Time Flies...

It's amazing how fast time flies when you have little ones. I've been feeling a little overwhelmed, but have been catching up with things. Back in February, David came and stayed with us for the weekend before his birthday. We had lots of fun laying around the house, playing tennis and just catching up. Uncle David is also a huge hit with his nephews who adored him and wanted to climb all over him. David was so sweet and played with everything they brought him.

Uncle David putting Stephen's shoes on... see his grin? :)

One of the many times they were both piled on him.

One of the other things that has been happening in our lives is the boys are really starting to play together. Caleb will be with something and Stephen will do a run-by snatch... start from across the room and snatch one of Caleb's toys and take off with it. He'll have a huge grin on his face as he runs off and Caleb chases him down. :) They will also share toys and walk around holding hands. I love watching their personalities emerge as they interact. Below are 2 of my favorite pics of them from the last few months.

They fell asleep on the couch together and Stephen woke up just before I took the picture.

My couch has become a playground now that Stephen is climbing and they have great fun making play areas and jumping around.

Sadness

It's amazing how people you think are friends and let into your minds and hearts can betray you at the drop of a hat. It doesn't even have to be anything life-changing that makes them decide to break your trust, just an odd mood, or the decision to turn a blind eye to obvious lies. The amazing thing is that we continue to trust and let people into our lives. I wish that I had followed my first instincts which are normally correct, but people have an amazing ability to decieve when they want something.

On the other hand, people who you really don't notice to begin with because of new situations can become a rock and you realize that true friendship can come from the oddest beginnings. Something as unassuming as a discussion about what marital arts forms you have done can lead to a relationship that you know can stand the test of time.

Easter Outfits

I'm really enjoying smocking and sewing the boys Easter outfits and thought I'd post my designs to show everyone. :) I love the old fashioned Southern boy clothes and am so happy that our church is formal enough for me to make them for Caleb and Stephen to wear. Surprisingly Andy loves them too and is happy for me to make them clothes. Part of it is that he likes Caleb looking more his age I'm sure, but I'll take it anyway I can get it. I'm really careful to not pick out things that are too "girly" too. :)

This first plate is the one I'm making to put in Caleb's shirt.

This is Stephen's. I have a thing for bears on my little boys. lol

This is the little suit I'm making. The shirt will be cream with the plates from above inserted and I have really cute cream and red striped seersucker material for the shorts. I'm looking for more seersucker to make some little shortalls for them especially since you can't find them for Caleb's size.

More Music

A couple of people have asked about the Christian artist that we've been listening to. His name is Mo Leverett. He and his wife have a street ministry in a poor section of New Orleans called Desire Street Ministries. Mo writes all his own songs which are a combination christian and songs about living in the South. I don't know a lot about him right now, but John went down over Christmas to New Orleans on a mission trip and loved this guy so I'm pretty pleased with it.

Singing

There are two activities that I hope to instill a love of in my boys. Reading books, which they have seem to have mastered, and loving music and singing. I love singing and miss singing in the church choir so much, but between not having the lung capacity for it while pregnant and dealing with little ones it just hasn't fit in my schedule again. Instead I've settled for singing to the boys while pregnant and with them young. They both have their favorites and sometimes will only settle down for one particular song. Since my Dad sang to us all the time when I was little, my repertiore mostly consists of hymns, spirituals and old folk songs but we all love it. Now, if I don't have music going Caleb points at the CD player and says please until I turn something on. Our favorite background CD is Beethoven piano music, but we listen to anything and everything from an awesome jazz Christian musician my brothers gave us from New Orleans, to Latin music. I love just putting music on and dancing around the room holding my boys. They love it as much as I do. All of this to say most of y'all are musicians and share the same love for music that I have, but if you aren't... try to instill a love of music in your children so that they don't miss out on a beautiful part of life.

Backyards and Swing Sets

One of the reasons we LOVE our duplex is the backyard. It was already mostly fenced in when we moved here and our lovely landlords have told us that we can put up more fencing, play toys and plant anything we want. For Christmas Andy's parents bought the boys a swing set and this weekend was the first chance we've had to bring it down and put it up. Between weather, being sick and people traveling it just hasn't worked out until now. Anyways, we are thrilled and here are some pictures from Saturday. We have since gotten most of the leaves up and have 2 lounges chairs out that we got for wedding presents and have been storing under our bed. :)

Getting everything out...

My cutie pie... he has my eyes :)

Caleb is so excited. Can you tell?

He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first

Yes, we have a sandbox and LOVE it!

Caleb wanted to "help" Deke so he laid down next to him :)

All done!!!!

I'm back among the living... :D

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted because I've been spending every waking moment either studying or taking care of sick children. I am happy to say that I took my final in Latin yesterday and while I'm scared to find out how I did, I believe I did well enough to pass the class. That's all I'm asking for at this point so we'll see. After this I have 3 classes left which I will be starting the first of March. :)

On the babies front... Caleb is talking up a storm and 2 days ago said "wove oo" to me after I said I love you. :) He is very smart and we have had to be creative to keep him out of the fridge so that he doesn't eat us out of house and home. Stephen is almost walking. He'll take several steps between pieces of furniture and is starting to walk across the room. It's so exciting and fun to watch. He also says "hi" and "da", we are loving it.

Now it's time for me to go clean my house which I let slip while I was frantically studying for my final.