Merry Christmas!

Ahhhh....Christmas Eve! I love it! Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday, so I am soaking it up. Today I've made a bunch of food for different things tomorrow, I have cookie dough ready to roll, cut, bake and frost, and I've had Christmas music on all day long. Again- I LOVE IT! From our family to yours-- may you enjoy the Christmas season as it was originally created-- a tiny baby sent to take on the sins of the world. I hope you find His peace in your lives.

Now for a quick update...

Thanksgiving- wonderful! Work- good! Time with family- great! Breaking Dawn- awesome! Work Christmas party at our house- fun! Maranda's home from Ecuador- yay! Christmas tree farm- my fave! Good times with Great friends- always good!
Program at church- wonderful! Ok...I'll slow down...

Brenton is really excited to have a few days off from school, even though he loves every minute of it. Right before they finished for break his class did a Christmas program and had a visit from Santa. It was really cute and luckily Aunt Michelle was in town and got to see it! He was so proud...they sang "5 little cookies sitting on a plate, waiting for Santa but he was running late. Along came a reindeer and CRUNCH!" (and counted down) and a song called "Must be Santa". Bennett liked the chance to be able to play in the classroom while we were watching the big kids. He always wants to play when we're dropping Brenton off for school, but never gets to so this was a treat! He got to sit on Santa's lap, too!

As mentioned, Aunt Michelle visited recently and we had a great time with her. She was ultimately here for Bennett's first birthday, but we also got to fit in a bunch of play time, lots of eating, and a whole day of shopping with our other sisters and mom. She was freezing the whole time she was here and it was funny-- I guess she's already adjusted to the Miami sunshine. :) Travis and I trying to plan a trip for just us to visit that sunshine in March-- I can't wait!!!

Bennett's first birthday was last weekend and it was tons of fun. He is growing up so fast and really is wanting to be a "big boy". The day of his birthday he did several "big boy" things that he had not ever done before...it was like someone gave him the memo that he was 1 that day and could grow up. It's crazy how that happens right before your eyes! He is almost walking on his own and loves it, but still likes to hold on to things when he can. He has been walking around things for a couple months and then started walking with moving toys a few weeks ago, and has been standing in one place on his own some-- so we have known it would just be a matter of time. He is my baby, though, and still loves to scoot and crawl and be held. He is cutting at least 1 more tooth right now and it is taking a long time. He will have a total of 6 when this one comes through. His crooked little smile will finally be not so crooked! He is also saying several more words (or attempts at words) than before including "ba!" for bath...or ball...lol, "ba-duh"...for brother, "oof-oof"...for dog (woof-woof), "dis"...for this, "ma"...for more...or mama...lol, etc...I love hearing his sounds! As Bennett opened his birthday presents I realized I had not completely thought through my brilliant idea of buying his birthday and Christmas presents almost 6 weeks ago-- he got his Christmas present from Travis and I AND his Santa present both for his birthday! I guess great minds think alike...so I had to do some last minute exchanging early this week. Oh yeah...he's 30 inches long and a healthy little boy!

Brenton is as inquisitive as ever. I know I've said it on here a million times, but he amazes me with the complexity of his questions and his comprehension skills. This week he wanted to know what a stroke was and how it happens (and why, of course). My grandpa's brother had a stroke and prompted the discussion. From what I've heard Uncle Jim was a little better yesterday afternoon and this morning- so praise the Lord for that.

Brenton is also reading now! I cannot express the joy he brings me...what a proud mama I am! He has been sounding out letters and then letters into words for probably 4 months, but just in the past couple of weeks he has started building the words into sentences. He is just like me, though, and wants it to happen quickly. He gets frustrated having to go back to the beginning of a sentence and say the words over again to remember the whole sentence, but I have no doubt he'll be there soon enough. I'm really excited for him to open his presents tomorrow because we got him something that will help this and make it fun, fun, fun!

Anyway...the cookies are not going to bake themselves...so I've got to run. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Enjoy the pictures!

Silly boy!

Brenton & Jaycee

Brenton singing his duet in big church!

Christmas tree time!

BIRTHDAY TIME!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Teeth!

Here are the top 2! I think he is actually getting 4 all together.

Good morning!

Bennett is helping me this morning...

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In my last post I tried to catch you up on the last...year...in our lives. I'm sure I missed lots and lots...so I'm just going to pick up with what's current...

Brenton started pre-k this year and LOVES it. I seriously cannot believe that he will be a KINDERGARTNER next year-- it just seems impossible. He is like our little mini-teenager and is always "showcasing" his personality.

Brenton loves to ask questions and it serves him well. He catalogs every minute detail of information he learns into his ever-growing brain and pulls information out all the time. It's hard to describe...he just amazes us with how smart he is and how capable he is at pulling information and putting things together. He is highly observant and can keep up with adult conversations. This isn't always a good thing, though, and we are equally reminded that he is FOUR-- not fourteen! What a hard balance to find sometimes-- such a sweet boy, though. Over the past couple of nights Brenton has selected his baby book and my pregnancy journal as our bedtime books. He is fascinated by the stories and memories and it is so precious to watch him as we tell him these stories. Definitely warms a momma's heart!

Bennett is cutting his first 3 teeth! He has had a rough time with it, another very different experience than what we had with Brenton. I've been trying to capture a picture...but it is so hard because he won't let you touch his mouth right now. He still scoots all over on his booty and has attempted crawling on all fours more lately than before-- still prefers scooting on his booty! Bennett gives the best hugs and kisses-- he is SO sweet! I love cuddling with that little boy!

Travis and I had a lot of fun last Thursday at the Wichita Wings first home game. They lost by one goal in overtime, but it was a great game. Travis got very "animated" and nearly lost his voice...lol. Over the weekend we spent a lot of time as a family with less planned than many of our recent weekends-- it was really nice.

I'm going to cut this post short because I've got to get ready for work. I want to encourage you to go listen to this song if you haven't heard it already: At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh), by Phil Wickham. I love it right now-- it really brings joy to my heart. It is a great song of praise...

(Chorus)
Lord of all the earth
We shout Your name, shout Your name
Filling up the skies
With endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your name, oh Lord

At Your name
Mountains shake and crumble
At Your name
The oceans roar and tumble
At Your name
Angels will bow
The earth will rejoice
Your people cry out

Chorus

At Your name
The morning breaks
In Your glory
At Your name
Creation sings Your story
At Your name
Angels will bow
The earth will rejoice
Your people cry out

Chorus

There is no one like our God
We will praise you, praise you
There is no one like our God
We will sing, we will sing (X3)

Chorus (X2)

9 months and counting!

We now have internet at our house for the first time! That means I might actually post more often. It was very difficult to do on my phone...at least for me!

SO...what can I tell you about our lives since my last post?? Tons, I'm sure. I might have to break it up into a few posts (at least the pictures!).

Bennett has been a fun addition to our family. He is a very low-key and content baby. When I had Brenton I really thought he was an "easy" baby, and he was, but Bennett is a whole new (different) experience of an "easy" baby! Brenton's personality and Bennett's personality are almost exactly opposite in every way. Where they are not exactly opposite, they are exactly the same! Lol...if that makes any sense at all! After Bennett was born it took me about 2 weeks to realize that the things that "worked" for Brenton were not going to work for Bennett and with everything that I tried-- I needed to do the opposite. Haha...what a learning experience! Motherhood is never dull...

I had a great labor experience this time and am very happy that I switched doctors for my pregnancy with Bennett. We had some especially new/different experiences ("firsts") with Bennett. He experienced some jaundice for the first week and we had to use a light therapy blanket at home. He also got an eye infection very early, but it went away quickly. Bennett did great with nursing and I was thankful for a much better experience with that. He hated the bath for the first few months...yes, months. He seems to be much more of an introvert than Brenton and I quickly realized he did not like to go, go, go constantly like his brother or be the center of attention for too long. He has always seemed to enjoy being at home, having "down time", and especially sleeping in his own bed. Bennett is a very mellow baby. He likes to just. chill. :)

We started cereal around 4 months just as we had with Brenton and baby food shortly after...and Bennett was not thrilled. He made some of the funniest faces I've ever seen when I would put new textures in his mouth! It did start to grow on him after a few weeks, but he continues to surprise me with his preferences. There have been so many things I have tried with Bennett and have gotten the reaction-- 'you've got to be kidding me, mom!' in the way he looks at me!!! These boys may look alike, but boy are they different! It has been really fun for us to learn and grow and change- oh, life!

Right around the 6 month mark Bennett began to sit up on his own, roll over and finally quit waking up at 4am to eat! Since that time he has been developing and changing much more rapidly. He started saying "da-da" the last weekend in August (after my week long attempt at getting him to say "ma-ma" while I was home with the boys- stinker!). He loves to hold your fingers and walk everywhere. He will also walk on his own if holding on to the couch, etc. He chatters all the time and when he is frustrated he holds his fists out in front of himself and tenses up into a shake and yells and scowls- it's hilarious! I keep telling him he needs to learn some words because this momma does not communicate well that way!! He looks like he wants to crawl, but has not figured out how to actually use the crawling position to move. This week he figured out a new method of transportation that seems to be working for him, though-- he scoots anywhere he wants on his booty! I'll try to post a video on here, but you may have to track that on facebook.

Brenton has been a wonderful big brother-- very helpful and OVERLY involved most of the time...as he is in everything in life! haha! Brenton continually amazes us with his ability to process and understand. Travis and I have tried to spell things that we don't want him to hear since he first started paying so much attention to our conversations and that no longer works- he usually figures out what we're talking about very quickly. He LOVES school (he started pre-k this fall) and comes home daily with something new he's learned, made a connection with or associated with something else. He has a way better memory than I do and you can just see it in his eyes that he is cataloging new knowledge every second of every day. He is SO smart! Today at lunch, for example, he was discussing the need to aerate your yard with my older sister! ha! I just cannot imagine what he's going to be like as a teenager!

Toward the end of the summer my dad lost his job and my parents made the difficult decision to sell their house and move back to Wichita. We are thrilled to have them close again and actually my parents are watching the kiddos now so they have a blast every day! We continue to pray that God will show them the direction He has for their lives. My little sister, Moriah (not so little as she is a junior in HS), is living with us and is attending NW (where I went!). Travis and I joke that we adopted a teenager and that was never in our immediate plans-- parents are supposed to have 13 years to prepare for teenagers and we just jumped right into it! Haha...we are having fun with her here. My other little sister, Maranda (also not so little as she will be 20 tomorrow!), is studying Missions at Southern Nazarene University and is currently abroad for the semester in Ecuador! The amazing thing is that they are on the same time zone in Ecuador-- so with Skype and texting and all of the other wonderful technology we have now it isn't much different than when she is in Oklahoma (except that we won't see her until December). We are especially thankful for Skype, etc. and are trying to get better at using them because Maranda thinks she might be gone again next semester...and because my older sister and her husband, Michelle and Jason, will be moving to Miami at the end of this week. Michelle and Jason are SO close to us and our boys- we will be missing them like crazy, but we know this is an awesome opportunity for them. Plus, who can argue with a vacation in Miami?!?!?!

Ok...here are some pictures!

They are always SO tiny at first! :)

Bennett's dedication.

Surprise shower the day after Christmas!

Big brother-- in action!

Brenton LOVES to play in the snow!

Tulsa Zoo

Branson

The Hollywood Wax Museum in Branson-- hilarious to see Brenton looking at these!

4th of July

Big boy's 4th birthday!

Super-awesome birthday swing-set thanks to many family members!

Shower for new nephew, Maysen Joe, born Friday 9/23! :)

Washing dishes...mostly getting wet!

Ok...I know this is like the longest post ever...I'll quit! There is so much more that I could write and SO many more pictures I could post, but for now that will have to do! I am in the process of transferring pictures from my phone to the computer- it's amazing how little we use the "real" camera now! Hope to hear from you all soon!

Meagan

Life in the fast lanes...

It's been almost an eternity since I've posted anything!

Here are some highlights:
*We are thankful for our faith.
*We love our family.
*We feel blessed in our home.

Oh...it looks like not much has changed after all. :)

We've made some great memories since my last post- far too much to catch up on in writing- but I will leave you with some notes about our life as a family of 4. Bennett joined us a week before Christmas and it has been such a fun 5+ weeks. He looks (basically) identical to Brenton, but I can already where their personalities differ. Brenton adores Bennett- he is extremely helpful, possessive, loving...and much more all wrapped into one. He wants Bennett to do everything with him and go everywhere with him. He translates "Bennett talk" too...sometimes Bennett will be doing absolutely NOTHING and Brenton will say, "mom- Bennett said he wants some candy"...or insert just about anything after "Bennett said"...haha. He cracks me up!

Brenton has been home during my maternity leave up until today (and minus 4 days in Tulsa with Grandma Tammy) and I have really enjoyed getting to see all the little things he does during the day. We get to sing songs, learn, watch movies, go places, etc. for more time each day than I've had with him since I started working really...and it's been wonderful. He is such a high energy, intelligent, question asking guy and I can't wait to see how much he teaches his little brother about life.

I am singing in our church choir and really happy that I finally joined. I sang all growing up and especially in high school...and then completely dropped it cold turkey when I started college because I did not have time. It's been more than a couple years since then and I am glad to have that joy back in my life. Having music in your soul is not something that can be taken away, but when you are living it you have much more joy than when you are not. Travis is anticipating the coming softball season, learning how to be a handy-man at home and overall being the most amazing dad in the world. My mom said something to me recently about Travis and it really hit the nail on the head so I thought I should share. Travis has been a great dad at every stage. We watched him when Brenton was born (and now Bennett) and he is a great dad with a newborn...then we watched him as Brenton was months old and he was a great dad of a baby...and as Brenton turned a year old Travis was a great dad with a toddler...and then Travis was a great dad with a 2 year old (terrible and all!)...and with a 3 year old who asks "why?" 7,598,645 times per day- Travis is a great dad. I guess the point is that some men are really good with a certain age group...or stage in life...but I am very thankful and happy to brag a little to say that Travis has been awesome at everything that's come our way.

I'll leave you with that. I think I hear the little one waking up and it's time to go get big-brother anyway!