Big boys!

Wow, my boys are growing up right before my eyes. We're meeting new milestones and changing so much each day... I'm trying so hard not to blink! I was looking at some newborn pictures that some friends posted recently and it made me realize just how BIG my boys are... Nathan has his own little personality and such energy - he doesn't scrunch up in my arms like that tiny baby I brought home from the hospital almost 9 months ago (NINE months, really??). I've been looking online for preschools (oh my!) and summer programs for Alex... it can't be time for that just yet, can it?? It is so fun to watch my children learn new things and meet new milestones, but gosh, at the same time it is sad to see them move on and know that I'll never have them as tiny babies again. I thank God each day for these little miracles - these little people that bring me so much joy. I'm trying my best to savor the moments rather than wish them away - even when I'm ready for it to be naptime NOW so I can regain a little sanity, or ready for Gary to come home and offer a little break... or ready to lose my patience and give in to anger when things get tough. Motherhood is teaching me so much. Just thinking about how much I love my boys almost makes me hurt... and to imagine that the love I have for them doesn't even compare to how much God loves me - enough to send his SON for terrible sinners... wow! Motherhood has brought so much more understanding of the Gospel for me... it really is a crazy kind of love that our Father has for us.

Now, onto the new milestones we are reaching! Here are some of the things that are astounding me lately:

We started the potty training adventure again! We told Alex that when he turned 3, it would be time to use the potty. He wasn't overly thrilled... he told us he just wasn't big enough and he didn't know how to do it. We assured him he would learn (and I hoped that he really would! haha). To offer a little excitement, we put the potty in the living room, let him watch a few minutes of Toy Story while sitting there (his absolute favorite right now), and gave him 2 gummy bears every time he would try. I also set the timer for every 20 minutes or so for the first couple days. My hope was just to get him to "accidently" have a success and boost his confidence. Well, he spent almost the entire first two days running to the potty (mostly for the movie and treats... but I figured, hey, if he's excited it's really not a big deal if he watches TV and gets gummy bears for just a couple of days!) We came to realize that Alex doesn't pee very often AT ALL. Like 4ish times a day, which makes potty training that much harder haha. On day two he finally had his first success!!! I think I was more excited than him ;) On day three he was showing obvious signs of being about to pee, I put him on the potty and he went again! By day four he was TELLING us when he needed to go! We've had a couple of accidents since then, but he's doing AWESOME!!! I've been giving him a treat and a sticker on his "potty chart" when he goes and he loves it! He's even making it through naptime and last night he asked to sleep in his underwear! And he woke up DRY! I'm not going so far as to say he's "potty trained" just yet... and I know we'll still have accidents, but I am so proud of him! The next thing to tackle will be going #2 in the potty and going potty in public!

Probably my favorite quote of the whole potty training experience thus far (in reference to the idea of going #2 on the potty): "this is kinda freaking me out" where in the world did he get the word "freaking?" haha


And then there's this little boy! No, he's not crawling yet... but he is rocking on all fours, scooting (mostly backward), and getting from the sitting position to the crawling position.


Isn't he just so BIG!?! It's too cold and icy to ride outside... and it really doesn't hurt anything to do it inside, so we've been letting him ride this around the apartment for now! He's really getting the hang of it, it's pretty cute :)

Nathan's trying more and more table foods!

And he LOVES to stand! He'd much rather be standing than laying on the floor. He moves a little, but isn't totally "cruising". He is still a little "too confident" when he takes a step or lets go - you have to be sitting pretty close by just in case!

And we're sitting up alone in the bath AND able to take baths with big brother without mommy getting too nervous ;)

I LOVE to splash!!!!

So big! And so cute!

Love these two :)