5 Months

Watching the THS Homecoming Parade...he wasn't too sure about all the noise.

Yesterday was Luke's 5 month birthday...5 months, already!?! I had to double check myself yesterday as I was thinking about it being his birthday, I thought I must be wrong, how is he already 5 months.

He is doing great, and is such a fun baby! He is very laid back and happy, at home and with mama, but he tends to get a little more anxious when we spend too much time out of the house. He is getting better though, and will let others hold him for longer periods of time these days. He loves watching other kids, especially his big brother! He smiles, laughs, and reaches out when he sees other kids, he can't wait to be able to play! He has started playing more, he is really happy in his ExerSaucer, especially when Isaac comes over and helps him play with the toys. When laying on the floor to play he prefers to be on his tummy. He rolls back and forth over and over when on the floor, but spends the majority of his time on his tummy. He has also discovered an interest in playing with toy balls. Isaac is happy that he can now kind of play with him, he will bring him the ball, then take it away, just so he can give it back to him. Ha! It sure is fun to watch them interact, I am excited to watch their relationship grow!

Luke does not like loud noises, he startles so easily. He gets upset when Isaac is too loud, or when something around him is too noisy. I can see an improvement in this, but he still makes it clear that he likes his environment calm.

He has started eating some cereal, the first couple weeks of it he got more of it on his bib than he swallowed, but everyday he gets better! Yesterday he ate almost every bit of the cereal I made him. He is still not too into drinking his milk from the bottle, but we're working on it. He made me really proud the other day, he drank 2 ounces out of a bottle without a problem...I was pretty shocked to be honest.

He is still pretty small, so I call him my peanut. He is wearing 3-6 month clothes now, but some are still pretty big on him. I tried putting a 6 month jacket on him the other day and it swallowed him...such a cutie!

Although having two little ones has proven to be quite a challenge, it has also been such a joy! I love being their mama, I love taking care of them and watching them grow, learn, and interact. Luke has added so much to our little family, more than I could have ever dreamed! I love my little peanut so much!

God has truly blessed us, by giving us these boys, and my prayer is that our lives honor Him!

Who needs to sleep!?!

As many of you know, Isaac has given up naps, except for the random time when he accidentally falls asleep, ha!

This is what I saw when I walked in his room after "nap" time one day this week. Apparently practicing his gymnastics is more important than sleeping.

Dallas Trip

This past weekend we took a family trip to Dallas! A close friend of mine is expecting her second baby, so her family hosted a baby shower for her yesterday. I have been wanting to head north to visit friends, to get away, and this was the perfect opportunity. Since Luke is now almost 5 months old we decided he could handle the drive and hopefully do well in a strange place (he is quite the homebody). Unfortunately Carl had to go to Dallas on Thursday and Friday for work, so he made two round trips in 4 days...yuck! He was a trooper though, he did it for me, and I'm so thankful for that.

We headed up on Saturday around noon; Carl was determined to make it up without stopping...um, really with 2 little ones??? Luke decided to set him straight immediately, we had to stop to change his diaper before we even made it to I 45, only 15 minutes into the trip! Ha! It was funny, but also a little scary, we thought it might be a long drive! Thankfully that turned out to be the only stop, we pushed through and made it the rest of the way.

When we got to town we went straight to Staci's house, to visit with her and Gabe. Isaac was so excited to go see them and to be in Dallas. When we told him we were going to Dallas he said, "Isaac bigger!" We always tell him he can go hunting with Daddy when he gets bigger, guess he put that with Dallas, too...too funny! Anyways, back to Staci's, we had a great visit with them! Isaac enjoyed playing with Gabe's toys, and Luke loved watching Gabe play, he thought he was fun and just laughed and laughed as Gabe ran around playing. I enjoyed visiting with Staci, catching up in person, and of course checking out the nursery. She is due in about a month and looks so great! I'm so excited for her and her precious family.

We stayed in a hotel in Lewisville, our old stomping grounds. We got a suite, thinking that would be best with the two kids...wrong again. Both went to sleep around 7:30, pretty normal, so we thought we had it made. Around 8:30 Luke started screaming, in the same room that Isaac was sleeping in...I ran in, grabbed in and brought him into the bedroom. He was wide awake and happy after that. Bummer. After some playtime we got him back to sleep, in our room this time. 3:00 AM...I hear Isaac talk, "Oh no why is he awake?" was my thought. Ten seconds later, he starts crying and saying, "Mama come back!" I ran in, so he wouldn't wake Luke, and scooped him up. He was so upset, staring at the door to the hall, he must have thought we left. Poor guy. Long story short, eventually, after feeding Luke and calming Isaac down, we all made it back to bed, unfortunately with Isaac in our bed. This was a first for us...not too fun...but he slept so that's what matters.

Sunday morning we met our former neighbors at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. When we lived there we would pass this place and I would dream of the days I could take my kids out there, after moving I thought we'd never do it, but we made it happen! This was the first time that our friends got to meet the boys, and it was the first time for us to see them in a couple of years. It was so great to hang out, catch up, and watch the kids play. They were my family when I lived there, Carl spent a lot of time working late, and I spent a lot of time hanging out with them. We really miss them! The pumpking patch was great...tons of pumpkins, hay stacks, bounce houses, hay ride, wooden tractors, and more! Isaac had a blast, and he did great with the other kids, he was so comfortable with them, and they were so good with him! Isaac asked us many times during the day if we could go back to the pumpkin patch.

After grabbing some lunch and packing up at the hotel, we headed to Denton for Staci's baby shower. It was a sweet time...full of family, friends, and lots of love for the Cavazos family. I am so thankful that I got to be there to celebrate this special time with her.

The ride home was long...both boys were exhausted, as were we. Luke slept some off and on, but Isaac talked and talked and talked...for 4 hours straight! Finally he crashed, right as we were coming into town, about 20 minutes from home. Silly boy!

We LOVED living in Lewisville, and have so many great friends still there (we didn't get to see most of them, which means we have to go back soon!), taking this trip reminded me of a special time in our lives, when we were just starting out...and now we're a family of 4. Part of my heart is still there, so many great memories, but Magnolia is now home, family is here and time with family is priceless. Maybe one day we'll get back up north, but for now we'll settle for some fun visits!

Growing and Learning

Isaac perfecting his handstand at gymanstics. =)

His first taste of cereal...not sure what to think.

This is how I find him now every morning.

Exersaucer (also known as toy overload)!

The boys are growing, learning, and changing daily! Luke has had quite the week of firsts around here...his first cereal, rolling over in his bed and now sleeping on his tummy, and his first time playing in the exersaucer. He's not convinced yet that the cereal is something he should eat, but we're trying it daily in hopes we can change his mind. He seems to really like laying on his tummy in bed, multple times last week I went to get him in the morning and found him on his tummy. Then this weekend he started rolling over as soon as I put him in bed. I tried rolling him back to his back, but that only lasted about 20 seconds and he was back to his tummy. After trying 3 times I gave in and let him sleep on his tummy. Now, the fun, the exersaucer...he loves it! He is doing great in it, too, I can't believe how strong he is!

Isaac is doing great, too! He is learning new things daily; including counting, spelling, days of the week, and so many new words in English and Dutch. His words are becoming more clear everyday, which is great because it means I don't have to translate everything he says any more. He is still loving his gymnastics class...he even knows that Wednesday is gymnastics day, so he can't wait for it to come each week.

I am so blessed to be the mom of these two wonderful boys, and the wife of such an amazing man! I know I never write about Carl, but he is doing great, too! He has been traveling a lot, but thankfully will be home now for a while. He is Isaac's favorite playmate...they have a blast together no matter what they're doing. And he is the best at making Luke laugh, I love when he makes him bellylaugh like that!

The little ones

Emmy, Gumby, and their three youngest grandchildren

Yesterday was a special day for us...we got to meet our newest niece, Mariah. She is six weeks younger than Luke, and is just precious! I am looking forward to watching her grow, and watching she and my boys play together.

We had a great day today with our friends Kristin and Taylor. Isaac finally gave in and decided to go for a ride with Taylor, as you can tell it didn't work out so well. He refused to get back in with her! Ha! Daddy has warned him about women drivers, I guess maybe he will start listening to him now. =) We love you TayTay!

28 months...what a big boy!

Kissing his sweet girlfriend.

Riding in Daddy's hotrod...one of his favorite things to do!

He's my little tool man.

He has recently discovered finger painting!

Isaac is now 28 months, and wow what a big boy he is becoming! He's constantly growing, learning new things, and changing! I think his vocabulary multiplies daily and his sentences get longer everyday. He is also speaking more and more Dutch, which is so exciting! He loves to speak it and understands every bit of it! I sure wish I could pick up two languages that quickly.

Here are a few memorable things from the recent months:
- He still doesn't like to sleep during nap time, but every now and then he does fall asleep. When laying in bed not sleeping he does all kinds of things, includingg couting to ten in Dutch!
- He loves going to the library for story time, he is not as rambuctious as some of the kids, but he does get into the stories and songs.
- He enjoys helping Daddy set up the sprinklers in the yard, and water the plants/trees with the watering can.
- He is still a great eater, but is more hesitant with meat lately...maybe it has to do with his 2 year molars coming in! Ouch!
- He is becoming more adventurous...although still pretty timid compared to most 2 year old boys. I won't complain about that though, it means less scary moments for mama!
- He plays independently very well, and even tells us to leave sometimes when he's playing alone and we come to check on him.
- He has to "make dirt" in private, he always runs off to do it. The other day I was in the kitchen with him and heard him whisper to himself, "Isaac go playroom, Isaac make dirt." Then he ran off to the playroom. Ha!
- He LOVES to do forward rolls and go to gymnastics class! The other day I was feeding Luke, and could hear Isaac in his room, he said to himself, "Isaac do forward roll, Isaac stand up and say TaDa." I then heard him roll, then say, "stand up say TaDa." I heard him stand up, then "TaDa!!!" I couldn't help but laugh, it was so cute!
- I can tell he enjoys when Luke tries to interact with him, and so he tries to interact more with Luke. He likes making him laugh, which he did the other day by hitting a balloon. Unfortunately the balloon ended up hitting Luke in the head, and then Isaac accidentally hit him with his hand, too. Oops! Thankfully Luke was not phased by either hit. Whew!
- He is becoming very independent...he has to climb into the truck himself, buckle his carseat himself, take off his diaper himself before bathtime, throw away his dirty diapers himself, and he sometimes helps me carry things out to the car when we're leaving.
- He definitely has some terrible two moments, more than I'd like, but he is also still very very sweet. He gives lots of hugs and kisses during the day! He is also very friendly to everyone we see when we're out and about.
- He becomes ecstatic when we tell him people are coming over! We can't tell him until just before they are to arrive otherwise he'll drive us crazy talking about them coming over.
- He has become very attached to mama lately, and is always concerned that I'm going to leave him. Before going down for a nap, before going down at night, he always says multiple times, "Mama stay Isaac's house." And when we go to someone's house he always asks me many times if I am staying, and tells me to stay and not go. I'm not sure if this is just a phase for this age or if it has to do with his baby brother...I hope it passes soon, I don't like him always worrying.