Two Peas In a Pod

I was tickled when I looked down the other day and noticed that Benjamin and Collin had matching fire truck jammies on.


The love between these two boys is so great to watch!


They are two happy, very sweet boys!

Collin took a nap with his arms up like Benjamin always did as a baby and it brought back memories of my firstborn.

Collin modeling his soon to be new cousin's hat for me.....

Yay for new babies coming!!!! :)

Imaginings

Imaginations have been running high around here. We've had quite a few sickies for what seems like a long time, but Benjamin and Anna are still managing to have a lot of fun together and seem to be playing and interacting more and more with one another. It's so fun to watch and it's quite convenient for Momma too! One thing they really seem to enjoy doing together is dancing. They hold hands and sway back and forth together and hug each other. It's pretty much ridiculously adorable! (There wasn't any music playing, so they are singing during this dance session as well.)


It's been kind of chilly here, so with everyone being sick we haven't gotten to enjoy the outside as much. We manage to sneak out for a few minutes of enjoyment here and there. Here the big kids are playing with the new gardening tools I found for them.


Dave got our play set from the old house finished recently, so it's been really nice to be outside because we can put Collin in the swing. He either smiles.....

After it rained one night, the garden was nice and wet and the kids had a grand time playing in mud instead of dirt. Benjamin made mud balls and a mud castle!

....or Collin falls fast asleep in the swing.....


Isn't he cute in his new hat?

Benjamin and Anna were beyond thrilled that they finally got to use the umbrellas that they got for Easter a few days ago. Every time it's rained since then, it's either been storming too or when they were sleeping. Patience is hard for a four year old!

Poor Benjamin desperately wanted a puddle to splash in, but all the water seems to drain away from our yard and driveway. They finally found this one itty bitty puddle and then tried to both splash in it.

I was trying to take pictures of Collin in his newest pose, when big brother came over and mimicked him so he could be the focus of the picture. :)

Collin spends most of his day rolling across the floor and pushing himself up on his belly as he is below. He also has been tickling Dave and I by making this expression with his bottom lip tucked in like this.....

This is how he looks most of the time, checking out what the siblings are up to. He also spends a lot of his time babbling. Mostly, "mamamaaaaa" with some occasional "iiii-yii-yii-yii-yii" (and when he does this one he squints his eyes and makes the funniest expression).

Dave calls this his marine push-up. He pushes himself up with his hands in little fists like this and he can go even higher than he is here. The funniest is when you go to get him in his bed. He cries when he wakes up most of the time and when you walk in the door, he pops his little head way up and peers over the bumper and then comes down with a huge face plant into his mattress b/c he is so excited to see you!

He can roll and reach and get to wherever he wants pretty much. He's done a couple (sort of) army crawls, so I'm afraid it won't be long!

This guy is getting so big. He can be as sweet as anyone I've ever met. Just today, he was watching Sesame Street and saw a cat and said, "Momma! That cat looks like Milo, doesn't it?!?!" I didn't see it (thankfully). But then just out of curiosity asked him, "Do you miss Milo?" He quite bluntly said no. (insert disappointment) But then asked, "Do you miss him, Momma?" I kind of sadly replied yes. Then in the sweetest, most reassuring voice, "It's okay, Momma. Milo is in heaven. That means that one day you will get to go to heaven and you will be with him and with Jesus and with God!!!! Doesn't that make you happy?" (Momma's heart swells)

I know the story with Benjamin's head shot was a sweet one, but I have a spunky thing for Anna's. The last few days she has learned a new expression that is so not cool. When I ask her to do something (more like tell her to do something repeatedly) she turns her head, gives me a look she isn't old enough to make and says to me in a voice she isn't old enough to use to her mom, "I am!" A cute thing she says right now though is, "Thank you berry much!" over and over when you do something for her. :)

Unfortunately, the nebulizer has re-entered our life with this latest bout of germs that won't go away.....

Collin is so cute though and either falls asleep to it, or is so happy afterwards when we let him play with it. Check out those eyes!

We've been playing a lot of games around here lately. Benjamin wanted to play Go Fish when it was time for me to nurse Collin, so I suggested he play with Anna. She hasn't even seen the game in a long time, and it was one of the sweetest things I've ever witnessed when Benjamin patiently set up the game, explained it to her, and then they sweetly took turns. If that doesn't seem extrodinarily sweet to you, you must remember I'm witnessing it in between fighting over toys, pushing, yelling at one another, and general sibling pestering.

Aren't they cute in their matching Curious George shirts? I wish I had gotten a better picture of them side-by-side. They were beyond excited when I came home with these. When I picked Benjamin's out of his closet to wear one morning, he started jumping up and down when he saw it and excitedly declared, "I'm going to school today!?!?" I told him no, not today and asked why he got excited about school when he saw the shirt. I then learned how excited he was to wear it to school and show it to his friends. :)

Are you wondering what is going on in this picture?

Well just listen (or read) this story I have for you:

Anna: Do you hear that sound, Ben-gine? It's a dragon! It will scare me! (even though she's the one that imagined it)

Benjamin: Don't worry, Anna! I will save you!

Both to me (repeatedly): Stay back, Momma!

He then explains how he is a prince and she is the princess and thus he will save her. He shows me his umbrella is his shield, he swings a necklace as his sword, and he has a cape and boots on for good measure. It is determined that the dragon is outside and it is breaking our windows! (pause for dramatic gasp) He slays the dragon (and later a witch) and informs me that it fell into a hole many stories deep.

Later, there is an arguement......

Anna to Benjamin: Don't worry, sweetie. I'll get that dragon!

Benjamin: No, Anna! I am the prince! You are the princess!!!!

And later still, I here him whisper to his sister: So don't worry my fairest. I will come!

(Here he is explaining the danger we are in)

Collin is extremely interested in putting EVERYTHING in his mouth these days. That includes us. He often captures his brother and sister, but Dave and I are his usual prospects. When I hold him, he grabs a fistfull of hair from either side of my face and then uses said fists to propel himself into me and then chew on my face! The other evening, I was playing on the floor with him and he attacked me once again. Dave thought it was rather funny and worth capturing......

Todays imaginings included a trip to school with a park visit to follow. They started in their kitchen. Each of them put lots of food into a container and then wrapped it up with dish towels (when I asked why, I was informed that it was to hide thier snacks b/c they needed to be hidden so it wouldn't be known they had snacks at school). They then explained to me that they were going to school and then afterwards they were going to the park to have their snacks. I told them to have a fun trip and to be safe and they were off. They headed to the other living room and while playing with Collin, I enjoyed watching them as they grabbed backpacks and books and sat on the love seat together playing school with one another for about 30 minutes! They were so nice to each other and just played and played! It was amazing!!!!

One more funny thing to share: One of my favorite parts of the day lately has been checking on them before going to sleep at night and seeing what their sleeping positions are for the night. Last night, they both had me in hysterics! I wish I had the courage to take pictures to share, but my explanation will have to do. Benjamin first: He was laying on his back, one leg was straight down and the other was crossed over the first (as you would cross your legs when sitting). Then both arms were extended completely out. Dave said it was his Jesus pose. Anna: We often find her (both awake and asleep) with her pillow on top of her or cast aside instead of under her head. Last night I walked in and she had it where it should be in her bed, except she was under it and all I could see of her little body were her little ankles and feet sticking out the end. I laughed and laughed and told Dave he had to come see b/c she looked like the wicked witch under the house in Wizard of Oz. He came in, had a good chuckle and then walked all the way to her bed. He covered his mouth in surprise and had an awed look about him. When I walked up to see what he had found, I discovered that her sweet head was laying next to her baby which she had kindly covered with her little blanky! She never keeps her own cover on while sleeping, but she made sure her baby would be warm. :)

6 Month Check

Collin had his six month check-up yesterday. We are blessed to say he continues to be a very healthy boy! He weighed 19 lb 6 oz (75th percentile) and was 29 1/4 inches long (still way over the growth cart) and his head measured in at 50th percentile. He's doing well with eating and continues to enjoy cereal as well as carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and bananas. He's starting to try and crawl. He has been good at getting his front half to do what he needs for awhile now, but the rest of him doesn't cooperate. The last few days he's been pushing up higher and wiggling more from side to side so that he can move forward a little bit. It's cute to watch, but I'm so not ready for a mobile baby! Overall though, Collin is an unbelievably happy baby. He awards us with so many smiles and coos!

Unfortunately all three boys are sick in our house (us girls are just too tough!). I feel bad for Collin b/c he's dealing with the typical post shot symptoms + started showing symptoms that his big brother had shared some sick germs with him just a few hours after his appt. Both boys are running fevers, coughing, and snotty. Benjamin's been having some breathing trouble too, so we've started his breathing treatments again. They both have had trouble sleeping (big yawn for this Momma) the last few nights, so I decided to move Collin into his bouncy seat so he could be elevated. Here's the sweet monkey tonight:

I'll end with some Anna funnies tonight:

• When Anna likes something she squeals: "That's grape!" or "That be grape!" (meaning great) She is such a good talker, so I think it's too cute when she consistently makes a mistake.
• Her grandma gave Anna a toy chest that's a bench seat that was Anna's Great Grandma Faith (Anna's middle name is Faith). She was so excited to receive it and we think it's really special that she has something from her very special namesake. We moved it into her room and now when she sees it, she excitedly declares "Oh, there's my bench!" I typed out what she's trying to say, you can figure out yourself why it's funny to Dave and I and what it sounds like she's saying. :)
• While picking up something semi-heavy Anna said the following the other day: (grunting, low/strong voice) "I can do it, I strong!!!" Then she did a super cute muscle flex for me. Then in a high-pitched celebratory voice, "I super Anna. I a super guy!!!!"
• My mom calls Benjamin "Dude" sometimes. She tries to visit us once a week and Anna is so funny b/c the second my mom gets here, she calls Benjamin "Dude" too. Last week when my mom was here, when it was time to pick Benjamin up from preschool I asked her if she wanted to go get Dude. She shook her head at me and told me, "He not Dude, he Ben-gine (sounds like Ben + the last part of engine)." Apparently, I'm not allowed to share in his nickname. :)
• She loves her Bible. We keep it on her dresser and when she wakes up in the morning or from nap time, she is very quiet and gets up, grabs her Bible, and reads it in her bed for awhile. She eventually will start talking and that's how I know she's ready to get up (even as a baby, she wanted to stay in her crib 10-15 minutes after waking up and would not come to us if we tried to get her before then). It tickles me b/c when I go in there, she has her pillow propped against her head board and always looks so comfy while she sits there with her Bible.
• She's an absolute sweetheart and is so much fun (as you can see), but she also has such a spunky side. She throws the word no around like it's the only response she knows. She will give me this look when she's about to do something naughty that is a complete acknowledgement that she is aware that it is the wrong choice. Biggest example from today: She started making choking sounds while eating lunch. She quickly recovered and I was trying to explain that she needed to take smaller bites. Her response? To shove the whole piece of sandwich into her mouth. I quickly informed her that she needed to take some out and take one bite. She started to pull it out and paused as if she was just going to take a bite, then spit all of it straight onto the ground and declared, "Ah-ha!" She definitely keeps me on my toes and very entertained! :)

Collin's Baptism

We started Collin on baby food last week. Like the cereal, he grimaces and acts like it's the most disgusting thing ever the first time he has something new and then the next time eats it up with no problem. It is so funny! We started with carrots and now he's on green beans (you can only start a new food every 3 days). Here's the carrot reaction:
First, we're curious....


Hmmmm, not so sure about this.....


Oh, what is this!


Really, what is this taste!?!?!


(Shutter) Whew, that is not good!

Half smiling b/c the other four members of his family are laughing at his reaction....

See part of his audience:

Dave's brother Jimmy and his family came in on Saturday for Collin's baptism. They spent the night and the kids had a blast! We had a group bath....

and a dance party!

On Sunday we celebrated our faith in Jesus and had sweet Collin baptized. It was a very special day and we were blessed with so many family members and a great church family to share in it and help start Collin's faith journey. We are so unbelievably blessed!!!

Momma and Daddy with Collin on his special day!

Our Pastor always walks the baby getting baptized around the sanctuary so everyone can see him/her. Collin was really cute looking at everyone and looking back at Pastor Steve to see who was holding him.

Pastor Steve talking to this special boy!

Collin getting baptized! He did so good throughout the whole time and never cried or got scared. It was a very special time!

(Benjamin laughed out loud when Pastor Steve put the water on. Later he told me that he thought it was funny b/c "Collin was like whoa, he didn't know what was happening and he didn't know that Pastor Steve was going to do that!" and then he laughed some more.)

Our family came back to our house and shared a yummy meal together. I made a special cake for Collin's special day. (I like to bake, but I'm not so good at the decorative stuff)

When we cut inside, there was a special surprise......

Can you make out the cross?

Dave complained when I was making the cake that it wasn't fair that I was making a special cake and Collin wasn't even going to get to any. So I promised him we'd let Collin have a taste of vanilla ice cream. We did and this was the first 'new food' that Collin definitely didn't grimace at! :)

When Dave's family was here, they helped build our new garden......

The kids LOVE it!!!

She's got the modesty thing down, huh?

I think Benjamin could work in his garden for hours (and there isn't even anything planted in there yet!). He moves the dirt around and digs holes and finds anything that shouldn't be in his garden and puts it in his bucket. It's very serious work!

There is SO much personality in this little body!

Anna is getting her colors down (she always knows blue, yellow, purple, pink, and white and gets the others right more and more). After she first learned purple, she would point it out when she saw it and say, "Oh, there's my purple!" no matter what the object was. Now whenever we are in the car or outside she points out every purple and pink flower that she sees with a, "Oh, there's my purple flowers!" or "I see my pink flowers!" Its so cute how it's "her color"! :)


It happened......my little monkey turned 6 months old yesterday, he is officially 1/2 year old! I can't really believe it! Goodness, these babies grow so fast! Here he is on his six month birthday with his bear. (I placed his bear next to him, and he grabbed it and held onto it under his arm like this...too cute!)

My happy, sweet baby!

Funny Benjamin story: Benjamin was watching me knit and so I asked him, "When you get bigger are you going to let me teach you how to knit?" He quickly and quite indignantly replied, "When I'm bigger I'm not going to turn into a Momma! I'm going to turn into a Daddy."

Benjamin says all these funny sayings these days too. When I ask him where he learned them, he always just says "No where. I was just thinking it." My favorite right now is I hear him telling Anna all the time, "Nobody leaves in my town. This is my town. You can't do that in my town." etc. etc. :)