Happy 8 Months

I'm 10 days late but my baby boy turned 8 months old. He continues to be all smiles, happy to flash his dimples and full of giggles for his big brother.

Roughly, Nate's routine goes a little something like this.

7:00am - wake and nurse

10:00am - 11/11:30am - nap

12:00pm - nurse, jar of yellow veggie and half jar of fruit

1:00pm - 2/2:30pm - nap

3:30pm - nurse

5:30pm - jar of yellow veggie and jar of fruit

7:00pm - nurse

7:30pm - pjs and to bed

His routine hasn't changed much except for a little increase in solids and a definite picky-ness! He refuses all green veggies. I try to sneak a bite in and he clamps his mouth shut and absolutely refuses to open. He loves squash the most, carrots second and sweet potatoes third. Seriously, he is that picky. Hopefully he will get better since we are just starting solids. He has also eaten some small bites of fresh apricot and peach and loved it. He didn't like bites of peas. Oh, my boy!

He is trying to crawl, but not actually getting anywhere. He easily gets from his hands and knees to a sitting position and from sitting to hands and knees. He flops and scoots and rolls to get where he wants. He doesn't go far, but he can generally get a toy that is just out of reach.

He has started to clap! We don't really practice with him like he probably did with Ben. Ben was clapping one day and Nate just joined right in! So cute!

Clapping

Nate also says "dada" and "baba" constantly. "Baba" is more just a sound, but he will try to repeat "dada" when we say it to him.

He has started blowing raspberries constantly now. It has made meal time interesting. I generally have little yellow spots on my clothes before we are done. He thinks he is so funny. I have tried quite a few different methods to get him to stop, but he just keeps going. It is funny, but we do our very best not to encourage it. Ben doesn't try though - sometimes he blows raspberries too and gets himself in trouble. If you know Ben, that doesn't surprise you :)

My baby is getting so big! He looks like a chalk outline sometimes.

Nate has been introduced to the cabinet! He loves it just as much as his big brother did. Actually, Ben climbs in the cabinet while Nate plays just outside of it most of the time. It makes a huge mess, but everyone is happy so that makes it a wonderful thing.

Nate loves water. He was pretty tired in this picture, but he did splash and have fun. He managed to go under a few times, but I caught him quickly. He is very strong and likes to throw his weight around a lot.

This picture is terrible quality but it is just so cute!

Swinging at a friend's birthday party.

Playing in the water at the same party.

Fun bath time.

Lately

I try to keep taking pictures even if I'm not blogging them very often, but life is just busy right now. My theme-word for life right now is "constant." There are constantly things to do and no time for all the extras, like blogging. Today is my day off and while I have work that really needs to be done I am going to finish this blog that I started over a week ago!

Ben's vocabulary continues to amaze us. We are fully in the "what's this do?" & "what's that called?" stage. He even hears things I don't hear and wants to know "what that sound?"

Here are a few of the latest and greatest Ben-isms.

Ben requested to have a Bible like Daddy (ie. all words, no pictures). I had been out of the house and when I got home Ben couldn't wait to tell me "I take my new Bible to church to teach the peoples like Daddy."

After a meal we give Ben a wet paper towel to wash his hands and face. Before I could get the paper towel to him once, Ben proudly told me, "I tasted it all off!"

Our coffee table coasters are made of rubber. Ben loved them as a baby and Nate is starting to notice them too. We were discussing the fact that they were rubber and Ben said, "These (are) rubbers?" Uh, not exactly son. Please don't tell anyone we let you play with "rubbers."

We have been practicing Ben's first, middle and last name so we talk about it a lot. Recently, Ben looked at me when eating his evening snack and said, "Amber, is this milk?" I laughed but wanted to say, "It's mom to you kid!"

It's no secret that Ryan and I think Ben is the smartest two year old ever :) I was sitting on the floor with Nate in front of me. Ben came and wedged himself between us and said, "I sit behind Nate." We were driving under an over pass and Ben said, "Me not go up there, me go under." He's brilliant :)

He is definitely a sponge to new words and ideas. In a recent thunderstorm the power went out and Ryan looked out the back door and said, "Oh crap!" A few minutes later Ben went to the back door and asked, "Where's the crap Daddy?" Oops!

While my mom was in town she said "Oh, shoot!" about something. Ben immediately started saying it. I chastised my mom, but only 5 minutes later I sprayed myself with the water hose and said, "Oh, shoot!" and Ben mimicked me. Oops!

I say "Oh gosh!" a lot; sometimes even to Ben. I caught him using the phrase correctly when playing with his toys recently. Oops!

Picture overload time!

We love Auntie Grandma Maren. She takes Ben to do "work" with her all the time when I have the boys with me at World Impact. We were at a birthday party for a kid from our church and she took Nadia and Ben for a walk when they got bored with the birthday festivities.

Playtime can be messy...

and silly...

and full of sharing...

and dangerous!

Superdad!

Bathtime is loads of fun now that Nate can sit. Nate is still a splasher and often gets my clothes too wet to continue to wear.

Yeah for cooler mornings.

Ben regularly requests "you take pitcher" of himself and Nate in my chair.

Not such a little boy anymore.

Ben loves to sing and dance to 5 Little Monkeys. He did a dinner time duet with my mom!

Ryan is a great dad, but he is still a boy! Ben was requesting his daddy do some game with him that was unfamiliar to me. Then, they showed me! Ugh! I leave them alone for 3 hours a week so I can work in Ryan's office and this is what they do :)

We finally are getting a bit of cooler weather and were able to enjoy some fun outside at our staff bbq last Wednesday!

Chatter Bug

Since I am no longer doing monthly posts about Ben he might get left out a bit. Yeah right! But, he is super cute these days and there are some blog-worthy things to mention about our big little man.

He is talking non-stop. Seriously! I am an introvert. I prefer my peace and quiet, especially in my own home. Ben doesn't allow for much of that. He does nap from 1-3pm every day (or at least stay in his room peaking out the blinds or reading books some days) but generally Nate is awake for some of that time so my break is usually about 30 minutes long. Am I complaining? Maybe a little. It gets exhausting some days. But, it is also way more fun that if I was alone some days!

What's that Mommy?
What that do?
Who that guy?
What her doing?

ALL. DAY. LONG.

He generally gets his pronouns correct, but it is a bit embarrassing when he says "he" when referring to a woman in public. It's not like he whispers! We all can hear his questions!

A few days ago he took a toy from Nate and brought it to me proudly saying, "Nate let me borrow this!" Really? He knew exactly what he was saying! Stinker!

In the car one day we had a conversation that went like this... (I put this on fb, so you might have already read it.)

Me: Ben, do you love me?

Ben: No.

Me: Do you love Daddy?

Ben: No.

Me: Do you love Nate?

Ben: Yes! Oh wait, I love Daddy too!

No love for the woman who suffers through your chatter every day!

We are also finally in the stage where nothing can be said that isn't at least somewhat understood and often repeated. I ask him to see why Nate is fussing a lot (it is a way to get him out from under my feet and comfort Nate simultaneously). Now, when he hears any kid making noise in public he will ask why they are fussing.

One night I asked Ryan if Ben needed an s-n-a-c-k. Ben repeated "I need see my c-k."

Apparently, I trail my sentences with soooooo and just leave them hanging, because Ben does it all the time. He will say something like, "I no want take nap soooooooo."

I also say "ok" a lot. When asking permission for things Ben says, "I want go outside. Ok? Yes?" If he is very persistence we have to endure multiple "yeses" until we give an answer. Or, sometimes he just thinks asking the question was permission enough and just helps himself: "I want snack. Yes?" and then proceeds to get something off the pantry shelf!

He is finally aware of his little friends. He has a friend Jackson that is six months younger than him and a friend Nadia that is nine months younger than him. They both went on vacation with their families during the same week and Ben asked about them constantly, daily I think! However, when we all were reunited he acted like he barely knew them! But I know he was glad to have them back.

Reunited with his friends after their vacations.

He has learned to make silly faces!

He "helped" me clean the shed one morning. He (and I) looked this dirty and sweaty and we were done before noon! It's hot here!

Anything to entertain us that does not involve being outdoors!

We built a tent with pillows and a sheet!

Then decided that was too simple and got the real tent out in the living room!

The boys and I were all three a bit cranky from the heat one day so we went to buy a pool! When it's this hot, why wait to put on swim trunks?!

Birthdays / Fourth

I am way behind...but we did have good birthdays/4th celebration. We all four had a bit of allergy mess or a little cold, I don't know which, so none of us felt our best. We enjoyed an extra day off and grilled some yummy-ness and listened to our neighbors pop fireworks forever it seemed (they started a week early and went a few days late). Ryan turned 30 this year! I kept thinking we should do something big for him, but we just aren't that type. My mom watched the kids for us while we were in Midland the week before and we went to dinner so that counted as our anniversary and birthdays celebration. I joked with Ryan that we should have a big 30th party in January since I will be 29 1/2 and he will be 30 1/2. At least the weather will be cooler (or frozen).

Food really is the best present. Steaks, corn, zucchini and squash served with pita and hummus. Delicious!

Nate and I wanted a pic of ourselves too so we found our reflection in the back door.

Corn is yum!

Trying to find some shade.

He's so grown up!

Happy Birthday to us and America!

Happy 7 Months

I may be a week late, but I have not forgotten that our sweet baby Nate turned 7 months old last Saturday. He is continuing to get chunkier and is as sweet as a baby can be. He is definitely a show-stopper. People stop me in public to comment on his smile, dimples and chubby legs constantly. I only have to put a finger in his ribs to get him to do giggle on demand and all the ladies swoon. It's kinda fun! I even had one worker at a store really go crazy over him to the point that I was trying to hurry the process to get out of there. It was weird. But, what can I say, he is too adorable to resist!

He is starting to pull his knees under himself a little, but still mostly lunges backward when doing so. I tried to get him on his hands and knees for the picture, but he would have none of it. He sits like a champ until his brother comes around to play and he gets pushed over. But, he is usually happy to just start rolling back and forth when that happens.

We aren't sure about teething. It really seemed like that was happening and now he is back to his content self. Ben was the same way - bath and forth it seemed - so we will just keep waiting. No white showing through right now.

He jabbers constantly and likes to blow raspberries when no one is looking, mostly in his car seat where I can't see him. Ben tries to blow raspberries back, but they are full of spit and no one likes a big face-full of kid slobber.

Nate's Routine Roughly:

8:00am - wake and nurse

9:30am -11/11:30am - nap

12:00pm - nurse and half a jar of solids and sippy of water

1:30pm-2:30pm - nap

3:30pm - nurse

5:30pm - jar of solids and sippy of water

7:00pm - nurse

7:30pm - pjs and to bed

He generally takes a really great morning nap, but his afternoon naps are usually pretty short (right when I wish they were longer because Ben is napping). He has a hard time making it from 2:30-7pm without another nap, but he just wont take one.

We have added solids! Finally! He is loving squash, carrots and sweet potatoes, but it not the biggest fan of peas so far. He also is doing really well with getting water from a sippy cup (a skill Ben never mastered). He gets a big drink and then pulls the cup back with wide eyes and sputters a bit like I have done something to him, then repeats the process. He was a slow starter with solids, but has made up for lost time. He opens his mouth like a little birdie waiting for each bite!

We have entered a new phase - playing together! Nate is tough enough to let Ben interact with him some. Mostly it goes well, but I never let them play unattended! Ben is almost always trying to be nice and play with Nate, but sometimes he just gets tired of his brother or wants to take all Nate's toys and it results in tears. It's really cute to watch them interact though! Nate reserves his very best giggles for his brother. Nate will giggle for all of us, but not like he will for Ben.

Nate's eczema continues to be something we just can't get under control. We have tried and are trying every cream and lotion and bath wash and he even has prescription creams, but this one spot just wont heal completely. The extremely hot weather makes it a hundred times worse! If he even barely sweats it gets extremely aggravated and he starts to scratch which only makes it worse.

Sitting with Daddy.

Another Trip

Four days after returning from Disney, we loaded down our new mini-van and set out for the 11 hour drive to Midland, Texas. During those brief four days we were involved in the Candidate Assessment Program for World Impact where nine candidates went through an intensive interview process in hopes of becoming missionaries with World Impact. This is probably the most busy week of the year, involving all the missionaries in Wichita. Much of our work for it was done before our Disney trip, but Ryan teaches a session each year and I put together a slide show of their week to be shown at their commissioning service as well. It was a whirlwind four days since we had those responsibilities along with laundry and packing and dealing with two little boys that didn't know what schedule they were on!

The road trip went really well! I admit I was anxious about having a barely potty trained little boy along for the 11 hours, but he did great. We did stop and have him pee out the side of the van (thank goodness for boys) about four times on the way there and a few on the way back. It never failed that he needed to pee about 20 miles before our next planned stop, but when he needed to pee, we stopped!

The whole reason for the trip was to witness my sister, Candice, joining her life with Joshua Wood and his little girl Abigail (almost 5 years old). We met Josh and Abby for the first time at the rehearsal dinner. If he is all that Candice says he is, we know that they will live happily ever after. They married the day before our seventh anniversary so that was neat to share our weekend with them and them with us.

Ben is always willing to help in the kitchen with wedding prep! Some was "yum" and some "not yum!"

Mani-pedis with the sisters!

Candice and my mom are such faithful customers of this nail salon that the owner made homemade egg rolls for us as a wedding gift. They were fabulous and we took a picture to commemorate the generous gift.

Trisha and I gave them a family themed wedding gift complete with matching "Mrs." and "Miss" aprons for Can and Abby, a box filled with suggestions of things to do together as a family, the complete Chronicles of Narnia to read together and some young kid friendly card games. We wish them hours of family laughs together!

Candice and Abby in their aprons.

Moments after the above picture was taken, Ben said, "me turn" and begged to wear Abby's apron. Oh my!

Sisters!

They had a very small outdoor ceremony at a gorgeous chapel. Small and outdoor can mean disaster for having two little children along, but they didn't make a peep. Someone left a box of markers on the front row and Ben listened and did not touch, but he got awfully close.Ben has a real love affair with his Aunt Can Can! She is happy to oblige.

The Wood Family

A brief moment of down-time with Mama D.

Ben always takes Nate's toys!

On our last day there, after the festivities were over, we got to spend a little time in a friend's pool. It was scorching hot in Midland!

No trip is complete without a project. Ryan had the help of Ben and Abby in installing a light over my mom's sink and fixing the lock on her backyard gate.

Ben quickly warmed up to my mom's dogs and insisted on getting in the dog's cage himself. I tried to keep him out, but he just kept going back. If he's happy, oh well.

While in town we also had the opportunity to speak in a church about our ministry with World Impact. We also held a "thank you gathering" for all our friends and family that support us in Midland! We greatly enjoy our ministry with World Impact and love the opportunity to tell people about it!