Boiled eggs

My body just told me that it needed protein, and I haven't enjoyed a good hard-boiled egg in months. I wish I hadn't run out of mayo, or I would totally turn those bad boys into deviled eggs. Why are they called "deviled" eggs? Is it because they are devilishly delicious?
Well, friends, I think a cold might be trying to sneak up on me. Very mild congestion, tingly itch in the back of my mouth and throat, and that weird, heated sensation in my sinus cavity. Looks like I will soon be chugging some emergen-c, if only to be safe.
   Besides that, I feel healthy today. Thank You, Lord for my health, and that of my family. Thank You for gorgeous weather to go for walks in. I love viewing Your creative expression, Lord, even if it's tiny, floating, fuzzy seeds that look just like hairy bugs raining down on me and my stroller.

To the Kitchen!

Busy

I purposely try to keep my days busy. They say time flies when you're having fun, but it also shuffles along hastily is you're earnestly trying to distract yourself and two boys. My plan-filled schedule lasts from about 8:00 a.m. until 3:00-ish p.m., except for on Fridays and Saturdays. (And Sundays, obviously. Those are restful days of rest). On Fridays and Saturdays, I struggle to maintain 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. busy-ness. Why? Because I miss my husband.
*Insert lovey-dovey song of loneliness here*
I love that guy a whole stinking lot. I love being near him. Most of the time. When I'm without him, I feel like I'm missing something. I'm happier by far being with him than without him. I'm so proud of him, for he is such a hard worker and phenomenal provider for our family. And, he's really good looking and has a knack for making me laugh. 
  In closing, I want to thank God for giving me this man to be married to. Awesome. Thank You, God!

Back off, ladies. He's mine, all mine!

    
     

Chatter Box

"Daddy", "mama", "all done": Things Witten can say.
"more","please", and "all done": Things Witten can sign.
 An electric screwdriver, a car, and a howling dog: Things Witten loves to imitate.

He's not giving lectures on predestination versus free will, but what's written above is testimony that, once again, my paranoia and fear of him being behind developmentally are stupid. I love it when, in the midst of some worry or another, God reaches down, pats me on the back and says, "Chill, child, I've got this."

   Another cute new development of Witten's: if you ask him where daddy is, he will search until he finds Stephan and then point a chubby little finger at him while smiling his huge, goofy, victory smile.

His goofy smile.

Meanwhile, big brother is continuing to grow and change as well. While he's no longer soaring through clothes sizes like he did as a baby and toddler, his intellectual capacity is clearly expanding daily. Every day he'll do or say something that makes me, Stephan, or someone around him be flabbergasted by him. Yesterday, for instance, while I was inside preparing dinner and Noah was outside "helping" Daddy clean out his work van, Noah said this to his dad:
 "Daddy, you're too dirty to help me down. You need to get out of the van. Mommy won't like that. We need to make Mommy happy."
  *That's my boy!*

You can't not love me. I'm adorable!

Now, once again, it is tasked to me to ensure this house is clean, for it might be shown again today or tomorrow or sometime soon. Dear Lord, forgive me for grumbling and give me what I need to be gracious and patient in this time of possible transition. You have been so good to me. Thank You.

be blessed, readers!

Ode to Joy

By excitedly exposing Noah to beautiful pieces of classical music via youtube, I believe I am ingraining in him a love of the fine arts. We'll watch a very well orchestrated flash mob doing Beethoven's Ode to Joy, full symphony and choir and everything, and when it's all done, he'll cheer and clap for the "music and singing!"
  (Check out the flash mob I speak of by clicking *here*)

Anyways,
While it's true that I have been slacking with the picture taking with my camera, I did remember recently that I have captured a few precious/ funny/ unusual moment with my poor-quality camera phone. So, for you viewing pleasure, I present my phone's pictures.

Lately, Noah's favorite place to be is close to daddy. Really close.

Not long ago, we went to the zoo with some of our best buds.

*When you're the Best of Friends!*

This one's for you, Melissa

We had a gentlemanly baby shower for Aubrey and Owen. Indeed.

Noah took his snack and popped a squat on the fireplace to munch. Sweet boy.

I no longer have two baby boys. I've got a big boy in big boy undies and a baby chunk.

So close to walking!

And lastly, this is why I need a girl. I braided her hair, then we watched the Little Mermaid while Noah wheedled about wanting to watch Cars or The Lion King instead.

 I just caught Noah digging around down the back of his pants. When I told him to stop, he told me he was looking for his wallet. I love having boys.

Be blessed, readers!

Dirt, dinosaurs, and pee

I have boys.
I am a lone woman in a home full of boy-ness. My husband, my sons, even the dog are males, and I couldn't be happier. In fact, my new favorite shirt, a gift from Bebe, proudly displays my current status:

While friends of mine dress sweet little girls in bows and curls and play pretend with dolls and tea sets, I wrestle and howl and help my big boy claim victory over a particularly tricky T-Rex puzzle.

Thanks to playing "toss-the-puzzle-pieces-around-the-house", we're missing one or two.

I love it. I love that I get to encounter things and experience moments that many of my friends don't. (And probably won't). For instance: this morning, after breakfast as I worked out in the living room, I hear Noah exclaim, "It's a tee tee bowl, Mommy!" Thinking little of it, I first responded with the usual, "That's great, Noah." Until I realized the extent of what that could mean. I quickly investigated and, sure enough, Noah had crafted a portable urinal on the dining room floor using his empty cereal bowl. Impressively, he's a pretty sharp-shooter and managed to get most of it in the bowl.
  As I cleaned up that strange little mess, I wondered to myself, does anybody else have kids that does stuff like this?
  Meanwhile, Witten eagerly emulates his big brother in all things rambunctious and boy-ish. For the last few days, his favorite toy to carry around the house is Noah's plastic screwdriver, because he watched Noah "fixing" things about three days back and wants to be like his brother. He even imitates Noah's sounds effects. The other day, Noah and I were howling as I pushed them in the swings to get Toby to howl with us. It worked great, because not only did Toby join in, Witten also took up the call with his own little "aah-ooo".
  Praise God for messy, stinky, happy little boys! And praise God for their father, a loud, studly, big boy, who is the best father these two kids could have. Every day, when Stephan comes in the door, Witten turns from whatever he's doing and scurries to his father saying "ya-yee! ya-yee! ya-yee!" (his version of "daddy, daddy, daddy")
   I dare not wonder why God has been so good to me. I just accept that I do not deserve it, and therefore every good thing I posses is that much more of a blessing. Thank You, God, for your kindness!

Be blessed, readers!  

uh oh

No, nope, no, this doesn't bode well.
I recall a time when Noah was showing signs of being ready to drop a nap, so as to only nap once a day. I won't lie, I fought it pretty hard at first. I thought that I needed that first nap to help me get through my day. The selfish notion was proven humorously wrong when, after we got ourselves on a good one-afternoon-nap-per-day schedule, I found out how nice it is to be able to not have to stick close to home twice a day to accommodate proper napping.
  That being said, I sit here facing the likely possibility that Mr. "I'm a Big Boy Now" Witten is getting ready to take that crucial leap from sweet baby that sleeps twice a day to active toddler that scoffs in the face of sleep. He's showing some of the signs: long, intense first nap, and fighting his second nap. Once again, I don't' think I'm ready for this. I remember how it was, trying to train Noah to stay awake all morning and nap in the afternoon. Just as with his initial sleep training, I felt downright cruel, at times, when I would bounce my uber-cranky son around to keep him awake when he wanted very badly to sleep. Also as with the initial sleep training, the end result was worth the means to achieve it, for Noah naps mightily in the afternoons. (On days when he decides he should nap, that is. Sometimes, he just wants to party in his room for an hour or two.)
   In my head, I know that it won't be that bad and the transition will be brief in the grand scheme of things, but once you get used to a comfortable routine, it's hard to face a permanent change, no matter what that change or routine may be. Therefore, I shall pray and move forward. Once I'm certain that Witten is indeed ready for the change up, I will face it with God-given patience and perseverance. Praise God, my Lord is a gracious God who doles out His blessings freely and gladly.
Then, I will plan more "adventures" for me and the boys to partake of in the mornings.

Speaking of which,

During our last *adventure* to Petland (thanks for the idea, Ting-Ting), I carefully introduced Noah to an adorable variety of small woodland creatures. Noah very sweetly pet the Guinea pigs and poked the dwarf hamsters and (my favorite) hugged the bunnies and gave them sweet kisses and told them he loved them. Then, as I bent to scoop up a gerbil, he turned and gasped.
  "Mommy, I want that one!"
He pointed. I looked. It was a large, white rat. "Sadly", we weren't able to hold any rats, due to the fact that they are kept in terrariums apart from the rest of the cute, fluffy, wanted smaller animals. Yet no matter how many adorable rodents I tried to divert Noah's attention with, he kept returning to one large, sleeping rat and requesting him. On the way home, I broke the news to Stephan; we're gonna have to get Noah a rat.
  Can't be that bad, right? I've had a ferret before. They're similar. Rats.

Be blessed, readers!

My Boys, My Boys, My Precious Joys

I love having sons. Yes, I eagerly await the day God blesses Stephan and I with a girl, but I am so very happy that I have two rambunctious, lively, active, tiring, adorable, stinky, handsome boys.

 They're both pretty happy little campers, aren't they?

 Noah and Witten's activities never cease to entertain me, or at least keep me on my toes. Every week I can detect more intentional interaction between these brothers. Mostly it's Noah trying to wrestle with Witten who, though eager to partake at first, is quickly overpowered and squalls for my intervention. But there are times, and strangely these times only happen when I'm not looking, in which Noah and Witten are sharing in some brotherly fun that results in copious laughter from both of them.

All-wheat spaghetti zombie says "GRAAAAAIINS!"

  Thank You, gracious Father, for the gift of these boys. Grant me every good grace I need to be the mother they need. Oh sovereign Lord, please save them. You must save them! I love them too much for it not to happen. Guard their young hearts against the devil and surround them always with your love and protection. And good, Godly friends. Thank You for this family You've made. I love you so much, Lord.
    Amen.

Be blessed, readers! Now I think I'll make some cookie dough. Did I have plans for this evening...?

S'mores at the Luhrs

Witten is a-crusin' around the furniture of this house. He likes to walk with my assistance and will demand that I stand and accompany him on his little adventures. He can't quite find his balance well enough to stand independently yet (I blame his big 'ole Buddha belly for throwing him off kilter), but I bet he's not far from walking on his own. Maybe another month or so.
 Also, he has expanded his vocabulary from "gla gla gla gla gla" to include "daddy", "mama", "uh-oh", and I'm pretty sure he tries to say "I love you". He started signing "all done" yesterday, which is crazy, because I've never taught him that. Well, not intentionally, at least. Maybe the nursery workers at BSF did it, because they've told me before that he signed "more" once, and I never taught him that either. Either way, it's adorable and I love it.
  Today, as I dried my hair, Noah sauntered into my bathroom, put up the seat on the potty, dropped his pants, tinkled in the pot, pulled his pants back up, and meandered away like it was no big deal. Didn't even give me a sideways glance. I may have cried a little bit.
  I am not pregnant.
 Stephan's restaurant is amazing and everyone should go try it out.
 I hate Lana from Smallville so much it makes me not want to watch the show. (but I will finish strong. Stephan and I are committed to this and we will see it through to the end.)
 Toby's still around.
I haven't taken a picture of anything in weeks.
 I turned 25 on the 29th.
My sweet tooth is still tyrannical in it's ways.  
Stephan is flipping our bathrooms one at a time. (Pictures to come)

Aaaaaand, that's about it. Y'all have been updated. You're welcome.