Best Christmas gift ever!

And it's still snowing!

No church today.

Cuteness at its best

Paul has been sucking on his hand/fingers quite a bit lately. It's nice when it soothes him. This is a shot of him sucking on the same fingers Benjamin does, only a different hand.

Merry Christmas!

Our decorated tree

Making Christmas cut-out cookies--Benjamin had so much fun! The baseball glove seemed to be the choice cookie cutter--imagine that!

Christmas tree farm

We cut our Christmas tree down last Sunday. We wanted to do it Saturday, but the weather did not cooperate. So, we woke the boys up from their naps Sunday, so we wouldn't loose daylight. Let's just say we found our tree in record time, between tired boys and waning light. It's one of our best trees. (Translation: It only took 10 minutes to put into the tree stand.)

After the 30 seconds it took to cut down the tree, Benjamin asked, "What can we cut down now?"

Benjamin "helped" cut down the tree the rest of the way, and insisted on wearing Daddy work gloves.

"I'm such a great helper, Mom!"

Christmas decorating with a boy

Giggles

Paul's update

Paul is now 3 1/2 months old, and growing quickly! He's delighting us all with smiles, giggles, and coos. What a happy sound! We can get the most giggles when we strip him down on the changing table, and tickle him. Paul loves to watch his brother running around the house. He's a pretty happy and content baby, as long has he's fed and not tired (and not in his car seat). He has discovered his hands and feet--so fascinating! Paul definitely likes to be in his crib to sleep, or Mom and Dad's bed, but that's another story. I remember being able to run errands with Benjamin and he would sleep the whole time. Not so with Paul, he just gets tired and irritated, and eventually will fall asleep for 10 minutes, and then wake up cranky. I guess he thinks he needs to stay awake, so he won't miss the action. We're logging in a 5 or 6 hour chunk of sleep on good nights. Maybe if we could get rid of the stuffy nose for longer than a few days, sleep would improve! It has been so much fun now that Paul is interacting more. He is such a sweet, chubby, cuddly guy!

Things look pretty serious!

One of those 10-minute cat-naps

Thanksgiving

We traveled to Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken's in New Jersey for Thanksgiving. We had a good time seeing everyone. Paul's first car trip wasn't too bad, but after one crying spell, Benjamin asked, "Did we bring the pacifier along?" Paul is not a big fan of the car seat, and it usually takes 15-20 minutes of screaming before he'll fall asleep. Oh, well, we made it there and back all in one piece!

Uncle Ken and Paul having some floor time

Benjamin playing with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ken's toys. He was working on the farm.

Being silly! Aunt Mary put us to work putting together some Christmas gift bags. Benjamin was a great help stuffing the bags.

Aunt Joan and Paul

Football video

I don't think anyone in our house will be joining the NFL anytime soon!

My boy of routine

That would be Benjamin...definitely not Paul at this point! Benjamin has become so routine. We have our waking up routine...come into our bedroom to snuggle, get milk, read stories in the living room, eat breakfast. All of this with Daddy. The mornings when Daddy has to leave early, before Benjamin's up, do not always go well. Sunday morning he came into our bedroom to snuggle, and he took one look at Paul and me, and refused to get into bed because Daddy wasn't there. So, it was into the living room to read stories. Of course, Paul then woke up and wanted to eat, so that was a disaster!

We have our mid-day routine. Eat lunch, get ready for a nap by reading two stories and singing "Jesus Loves Me." One of his shades has be to half-way down, the other closed, while we are reading. He then pulls down the shade before I sing. See what I mean? The other day, I had to feed Paul in between eating lunch and putting Benjamin down for his nap. He freaked out--cried in his bedroom the whole time for me to come and read him stories. See what I mean about routine?! What two-year-old begs to be put down for a nap? Side note--Jonathan is doing a Bible study on disciple, and the DVD said something about toddlers never wanting to go to bed. Not true with ours! He has, on more than one occasion, told us he wanted to go to bed or take a nap. Yes, we count ourselves blessed!

And I could go on about the bedtime routine also, but you get the idea...he likes things the same! That being said, he has done very well with our new addition. Of course, he's gotten upset over less attention, but overall, he's been good for a two-year-old!

Some of the things Benjamin loves right now:

• Trucks
• Daddy's day off (He knows it's Monday!)
• Reading books--especially, Berenstien Bears, Arthur, Clifford, Richard Scarry, Little Critter, toddler Bible, John Deere books
• Playing outside, although lately he says he doesn't want to go outside. Once we get outside, though, he doesn't want to come in!
• Playing ball, especially baseball and golf
• Milk
• Chocolate
• Most fruits and veggies--How many two-year-olds ask for seconds of broccoli?!
• Snacks (Perhaps I'm to blame for this--I've been snacking all the time for almost a year now, between being pregnant and nursing! And if Mommy has a snack, Benjamin has to have one too!)
• Sesame Street
• Visitors
• His blankie
• Pretending he's someone else--chances are if he's seen or heard about you in the past few months, he's pretended to be you!

Photo shoot

Awhile ago I was trying to get a sweet shot of Benjamin giving Paul a kiss on the head. I had to bribe him with fruit snacks to even try it, and this was the result...

...oh, well, maybe another day!

A few shots for our admiring fans

Go Cardinals!

Ready to go out for a walk

Child labor at its best!

Mmmm...tasty! We think we may have another finger/thumb sucker on our hands. Paul loves to munch on his fist, but can get frustrated because he can't get his thumb or finger in his mouth how he wants it. (I thought maybe he was hungry at first, but that didn't seem to be the case.)

Some videos

Here are a couple of videos so those far away can see the boys. Nothing exciting--just everyday stuff! Wish all of you lived closer so we could see you more! Know that we think about you, talk about you, and pray for you. =)

Halloween

Getting ready to carve the pumpkin

Daddy can go first

Okay, my turn!

The actual carving

This is getting boring!

Finished product

The night before Halloween, we went "trick or trunking" on the green in town.

There were over 100 cars, so we didn't make it to all of them. But, Benjamin did a great job of saying, "Trick or treat" and "Thank you."

Life with two

Some insights I've gained in the two short months living with a toddler and infant:

• It takes forever to get out the door to go anywhere, and some days it's really not worth the effort.
• Once you do get out of the house, you have to go back several times for things you forgot.
• The car ride home--no matter how long it is--always ends with at least one screaming child.
• You can sleep with four people in a double bed.
• A toddler who refused to be carried anywhere, suddenly wants to be carried everywhere!
• Naps are essential.
• Pushing a double stroller is a really good workout.
• Going out to eat is not for the faint of heart, and is really an oxymoron--there's not much eating involved.
• It's amazing how much housework you can accomplish during an episode of Sesame Street.
• Hot dogs and macaroni and cheese are an acceptable supper for all members of the family.
• Dust bunnies take up permanent residence in the house.
• The stains on the living room carpet don't matter, because you can't see the carpet anyway.
• Bathing daily and sleep are over-rated.
• Most days we only have time for the essential: eating, changing diapers, playing, and sleeping, in that order.
• Showering or going the bathroom alone or in peace is a thing of the past.
• Going to the grocery store alone is like a mini-vacation.
• It is not uncommon to change four dirty diapers before 8:00 a.m.
• A smile or hug and kiss makes it all worth it!

And now for a game of Find That Baby!

Stats

Paul had his 8-week check-up this week. He weighed in at 12 lb, 9 oz, and measured 25 inches long. That puts him around the 95th percentile for both (I think). He's a little bigger than Benjamin was at that age. This is one of those few times in life when you're excited about weight gain! He's rolling over from his stomach to his back already. Benjamin did that early, too. I'm still waiting for longer stretches of sleep at night. He usually eats 3 times during the night, and since I'm nursing it's always me that gets up. I find it amusing that people ask me if he's sleeping through the night yet. It's pretty rare that an 8-week old (or younger!) is sleeping through the night! And if there are some babies that have done it, I don't really want to hear about it right now. =) We had shots at the doctor's appointment. Benjamin had a flu shot. So, we've had a week of fussy kids and fevers. Not fun! Everyone seems to be doing better today, though, so hopefully that's all behind us. Oh, yeah, we've also gotten a couple of smiles out of Paul! It makes everything so worth it!

Guess who?

People have been asking us if the boys look alike. Here's a shot of both of them around 8 weeks. What do you think? Can you tell who's who?

It's going to be a long winter!

Paul's first snow--this picture was taken yesterday! It was a beautiful snow--nice, big flakes, but October?!

Pumpkin Patch--I love fall!

We had a good time at the pumpkin patch last Saturday. We went with a group from the daycare at church. It's fun to share this kind of thing with Benjamin now that he gets excited about it. And, of course, Paul just gets to come along for the ride!

Paul's first hayride.

Choosing the perfect pumpkin--it took about 3 seconds.

Feeding turnips to an ox. We were surprised he was brave enough to do this. Our cautious boy is getting more daring--or maybe he was just in the right mood!

A little pumpkin for our little pumpkin. He really isn't eating it!

This was the best shot I could get of Benjamin on the hayride. Forget looking at the camera when there's too many other things to do, like play with hay!

Baptism weekend

Paul was baptized this past Sunday. We had family in from Colorado, Florida, and Ohio. Grandpa and Dad baptized Paul, just as they did with Benjamin. It was a busy weekend, but we had a good time!

Six weeks old--getting so big!

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Rachel were the sponsors.

A shot of all of the family we had there for the day.

Grandpa and his boys

Going for a hike to see the fall colors

Jumping rope

Grandma and Grandpa gave Benjamin this new toy. He definitely has the jumping part down...

Just a few pictures

Cradle shot--sleeping in the cradle Grandpa made for Dad 30 years ago.

Paul just randomly fell asleep like this the other afternoon!

Helping Daddy mow.

Helping bathe Paul. Benjamin always wants to help me give Paul a bath--probably because it involves water and standing on a chair. This was the first time he actually helped bathe Paul. Usually, he just washes the counter or the bathtub; this time he washed Paul! It was so sweet! Especially when he dripped water all over Paul's face, and he didn't even care. =)