Yay Yay Ai Yo

This is Ben's little ditty. We have no clue where he got it from. Maybe he's going to be a composer! For weeks now, he's been singing "Yay Yay Ai Yo." He'll even do it on command if you ask him to sing his song.

I guess my singing ability must not be so great because anytime I start singing, both boys adamantly say, "NOOOO!!! No Mom!" Which of course just makes me want to sing more. 

They've begun the pretending stage. Most of the pretending revolves around monsters. This all started when they heard the ice maker on the fridge and they'd ask "What's that?" to which their dad would reply, "There's a monster in the fridge!" Now there are monsters all over-- if they're not in the fridge, they're at the front door or in the basement or in the fireplace. 

Both boys can answer "What's your name?" and "How old are you?" Though Dewey has a little more trouble with remembering numbers so sometimes Ben has to help him with his age.

Some other funny things they say...
Cimmanon for Cinnamon.
"Oh No" for oatmeal.
They've made up their own sign for syrup. They wave their hand in circles above their bowls.
Luke was trying to figure out what Ben was doing the other day and I hear, "Ben what doin?"
Luke calls my slippers "slipperys" which sounds more like "sipperdees".
Food is nummy (yummy).
I just love the way they say "fried chicken" especially Luke-- he says it with a southern accent.

One of my favorite things about this stage is nap time. And not just because I get a little breather. Our routine for nap time has been the same for 7 months now. Both boys sit with me in our comfy rocker. Ben on my lap and Luke next to me with his right arm linked through my left arm. Ben still falls asleep in my arms for naps and then I put Luke in his crib where he quickly falls asleep. I love that I can still rock my babies to sleep at 2 and 3 years old!

Buckets of Rain

Yesterday was Luke's 3rd birthday. We dreamed of that day for so long... the first time we got to celebrate his birthday with him!! I read Psalm 68 the other day... 

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling...

You pour out rain in buckets, O God."

It made me think back to the months and years that we asked God over and over for children. One Bible story that brought me so much encouragement during those challenging days was the one of Elijah praying earnestly for rain after experiencing 3 years of drought in 1 Kings 18. Elijah believed and never gave up. I was in a Bible study with friends who reminded me "Your rain is coming... don't give up."

While celebrating Luke's life yesterday, I felt like I was being showered with those buckets of rains. God's blessings and answered prayers and grace just pouring down on us. I loved celebrating that little boy! Thank You, Jesus.

We had a crazy houseful of friends and family and energetic little boys for his "dinner & a movie" birthday party. We ate hot dogs, mac & cheese, and cupcakes. The kids watched Toy Story 2 in the basement with popcorn in hand. I love that Luke is surrounded by so much love and so many buddies... Jachin, Bo, Khalib (his friend from Edget orphanage in Ethiopia!), Cohen K, Eric, Titus, Malachi, Ezra S, and our new neighbor James. We missed his other friends-- Caleb, Jacob, Jameson, Jackson, Weston, Cohen J, Arie and Ezra J, but we're thankful for them too. Such a blessing!

Ephelant

No, that's not a typo. It's what my dyslexic toddlers call Elephants. Ben is especially fond of his stuffed "Ephelant" who we call Mr. Peanuts. A couple weeks before his 2nd birthday, Ben had a vocab explosion. The first full sentence I remember him saying was "I see a plane" while looking out the window. The other night before bed, Dave and I were asking him about his day and we couldn't believe it when he said, "I watch monsters on TV." He was telling us about watching the Monsters Inc. movie. :) I think Luke's vocabulary is probably just as good as Ben's, but you notice it more with Ben because he is such a chatterbox. He's always commentating! The best is when you catch a conversation the two boys are having between themselves. Half of the time I don't understand what they're saying but they don't seem to have any trouble understanding what the other one is saying.

Today Ben was running around on the wood floor and tripped a little. He turned around and pointed to the floor saying, "Sippery." It always makes me laugh when the boys try to reverse our roles and reprimand me. If I start talking loudly (sounds better than "yelling"), they put their fingers over their mouths and shush me. "Mom, SHHH!" Or they'll say, "Mom, Me seepin" (i.e. Mom, be quiet because Mary is sleeping) The one that cracks me up the most is when I'm pounding chicken or just hitting a spoon on the edge of a bowl or yogurt container or something and they say, "Mom, gentle!"

We are most certainly in the "I do" stage. I hear that phrase a hundred times a day. Not only are they independent all of the sudden, they're also in charge. Another common phrase is "Mommy get." In other words, "Mom I'm too lazy to go pick up my water bottle, so you can do it for me." Don't worry... I don't usually give in!

We had a "Ben the Builder" construction party for Ben's 2nd birthday while my family was in town. I loved celebrating that little boy. Our house was loud and crazy but I had a lot of fun. Hopefully everyone else did too!

The boys got to celebrate two Christmases this year. One with my family on 16th and then again on the 25th. They were spoiled rotten by so many family and friends. Lots of cars and sports and tools...all things boy!

On the 19th we're planning a birthday party for Luke. Since he loves movies so much we're having a dinner + movie night. I can't count the number of times I hoped and prayed we would have him here by his 3rd birthday. Once again, we have lots to celebrate!!