Life with Boys in church...

Today was a celebration service at church. We had all the kids with us in the sanctuary for the entire service (and it was exceptionally long).  I love having the kids in the sanctuary with us. I firmly believe that children must feel included, accepted and loved as a member of the church. They need to feel that they belong in corporate worship. I truly believe that is all true as we strive to bring our kids up to follow Christ and serve Him.

However, that doesn't mean that every time I have everyone in the sanctuary that we have a blissful service. On the contrary, some days by the time the service has ended I am exhausted. Today was not an exception to that experience. Some day I will look back and laugh. Today, I'm just ready for a nap.

It started with M and C fighting over the goodies in the 'entertainment' bags that we provide for the kids, which is just typical behavior. Then, C was eating M's snack which caused a bit of angst. Nothing major...just life with the boys. During the children's sermon, C announced to everyone that he was baptized last night in the bathtub and M tried to start playing the piano. C was full of spunk today and M wasn't to be left behind. As a side note, C and M are having trouble co-existing right now. M bullies C horribly. It is kind of comical to see that C has met his match, but in church it is frustrating because M voices his displeasure by shrieking.  The two of them go back and forth throughout the service. Well, Jut was almost finished with his sermon and M was getting vocal. So, I gave a stern warning to C as I left to take M to the nursery about my expectations for his behavior...mainly keep his bottom in the pew and his mouth shut. I left.

Upon my return, I find both boys wrestling on the floor in the aisle next to the pew. Thankfully, my presence was enough to stop the scuffle and for both boys to jump back up into the pew. But, I may have missed the ending of the service, as I was fuming.  What on earth gets into these boys???

Upon investigation, X told us that C told him that he was going to go up and talk to Jut because he was bored. X knew that as Jut was preaching that wouldn't be a great idea and so he tackled C to keep him from going to the front of the church. Simple story. Simple logic...but maybe not the best idea.

I love my boys. They are wonderful, but they are crazy. My dad says that raising my sister and I made his hair fall out. These boys are giving me gray hair and testing my sanity. It is amazing that boys survive boyhood.  Some days I don't know if I'm up to the challenge of being a mom of boys.  They are a different kettle of fish. :)

The Big Snow

We finally got a big snowstorm yesterday. It came with loud winds that knocked out our power for a couple of hours and lots of snow.

This afternoon, M was trying to eat some snow that fell of one of the kid's boots and so I decided to let him take a closer look at all the white stuff. It was okay at first to be strapped in the sled and toted around but the wind was fierce and it is more fun to move under your own power.

He was much more content to be off the sled checking out the barn cat or standing next to the kiddie picnic table. Garfield took his interest for about 30 seconds and then he bounded off for a 'safer' area.

The big kids had a great time digging out 'forts' and checking out all the drifts...they didn't even want to help me build a snowman. Sad for mom but I'm certain M didn't really want to build a snowman anyway.

11 Month M

 Only one month left and we'll no longer have a baby in the house.  Hopefully, we'll have some visit but we have no plans to have one live here again. Part of me gets melancholy when I think that this phase of life is over. Our baby chapters are written (with the exception of this last month). While it is sad to leave this stage behind, it is exciting to see what is on the horizon. I'm finally coming out of the 'baby psychosis stage' as I like to call it.  M is sleeping better and so I am too and therefore able to get more things accomplished. I was exhausted with pregnancy when we moved into the house and then exhausted with a baby for the past year. I'm finally getting to some of those projects that have needed tackled for a year and a half.

 M took his first unassisted steps this month! He's still very wobbly but he's walking a few feet at a time. He thinks he is big stuff. He's fun to watch.

He is getting into everything. He's learned to reach things on the edges of tables and desks. Little fingers are constantly stretching to see what objects are within his grasp. He also figured out how to open the cupboard doors and cooling racks are always laying about the kitchen floor.

Teeth #7 and 8 finally came through. The second one on the bottom left erupted on Tuesday, January 26th and #8 made his mouth symmetrical on Thursday, January 28th.

He is wringing his hands and sticking out his tongue to end January. He started shaking his head "no". I sing "Clap your hands all ye people..." to him and he grins and claps his hands.

M is so interactive and fun. It is amazing to watch his personality blossom more and more each month. He is constantly investigating things and 'tasting' everything. Figuring out the world is his objective.

He loves to get into the places that he knows that he usually is blocked. If the stairs are left open, he's headed that way. If the school room door is not blocked shut, he's in there. If the bathroom doors aren't closed, he's playing in the toilet. He has a great knack of finding the places that he is not suppose to be.

He was eating great for a bit this month but between his head cold and back molars causing trouble, he went back to baby food. He even gave up puffs for a week or so. But, slowly he's coming back to regular food. He ate more than a half cup of blueberries for dinner tonight, which is a great sign that he's feeling better.

We went to the cardiologist last week. M's heart is doing well and we don't have to return for 2 years until his next heart echo. We were so thankful for that news.

10 Month M

It was a fun month of developments.  M gets more fun all of the time. M learned that he could push chairs around the downstairs and walk places. He has had a lot of fun developing his walking skills. He is also gingerly releasing his hold on objects and standing independently for a few seconds here and there. Independent walking is going to be here entirely too quickly!

He finally sat up independently this month. He has been so close so many times, but he finally sat in a full-upright position for the first time by himself.

Waving his hand and shaking his head 'no' are two new ways that he's learned in the last couple of weeks to get a reaction from people. He thinks he's pretty cool stuff when he performs his new tricks.

He slept through the night for two consecutive nights this week! However, then, he was up for a couple hours from 1 to 3 for the next couple of nights. Needless to say, sleeping is still an issue. This week, I started trying to wean him to 1 long nap per day, as it is easier to do school with the bigger kids when he takes one good 3 hour nap. It worked a couple of days.

For the past two Sundays, M has stayed in the nursery at church without needing to be rescued by Mom. It seems like a big accomplishment. I think he's deciding it isn't so bad in there, which makes life a little easier on me.

M discovered frozen blueberries this month. He loves frozen blueberries...although his fingers get cold and so he tries to lean down and eat them directly off his tray, which doesn't work. But, he will eat as many as he gets despite the cold fingers.  He also ate lots of a beet, sweet potato and applesauce mixture all month. He loved it.

He went in for a well-child visit this month. He weighed 20 lbs 9 ozs and was 28.5 inches long. He's growing well and his heart was behaving nicely.

He is really starting to chat at you...especially if he's upset about something. He will give you an earful of gibberish.

He loves to play with my hair as he falls asleep. His little hand is always up there. That isn't new for this month but I do love it and will miss it.