Christmas

Christmas morning, before gifts.

Playing at their new table.

Checking out the tree together.

His new love. =)

My precious little reindeer.

Jesus' birthday cake.

Luke with his best buddy, Opa.

Carson introducing Luke to Star Wars...this moment was priceless.

Tante Soo Jin with her boys.

Isaac and Opa playing with his new truck.

Reading the Bible and looking at pictures with Emmy.

Cousins

We had the most special Christmas this year! It was Luke's first Christmas, and he was much more into the presents and being involved than I expected. Isaac was very into opening presents and talking about the meaning of Christmas. He loved every bit of the day...especially going to both grandparents' houses and playing with all of his cousins, aunts, and uncles.

We had Christmas morning here at our house, just the four of us enjoying the time together. Luke woke up first, at about 7:30 and Isaac was up at about 8. We had breakfast first, yummy rolls given to us by one of our sweet neighbors. And after breakfast it was time for gifts...starting with the stockings. Isaac got some new sunglasses and an army man to use as a driver in his trucks. Luke got a new rattle and a stuffed puppy dog. Then we moved on to the other gifts...books, shoes, an alphabet toy, and a few other things. Luke's favorite was a spinny toy that has four vehicles on it, you spin it one way, then let it go and it spins back and forth...it's hard to explain, but it's cool! Then both boys were surprised to find a new table and chairs, just their size, in the living room. Isaac immediately chose a chair for himself, and pointed to the other saying Luke could sit in it. We put both boys at the table in their chairs, of course with Luke closely supervised. Then after a quick picture Carl moved Luke to his exersaucer...he did not like that and he let us know...he wanted back at the table. So we buckled the booster seat to his chair and put him in it...he loved it! I think it made him feel so big. He wants to do everything Isaac does, so of course that includes sitting at the table with him. Shortly after it was time for Luke's nap, so it was just the three of us. Isaac had one more gift, it was outside, so we bundled him up and headed out back. There he found his very own four wheeler! Oh, he was excited! Immediately he said, "Mama, put Isaac's four wheeler in the grass." He climbed on, after a brief instruction from Daddy, he was off. It's been so cold out everyday, but all he wants to do is go out and drive that four wheeler! He drives it, parks it, then gets off and just walks around it looking at it in awe. On Christmas Day he said many times, Santa left Isaac a four wheeler! After some time outside we had to go in, it was too cold. So we had some lunch, then birthday cake for Jesus! Isaac thought that was great, we sang to him of course and had a Lightening McQueen candle to blow out. We also read the story in the Bible and made a Nativity scene together.

After naps for both we headed over to Oma and Opa's house for Christmas with the family. It was a fun time, of course! It was so sweet to see how excited Carson and Colton were to give Isaac and Luke the gifts they had for them. They both got great gifts from everyone and really enjoyed playing with everybody. Isaac was distracted during present time over there, he just wanted to drive his auto...silly boy. Luke sat with his buddy Opa and watched all the fun, while destroying a Baby MumMum in it's wrapper (snack food). We had a nice dinner, prepared by Oma and Soo Jin, and then some more play time before heading home. It was a wonderful time.

Sunday, was the Christmas party with the Griffin family, and what a fun time it was, too! All of their cousins were there, as well as Aunt Leah, Uncle Aaron, Emmy, Gumby, and our Aunt Donna made a special appearance. It was special to share the evening with her, as she had never met Luke, and hadn't seen Isaac in a long time. We started the party with a delicious meal all made by Emmy...we are so spoiled. After dinner, Gumby read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible and Emmy showed pictures to the kids. We talked about Jesus and the significance of the day. Then present time...the kids were very excited about that, and Amber was our little elf passing out gifts to everyone. It was a fantastic evening with family fun!

I am so thankful for my sweet family, and the wonderful memories that were made over the last few days are some I will treasure forever. God has blessed me with more than I could have imagined...my boys (big and small) bring me so much joy and love!

Christmas Eve

(Isaac is saying, "HO HO HO!")

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite days. Every year since I can remember my family went to church together on Christmas Eve. It was always something I really enjoyed, so Carl and I have continued that tradition since we have been married, and now with our own children. Last year Isaac went to his class during the service, but this year we kept both him and Luke with us in the service. Of course, I was quite distracted during most of the service, but I still loved being there and sharing this tradition and time with my boys. This year Emmy and Gumby joined us, which made the time even more special! It was a wonderful time of worship and celebration of Jesus' birth.

The boys are both tucked into their beds, sleeping sweetly so Santa can come to visit our house, and fill their stockings as well the tree with fun new gifts. I can't wait to see what he brings...I guess I better get to sleep now, too, so he can get his work done! ;-)

Santa!

Isaac is VERY in to Santa Claus this year and everything that has to do with him! He got a letter from him, which he loved! He points him out every time he sees him...blow up Santas in the yards, Santa in books, and even Santa on TV. One day last week Santa was on Live with Regis and Kelly, I had the TV on and happened to see him, so I told Isaac to look. He ran to the TV, and watched him closely, saying, "Isaac hear Santa say Ho Ho Ho!" Then he sat on the couch and said he was going to watch Santa from there. It has been very sweet to watch his excitement grow this season.

Brothers

1st bath together!

Showing Luke the water in the boat.

Playing together witht he big truck. Luke is smiling so big!

Big brother reading to his little brother.

Both pushing the Jeep around, without fighting! I wish this could last forever!

The boys have started to interact and play together more and more...it's so exciting to watch. Luke lights up when he sees Isaac, and I think he misses him when he's not around. If Isaac is playing with a toy, Luke does everything he can (roll, scoot, etc) to get to him and play with him. Of course, that doesn't always go over so well with Isaac, but usually he's pretty good about showing him the toy. Isaac will even bring a toy to Luke to show him how it works or what it does. His latest thing is to read books to Luke. They both really enjoy reading, and watching Isaac "read" a book to his baby brother is the sweetest thing. In the picture above he is reading him his newest tractor book, he was sure to point out the hay in the trailer, talk about the animals, and of course the tires on the tractor. Thankfully, I captured it on video, it was a special moment. Yesterday was a big milestone for them...they took their first bath together. Isaac was thrilled about this! He immediately brought his boat over to Luke to show him the water in it, he even grabbed Luke's hand and said, "Feel the water, Luke." Aaawww! It was also Luke's first time to sit in the bath seat, so it was a quick bath for him because he had a little trouble staying upright. It was a fun time, though!

These first few interactions have been a sweet glimpse of the fun times they will share in the future. I know they won't all be sweet times, but I pray they will grow to be best friends!

This is a random story, but I have to share it and document it so I don't forget it. Yesterday morning during breakfast both boys were getting a bit fussy and needy at the same time, as I was cleaning up. I said, "Boys you need to be patient." Isaac quickly replied back to me, "Mama, Luke left his patience at Kristin's house." Ha ha!!! How does he come up with that stuff!?!

Isaac and his coach, Ashley

This is his newest skill, a backward roll...he can do it by himself, but had some trouble when I was videoing.

Isaac has been in gymnastics for about 7 months, and he LOVES it! He knows that Wednesday is gymnastics day, and when I tell him in the morning that it's Wednesday he immediately yells, "Gymnastics!!!" (It doesn't quite sound like gymnastics, that's a hard word, but I know what he's saying.) He has been in a mommy and me class, and I think that I enjoy it just as much as him. He has had the same coach since we started, and they've really bonded. Ashley is a GREAT coach, very encouraging, fun spirited, and of course knowledgable! Starting in January he is moving up to the next class. He will be doing it all by himself as I sit back and watch from the parent area. This is bittersweet for me...I love helping him do gymnastics and spending that one on one time with him, but I am also excited for him to take on this new challenge. So from now on Luke and I will sit back and watch...until it's his turn to start tumbling.

7 months old

Luke is 7 months old. He is smiley, sweet, silly, determined, curious, a bit stubborn, aggressive, and also laid back (when he wants to be). He is also known to be a severe mama's boy...it's true, there is no denying it, he wants Mama around and if I'm not around he lets everyone know he isn't happy. He still will only let any one other than mama or daddy hold him for a few minutes, then it's over and he cries until he's back in our arms. I told you he was stubborn. Luke is also so sweet, he smiles so big when he sees Isaac, Daddy, or Mama...even others, as long as they don't try to hold him. ;-) He is so silly; he has started doing a fake cough, and if you copy him he does it more and more and laughs about it. He loves to be tickled, that will get him laughing so hard! I like to play the "I'm gonna get you..." game with him, he laughs the sweetest laugh when I do that. He smiles so big when playing peek a boo, singing song, or watching his brother swing. He also enjoys swinging outside, he is so tiny in that big swing, but he is so happy in it! He loves reading books! His aggression comes out in this situation, he grabs for the books, he wants to hold them and be in charge. I try to take them to the library for story time as often as possible, he is mesmerized by the stories and songs. He is trying so hard to crawl, our prediction is that he will be crawling by Christmas...we'll see! Luke can sit up alone now, that is a big accomplishment, and we are so proud of him! He got his first tooth last week...yay! Thankfully he wasn't too badly effected by it. He is a good eater, he seems to be really enjoying solid foods. I gave him a Baby MumMum the other day, it was his first one, but he ripped it out of my hand to hold and feed himself like he's been doing it his entire life. It was so funny. He just sucked/smacked away on that thing until it was all gone. Luke is very curious about his surroundings...he wants to see everything that is going on around him and he reaches for the things that really interest him...he wants to check it all out! When Isaac is pushing around his trucks Luke works really hard to get to the trucks to check them out; unfortunately that doesn't always end well. We've already had to start working on sharing and taking turns.
He is still my little peanut, I can tell he's growing, but he is so small. He still fits in some 3-6 months clothes, and the 6-12 month clothes are way too big!

Family Weekend

Happy Boy!

Telling Sinterklaas how old he is, "Twee."

Isaac was so brave! Luke couldn't stop staring at Sinterklaas.

Opening his present...a tanker truck!

He loved his new toy!

Cousins (apparently my boys were too into their new toys to look at the camera)

Playing on the motorcycle

Jumping on the trampoline with all the boys.

This weekend we had a great time, doing family things and just hanging out. I am so thankful for my boys, and I know this time is so precious, so I'm trying to make many memories and cherish everyday.

Yesterday we started the day by going to see Sinterklaas (the Dutch Santa). In the Dutch tradition Sinterklaas comes on December 5, so the Holland club of Houston holds a special event for the children to come see him. I still have my own memories of doing this when I was a little girl, so it means so much to me to take my boys there and let them form their own memories of this tradition. Rudi's family went as well, so it was fun to see all the cousins together. I was a little nervous about how Isaac would do...when I took him to see Santa Claus at the mall he was scared and had to be bribed to sit on his lap. We got there early yesterday, so we had to wait for a while for everything to get going. This worked out great because Isaac was able to play and watch all of the other kids as they visited with Sinterklaas. When he finally called Isaac and Luke up Isaac was fearless! He walked right up, spoke to him (in Dutch!), and accepted a gift from him. Then he even sat in his lap for a picture! Luke came up there with us as well and he smiled at him the entire time we talked to him. I was so proud of my boys! They both received a special gift from him and both boys lit up when they saw them. Luke got a little blankie with a rattle and teether on it; he smiled so big at it! Isaac got a little wooden tanker truck! He loves tanker trucks, so this was the perfect gift to him. He had told Santa Claus that he wanted a new truck for Christmas, so I guess he told Sinterklaas. ;-)

After the celebration we headed over to California Pizza Kitchen to have lunch with the family (Tante Soo Jin drove all the way downtown just to join us for lunch). It was a great to all be together and to eat at a restaurant we never go to. I have to mention that we put Isaac in a diaper before leaving the house because we weren't sure he was ready to wear underwear for such a long adventure...he proved us wrong! He wanted to go potty after lunch at the restaurant, so Aunt Melissa took him, he went on the potty and his diaper was dry! We were amazed!

After lunch we went to a friends' house for a fish fry. There were 7 kids (including ours), so it was a great time! The kids all had a great time running around, jumping on the trampoline, and playing on the toy cars/motorcycles. Isaac loved sitting on that motorcycle and pretending like he was driving. We are so grateful for our sweet friends and for the time we get to share with them. Thanks for having us over Hrobar family!

Today we stayed home all day, just getting things done and playing with the boys. I think Luke needed a quiet day at home...he took a 4 hour nap this morning and then another 1.5 hour nap this afternoon! I made him some new food today, Acorn Squash. He really liked the squash, this was the first food he ate on the first attempt without any dramatic faces. Isaac played hard all day...he just recently started driving his power wheels jeep, and today was a big day for that. He drove it all over the yard, over and over again! This was the first time he's used it so much, and he is already such a great driver...he goes forward, backwards, turns corners, and even maneveurs through trees and other things. As I mentioned before, it was a fabulous weekend full of time with the ones I love!

!

Runaway Horse

As you all know, I really enjoy running. I run a few times a week, through the neighborhood, with the boys in their double stroller. Seems safe, right? I always thought so. Our neighbor that lives behind us has two beautiful, huge, horses...they are very nice people who we talk to occassionally, and often see out riding their horses when we're out running or walking.

Yesterday was one of those days. We went out for a run, and there she was on her horse, riding down the street. We ran up behind them, then passed by (on the opposite side of the road), and said hi as we passed. I got a little ways ahead of them and then heard the horse start galloping...strange I thought, why is he galloping? I turned around and saw the rider slowing down the horse. A minute or less later I hear him start running again, but faster and loudly, I turned around to see this huge horse running towards us without the rider! Needless to say I was terrified! I was coming up on a turn to the right, I went right, into the ditch, but the horse was coming that way, so I quickly turned left and crossed the road. There were some people outside putting up lights, watching this happen, they were yelling at me to stop running, to just stop. Hello!?! I can't stop and let this giant horse run into me and my boys (that's what I was thinking), but I think I yelled, "I don't know what to do!" Thankfully, when I turned left the horse continued right and turned the corner...apparently heading home. We have no idea what happened, why he did that...maybe spooked by an inflatable Santa Clause, although the owner doesn't think that would scare him. Maybe just a little crazy...I don't know.

Even as I type this I can feel my heart beating a little faster. It was a very scary experience, but one that ended with nobody seriously injured. The rider was okay, she is definitely bruised and sore, but overall okay. One of the things I am so thankful for (besides being safe) was that Isaac didn't see any of it and has no idea that anything strange happened. I am incredibly thankful for this because I know he would have been traumatized by it, especially by seeing the rider fall. So for the last 24 hours I have been praising God for His protection, for keeping us safe.

Thoughts

Isaac has started having his own thoughts, well vocalizing them, and it is so awesome to hear what he is thinking...

• Everyday before Luke takes a nap Isaac turns his music on for him, and he almost always says, "That makes Luke happy." Yesterday, when he said this I asked him, "What makes you happy?" He quickly replied, "Mama makes Isaac happy." My heart melted. Today while driving he got back on the subject of what makes people happy, and he said, "God makes Isaac happy." Oh, how I love that!
• He is also very into talking about what God makes...the first thing he always says is, "God makes rain and thunder." Then we talk about what else He made.
• For some reason he has woken up in the middle of the night a few times lately, this is extremely rare for him, he has only woken up in the middle of the night about 5 times since he was a couple of months old...when he wakes up he always says, "Mama come make Isaac happy in Isaac's chair." This means he wants me to come rock with him in his chair. It's such a sweet moment, just wish it didn't happen in the middle of the night.
• He talks a lot about the people in his life and lately he says he misses the people he hasn't seen in a while. It's always very random and very sweet.
• His latest truck obsession is the Cement Mixer trucks, or concrete trucks. He points out every one that we see and he wants to hear it say, "Pssst." (The noise a truck makes when it stops.)
• One of his favorite comments these day is, "That's niiice." He will go up to something decorative in the house, like a new candle and say, "Mama, that's niiice." On Monday Carl bought me some flowers for our anniversary and upon seeing them Isaac had to tell me, "Mama those flowers SO niiice." And of course when he saw the Christmas tree the first time he had to mention that it was nice, too. He got a haircut last week, as she was getting ready to style it he looked in the mirror, ran his hand through his hair and said, "Isaac's hair looks niiice."