Happy Valentines!

Took some V-Day pictures of the boys tonight :)

Lots of Love around here! Such sweet brothers!

Look at them grow!

This is a picture post, because I am so bad at keeping up!

This was a little while back - Clark's first experience with Prunes :)

This was at Devil's Den Park back in early December... I told Bruce to pick up the rock, and he gave it a valiant effort!

Eating dirt at Grandma's over Christmas Break

Keeping up our New Year's Day Tradition of Krispy Kreme for breakfast :) Bruce didn't want to have his picture taken that day.

Showing how he can sit up like a big boy!

Clark is not a huge fan of pureed foods anymore, but loves chunks of banana, avacado, bluberries, rice, beans and anything else that I give him! How is he old enough to eat these things! Where did my baby go?!?

A sweet Sister from Sealy made this hat for Bruce when he was born, and as I was packing up the clothes Clark has grown out of I thought I would put it on one more time :)

This was bathtime tonight. It is fun that Clark can sit up well enough to splash around with Bruce!  Clark is 7 months old today, and Bruce is 2 1/3 year old :)

Enjoying bedtime stories with daddy and Mario

Bruce's new skill... "Drinking milk like daddy"

These next two photos are of the boys around the same age in the same outfit. Clark's afro aside, I see similarities in their faces! Mostly when I look at these pictures I see beautiful sweet, pure and perfect souls. I love my boys with all my heart. They have truly changed me for the better in every way!

Oh so far behind...

I am so far behind on this blog it isn't even funny. My littles are growing way way WAY too fast, and I have been so bad at documenting any of it. It makes me so sad :(

Here is a quick update on my loves:

Clark:
At his 5 month check up his stats were Height:26.5in Weight:18lb 9oz

Loves to smile and laugh. He has the most BEAUTIFUL smile. His whole face just lights up with a giant, toothless, open mouth smile whenever anyone looks at him, especially mommy, daddy or Bruce. If you make eye contact he gets so excited he is almost beside himself. It is truly one of the dearest things in the whole wide world. He just radiates goodness.

He is so calm, loving and accepting. He has no fear of any person. One day last week he was tired and hungry, we had been at Walmart past even the most patient baby's breaking point and Clark was crying as we were standing in line to check out. I had taken him out of the carseat and was holding him up until the point when I needed to unload the cart onto the conveyor belt. When I put him back into the seat he was beside himself. One sweet older lady who had just checked out in another line asked me if she could hold him while I checked out. (I generally don't like accepting help from others,especially if it involves strangers handling my children, but I have been making a point lately of trying to allow people to serve me more, even when it is outside my comfort zone- plus I could tell she was a very nice lady) She was definitely a grandmother, she had the soothing gibberish down pat. Within a minute Clark was happy as can be, smiling SO BIG at her and snuggling his head into her shoulders, giving her lots of love. It made my heart so happy to see what a sweet boy he is, even to those he doesn't know. She was beaming, and I could tell that holding Clark brought her so much joy. It made me doubly glad for allowing her to help me.

Clark loves food. He has not tried a baby food he hasn't devoured. As a matter of fact, he likes baby food almost too much. He has stopped himself up pretty good. I have been feeding him nothing but baby prunes the past two days to try and move things along ;) Some of the new things he has tasted lately: Pizza crust, Ice cream (daddy's doing) pomegranate seeds (loves them!) graham crackers (he still doesn't swallow them, but will suck on it and spit it out) and enjoys gnawing on apple slices. Plus who-knows-what that Bruce has fed him when I am not looking.

Speaking of which, he is absolutely smitten with Bruce. He watches Bruce's every move. He loves to grab Bruce's head with both hands and pull him close to give big, slobbery kisses. One of his favorite things is when Bruce will lay down next to him and try to pull Clark on top of him (usually a little roughly, but Clark doesn't mind) Clark likes to be in the same room as Bruce at all times. He thinks his big brother is the funniest person on earth, and will laugh at Bruce when he jumps or spins or falls down... or eats dinner... pretty much anytime Bruce is giving him attention.

Clark also LOVES his daddy. If he hears David enter the room or speak he will crane his neck around to find him. If David is singing in another room Clark will stop whatever he is doing and STARE in the direction of daddy's voice. He will not be redirected either. He and David don't often get a lot of one-on-one time, so occasionally David will just hold him for hours as he sleeps at night... especially on evenings when I am at church meetings. Daddy cherishes that time with Clark.

Clark is almost at the point where he can sit up on his own. He does well for a little while, but will topple forward or back after half a minute or so. He loves to hold his feet. He finds his toes fascinating. If he can see his toes he will stare at them and pull them as close to his face as possible, then stay that way indefinitely.

He still wakes every two or so hours at night to nurse. Mostly because he is too distracted to nurse during the day. It does get a little exhausting, but Bruce was the same way and I know that it will pass eventually. Plus I have been conditioned to run remarkably well on very little sleep. One thing we are doing a little differently is trying to have Clark at least start out the night in his crib. By the time I have gotten up twice to feed him though he ends up sleeping in our bed for the rest of the night, but at least he will go to sleep in the crib.

Clark is starting to get interested in toys, and will lean all the way over the side of his Bumbo to pick up anything close enough to reach. He will pull objects in front of his nose and purse his lips like a monkey with just the tip of his tongue sticking out while he studies it with crossed eyes. It is adorable. He likes to talk. He will often strike up his own little cooing conversation in the car.

He is pudgy and round and squishy and beautiful. He is my wonderful "little bittles" -a nickname I am sure he will hate when he gets older. I wish I could just freeze time and keep him small forever

One more time...

Bruce's favorite thing to say lately is "one more time". He says it while holding up his little pointer finger and shaking it for emphasis.

His Mimi taught him 'Ring around the Roses', and he loves David's version which involves lots of swinging and throwing in the air before 'we all fall down'. Bruce will run to daddy and say "ashes ashes", and after it is done asks for "one more time", which repeats the cycle 10 more times :) He is such a wonderful boy!

Last night and tonight he grabs a stuffed animal at bedtime, lays down and says "one more time" pointing to another animal. Said animal then kisses him and says 'nigh-night Bruce" and gets tucked in with him. Which leads to every plush object in the room in bed with Bruce. It is very sweet.

He also love to give hugs lately. He will say "hug e mommy/daddy" or "hug e baby" and give us a big hug. He does this often during the day. It also melts my heart.

He really enjoys the ONE episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that is available on Netflix. Sometimes I go to bed and cannot sleep because I have "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" running loops through my head. It is a little exhausting. Why on earth would they only have ONE EPISODE available anyways? Anyhow. Bruce loves it more than any other show right now. He will randomly pipe up from the back seat of the car and say "oh no, toodles cry" in a very sad voice. Or sometimes he will just start calling out "oh toodles!" over and over again. He still loves the Happy Birthday song, so when he says "toodles cry" I tell him 'Toodles is happy now', which leads him into a chorus of "Ha-ppy Toodles!" In the same way he sings "Happy Daddy" (we have had a lot of birthdays lately, but David's seems to be the one he remembers most)

I sure love my little boy, who is quickly becoming not so little!

Pictures

Here are some pictures I have taken lately:

This is a comparison of both boys at three months. It is fun to see the differences in them!

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Bruce's 2nd Birthday was the 21st and we celebrated yesterday! He loves loves LOVES Super Mario. He loves to watch Daddy play the Wii, and often carries the remote around with him. We found a 90's Super Mario Cartoon series on Netflix that he also loves to watch.

Bruce's Mimi and Uncle Brannon came to visit us this week, and were SUCH lifesavers! There is no way I could have put the decorations and food together in time without them! It was also really awesome to have a party with cousins!!

The weather was gorgeous so we ate dinner outside!

David and I made a 'Pin the Mustache on Mario' for the party. Brannon made the awesome Goomba in like 5 minutes... He is a great artist! He also drew Bowser in the driveway.

The kids played 'Bomb Bowser' and had to throw water balloons until Bowser was washed away.

Bruce loved blowing out his candles! In fact, he would't give David enough time to light both candles before blowing the first one out! My big, wonderful boy!!

Bruce loves tools right now! He was in heaven with this workbench. As a matter of fact, he loved every single gift he opened. It took well over an hour to open 7 or so presents, because Bruce would stop and enjoy each and every gift.

Bruce's Birthday stash! He was spoiled this year! He got Bubbles, a Nerf Guns, a lawn chair, toy cars, tools and workbench, an etch a scetch-type toy and a T-ball set.

I love my little boy. He is sweet and wonderful in every way. He has such a pure heart, and loves his family so much! He is so good natured, and I feel blessed to be his mother! He brings such joy to our lives! Happy 2nd Birthday Bruce!