Luke: Luke is at such a fun age. I told Chris the other day, that I want to keep Luke at this age forever. His personality is all his own...he's funny, smart, witty - and has so much confidence in himself (I love that about little kids! Their confidence hasn't been shaken by the world yet.) He is very loving and affectionate and loves to do things that make us proud. I love seeing his compassion as I really want my children to grow up feeling compassion towards others. He loves to learn and still has the memory of an elephant. This kids forgets NOTHING. Right now he's really into dinosaurs - I'm pretty sure he could talk about them all day long. He even loves to watch dinosaur documentaries.
Of course, there are always challenges: Luke has started fighting naptime...which makes it hard when bedtime comes because he's overtired. I know he's 4 and at this age many little ones have started giving up naptime...but I just don't know if he's really ready yet. He's so overtired by evening that I still think he needs a short afternoon nap...or at least some time to rest. So at this point I continue to put him down for naptime...whether he sleeps during that time is another story!
Our other big challenge is motivating him to move faster than a snail at times. Don't get me wrong, Luke can move...he can run and have tons of fun...but when it comes to clean up time...or time to get ready to go somewhere...then he moves as slow as a snail. It can take him 5 minutes to put on his shoes (and that's flip flops!)...and don't even get me started on how long it takes him to clean up his room!
Moving on...=)
I love hearing Luke and Will's prayers. Will is still praying "Now I lay me down to sleep" at nights, but hearing his list of, bless this person and that person and this toy and this stuffed animal (and the list goes on) is so endearing! Luke has started praying his own prayers (though they are often the same prayer every night) and has started praying specifically for other people (and even animals!) A few nights ago, while I was sick in bed, he came in and said, "Mommy I want to say a prayer for you." So he did. He prayed that I would feel better soon. It was sweet and it touched me deeply. It was also touching to hear him pray for one of his friends from playgroup that was sick a few weeks ago. He even prayed for a baby blue jay that we found on the ground a few days ago. It makes my heart smile to hear my boys pray - and I know that heaven hears each word sent up by their tender voices.
Will: It has been so much fun to watch Will grow and develop. From day one, he has had a big personality. He is full of life, fun, charm and wit. He knows the power of his charm and will make no hesitations to use his big smile to try to get what he wants. He has a sweet little voice - and though at times he's still hard to understand - he can definitely hold his own in a conversation. I love his hugs and kisses. He is so affectionate and loves to cuddle. His squeeze-you-tight-hugs are the best!
Though he very much has a mind of his own and will do what he wants when he wants too, he also follows Luke around and copycats him a lot. It's pretty funny - one second Luke is running out to tell me something and a second later, Will is running out to tell me the same thing.
Will, too, loves learning. He is counting well (at least I think!) for a 2 year old and can memorize songs fairly easily. He loves playing with his Toy Story toys and pretty much anything else that Luke is playing with. It has been so much fun to watch their playtime together. With them being so close in years, they can now play with each other - which I LOVE to see! (Of course, they are brothers and they do fight like brothers...but I think that comes with the territory of being brothers!)
One of our biggest challenges with Will of late, has been getting him to listen and do as we say. I suppose that's a challenge with every child. I'm fairly certain Will understands us when we tell him to stop doing something or when we say, "no," but he has a hard time obeying if he doesn't want too. There are times I think he may just be oblivious...but most of the time I think he knows what we're saying and just wants to get his way.
He also seems to be going through a separation anxiety stage again. Leaving him in the nursery or his Sunday School class can be such an ordeal lately. He used to go right in (especially if Luke was with him) but now he cries and screams. I'm really hoping it's just a stage.
Both the boys have really enjoyed swimming this summer. Luke has taken to it like a pro. He loves to stick his head under water and could spend hours playing in the pool. Will has been a bit more cautious, but the more we swim, the more comfortable he is in the water. He does well swimming around the pool with his life jacket on, but doesn't like to get his head under water yet.
Our Summer: We've been able to do quite a bit of fun stuff this summer. In May we were able to go see my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. We had been wanting to go for some time, but we just couldn't afford the trip. Then God provided (via our tax refund) and we started planning the trip right away. While we were there, we were also able to see Ben, Amber, Gracelynn and Shelby - which was such an amazing treat. We also visited a university where Chris is planning to get his master's degree from. On the way home we stopped in Tennessee for a few days of vacation and thoroughly enjoyed watching the boys have fun. We did a lot of driving, but the boys were very well behaved and the trip was so much fun. On the home front, we've enjoyed being with family and friends. We've even been to the beach a few times and gone camping.
The job front: It's actually really hard for me to blog about this because it has been so incredibly frustrating. We never knew it would take this long or be this hard to find a job. Chris has done temporary jobs here and there, but so far nothing permanent. We are looking for jobs near and far and continue to pray, pray, pray that something will open up for us. If you think of it, please pray for us as well...we could use lots of prayers on this matter.
In other news, Chris and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next week. It is amazing to look back over the years and see where we've been: Bradly, IL - Fort Gordon, GA - Fort Riley, KS - Chris deployed a year from there - then we went back to Fort Gordon, GA - then on to Baumholder, Germany - Chris deployed 15 months from there - and now we're in Maryland. In the midst of all that we've had two wonderful boys, two cats and one dog. We've made amazing friends and enjoyed our families. We've had ups and downs - good memories and hard times. Through it all though, every single day has been a blessing. I love my husband so much and couldn't imagine life without him. Because of the Army, we've only been able to spend a few of our anniversaries together. So I'm not sure what our anniversary plans are, but all that really matters is that this year we'll be together.
Well, this update turned out to be longer than I had planned, but I hope it's caught you up on our happenings! I'll post some pictures from the last month - and then try to get some picture blogs up of our May vacation a little later.
Luke, Will and Julianne
Luke loves playing outside!
As does Will!
I'll give you one guess at which movie we're at here...
Birdfeeder project!
and eating more too!
Our little family!
Summer is grand!
Fun boat rides!
