The Sweetest Boys In the World - And They're Mine!!

I think I've mentioned on here before the great love my two little boys have for each other.  Anyway, I have a couple fresh stories that just make me melt. 

At our house, there is a rule that on the occasion that there's a dessert or treat, you have to eat all of your food -especially your vegetables if you want a treat.  So tonight there was a treat.  Darren did a great job of eating his food, including his salad (which he hates), so he got a treat.  Joseph did not finish his dinner, so no treat for him.  When Darren was given his treat (Darren LOVES sugar and usually devours any treat quickly), he broke it in half, gave half to Joseph and said, "Here Joseph, I'll share with you."  Technically, that's still against the rules, but how do you discourage your child from being so thoughtful and selfless?  Daddy let it slide.  Joseph had not asked Darren to share.  It was completely voluntary on Darren's part. 

The name Darren means "Great."  That's a large part of the reason we picked that name.  We knew before he was born that he was going to be a great kid.  He is living up to his name, and we are proud of him! 

In the last week, I have received two totally separate reports about Joseph being the sweetest kid in nursery (at church).  If there is ever a sad kid in there (realized Mom left, bonked head, whatever), apparently Joseph will go over to them, give them a hug, sometimes a kiss, and say "Is that better?"  or "Oh, I'm sorry that happened.  Are you okay?"  And then he'll stay right there until the other kid is happy again.  He is 27 months, and such a loving, affectionate kid.  At home, he frequently crawls up into my lap just because he wants to snuggle.  I call him my little snuggle bug - for good reason!  I love my little guy. 

This last weekend, we started a new tradition.  At least once a Christmas season, the whole family will sleep under the Christmas tree.  This last Friday night was that night.  It was the perfect Christmasy evening.  After dinner we went to a Bethlehem walk put on by the church that does Darren's preschool.  They had Roman soldiers guarding the entrance to "the city,"  a place to sign the census, an open market, basket weaving, wood working, pottery, live animals - the kids got to pet a lamb and a donkey, the inn, and of course the stable with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.  It was pretty good.  When we were done, none of us felt like going home yet, so we drove around looking for Christmas lights.  We found several streets that were pretty well lit up, and we all had a good time enjoying them.  Joseph fell asleep in the car, and Darren almost did, so it made getting them to bed really easy (hence the perfect night to sleep under the tree).  ;)  Okay, Matt and I slept on the couch, so we weren't exactly next to the tree, but we were all in the same room as the tree and enjoyed the soft, beautiful light from it all night long.  Here are some pics....... 

 Joseph moves around a lot in his sleep... 

Peaceful and content...

These boys love to sleep next to each other, because they just love to be together.  Sometimes I wonder why they each have their own bed.  Hmmm!  When Darren is at school, Joseph frequently asks where he is, and gets excited when I tell him it's time to go get him.  Every time Darren goes somewhere, he always asks if Joseph gets to come too, and gets excited when the answer is "yes," which is most of the time.  When they say their prayers, they almost always pray for each other.  I love that these two boys are such great friends.  They do have their little squabbles and moments of sibling rivalry, just like everybody else, but they both get over it and forget about it quickly.  My boys (Matt too!) are my world, and I LOVE them so much! 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

After my last post, I need something a bit more light hearted, and not so gross.  This week, Darren has watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas"  a couple times.  He likes it.  A lot.  And apparently, a couple times through is all it takes for parts of it to be memorized.  Today in church, we sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and he was singing along really well.  I was impressed and pleased.  I wasn't aware he knew that song well enough to do that.  Anyway, at the end of the first verse (remember I'm still smiling to myself and proud of him), Darren LOUDLY blurted out, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!!" 

Just for the record, lecturing your child about reverence and appropriate behavior in church is NOT effective while attempting to contain your own laughter! 

Oh, how I love my little comedian/performer!  There's seldom a dull moment when he's around. 

A Load of Crap!

Today, the cost of me taking a shower was greater than what the shower was worth....  Usually, the boys just play in their room, and come up with all kinds of imaginary things to do- sometimes they empty their dresser in the process, but they use their minds and get along pretty well so I can't complain TOO much.  Many times, it makes me smile with the things they come up with.  Well, this morning was quite the exception.  The boys must have heard me coming, 'cause as I headed down the hall to their room, trying to anticipate what creativity they had come up with, I hear Darren shout out:  "Mom, Joseph pooped!"  He's been potty training the last couple weeks, so my little bottle of spot cleaner has frequently been seen in my hands.  I just about made a detour to go grab it, but decided to see "just how bad" it was first.  I was NOT prepared for what I saw.......

 

The pictures don't do it justice, but Joseph had pooped alright!  In fact, he was naked, smiling - quite proud of himself, and covered from head to toe.  Seriously.  I'm not exaggurating!  It was in his hair, on his face, between his toes, all over his hands, and everywhere in between.  His room didn't fare much better....  I wanted to throw up!  How can so much poop come from 1 little (adorable?) 2 year old?!   It was so gross.  Poor Darren was hanging out in the closet (fully clothed and clean), because he didn't want any to end up on him - smart boy!  He only came out when I offered to help guide him through the maze of poopy prints all over the floor.  I think he wanted to throw up too, and was actually fairly upset that Joseph had made such a stinky, disgusting mess in his room (the boys share a room).  It probably could go without saying, but Joseph was immediately wisked off to a bath.  While bathing Joseph (still wanting to puke)  Matt came home from PT.  Darren immediately told him all about the mess, so naturally, he came upstairs to investigate.  He was a bit speechless too!  While I finished up with Joseph, Matt called his supervisor to say he wasn't going to be back to work on time, and got busy with the clean up (what a great guy!).  I was not expecting that reaction from Matt, but I was really grateful to not have to clean it up by myself!  We borrowed a carpet steam cleaner (thank you, Jessica), and Matt went to town.   

A couple hours later, their room looked and smelled MUCH better!  I'm really grateful for a sanitary cycle on my washer (did I mention there was feces on their bedding, too?), so I can feel confident that everything got truly cleaned.  The boys now have freshly cleaned sheets, blankets, and pillows, sanitzed furniture, walls, blinds, and windows.  When Matt got home from work tonight, he steamed the carpet again, to be double sure we got all the nastiness out.  I think it's safe to say that the boys now have the cleanest room in the house.  I wonder how long it will stay that way?.....  At least 10 hours - while they're sleeping!  

The First of Many......

This week we received Darren's very first school pictures!   He is in preschool this year, and LOVING it!  He's the youngest kid in his class by about 6 months, but he seems to doing pretty well and keeping up.  His teacher always (well, almost always) has positive things to say about him.  Of course, that makes a Mom proud!  My boy is growing up.  So far, he has learned to identify all of his letters and numbers, and can spell/write his name!  He is much better at following instructions, and using his words to tell what he's feeling.  He is a good friend to those around him, and loves to make other people smile and laugh. 

I peeked into his class one day, and watched for a minute - Darren was oblivious to my presence.  The kids were sitting on the floor in a circle singing a song about the colors each of them were wearing.  When it was a specific child's turn, they got to go to the front and jump, dance, or whatever (most just jumped), while their friends sang about them.  On Darren's turn.... he jumped, flapped his arms like a bird, spun in circles, etc. and REALLY hammed it up!  His friends were pointing and laughing so hard, they could barely sing the song.  His teacher was even cracking up!  Darren was quite pleased with his little "performance" based on the HUGE grin he had on his face!  I should also insert here that when his turn was over, he went right back to his place on the floor and remained on task!  I was pleased with that.  He is obviously developing a love of performing.  For show and tell a couple weeks ago (topic: letter O), HE chose to sing "Once There Was A Snowman" in front of his whole class.  There is one other little girl in his class that we know from church, and he had her sing with him.  They were so brave, and the teachers were impressed!  Tomorrow, his class is putting on a little Thanksgiving program, and he has been so excited about it, he has taught Joseph the songs, and sings them all day.  And, he's excited to dress up like a turkey.  I can't wait to see it!   

So, back to my original topic.... school pictures.  While I think his picture is a bit washed out (not sure if it's the lighting, or the fair skin/toe head blonde, light colored shirt against a white background issue), I think the photographer did an excellent job of capturing Darren's fun-loving, energetic, happy personality.  I will say the actual print is not quite as washed out, so looks better - I used our scanner to get this on the computer. 

Here is his class picture....

I love my fun, sweet, daring Darren! 

Things That Make Me Smile....

This is just a simple little post of some recent pics that make me smile.  Most of them are just from our normal everyday life......

I LOVE this picture of my sweet, mischievous, independent Joseph.  He asked me to take this picture.

1 very happy, exhausted, jet lagged Daddy, 2 very excited little boys.  Matt seriously gets attacked and has 2 (okay, 3) little shadows for a few days when he returns from long work trips. 

Snuggle time.  

I never know what this kid is going to do next......  He makes me laugh everyday!  

I went to check on the boys before going to bed a couple nights ago, and this is what I saw......

...... How he managed to stay asleep like that, I don't know. 

These 2 brothers have such a deep love for each other, and want to be together all the time - even when sleeping.... 

The boys dumped out a glass of water, and laughed about making footprints and had a blast jumping in their "puddle!"   

Darren INSISTED he wasn't tired, but didn't even last 10 minutes into his movie!   

Of course, this handsome man won me over with his smile a long time ago, and I smile because I am the lucky girl that gets to spend forever with him! 

I should add that there are many other things that make me smile too, so this is just a small little sample.  :)

Introducing......

The debut performance of Darren Coleman:

Conducting and singing an excerpt from:

Beethoven's 9th Symphony, movement 4 (Ode to Joy)

Latest Project

Our kitchen chairs are gradually breaking.  So, in an effort to conserve money, we found some on Craigslist for a good deal.  However, the seats were in desperate need of being re-upholstered.  They were hideous, and covered in cat hair.  GROSS!  I've never done anything like this before, so I was a little nervous about my attempt.  I went to the fabric store and picked out some upholstery I liked (plus it was on sale for 50% off - definitely a bonus!), and some clear plastic to put over top - a necessity when small children are in the home!  Anyway, I love the new fabric, but I think it looks a bit tacky with the plastic over it.  But, I'll live with it, because I don't want to redo the seats again in a couple months!  Maybe we'll end up restaining them, too.  Who knows.  They don't match our table color, but we've talked about refinishing that, too.  We'll see what happens.  For now, here's what the "new" chairs look like:

Before....

After.....

I've also been attempting to master the art of making homemade whole wheat bread - sometimes made by milling my own flour.  Here's my latest batch (which just has regular store bought wheat flour).......

Silly Boyz!

Yesterday evening, my silly boys thought it would be funny to swap clothes.  So they did - all by themselves.  I thought it was too funny to not grab a picture.... or three! 

All proud of themselves!  If D moved at ALL, we could see his belly button.

J actually walks on his toes like that.  It makes me hurt just watching him.  And, classic D - with a car in hand.  Mid-air works for a road when you have a 4 year old imagination!  

Classic J!  Thumb in the mouth, with hand down his shirt. 

I love my boys!

A Young Patriot

I have a little patriot!  Since he's been in school, he has learned the Pledge of Allegiance, and takes every opportunity to say it.  To the degree that we will be driving somewhere, and all of a sudden he starts saying it.  Sometimes I have to look around to find the flag he's looking at.  While walking, he stops, puts his hand in the general vicinity of his heart (sometimes closer to his tummy or shoulder), and has to say it.  On 9-11, he asked why all the flags were broken and not all the way up.  I had to explain in very brief, watered down terms what happened that day.  Too many details would have been too traumatic for his imaginitive, sensitive mind.  He already seems to have a great love for our country and our planet.  I'm proud of my little boy, and the patriotism he demonstrates already.  Here's a little video clip of him saying the pledge: 

What Happened To My Baby?!

This picture was just taken yesterday - the day he was born....

......And this is how I still picture him in my mind.

 

However, today when I woke up, he suddenly looked like this.....

What happened to my baby?!  He is growing sooo fast, and learning so many new things.  At the end of August, we celebrated his 2nd birthday.  He is officially 2 in EVERY. SENSE. OF. THE. WORD.  From the tantrums and the great quest for independence in EVERYTHING, to the super fun, full of life, starting to understand things, and developing his own personality.  His vocabulary is exploding and he'll periodically say a full, complete sentence.  Some of his most frequent phrases are:  "No! By Self!"  "Hiiiiiii, Mommy!"   (to Matt) "Where's Daddy, Daddy?!"  "Where's Darren?"  "Night night (or bye bye)!  I love you!"  "I try it?!"  Some of his words are much more clear than his older brother, too.  He is a master of gross motor skills.  Anything involving running, jumping, throwing, or climbing is right up his alley!  I love this kid, and he ADORES his big brother.  In his eyes, Darren can do no wrong.  I love watching them interact with each other.

For his birthday, we went on a little family outing to the zoo.  Some good friends joined us there, and the kids all had a good time.  Later that evening, we had cake and opened presents (of course).  This time it was extra special, because Grandma Deeben was able to join us via Skype.  Here are some pics from the day's festivities.......
 

Had to get a little nap in before going to the zoo!

When we got to the zoo, some random lady approached us, and gave us some giraffe food.  They weren't out when she went there, but we had much better luck.  We saw at least 7!  Joseph ate his cracker to feed the giraffe, so Daddy got a turn. 

Darren did a great job feeding him! 

Trying to kiss a bird.  These birds were so tame, we could pet them. 

Reading his new book from G&G Downing.  He loves it! 

Here is his birthday cake.  He wanted a rocket on it, and this is what I came up with.  It is not exactly my most impressive cake, but he was fascinated with it, and that's what matters.

His very favorite gift - a Toy Story book that has buttons to push.  (I've already had to hide this book a few times in order to preserve sanity). 

Couldn't decide what to play with, so why not 3 things at once?!

Enjoying some birthday bubbles from Grandma!  Both boys LOVED how much bubbles it made at a time! 

I think my little guy had a good day.  I'm so glad that he is part of our family!  I can't believe it's already been 2 years since he was born.  Happy Birthday, my sweet little Joseph!  I love you! 

Frankentoe

WARNING:  This post contains a graphic photo.  If you are EASILY squeemish, proceed with caution!

As most moms with small children know, grocery shopping with your children can easily turn into an adventure.  My last grocery trip (3 days ago) was certainly no exception - and I only had 1 child with me!  While reading labels on spaghetti sauce, Joseph must have grabbed and dropped one, because all of a sudden my toe was in pain, and there was a jar of spaghetti sauce on it.  The top corner of the lid is what hit my foot, and my toe spared the jar.  It was undamaged.  My toe, on the otherhand, was quickly turning black.  IT HURT SOOOO BAD!!  Had it not been a crowded isle, I probably would have cried.  I quickly hobbled  to grab the remaining items on my list so I could go.  By this time, my toe was THROBBING!!  I just assumed that this would be like most other times when things get dropped on my foot.  Ya know, painful for an hour or so, and then just be done and over.  No big deal.  WRONG!!  The pain got progressively worse throughout the day, Motrin wasn't touching it, and I eventually gave in and called the doctor.  He had me go to Urgent Care, and they took xrays to ensure it wasn't broken (it's not), and then drilled 2 holes in my toenail to try and relieve the pressure.  He didn't get enough drainage to really get any relief though, so I continued to suffer.  The pain was a throbbing pain with sharp twinges of pain that shot throughout my whole body every couple of minutes or so.  There is definitely some sort of nerve damage - I no longer have sharp, shooting pains, but now half of my toe is numb.  I hope it's not permanent!! 

Now, the pain is much better (though it's still VERY tender), but it looks worse.  Yesterday, a friend commented that with how ugly/creepy it looks, I should call it Frankentoe.  It stuck.  I'm back to doing most of my daily activities (very carefully) but you can bet I will only be wearing flip flops for the next while!  Who knew that a simple, not very heavy, jar of spaghetti sauce could be such a pain?!  For anyone who may be curious, here is what Frankentoe looks like:

Guess Who's 4?!

August 15th marked the 4 year anniversary of a day that changed my life forever!  I became the Mom of a very sweet, active, fun-loving little boy!  Darren brings so much sunshine and laughter to our family, is very outgoing, loves to make others laugh, and is genuinely concerned about the happiness of those around him.  In the last year, Darren has done a lot of changing/growing up.  He has left his toddleresque tendencies behind, and is acting more like a child.  For example, his attention span has lengthened, he now has the ability to sit still when asked to do so, is better at following directions, he is now a big boy (no more diapers!), no longer runs away when there's an unlocked door in front of him (only some readers will fully understand this HUGE significance), doesn't get into things too much anymore, and has just matured a LOT in general.  He's still very curious and adventurous with a passion for most vehicles.  He's currently really into trains, Herbie the Love Bug, rockets/space shuttles, Doc Hudson (from Cars), building train tracks, building roads or anything else he decides to build.  He has an incredible memory and on occasion, still recalls things from before he was even 2!   

For his birthday this year, Darren told me that he wanted a Herbie car, a big Thomas, and a big Percy that go by themselves all on his birthday cake.   Uh, that request forced me to get a little creative!  For the trains, I got him a new battery powered Thomas, gathered some tracks and a couple other trains from his collection, and called it good.  Then I found an old skool, white VW Bug, and called it a Herbie car!  Then, while on a date, Matt and I designed the basic layout of the cake and discussed how to make it work without getting anything too yucky or having it be elaborate beyond my skills.  Anyway, here is what we came up with......

The car was actually on the cake (just before going over the bridge), but we didn't put it on until just before we lit the candles, and took it off almost immediately after because he wanted to drive it on the frosting road. 

Another angle.

Darren and his friend were both totally captivated and speechless when they saw the cake with Thomas chugging around the track!  They LOVED it!!

Time for presents!  He got some great new toys, and Buzz Lightyear pajamas.

Our primary president (children's sunday school at church) paid Darren a special visit and brought him his very own birthday cake!

I took cup cakes into his school class for his birthday (his 3rd set of cake!)

I'm so glad that Darren was born into our family, and I can't imagine life without him!  I love you, Buddy! 

1st Day of School

My baby has officially started school - preschool!  School starts pretty early here (Aug. 9th), so Darren's already been in school for 2 full weeks.  Some of you know of the big internal wrestle I had trying to decide what to do for his schooling this year.  We decided on sending him to a private Christian preschool, and so far, we have been very happy with that decision.  I feel totally at peace with it.  The week before school started, his teacher came over to our house to meet Darren and got to know him a little bit.  I was pretty impressed!  Darren is the youngest kid in his class by 6 months, but is still doing well.  Of course, it took him a few days to adjust to the new routines, schedule, etc., but he's getting it.  He comes home with a gigantic smile on his face every day, and his teacher always has something positive to say about him when I pick him up!  So far, he is LOVING it!   

Here he is, already to go on his very first day of school!

Playing with one of his new friends - about 1 week into school.

Blog Catch Up......

It's been a month since I've posted anything.  It's been a bit busy around here.  With Matt being gone for a month, wrapping things up for summer (our weather would suggest otherwise, though), getting Darren ready to start school for the first time, our house being invaded by fire ants, a broken AC (a big fiasco), a broken vacuum cleaner (broken beyond repair),  a birthday, and several other things, I obviously haven't blogged much.  So, here's my catch up - mostly in pictures. 

Joseph has mastered climbing onto the kitchen counters in like 2 seconds!  Here, he found my baking cupboard, and sampled a few things that caught his interest.  He didn't like the taste of green food coloring, though his face suggests otherwise! 

The boys are happy to help with the chores, so long as it involves wheels, switches, buttons, plugs in, and makes noise!

Darren's turn!

Play time - Darren makes a great horse!

Joseph's already pretty good at holding his own in wrestling matches!

Darren took a sports class during the summer (very entertaining to watch), and here he his running with a football.  He had just caught it, and is running to make a touch down! 

Darren was a PRO at the tackling part of football......  You can only see his leg in this pic, but you can see that he has made contact, and his "opponent" is about ready to fall! 

Post tackle.... that sucker is down!

Sporting his new shades!

The boys and I had an impromptu slumber party one night after a hard week.  We had pizza, popcorn, a movie, and we moved their mattresses together and I slept with them (Matt was in Texas)!  It was really fun! 

The week before school started, the base held a totally free back to school event in our neighborhood.  The boys got to do several fun things..... including riding on a pony. (In my preview of this section, some of the formatting was messed up and it isn't showing up here, so if it publishes weird.... sorry)

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Throwing a football through  a hole.  Both boys made their shot! 

Matt was gone for most of the month of July and the first week of August for some training.  His absense was a bit harder than usual for all of us this time around.  But, it made our reunion with him all the sweeter.  Here is a video clip of some of the first couple minutes that he was home (after all the hugs and kisses of course!). 

EVERYTHING is better when we are all together as a family.