Mack - 27 months

This kid constantly amazes us at how quickly he learns and picks things up.  Never underestimate a 2 year old when you think they're not listening.  From the time Mack was born, I have been singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him, probably every day if not multiple times a day.  Then out of no where I was singing to him the other day and he starts singing the entire song with me.  He knew ALL the words!  

Mack communicates quite well for being just 27 months old, he speaks in sentences and we actually understand almost every thing he says.  He's working on personal pronouns such as me, yours, his etc.  It's quite cute when he says, "it's me's", instead if it's mine.

We are soooo close to being fully potty trained! We just need to get across the hurdle of leaving the house without a pull up on.

One of Mack's favorites is singing and dancing to a Hillsong Kids DVD we got him for Christmas.  His favorite song is One Way.

at a Science Museum in Corpus Christi

giving daddy a good luck hug before his triathlon

watching daddy swim

fishing at the Texas State Aquarium

tired after getting up at 5:30 to see daddy start his triathlon

Valentine's playdate

best friend Ethan and his little brother Caleb

Feeding ducks

someone brought a pig to church

All Mack's friends that he prays for every night.  They are also children of other staff at PVC.

loving on his little brother

Saturday morning cartoons together

watching a show together

gotta hold Nemo while watching "Finding Nemo"

helping feed his little brother

holding a little chicken at church

Parker - 5 months

Another month has come and gone and I'm enjoying every precious moment! Parker is quite a delightful little guy with constant smiles and giggles, he particularly loves to laugh at Mack being silly.  As most babies do, Parker seems to love music.  We frequently have on worship music in our home as Mack loves to sing and praise Jesus.  A few things that tend to soothe Parker every time are singing "Jesus Loves Me" or singing/praying scripture over him.  Both my boys have been very sensitive to the Spirit!

We have successfully started baby food, starting with rice cereal then on to vegetables and fruit next.  Parker has done quite well with the eating, he doesn't seem to mind getting messy either as Mack hates getting messy, even to this day!

Parker's new found favorite object is his totally cool car walker from his Aunt Reba and Uncle David.  He also has become very fond of teething rings as we are in the beginning stages of teething with the runny nose and soar gums.

Still very fond of sleeping and being on his tummy, he only likes to be on his back for short periods while laying on his play-mat with toys dangling over him.  Even if he rolls onto his back he gets frustrated after a while but still can't quite roll himself back over, he's trying so hard though.

Little brother, big brother

Watching football with daddy

Didn't quite make it through the football game

first time eating rice cereal

Mack helping feed Parker

Trying out his walker for the first time

Challenging each other to a race...

5 months old!

January 2012 in Review

As I mentioned in my 2012 Goals, setting goals keeps me motivated and gives me something to look forward to, however it doesn't mean there will be 100% success in every area but here's a recap nonetheless (and I've still got 11 more months to work on these things).  

• Keep up with a daily Bible reading plan through YouVersion I have thoroughly enjoyed the "Parenting by Design Daily devotional".  It is a lot less Bible reading than I'm used to however it has allowed me to really focus on one thought and verse per day on the topic of parenting which is my world right now.
• Read at least 1 book a month I hosted a Book Exchange Party for the first time and loved it.  I got the book "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks.  First time to ever read one of his books but I really enjoyed getting lost in a fictional book.
• Train for and run a 5K Well are you ready for my first excuse...there's probably not really a good one but our treadmill did break (it was used and we only paid $50 for it).  I tried running on the street but its just too painful with an old knee injury.  We've been pricing around for a new treadmill.
• Ideally would like to lose 35 pounds (this is my real challenge) Not there yet but still working at it.
• Blog monthly updates for both Mack and Parker Check!
• For the most part I'm pretty organized but now with 2 little ones it is a lot easier to let things slide or forgotten all together so my goal is to intentionally be more organized across the board which includes meal planning, cleaning, personal time, date nights and quality time with each boy Micah and I still do what we call Crump planning but I'm still trying to get in a groove with planning meals, I've started a cleaning schedule, definitely made some personal time to read, blog and have some girl time, enjoyed date nights with Micah and of course time with each boy.  Mack, we are learning is very sensitive and we need to be mindful of that, I've intentionally worked at being more calm with him when he does have a melt down because getting upset with him only fuels it.  Parker is beginning to crave a little more attention, so I've also made sure I take advantage of feeding times and down times for Mack to spend time with Parker.  

Well I feel like it was a good start to the year but definitely want to keep at it.  

Mack 26 months

At 26 months here are just a few of Mack's highlights:

• Loves watching football and mimicking the players as he gets in position to run with the ball and then falls down.  He thinks to tackle is to get a touchdown and loves tackling his daddy and yelling touchdown.
• Mack is constantly talking, unless he just met you but give him about 5 minutes and you'll be his best friend if you give him any attention
• Constantly singing, dancing, playing instruments
• Discovering old toys as if they are brand new
• Knows several of his shapes such as triangle, square, circle, heart, star, flower etc
• Can count to 10 (sometimes in random order but he does know his numbers 1-10)
• Knows his colors but has a hard time if it's a lighter or darker hue of a color, it can tend to confuse him but he has the basics down
• Playing cars, his favorite is to line them up in a perfect row
• He has a best friend named Ethan, who is just a few months older than him.  He also has a younger brother who is just a few months older than Parker.
• Mack has learned that daddy, Parker and himself are boys and mommy is a girl
• Still loves to help but new things that he particularly likes to help with are loading and unloading the dishwasher and helping make his bed.
• Mack is a very picky eater, he will look at something and if he doesn't like the color or the way it looks he says, "I don't like it".  He will also change his mind from one day to the the next whether he likes something.  He loves fruit but won't touch a vegetable, some days he likes meat other days he doesn't.  One thing that is unusual is he drinks more than anyone I know (well except for his daddy), the kid drinks at least 100 ounces of liquid a day!
• Gets excited every time we go to church and loves trying to tell us what he learned in his class, how he marched to some songs, what toys he played with and with who he played with as well as part of some Bible story.  
• Mack knows the general direction to get to his Grammy and Papa's.  (What 2 year pays attention like that, it really amazes us!)
• One of our favorite moments this month was on January 15th, we were putting Mack to bed and reading a bible story to him.  He noticed Jesus on the cross had some owies and kept mentioning them.  We explained that Jesus got those owies so we can be forgiven of our sins.  Mack says, my sins? mommy's sins? Parker's sins? daddy's sins? Then he says, sorry Jesus, my sins! What an awesome way to end our day.

Went to Build a Bear for the first time, he's giving his dog a bath.

We named his dog Patches.

Mmmmmmm

Meeting Great Grandmother Marian for the first time.

Mack's friends, Ethan and Sophia.

Loves holding his plush Nemo while watching Finding Nemo.

Taking his medicine.

He says he's going to the store to get bananas!

Playing at the beach.

Daddy has been training for a triathalon and Mack wants to be like him.

Helping mommy at the grocery store.

Lining up his cars.

Playing his guitar.

Mack in his class at church.

Riding the train at the mall.

Mack's best friend, Ethan.