading out the door)!"

When Brady and I are on Brady and Mommy dates he usually asks - more than once - "Where is Evan, Mommy?" "Why is Evan not with us, Mommy?"

During a recent conversation Brady and I had in the van when I asked him about whether or not he would want another baby, he misunderstood me - in such a cute way. He said "No, Mommy, I don't want another baby. I have Evan. I love him. I don't want another (read different) baby." After further discussion, I realized he thought I meant do you want another baby in place of Evan...how sweet that he would not want to trade his baby brother in!

My dear boy - how blessed I am to have such a sweet boy...his spirit, his heart just melts me! Some of his sweetness lately:

To my mom (Nonnie) - "Nonnie, I want you to stay at our house forever!"; "Wow, Nonnie, you look pretty."

To me, before school - me: "I am glad you like school and Mrs. Janey (Brady's teacher)." Brady - "I do like Mrs. Janey, Mommy, but I LOVE you."

After smashing my thumbnail to the point of an immediate black bruise I was crying...Brady: "Mommy why are you crying (he was close to tears himself)? Are you sad?" "Mommy don't be sad; I am here." Me: "Brady I am not sad, buddy, my thumb just really hurts." Brady: "Are you not happy, Mommy. Daddy will be sad if you are not happy." Me: "Buddy I am happy, just in pain." Brady, giving me a big hug: "It's okay, Mommy. I am here and I will help you. It will get all better soon, I promise."

And a cute funny - during Evan's dedication Blake Benge (our pastor) was introducing our family and mentioned big brother, Brady. Right after he said Brady's name, Brady looked at the room with a big smile and said, out loud: "Yeah, that's me!"

"I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's holy word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, I will hide it's words in my heart, that I might not sin against God."

Brady busted out with that last week...without prompting and - I kid you not - I teared up with tears of joy! There were many reasons for my tears. The sweetness and the meaning in what he said was paramount. The fact that he memorized that amazed me. Also the fact that EVERY day that I pick him up from preschool I ask him what he did, what he learned, etc. and he usually answers with "I don't know" or "I don't remember" or "lots of stuff". The only way that I ever hear about things at school are when they come up in conversations. So when he busted out with his Bible pledge while playing with me in his playroom, I was ecstatic! I thought I would see what else he had learned and didn't share with me! I grabbed the monthly calendars off of the fridge from his teacher (there is a monthly verse on the bottom of each one). I asked him what his verse was for the month and - with only having been in school for 4 days in October at that point - he spouted it off - REFERENCE TOO! So I asked him about September's verse and he knew that one too!!! I LOVE it, I am very proud of my little Bible student and very thankful for this opportunity to start his little education with scripture and GOD's love.