What a wonderful Mother's day! I am so very blessed! Above, are a couple of pictures of the boys today. They were in their swing-set at one point and were checking out the new lil' baby birds. Luke was getting very excited and was yelling at them. Austin then said, "Luke, quiet...you don't want to scare the little birds. I think we should sing a song to the sweet little birds. They had a great time singing "Jesus loves me" to them. :)

me no like this

:) Those were Luke's words this morning when I gave him a bowl of watermelon. He is talking more and more everyday. Some of the cute things he says are: hallelujah (which he thinks roosters say), teeth...tory (his night-time routine...teeth and then story), peas (please), cookie..(i'll have to post a video of his clicking sounds). Whenever we ask him how he is or if he had fun, he says, "dogs" in a happy little voice. We have no clue why this is. Love the little "ham" so much.

Will you go with me?

Today Austin and I were talking after he woke up from his nap and he said, "some day when I get bigger I am going to be able to sleep in the top bunk of my bunk bed." He then asked, "then when I am a lot bigger, where will I sleep?" I told him he might sleep in the basement or in his same bed or someday he might sleep at college. I explained that college was school, but a fun place to meet new friends and learn many new things (with classes etc). He then said, "I want to stay here."...paused for a moment and added, "would you please come with me to my classes mommy?" lol...if he only knew. A little later in our conversation he asked about where college is and I said it could be anywhere, here in Indiana or (more likely ;)) in Michigan...he said..OOOHHH Michigan, then Grandpa or Grandma could go with me to my classes at college. :) Love him!!! :)

Recent words from Austin

Here are a couple of sentences that Austin has shared in the last few days that have made Andrew and I smile. :)

"I love you Daddy/Mommy with GREATTTTT Joy!"
"Mommy, what state is Heaven in?"

Luke

I may end up making Austin and Luke's site one. For now I am just going to start adding Luke's posts here. :)

My Lukey is growing up soooo fast. He is now a year and a half and walking, talking and understanding more than I think his daddy and I even realize. :) He is such a little bundle of joy. How blessed we are (for both of the lil' guys He has placed with us to raise). Thank you Father!!! He started walking a couple of days after Thanksgiving and has taken off since then. He was trying to run today. He tries his hardest to keep up with his big brother. Boy, does he love Austin...well really it seems to be love/hate...lol. He calls for Austin when he wakes up in the morning and everyday after I get him up from his nap (if Austin isn't standing by my side or if he hasn't already beat me in the door to see Luke)

Luke still loves playing with balls, throwing them (and many other things too...including his food).

He had his year and a half check up a few days ago and weighed 25.2 lbs (42nd percentile) and was 35 inches (98th percentile). You def. wouldn't think that he was in the lower percentile for weight. :)

Luke has also started to sing as of late and it has been so much fun to watch and listen to!

My lil' man is 4

Austin is now 4 years old and I can hardly believe it. He is growing up so quickly. I know he is only 4, but is seems like just yesterday that he took his first steps. :) He had his 4 year well visit a few days ago and weighed 35.7 lbs. (48-51%). He was 42.5 inches (90th%). I cannot remember if I put his 3 year appt. down so thought I would quick add that at 3 he weighed 33.1 lbs (65%) and was 39.8 inches (93%). For his 4th b-day we decided to have a party at the fire station with his friends. He had a blast!!

He got his haircut today at a salon for the first time and did really well. All the other times his daddy has cut his hair. :) It's much cheaper that way. lol. He kept asking questions and looking around and was also very quiet for part of the time. The lady cutting his hair said, " he is a thinker, huh? I think he will be one intelligent guy" Who knows, but I do know that he is a thinker and very curious. He warms up to new situations, places slowly, but when around people he knows really well he is quite talkative and outgoing. :) Such a blessing. He loves his little bro very much. They have been wrestling a lot lately which is so much fun to watch.

Just some cute things said by him today:

We were riding in the car and he said, "Lukey, do you believe in Jesus and love Him with all your heart?" Luke said, "yes" and Austin said, " good job Lukey". :) lol.

He then started telling a story that sounded like this.

It is ok if little kids make bad choices sometimes. God will still love us. But we need to say sorry to Him and then ask for forgiveness. Adam and Eve made bad choices but still believed in God and are probably up in Heaven right now. But satan was in Heaven but is not anymore. He became a snake...but god will take care of that someday. Daddy, did you hear my story?" He is def. listening. :)

He also said, Mommy, your hair is pretty...you have long hair because you are a girl, but not all girls have long hair. Some of them have short hair, but they are still girls. How sweet is he and funny. ;)

3 1/2

It has been way too long since I have last posted. I have decided to try to post more frequently (we will see how that goes) :)
Austin is now 3 1/2 and loving life. He is my strong willed little man and yet very sensitive. He is still very slow at feeling comfortable in groups of people, especially people he does not know. However, when he is around family or those he knows well he comes out of his shell and can be very outgoing and goofy! :) He sings throughout the day and has really been enjoying having Luke play beside him. He gives Luke 10-15 hugs and kisses everyday (not exagerating). He loves his lil' bro so much!
Yesterday Austin and I were in Holland at the beach and had just gotten done swimming. We went to lay on the towels and dry off; I layed on my towel and Austin plopped down in the sand and started to cover my feet with it. :) He then said, " You just lay down Mommy, I am the daddy". lol....wondering what that meant, I asked him, " What do Daddy's do? " He answered with, " Daddys help people". I think that says a lot about Andrew. :)
I asked him what mommys do and he said, "they go everywhere with their boys" :)
There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't make me smile! :)

A little overdue.... ;)

Cutie pa tutie! :) two adorable little guys after their bath




Whoooaaa horsey
Just hanging out with some of the cousins

What a ham... ;)

Anna :)

Finding a good pumpkin

what little helpers

Here I come!

Andrew, Austin and I went to a pumpkin patch and had a lot of fun! Below are some pictures....Austin's favorite was def. the slide.

Look at Daddy go......

Like daddy like son.....I love this picture!

I had to get a picture of this because he did this everyday for at least a month. He loved to stand on the side of the couch and play with the pens.

Andrew, Austin and I took our annual trip to Gatlinburg the last weekend in October. This was the third year in a row we have done this and it was wonderful once again! We were not home for Halloween so we dressed Austin up and headed to downtown Gatlinburg for some trick or treating where he received and ate his first dum dum. ;) I have included a couple of pictures from the last three years as well. We started going when I was pregnant with Austin. I just thought it would be fun to look back.

First year:

Second year:

Third Year/this year:

This year for Halloween Austin was a......

raaaaaaaarrrrrrr....Dragon

A very nice dragon. :)

When on vacation there is plenty of time for a skipping rocks lesson

even from mom (the amateur)

Taking a walk with Daddy...

I believe daddy taught him how to put this on his head and he thought it was hilarious..... :)

Grandma came for a visit a week ago. It was great! :)

Saying see ya later.... :)

I just thought this was a cute one to end on. Austin is now talking a lot! He repeats a lot and also can say 3-4 word sentences when he wants. He likes to say "play with that" and also likes to ramble in his own language, then adding a word at the end such as "cow", "blanky"..which sounds like Becky and I still hear, "papa here?" a lot, along with "Daddy here?" He is such a blessing to us!