HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!

Luke, Happy 2nd Birthday! You are so much fun at this age! You are amazing us everyday with a new word or a new antic of some sort. You LOVE music. Mostly guitars and drums. "Didtaaar" and "Bum Bum". You have amazing rhythm already! It has taken until about two weeks ago for you to go into the church nursery or MOPS/Bible study childcare without screaming your head off. A few months ago we figured out that if there was a toy guitar or video of the worship band, you'd settle down more quickly. You have learned so many new things this year. First off, walking, running and now a little bit of jumping. You quickly try anything Aidan does...walking along the curb, balance beam style; collecting rocks (raahk), checking out the baseball field at CBS and climbing on the couch. In the car you say whoa whenever I turn a corner...the same spot every time we take Aidan to school because Aidan said it one morning.

You absolutely LOVE Aidan. It melts my heart to listen to you two play together in your room at the train table. You get very frustrated when the trains fall off the track, but you are gettting it figured out. You love to play outside....with Aidan or by yourself. You have taken up golf (gaaah). You hit at the ball, kind of like a baseball, but you are persistent. When it is time to pick up Aidan at school and I say, "let's get Aidan at school," You run to the door and say "Nay Nay gaga cooool". Precious I tell ya! Aidan adores you as well. He is so proud of you and gets so excited when he sees you learn something new or say a new word. I pray you are always close. You make a great team.
I have to believe this love for music and your showy personality are going to follow into some sort of performance career. We'll see. You are quite the hamm. You have such great smiles and make the greatest squishy faces. You still have a bit of a stubborn streak, but it has dramatically reduced. Probably has to do with your budding vocabulary.

My favorite part of the day now is naptime and bedtime. Not for the reasons you may think. I sure need the break, but really it is so I can soak up your lovin's. You have only recently become a snuggle bug. You freeely give kisses and hugs. Although you withold them with a smile...again you're a hamm. We sit in the rocking chair and read books (buh), and then I sing. First Jesus Loves Me. Then you say "more baby". It comes from the book, "Love you Forever." I probably sing it 15-20 times. You will either sit facing out with blankie or will let me cuddle you like a baby. I love it because you never let me hold you like a baby when you were tiny. Then we give kisses, bonk heads and tickle a bit. It winds you up a bit, so then we have to rock more. You say more raah. I feel like I am catching up on 18 months of cuddling, so our bedtime routine is a bit lengthy. We will probably have to shorten it soon, because you are really starting to protest when I leave. You still have strong lungs. My only complaint is that you have been calling me Ma! from the start. It took me a very long time to realize you were calling blankie "mama". I knew that was what you called it, but I thought you also meant me sometimes. Several months ago you stopped saying mama for blankie, but I remained ma or mom. You have only in the last couple of weeks started to find a word for blankie...blah blah. In the meantime it has been a grunt with your hands out.

You still love to eat and most of your signs and words are related to eating or food. I'll be interested to see what your height and weight are next week at your dr. visit. You are not very tall....you're going to be like daddy...long body and very short legs.

You have made our family so much richer and lots of fun. We are so blessed that God chose us to be your family. I know God has amazing things planned for you and I pray that you make good choices throughout your life so that you can see all God has for you. I pray for your friends, for your future wife and that God will prepare you well for all the obstacles you will face. I love you so much punkin! You are an amazing blessing and never cease to surprise me. I love you!

Happy Anniversary!

Nine years today! What a journey! I am very blessed to be married to my best friend. I love spending time with him and he loves me very well. Who knew what life would hold when we "met" in the Hegstrom's kitchen that night? Lots of laughs, lots of tears and tons and tons of dreams! One big move, two Master's degrees, two beautiful boys and lots of memories later, I am so thankful for my many blessings. I get to live life with my best friend. He is so giving, helpful, thoughtful, seeking God and amazing! We have lots of ordinary days together, but lots of extraordinary days too. I joke about his shortcomings..you know, the chairs that never get pushed under the table, the many cups I carry to the kitchen....but I love Jim beyond words. He is awesome! I hope we get to be that old couple sitting together on the park bench holding hands and smiling. It is just awesome to be together, no words needed. I so look forward to what lies ahead. Still an unknown, what the future holds, but that's what keeps it exciting. I've surely been blessed beyond measure. I love you, Jim!

First day of School

Aidan started school last Wednesday and is loving it! I had no doubt he would. I must admit I cried. As I prayed for him on the way to school, Aidan could tell I was choked up. When I finished, he said, Mom, you don't have to cry, I'll be alright. I didn't want him to get nervous or scared, so I just told him I was going to miss him, but I knew he was going to have tons of fun. Of course he did. There are only three boys in his class, which I think is good. I definitely got lots of "I love you's" when he got home, though. We've noticed lots more of those and more hugging since school started. Although he has always been verbal and physical with love, it amps up when he is nervous or trying new things. We just enjoy it and give him more. I know the day will come when those hugs are few and far between.

Luke and I are enjoying our days together. We haven't started anything structured because I wanted to see how our schedule works out. I was going to start us with mommy and me gymnastics. Maybe in October. We are starting our other fall meetings, which will be tuesday, wednesday and thursdays. Fridays seem to be the day for errands, so Mondays will be our play days. Both boys are growing and maturing right before our eyes. It is cool to watch and makes mommy teary at the same time. We are blessed!

Legoland

Our summer started with graduation and continued while Grammy and Grandpa Jim were here. We had a great time at Legoland. Aidan and Luke enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed watching them. Luke is enjoying a chocolate covered marshmallow...thanks to Grandpa. Miniland is amazing and the boys check it out with Jim. The roller coaster ride didn't thrill Jim. I've already alerted Aunt Amy that she will be the designated roller coaster rider with the boys. If you look closely at the second picture, you can see Jim holding on for dear life and Aidan holding on, but a smile on his face. The only roller coaster I rode was the dragon and that was enough for me. I'm really not a thrill seeker. It was a really fun day and I realize my boys are getting so big so fast! Before I know it, they will be able to ride all the rides!

We had a great visit with Grammy and Grandpa Jim. Grandpa and Aidan had a day out and went to Boomers. I don't have any pictures, but I know they had a great time. They played video games and several rounds of golf. Of course they stopped at Old McDonald's on the way home and had food and ice cream. They were gone for hours. We were beginning to get worried and Grandpa left his phone at the house. They were just having lots of fun together. Grandpa did plenty of work, too, though. We have had a fence in pretty bad shape for quite a while and he fixed it....I think that was really his graduation present to Jim. He has plenty of other projects to tackle this summer. At least that big one is off the list.

We are looking forward to more summer fun. Aidan has asked to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. More to come.....

We made Jim go through the steps of getting rid of those highlighters in front of all the witnesses. He had a hard time letting them go and isn't sure he is totally cured, but we all committed to snatching any highlighter from his hands. Now to break his Starbucks habit!

Graduation!

Graduation went beautifully! Jim took his last final on Thursday night and had friday off to enjoy it a bit. He and I went to a graduation dinner that night and had a ball listening to his professors show their comedic side. They all roasted one another and it was fun to see that side of them. Over and over the graduates were applauded for their hard work and family members were nicely recognized as well for supporting them through such a rigorous academic pursuit. I have to say, and have on several occasions, I am so proud of Jim, not only for finishing, but for finishing very well. He took 36 classes (over 7 years) and never approached one with the attitude of "I'll just do what I need to do to get through it." Of course he enjoyed some more than others, but he always read his books and wrote his papers with the attitude that there was something valuable to be gained in the process. That's a student!

We had family and friends gather with us to celebrate this HUGE accomplishment. I gave a few words of appreciation and thanks to our friends and family, but also had to share some trouble that Jim got into while on this journey. He developed an addiction to yellow highlighters! I gathered all I could from the house, but am sure there are at least 30 more in hidden locations throughout my house. We had a highlighter burning ceremony to close out our intervention. It was a great relief for me to see those things go up in flames! We had a great time celebrating and we all slept until 9 the next morning. If you know my early bird husband, you know that has probably only happened one other time in his life. Luke still hasn't recovered. He wakes up at 9:00 every day now. He was the life of the party after 8:30 that night and had fun keeping us entertained between guitar hero and dancing by the fire pit. Now to enjoy life without homework.

Signing

Luke has been signing lots more lately. He has found bugs and LOVES them. He chases them around and tries to pick them up. I am going to find all kinds of treasures in his pockets, I'm sure. Here is a video of him signing bug. He also says cracker in this one. You can see he knows where we keep them because at the end he points to the pantry door.

He knows 10 words verbally and now 10 signs! He is quite the learner. These really are fun days. He is changing daily.

Precious boys

This is what having boys is for me. Pirates sleeping and Cat trucks. Girls probably do the same things, but my sisters and I never played pirates or had remote control cars/trucks. Aidan is phasing out his nap, so this day he played, quietly, in his room for a while before he fell asleep. I was surprised when I went in to wake him up. I had no idea he had been in there playing and dressing up. Fun stuff, I tell ya.
Luke is growing up so fast. I find him playing all by himself with the big boy toys. Forget the singing ABC's toys. He wants the trains, cars and Batman. Although he is still a snuggler, so I can't be too sad. Both of my boys love to be outside and it is so fun to watch them from the kitchen window playing outside together. I thought we had gotten a big enough sand box, but between two boys, two diggers and shovels, pails and sifters, there isn't much room. They start to fight over space and toys, but isn't that what brothers do?
I assure you they are loving brothers, though. Aidan will pick on Luke, but boy, don't you mess with him. Aidan went right to his defense when someone tried to take a toy from him. "That's my brudder's" I love it. It's why I wanted Aidan to have a sibling. He is perfect for a brother. Although he did just tell me he didn't want a brother because he keeps touching his coloring book. That's life with siblings. Still love it. While these days are going fast, I am enjoying this stage. Luke is a stinker and a ham all in one. Aidan is wild with imagination and so tenderhearted. As Jim says, we have the two cutest boys out there and we are so blessed!

FOUR!

I am two days late, but I wanted to post about our big boy, Aidan. Aidan is now four years old and I can't believe how fast it has gone! Aidan is an easy going, funny, high energy ball of love. He loves anything involving a ball. He is super coordinated and blows me away with his ability to smack a baseball. He has an incredible memory. He is learning new things everyday and trying to incorporate them into life. The other day he told a friend that "God wants us to share our toys." I'm sure it was because his friend had a toy he wanted, but at least I know the message is getting through. He does have a tender heart and is concerned about anyone who is sick or hurt. My most embarrassing moment for this year is probably related to his learning new things...I had to take him with me to my rhumetologist appointment. He asked about the poster describing osteoporosis and the picture of the lady "falling over". I explained that her bones got weak and made her lean over. I told him that was why it was important for him to eat his vegetables. Enter embarrassing moment: We were out shopping and see an elderly woman bent over walking with a walker. He says loudly..."that lady is falling over, she didn't eat her vegetables." This has happened numerous times and I wonder how necessary those teaching moments really are.
He is an amazing big brother and loves Luke like crazy. They are really starting to play together and Aidan is a big helper. I know the fights will come, but for now, I cherish the love they share.
Aidan's arrival changed our lives forever and boy am I glad. Life is so full of excitement and new things with him. He is full of questions and conversation. Most of the time I love it, but some days I have to say, "let's have some quiet time." We are blessed beyond words to have been chosen to be this amazing boy's parents. God has certainly been gracious and I am excited to see what He has in store for Aidan's life. My prayer is that Aidan learns early on how much he is loved by God and accepts his leadership in his life.
Happy Birthday Precious..mommy loves you all the way to the moon... and back!

Our Snow Day


Baseball in the Park


Christmas Eve at Church



Luke enjoyed some mashed potatoes!


They had some stable animals at church. That donkey didn't move
the entire time we were there. I am pretty sure he was alive, though.

Well, this will probably be a long post, but it will catch you up on our December and our Christmas break. I have to say December was not as stressful as it usually is. I think I anticipated a sad, lonely Christmas here at home and was pleasantly surprised how relaxing and enjoyable it was. We began the month by doing Advent. It was a wonderful way to teach Aidan more about Christmas and why it is such a big deal. It was so funny on the day before Christmas eve because Jim and I realized that Aidan had no idea that he would wake up Christmas morning with presents under the tree. He was so excited to read each night's story and blow out the candle. Jim decided we needed to put a few gifts under the tree to build some anticipation. I enjoyed doing some things to get ready, too. I baked several things that I knew I'd be missing...Chex mix and peanut butter kiss cookies..Lisa always makes those. It was fun decorating the tree, too. The boys indulged me for a while as I reminisced over each ornament. Aidan was enthralled by the Star Wars ornaments, of course. When I packed up, they all now have their own box! Next year I'll be hunting for a small tree for the "boys".

We spent a day at the Wild Animal Park and since I always tell Aidan the Carousel is only for when Daddy joins us, which is usually once a year, this was his chance. Luke was asleep, so he didn't get to ride. Aidan was thrilled and had fun. It was nice to enjoy a day together without Jim stressing about the homework he wasn't doing. We had lots of that in our two weeks home. It was a taste of what life may be in 6 months. Yaaay.

We enjoyed a few movie nights with a fire, since it was fairly cool here. No snow of course, but we were glad it was at least cool enough to pretend it was winter. We did get one morning in the mountains. It had warmed up and melted a bit by the time we got there, but we missed the traffic and crowds by waiting a couple of days. Aidan and Luke had a good time tromping around the icy snow and sledding. Aidan was a trooper about not getting to throw snowballs and building a snowman. He said next time we could do that. I think next year his expectations will be higher, so we may have to brave the crowds for good snow. Again, it was a nice day together.

We also enjoyed a sunny day at the baseball field. Aidan got a real bat with real balls. But daddy's instruction when he opened it was that it was NOT to be used at home...only at the park. This kid can hit a ball! Jim pitched balls to Aidan for an hour and half and he could have gone on all day! Luke enjoyed the snacks in the "dugout". We had to go for a walk after a while, though. We then walked down to feed the ducks.