Can you tell they are brothers??

Here are both boys, in the exact same tub, at the exact same age. Can you tell who is who??

When Mom and Dad are away....

the kiddos will play!!!

What did Luke and Caleb do while Mommy and Daddy were on their "hot date" (as Luke called it)???

My mom's neighbor has a little girl Luke's age...well, a month older to be exact, and they have become quite the buddies lately. So "Wukie" (as Ava calls him) and "Dayva" (as Luke calls her) played quite a lot that whole evening, and even the next morning too! Yes, you heard right...evening AND morning!

Didn't I tell you??? My mom and sister watched Luke and Caleb overnight on Friday! Oh my gosh. That was probably the best gift they could have given us. A full 9 hours of sleep. Without any interruptions. I had a friend tell me, "you know you are a parent when all you want to do on your anniversary is sleep" HA!!! so true. And it was fantastic. We love our kids...more than anything of course, but that full night of rest really made us feel so darn good!

Thank you sooooo much Grammy and Auntie. We were really able to relax knowing our boys were in good hands. When can you do that again? soon?? hmmmm???

Happy 5th Anniversary to US!

Here is the video I made for us last year I would have made another one this year, but I quite frankly don't have the time these days. (and I need to add Caleb into the video too....)

but I just wanted to say ....

Happy Anniversary Brandon. And like I put in the video, thank you for choosing me. Our life is better than I could have ever imagined it would be. I love you more today, then I did on our wedding day 5 years ago. If that was even possible. :)

I DID IT!!

I did it. And I'm so proud. Yesterday, yes folks, only 6 weeks after having Caleb, I ventured to Walmart with BOTH, yes I said both, boys. All. By. My. Self. :)

It wasn't easy. And quite frankly, there were times I would ask someone to come with me even when I had just Luke to deal with. (hey, a 2 year old at walmart...is one handful!) So, needless to say, I was quite terrified to go alone...with 2 kids. But, after I saw a woman coming out of walmart 2 weeks ago with FIVE, yes 5!!, girls in tow (one on her hip, one in the cart full of groceries, and 3 holding on to the cart) I said to myself, "okay, if she can do it, then surely I can handle just 2! Caleb can't even talk back yet!"

So, I planned it. Got up in the morning. No time for a shower. Fed Caleb. Got dressed. Luke got up. Dressed Caleb. Got Luke some breakfast. Dressed Caleb again (darn refux!!), changed his poopy diaper. Dressed Luke. Packed the bag. Changed Luke's poopy diaper (yes...we are still in diapers...that's a different story!) Made sure I had snacks and juice for Luke. and 40 minutes later...we were out the door!!! whoo hoo!

We got to Walmart. And I even got a 3rd row parking spot, which is rare for me, and got the boys out of the car. Luke held my hand and didn't even fight me about getting in the cart. I handed him his snacks and our journey started.

And after only one opened carton of juice, 10+ times of telling Luke to sit down in the cart, one bottle feeding, and 4 burp sessions later, we were at the check out. And no one was crying!

All in all, it was a nice trip to Walmart. If there could ever be a nice trip to that place, and we all made back in one piece. That picture prooves it. Hopefully next time is just as easy......

brotherly love

Luke is loving having a brother....

He is constantly wanting to hold him and snuggle him. and I mean constantly. First thing in the morning after he wakes up, he comes down stairs, marches to our bedroom and sees Caleb sitting there in his boppy on our bed. He jumps up there and says, " Hi Dubby!" and then procedes to smother the peanut with kisses....to which I then always have to say, "GENTLE Luke. Let your brother breathe!" Then, he always lays down next to him, getting as close as he possibly can (without laying on top of him) and puts that sweet little arm around Caleb's little chest and just lays there smelling him and rubbing cheeks. OH. MY. WORD. it's just to darn sweet for words. I need to get a picture of it as proof, for the day he says he doesn't love his brother. HA!


He is also starting to get very protective of him too. If anyone other than family, (okay, well sometimes family too) touches or wants to pick Caleb up, Luke yells "NOOOO, GUKES DUBBY!" over and over until the person either 1. doesn't understand what he is saying and stares at him dumbfounded, or 2. says "what??? I just want to say hi to your brother can I? to which Luke of course gives his permission.


I am loving it. Loving seeing Luke already wanting to enjoy his brother, protect his brother, and just love his brother. It makes us so excited to see what life is going to be like a year from now.


BUT the icing on the cake this week was when Luke asked us if "Dubby aaahhh with Guke" meaning, he wanted Caleb to sleep in his bed with him! We had just started the end of our bed time routine with the boys (bath, book, prayers, and then story told by Dad) when he let us lay Caleb in bed with him to hear Dad's story. And when it was all over, he didn't want us to take peanut away. He put that little arm over Caleb's little chest and didn't let go. Seriously. *sigh* It was too darn cute.

Too bad we couldn't really let Dubby sleep up there with him..... Maybe we could then get a full 6 hours! HA!

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Just for fun, I told you all I would try to dig out some old pictures of Luke and compare them with Caleb's. Because, quite frankly, they really do look a lot alike, so I finally found one. (I know I have more and want to share them, but right now as I type I have a very cranky and wanting to be held peanut in the other room.....)

Luke at 4 months old

Caleb at 5 weeks old....
Of course, I can't take Caleb's picture without taking one of Luke....

I'll dig some more out to compare soon!

One Month

Caleb is officially one month old. Well, at least he turned a month old on June 4. I'm just a little late. :) He has grown so much and has changed a ton it seems like from when he was born.

We are really finally (well, I say we, but really I) feeling like we can handle life with 2 kids.

I'm not going to lie. The first 3 weeks were really really really hard. I was tired, drained, both emotionally and physically, and had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. But it was like magic at the 3 week mark, because I felt like I was getting a grip on what our new normal was....and is. And to be quite honest....it is the best thing that has ever happened to us.

We are loving having 2 boys and am getting the hang of taking care of them at the same time. (The first time I got all of us ready to get out of the house to have lunch with some family....it took me almost 2 hours! HA! now it's closer to an hour...sometimes less. I'm pretty proud of that.)

Anyway, life is really great here at our house. And we are forgetting what life was like pre-Caleb. so anyway....here are some pictures of his one month photo shoot. Enjoy!

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Caleb at one month old

*you can really hold your head up so good. We can actually hold you upright and you can keep your head balanced for a good amount of time. You have even sat in your Bumbo chair already!

*you are eating every 3-3.5 hours during the day...and lately it's been the same at night. But you have gone 4 hours occasionally at night too.

*you love to watch your brother and stare at him when he talks to you and says, "HI DUBBY!"

*you smiled at mommy for the first time right at 5 weeks old! It was the sweetest little smile ever!!!!

*You are drinking about 4oz of formula at 5 of your 7 feedings. The other two you nurse around 8pm and 8am

*you have said a few coos...and they are the sweetest, softest little sound

*you are spitting up quite a bit, and we are starting you on some meds to help you with your reflux. poor little guy!

Luke is doing lots of things too....

talking so much more, and more people can understand more of what he is saying! that is HUGE! He has quite the little personality and is testing "mom" a lot these days. He still spends a lot of his day playing with his "car cars" and "choo choo's" but is loving being outside too and going on walks. and he loves to play soccer with dad.

He is really enjoying being a big brother for the most part, he fetches me everything I need for the baby and loves to give him his paci.

Life is good.

"mom"

Luke. Today, I want to make a note that you called me "mom" all day long. I didn't hear too many mommy's today, but that's okay because it was too darn cute, and I loved hearing it. But could you please call me mommy for a tad bit longer???? I don't want you to grow up too fast! I'll be "mom" my whole life. Love you Little Man.

"MOM"

our peanut...

Is now a month old.....*sigh* technically 5 weeks tomorrow....where did the time go????

our life the past 4 weeks....

well, some of it anyway.....

What have we been doing? THIS....

Just spending lots of time together as a family, being outside, and just enjoying each other. These past 4 weeks have been pretty incredible. I can't wait to see what the next 4 weeks has in store......

all grown up....and GETTING MARRIED!

Congratulations to my sister, Emily, and her now fiance, Terry, who got engaged Saturday night!! We are so excited for the both of you!

Emily didn't know her family, his family, and their friends were all going to be there to surpise her after he proposed, so here is shot I got right after he asked her...before she saw us. Their up at the top of the stairs just in case you don't know what you are looking at.... heehee

And after it was done, Emily came down and showed all of us her beautiful ring!

Then we took the opportunity to get a family shot since we were all dressed in "real" clothes (hey, it's been awhile since we've gotten out of our jammies at our house!)

Luke, Emily, my mom, Caleb, and me

And I thought this shot of my grandparents came out quite nicely. My grandpa is looking great for just beating colon cancer don't ya think??

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And of course, I wouldn't leave you without a more recent picture of our peanut.

Memorial Day weekend 2009

3 weeks old