Next we took family photos, thanks to Latisha Lyn Photography (www.latishalyn.com). She captured some great shots despite the inability of mom and dad to get the obedience we desired, we bribed, threatened, etc… did I mention she had her twins in tow as well? They are our buddies and as you can see in the picture, are very intrigued by these busy boys, who are very willing to entertain anyone watching.

Then Thanksgiving and Christmas. Lots of fun, lots of wonder, lots of awe. We had our first escapes from bed this past month. We are not ready for big boy beds. By we, I mean Asher and I. So far we haven’t been forced to take the plunge, and that is about the only way it will happen, when we are forced.

Ben saw himself in the bathroom mirror as I sat him on the counter to wash his hands, and for the first time, he really saw himself.  He asked what’s on my cheek?” I replied, “It’s a birthmark.” “Why do I have a birthmark on my cheek?” “Because God gave it to you specially.”  Then at the table he asked, “Where’s Zek’s birthmark?” I said, “He doesn’t have one on his cheek, his is on his back.”

“MORE SALAD!!” Oh they things that bring joy to a momma’s heart. So what if it was barked out like a drill sergeant with no please attached. For this one instance I didn’t mind. They finally will eat salad!! and some other veggies again, that haven’t got any farther than their lips in months. Thank you Lord.  I guess I was getting a little worried that they really only wanted “Steak and bacon!” (thanks to their daddy, yes they really say that when asked what their favorite food is, or what they want to eat no matter the time of day, and no they don’t really eat much of it.)

“Dessert is good for me.” says Zek

“You going to leave me?” Ben asks whenever someone comes to visit.

Lot’s of fun these boys.Click to view slideshow.

Ben says, “let’s go to chick ta fe” he means chick fil a.

Zek asked me yesterday, “Does God have a belly button?” I replied “No, he made everything, no one made him.”  I quizzed him on this later, and he remembered and said, “God made things” I was impressed.

They did get their first haircuts, which did not cause them to lose their strength, previously our concern… They did great, it was a fun experience.

They both love to sing, even singing their prayers before meals to the tune: “Thank you God for my fooood, and our many blessings, and our many blessings, aaamen, aaamen.”   I’m not sure if they learned it in church, but it is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.

They also are potty training, no accidents 2 days in a row, no more fighting to go, and the winner is…. M & M’s!!  Yes, 1 for pee, 2 for poo, 3 for no accidents all day.  I was afraid to use those thinking they would bug me all day long for them, but to my delight there’s not been one such case! They go potty and are totally satisfied with 1 m&m!! I know, how sweet and innocent, and if they are only getting one at a time, where are all those m&m’s going????  I am so proud of them, and though this was the hardest thing since infancy, I’m once again seeing the light of sanity.

The realization hit me this weekend, we are seeing less and less of our babies, and more and more of our little boys. They run (everywhere), jump (off of everything), they slide (down anything). They like to fix things, and if busy and you ask what they’re doing they’ll say, “I’m working.”  They are so much fun. Growing so fast. So sweet (and sassy).

mom and Ben at the Lake, just walkin

O the funny moments we have shared lately, I will try to convey them to you, although I know it will fall short.
We have recently been trying to teach the “inside voice” concept to the boys, for you that have felt the ear piercing screams of toddlers, you know why.  I had only talked about this concept with the boys once at this point, so you can imagine our surprise when we were in the car with the grandparents and the boys were particularly loud, I said “Zek, use your inside voice.”  His interpretation of this was to scream shorter instead of quieter. So his Ahhhhhhh, went to a Ah. It was really cute, and hard to put into writing, but we were so impressed at his understanding after only talking about it once. Yes, what I’m actually saying is that my children are geniuses.
Next on the funny list, is one of those video monitor moments. The boys still sleep in their L shaped crib, with the divider in the middle that they can still reach through and touch, grab, pull, etc through. This one particular nap they were playing loudly so I began watching on the monitor and I watched Ben tickling Zek through the bars and saying “tickle tickle!” It was soo cute that they know how to play like that. That’s also one of my favorite words Ben says, but one of the many that he is saying these days. He will repeat just about anything. And usually he’ll say what I tell him (unless people are watching of coarse). Today he said “sorry” at my request for knocking brother over, he says “diaper” quite clearly, he tries to say “chicken” and “popsicle” and he gets the syllables right, so they usually sound pretty close. Among his other talents, Ben also learned how to walk backwards, it’s quite impressive actually. Zek wrinkles his nose and sniffs to say he has boogies in there. They both are running and growling and howling and will usually give you “knuckles” if you stick your hand out. Ben imitates noises also, one day he made this new noise and I realized he was imitating the garbage truck outside.

Speaking of outside, it’s often a drama to get them back inside, but it sure is fun to go outside and watch their wonder with the smallest and simplest of things. Including the water hose discovery this past week. Zek was holding it in Ben’s face unintentionally and Ben was just gasping for air not knowing what was happening to him. We didn’t catch that on video but we did catch Ben doing it to Zek later, again unitentionally, and the look of shock on Zek’s face as the water hit him. It was great fun, thanks Uncle Chris Lively for that.

We made another trip to the lake recently, and that first night was just as brutal. But after that it was fine.  We will be taking our first plane ride with the boys at the end of August, it’s a short trip to Denver, we’ll see if I still like to fly after that.  Enjoy the pics!

me and Elmo

His only curls are in the back

dare me to turn it on?

He's usually smiling

Ben's first horsey ride

Zek started walking full time last week, so both boys are on the move now. Full. Speed. All. The. Time.  They chase eachother, they chase us, we chase them.  It is a lot of fun. I am really tired.  Ben can repeat most anything we say, some of our favorites are “tickle, tickle” and “bible.”  Zek is really good with signs, my favorite is “love” and both boys can sign the answer to the question, “How much does momma/daddy/ Jesus, love you?”  They respond with arms up in the air (This Much).  It’s precious.  All the sudden about two weeks ago they started understanding just about everything we say, it seemed so sudden.  They are resembling more and more little boys and less and less the babies we brought home 13 months ago.

They wave, they give fives, they give knuckles and kisses, they laugh, they play.  They love to go outside and cry to come inside. We took a walk in the rain the other night and they stayed wrapped in blankets in their stroller seats, it was really cute.

A little update since the last post, (which seems like years ago), is that we took camping trip #2 and it was MUCH better.  We went to Ute Lake with a bunch of family and friends.  It only rained at night, so we played in the water during the day, the boys loved it.  It did require a bit of a learning curve though.  The first night we put the boys to bed in our tent and they fell asleep great. Sounds good right?  A couple hours later we climbed in the tent thinking we would gently move them to their respective spots in the tent, here’s where things went awry.  They woke up and FREAKED out.  They would not stop screaming.  We tried everything and finally as a last resort Asher got out and made them a bed in the back of our fourrunner, we put them in and they cried a little more but then went to sleep.  So, it turns out they’re a little spoiled having their own space and all, and did not want to share a tent with us.  After we figured that out things went much more smoothly.  They took their first boat ride, on which they fell asleep within 2 minutes of beginning. Mom and dad got to wakeb0ard and jetski.  We had a lot of fun and want to do it again. Soon.

We also went to Angel Fire for the fourth of July, our family tradition.  Ben got to ride his first pony ride, Zek wasn’t feeling well, so Ben had center stage.  He was so calm and kept this fish face expression the whole time which we figured must be his look of concentration.

Hope you like the pics!

I know how to say "yummy"

Under my desk is fun

The boys had a lot of firsts lately.  They both took their first stepslast week!  They both received their first spankings! Ben got his first injury induced bloody nose,  Zek his first fat lip, also with blood.  They ate their first strawberries (whole.)  They tried to use bowls (short lived.)  They also like to feed themselves with a spoon, they are quite good actually.   I dip then hand it to them, they put it in their mouth and hand it back to me for more, I don’t know how other mom’s do it, I just kinda made this up to minimize mess for now.

They are quite the characters these days.  It’s so amazing how much they’re changing and how fast.  They are understanding so much now.  Ben is quite the mimic, he says just about anything you say, and he knows it when he does it.  Zek shouts his proud few accomplished phrases like “all done!”  Even though he is not always all done.   They both give kisses, Zek more often and deliberately though.  Ben has been deliberate in giving Zek love lately.  It was the sweetest thing  a mom could see, pushing around the double seater cart at Costco, while Ben put his arm around Zek and leaned into him, Zek then rubbed Ben’s head.  It was so SWEET!  Zek will usually give kisses on command, but Ben not as much, so this was really special.  Ben did give Elmo hugs the other night though on command.  They are so much fun.  Hope you like the pics:

Ben taking steps

Mr. Noodle

Look at all my teeth!

More of those big, juicy red things please!

Helping Daddy prepare to lead worship

First try at keeping bowls upright, how we doing?