How can you be the best and the worst at the same time?

Just be Benjamin lately!  

I hate to say this, but he's just turned sort of awful!  But he's also just terribly, terribly cute!  Even in a super small Alabama onesie!  But again, so terrible!  Throwing toys, hitting Nico, screaming in the car, pulling Nico off of his chair at the table, dumping bins of toys we've just cleaned up, pushing Nico off of the little kid picnic table.  Do you see a trend?  Destruction and Nico.  That pretty much sums it up.

Except for his cuteness, you dig?  He's still cute.  Ridiculously so!  It's just so confusing!  I mean, one minute I'm offering him an apple and he points at it and says "baple" and "da"* and the next minute he's throwing the plate across the room and swearing at me in Russian!  Or whatever language he speaks!

People usually react to hearing that I have three boys by saying, "You have your hands full" or "You're one busy mom" or they simply just shudder.  Still, until about, oh, um, 2 days ago I really felt like I only had 2 boys and 1 baby.  I don't anymore.  It's three boys.  Three boys who might not be fluent in Russian, but who are fluent in the languages of throwing, screaming, teasing, jumping, and being pills.  Not all of the time, but now that Benjo's thrown his hat into the ring it's gettin' crazy up in here! 

Help me.  I miss my baby so much.

*("Yes" in Benjaminese is "da".  Benjaminese is a slavic tongue I guess.)

One of these things is not like the other things

It's getting hard to ignore how much these two look alike:



























And how much this guy doesn't.














Amazing. I love my little Nico face. Even if he is up to 10 tantrums a day.

It's sort of like Jacob in his kindergarten class. Just look for the kid who blends in perfectly with the hay.














(I realize that lately all I seem to be able to do is post old pictures of the boys, but the feeling that time is racing by/playing tricks on me/slipping through my fingers is ever present these days. I promise to get current again. Until then, indulge me!)

Just Reading

A few weeks ago, when Jacob had his infamous stomach bug (the one Nicholas had had a few days before with minimal problems), I found the boys in Jacob's messy, messy room like this.

























I really like these two. Especially at these moments. Not so much during power struggles. Or tantrums. Or whining. Or fights over toys. Or brazen defiance. But here? Man, I really like them. It is oh so easy for me to not appreciate these moments when they come. They sneak up on me so quietly sometimes I just don't notice. Darling.

My Puppy Dogs

We are not finding out the gender of this baby ahead of time. We didn't with the boys and feel excited to find out the gender at the birth again. I can definitely see the pros of finding out ahead of time and I realize it's a surprise to find out at the ultrasound, but we're just suckers for the high drama surprise. That being said, with two boys in our family we can't help feeling a bit more longing for a girl this time around and a bit more uncertain that we'll get one.

It's weird to think that we might never have a girl. We would be very happy with all boys. I would love, love, love another little boy. Ooh, just love it. That being said, Jacob and Nicholas have just been pretty manly lately, engaging in the types of general tom-foolery my angel sister and I would never have dreamed of. EVER. And sometimes, sometimes the thought of more men in the house isn't a comforting one.

I mentioned these thoughts to a friend and she told me that her husband only has brothers and that they're just like a bunch of puppy dogs when they're together, even as adults. The imagery was endearing and captivating.

A few days later the boys were going to watch a show and they both jumped into this chair. I braced myself for fighting, but it didn't come. Jacob kept saying it was "built for two". They giggled, rocked, commented on the show, and shared the chair happily for 10 minutes. They even parted amicably. Amicably!































I guess soon enough it will be football, not "Lighting McQueen" that they're watching. Just maybe in separate chairs...














OK, after rereading this I realize that was a pretty girly moment for them. More like kittens than puppies. Oh well, more wrestling posts to come.

Here's to a great December!

Would it interest you to know

that both of my boys had birthdays in the last month?

or that both of them were sick due to "the great nursery plague" in the last month?

or that Jacob is almost the conductor of the "Potty train" (completely thanks to Grandma Jan)?

or that Matt and I went to NYC this past weekend?

or that we closed on our house last week?

or anything at all? I am woefully and irrevocably behind on my blog. I have the desire, but the time and focus elude me. Stay with me. I still haven't blogged (and may never) about how Jacob called shamrocks "hamhocks" back in March. March, ladies and gents. The big stuff is in there, but what about the hamhocks?

Little moments have been lots of fun lately. Jacob's just talk, talk, talking. To have him jump up out of his bed, with both arms thrown up into the air, and yell "sur-tlise!" at me. Or to hear him call mega blocks "megafying blogs". Having Nicholas give me a kiss on the cheek (open mouthed and slobbery) when I ask him to. They are sweet times and I want to share.

In between trying to pack a box or two a day (don't cry for me) I will try to go for the bronze and just put something up.

Even if it is just some ramblings and a really cute picture of one of my birthday boys.

Competition's Good for Everyone!

This chrome buddy just can't compete with...














...this guy!














Bath time has never been so easy or so full of smiles. (And full of my constant refrain: "Jacob, don't pour water out of the tub...I mean it." But "I mean it" really peppers all of our dealings.)

Isn't he cute?














If you want to read a lot more about competition in the marketplace (and such) read this. Don't hate Matt for loving economics (the dismal science) and the White Stripes (a great band) so much.

Brothers gotta hug

Hugs are usually initiated by Jacob.

They are wildly and happily accepted by Nicholas.

There is always a risk of injury.

Mother usually has to ask Jacob to end the hug when things get violent.

Nicholas laughs through almost all violence.

And lastly, often Jacob prefaces these hugs with the phrase, "I just love him so much".

Enough about the house

and more about us!

Just a pair of cutesie-tootsies.














They are way cooler than our house. (Although our house is still very cool and on the market!)

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

Oh so long ago my boys were worlds apart.














Jacob viewed Nicholas as BO-RING.














And Nicholas thought Jacob was a menace.














They've both done a lot of growing up in the last seven months and I'd like to show you some of their recent interactions.

Playing trains.
































Struggling to tear Nicholas away from a favorite toy.














Fixin' stuff at the work bench.














Pushing Nicholas away from the work bench.














Nicholas giving up while Jacob plays on.














"Parallel play". Jacob loves his trains on the table and Nicholas loves his train leavings and any other toy litter under the table. What could be more parallel?


















Playing "Where's Nico?". This is by far our most favorite activity. Nicholas is a great crawler and can get anywhere. He has found a particular delight (as seen above) in getting under things. "Where's Nico?" basically consists of Jacob thinking Nicholas is in a funny place and then yelling "Where's Nico" until they both dissolve in giggles. Awe-some.

What are you doing looking at blogs?

Go vote! (That is if your state is voting today.)

We did.















That reminds me of the old BYU Annual Fund ads with people like President Bateman saying, "Choose to give, I did." Which made me think of this beauty that was hung up around campus in response to those ads.



















Get it? It's the little stream, eh? Get it? Anyway, I love it.

But I digress. The boys and I did go down to the "Good Age Building" (huh?) to cast our vote for _____. My blog is a politically neutral endeavor. So we voted for "Mint" (as Jacob calls our unknown candidate). I came prepared with toys, snacks and a bottle for 'Colas. Imagine my surprise when there was NO LINE! There were just lots of happy poll workers ready to get me a-votin'. At each station in the room (and in less than three minutes) three different poll workers said, "Looks like you've got your hands full." I wonder what they would have said if the boys were screaming, yelling or doing any of their typical heck raisin'. Look at my little boys fulfilling their civic duty in their red and blue. (And look at Jacob's shiner he got yesterday after a tumble near our coffee table!)






























By the time we had left the building no less than 5 people had said to Jacob, "You're too young to vote!" Who knew?! Obviously the poll workers didn't because look what they gave him. His very own "I'm a Georgia voter" sticker, which he mistook for his patch. Jacob even had an ink stained hand (from making hand-turkeys with markers last night) to show his support for the democratic process.



















Nicholas was good, good, gooooood. He didn't make a peep and didn't even need the bottle. What a champ.














Oh, and exercising our right to vote has its perks, like seeing a real live tractor-ish machine! Woo-hooo! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

I just love a good outfit

Don't you?
































































Hutch 1 and Hutch 2 are some fine lookin' babies.

I try and I try and I try!

I have so far been fairly unsuccessful at snapping a picture of my TWO children. My attempts usually end up following this pattern:

1. Ta da! However, Nicholas isn't smiling and Jacob is being strangled by Nicholas's hair!




















2. Jacob starts thinking..."Hmmm, who is this cute thing tenuously placed in my arms? Do I really want to be holding him?"




















3. Then Jacob grins and thinks, "Nah. I don't! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"




















4. The end.































5. Repeat.