Brothers

Today was my first day by myself with the 2 kids. I say that like I am the first person to take on this task of 2 children alone for the day....ha! It has been a good day. Poor Aaron has had some adjustment to make because he doesn't have another person here to snuggle with or give him individual attention whenever he needs it at the very moment he needs it. That's fun. He still loves his little brother though and is learning how to share attention the best he can. Andi was kind enough to bring us lunch today and visit for a while so it broke up the day some and gave Aaron a distraction until nap time:) Despite the extreme sleepiness and time management struggle I really am enjoying having two kids. I love watching Aaron try and play with Corban and love even more noticing that whenever Corban hears Aaron close to him he immediately turns his head toward Aaron. Love! Just have to pray for sleep to come soon...until then...lots of coffee will be had:)

Here is both boys at 2 weeks old. I think they favor.

Three Years Old!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Aaron:) Yay for being three years old!!! I can't believe it. How can three years have gone by this quickly? We are so proud of you. What a blessing you are. This year you have become a big brother. We are having a party at our house with just family because your little brother is only a few weeks old. Here is what you are up to these days... -You are so energetic right now. Anything that involves running, jumping, swinging, screaming, or acting just plain silly...you're in! -You have this crazy obsession with animals. It started before Xmas when Gigi got you a little bag of toy animals and things just went CRAZY from there. You just keep getting more and more of them. They go everywhere with you and do everything with you. The Dinosaurs are your favorite. -You love your baby brother so much. We actually have to make sure you don't 'love him too much.' I am so proud of the way you have accepted him. You are always concerned about him when he cries and ask to hold him all the time. I can't wait to see you two grow up together:) -You are constantly cracking us up. You say the funniest things so innocently. Your daddy and I find ourselves lying in bed at night telling each other what funny things you said that day. Just yesterday you asked us if we could 'take off your eye bone." Apparently you thought it wasn't a necessary part of your body. -Your smile is one of my most favorite things about you. -You are a sweet-a-holic. You are sure to inform us that you 'need' another sucker/m&m/cookie etc. about 100 times a day. -You are ALL boy. Kicking, punching, throwing and anything else involving being destructive is the name of the game. I think we will enroll you in karate. -Favorite sport right now is soccer. You and your daddy go on a walk almost every night and your soccer ball (and an animal) must attend. You practice dribbling the soccer ball with daddy. You really like to run. We hike all the time (another favorite) and you run almost the entire hike. -If you aren't running, you are riding your tricycle. You pedal so fast your feet come off the pedals. You and daddy 'ride bikes' all the time. RaRa is getting you your first bike for your birthday...I can't wait to see your face when you see it. -You have just completed your first semester of school. You cried most days when I dropped you off, but always had a smile when I picked you up and told me how much fun you had. I am excited to see how you do in the fall in the 3 year old class. -I love your creativity right now. Pretending is a new stage, and it's so much fun to listen to. Of course the animals are the biggest players here...see above bullets about animals and being funny. -You still LOVE music and seem to have a talent for learning songs very easily. Daddy teaches you a new song and memory verse almost every night. Your newest favorite group to listen to is the Beach Boys. Other favorites are: The Oak Ridge Boys and any worship song. I found you singing "O Victory in Jesus" the other day...I didn't even know you knew that song. You still love worship and sing as loud as you can if you know the song. -You are getting taller and taller...and your waist line is not really growing...gonna be like daddy. -You are a very compassionate kid. Any time someone is hurt or upset you are very concerned and try to comfort them. This also means you are very sensitive and get your feelings hurt pretty easily. -You are very positive and always willing to 'keep trying' if you can't achieve something...I love this about you. -People really seem to like being around you and you love to talk to people...sometimes too much.

First week

Tomorrow will be 1 week since we added Corban to our family:) Things have been pretty great. I have had a ton of help and am VERY grateful it's not going to stop for a while. Aaron is the sweetest big brother ever. So far we have seen little to no jealousy from him. He is constantly telling us how much he loves baby Corban and asking us if we love baby Corban too. Any time he cries Aaron runs to find something to make him feel better...usually one of his animals. So far Corban is a really good baby. He sleeps a lot and LOVES to nurse. We are trying to get him to take a pacifier, but so far are pretty unsuccessful. Sleeping at night is about what I expected. He sleeps about 2-3 hours at a time before waking up to eat, but is not as easy to keep asleep as he is during the day...hopefully this will change soon. I am pretty tired, but not too bad. I know there will be worse days though. For now, I am happy. Mark has taken off 3 days this week and has been the stay-at-home dad...this is a pretty big change for Aaron...and Mark too I think. It's been good for them though and I am so grateful that he took the time off. Mom will be here tonite which means Mark goes back to work tomorrow. I have really enjoyed having everyday be "saturday" around here with Mark home...but it's time for things to start getting back to normal I guess. Having Mark home has reminded me how much I love my husband. He has been very selfless and wonderful. Raich is coming Friday which will be nice. Aaron has asked about her everyday since she left last Sunday. So overall the first week has been really good. We are so thankful for a new healthy baby boy added to our family. Here is a picture of the boys. I got a good one of both of them:)

Corban James

So the little guy is here! He is ADORABLE. He is 7lbs9oz, 21 inches long, born at 4:10pm. Very healthy and happy baby. Aaron loves him so much.

The night before...reflection.

So tonite is the night before our second son will be born. The beginning of our life as a family of 4:) I spent the day playing with Aaron as much as I could and basically giving him as much attention as possible just trying to make the most of our last few days of him being an only child. I have really enjoyed the last 3 years of it just being me and him. He is the sweetest, funniest, and most fun kid I have ever been around...not biased or anything. He is very easy going and loves to be with his mama! Hopefully I will do a separate 3 year post for him since I will have a lot of help in the beginning after the new little guy comes. It is now midnight and I have to be up in 4 hours so that we can get to the hospital by 5am for an induction. Why am I not sleeping you ask? For the past several weeks I have had insomnia and restless leg syndrome REALLY bad. Even if I could fall asleep, either my legs feel like they are running a marathon, or some part of my body falls asleep because I have been in the same position for over 20min. Oh the joys of pregnancy. So since I am no where close to sleep, I thought I would blog all of my jumbled up thoughts. Tomorrow is full of mixed feelings. Mostly excitement:) I CANNOT WAIT to see what this little guy looks like. I just want to stare at him and talk to him about our family. If I am being honest (which I am) I am in a much better place with this baby than with Aaron. I was more fearful and anxious with Aaron the night before my induction...mostly because I had no idea what to expect with the birth process or what having a child was going to do to our lives. It was a big adjustment. I have much more peace this time and an not so anxious or fearful...lots more excited and full of anticipation for the change. Aaron is so excited to meet his little brother. I have a few concerns about him adjusting to a new baby getting a lot of attention, but overall I think he will do great. He LOVES babies and is so sweet with them. I love to hear him talk about his little brother and all the things he will teach his little brother. He kisses and hugs my belly all the time, it's sweet. I am sure we will have some adjustments to work through, but that's normal...right? I also can't wait to see Mark with another little boy. He is the best, and I repeat, the BEST daddy ever. He is so fun and Aaron LOVES his daddy. I think I hear the phrase "when is my daddy coming home?" about 150 times a day. I really like hearing them play together, and especially love hearing Mark read and sing to Aaron. He teaches him new songs all the time and they memorize scripture together every night. He is always talking to him about helping people and teaching him how to love everyone. I really appreciate and cherish my husband for showing Aaron who Jesus is in his words and actions. I can't wait to see it with new baby too! To Aaron: Our first son. We love you. There are no words to describe the joy you bring to your daddy and my life. You keep us on our toes and are always making us laugh. We have loved the past 3 years of having you as our only child. We can't wait to see how you use your gifts God has given you for His mission. We know you will be the best big brother ever. To baby boy #2: Sorry you don't have a name yet...ha. We WILL name you, don't worry. God has blessed us with another little boy and we are so excited to meet you and finally see your sweet face. We can't wait to learn your personality and introduce you to your new life. Aaron has talked non-stop about you since we told him you were in Mama's belly. There are so many people that love you already besides your parents and big brother. They can't wait to meet you and love on you. Your daddy and I love you so much and will see you very soon. Please come quickly:) Here I am at 39 weeks preggo with baby #2. Definitely ready for it to be over:)

Aaron's preschool program 2012

Last night Mark and I went to Aaron's first preschool program. He is 'graduating' to the 3 year-old class. He has been excited all week about us coming to watch him sing with his class. I was pretty excited myself to see him...nervous too for him to actually stay up on stage with his class and not want to come sit with us. I didn't expect to start crying as soon as he walked in with his class to the stage...pretty emotional mama over here...he was just so stinking cute and grown up. He did great and once he spotted us he never stopped waving and smiling until the program was over. So proud.