16 Months Old and 3 1/2 years old

It's hard to remember a time when Remington wasn't running around the house and Southern wasn't saying complete sentences. But it wasn't that long ago. Remington is now 16 months old, and Southern is 3 1/2 years old. And I may be biased, but they are so mature for their age! I have had family, friends, and random strangers comment on how much older they look or act, so I know I'm not the only one who has thought this!

Remington is not only walking, he is running. He likes to hold Mommy's hand and suck his thumb while walking most of the time. But, especially when we are at home, he will let loose - and he won't want anyone holding his hand! He will stick out his elbows, say "ahhhh - ah", and start running (I really think he is imitating Southern racing after saying "on your mark, get seeeet, go"). He is learning how to kick a ball. He will run up to it, and stick out one foot to make it roll. He helps me with chores around the house - he loves to hand me clean dishes from the dishwasher, stick wet clothes into the dryer, put his empty cups or plates in the sink, and throw trash away. He can sit still too. He loves to color (though you have to keep an eye on him or he may try to eat the crayons). He can point out which sticker he wants and then stick it on paper. He loves to talk on the phone. He will hold it up to his ear and say "hi". He makes a similar noise for bye. He now says "uh ooooh" when he drops something or sees something out of place. He can cheese for the camera and will hold still to pose. He loves to ride his rocking horse, knock down Southern's lego towers, throw balls (or anything really - he sometimes takes off his shoes in the car and throws them. Let me tell you, I was quite surprised when a croc hit me on the side of my head while I was driving a couple of weeks ago!), look through books, push around cars, and play with little figures or animals. He will comfort Southern when he is crying - either by going up and hugging him or by handing him a toy. He still won't sit still for diaper changes, doesn't like water getting in his face at bathtime, and has been known to walk up to someone and just push them. But he's super sweet, especially in the mornings. He loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. He now say "mmm" when he leans in with his mouth closed and lower lip sticking out to kiss. He loves Dracky and tries to pet him often. Most of the time Dracky stays just out of his reach, but those times when he does get to pet him, he's so proud.

Remington wears size 6.5 or 7 shoes, 3t or larger pajamas, 24 mo or 2t shirts, 24 mo pants, and size 4 diapers. He weighs around 24 pounds.

And Southern, well, he's a runner too. He loves races, and he and I will often race in the backyard. Southern likes to do laps around the yard for fun. He is helpful when he wants to be. Sometimes he has a hard time cleaning up his toys because he will get distracted with one of them and forget he was supposed to put it away, not play with it. When he colors, he only wants to use red or pink. And then he will just color for a little bit and want me to color the rest. I think he enjoys drawing more. He often draws "an island with water around it". Last week, he drew "planets and Earth". He loves stickers and will put them on his shirt or on paper. He has gotten really good at talking on the phone. He enjoys talking to family and can talk for a good amount of time when prompted with questions. He has his times when he doesn't want to take a picture - and when he doesn't want to, he doesn't smile that well. But he's usually pretty good about it, and he really loves to pose and stick his tongue out for pictures. He often times wants me to take pictures of his things and then will want to look at the picture on the camera's screen. He loves to play Mario Kart on the Wii, play sports (baseball, tennis, basketball, golf, football, and soccer), build "towers" and "castles" with legos, roll cars, and "read" books (he will go page by page, studying them really well). He's really into Superheros right now (especially Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and Iron Man), but he doesn't like the "bad guys" so I have to be careful about the books and movies we get from the library. (I have found that the older cartoon Batman shows from the '70s are great!) He's pretty reasonable about things once you explain them to him. He loves to learn and is always asking why. My family got a kick out of him correcting them at the beach last month. My Grandpa showed him some wall art and said it was a bird. Southern told him, "no, that's a Macaw". And then a little later, my Grandma said something about the little fish on the pillow. Southern told her they were dolphins. He also impressed his religion class teachers this past Monday with answering so many questions right - the topic of the day was God's creations so he was in his element. He knows most of his letters and can count to 13. He can pick out his name when it's written, and he can tell people his full name. He knows the names of towns - where we live, where family members live, etc. He loves maps and seeing where things are. He likes to watch the GPS as we are driving and will tell us to turn right or left when it's time. He can climb up into his seat and buckle up (though I still check it after he's finished because he doesn't always have the chest snap completely closed) by himself.

Southern wears size 11 or 12 shoes, 5t or larger pajamas, 5t or larger shirts, and 4t pants. He weighs around 43 pounds.

They are both growing so fast, and they're just so beautiful. We are really blessed with these two!

Play time

Southern and Remington are getting old enough to be able to play well with each other more and more. But they both still want Mommy down there with them more often than not. Sometimes Mommy is busy with housework or just wants a little downtime to herself. But this Mommy knows just how happy it makes her kids to get on the floor and play with them. In the end, it makes Mommy happy too :)

 

 

 

And it also means Mommy can create some pretty cool lego robots ;)

Kissed You Good Night

Well, this post isn't about our babies this time. It's about Mommy and Daddy, back when we were just Lindsey and Dustin. On an evening in the fall of 1999.

What brings this up is a song that I recently listened to. I grew up always listening to the radio in the car. In fact, I was 16 years old before I even knew that a radio in a car could be turned off! I knew the volume could be turned down, but I never knew they had a power button! But anyway, now that I'm a mom, I sometimes have the radio off so that the boys and I can chat in the car or so they can hear their toys. And sometimes I have it on. When it's on, I love singing along to the music. (Kissed You) Good Night by Gloriana came on the other day. I have heard it many times and know all the words. I was singing along as usual but really listened this time. And with each verse, it was becoming more and more apparent that whoever wrote this song could have been spying on me and Dustin during the fall of 1999!

Have you every REALLY listened to it?



I dropped you off
Just a little after midnight
Sat in my car
Till you turned off your porch light
I should have kissed you
I should have pushed you up against the wall
I should have kissed you
Just like I wasn’t scared at all

I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight

You couldn’t see me
Watching through the window
Wondering what went wrong
Praying that you wouldn’t go
You should have kissed me
You should have pushed me up against the wall
You should have kissed me
I was right on the edge and ready to fall

So I turned off the car
Ran through the yard
Back to your front door
Before I could knock
You turned the lock
And met me on the front porch

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight

I turned off the car
ran through the yard
back to your front door
Half scared to death can’t catch my breath
Aren’t these the moments we live for

And I kissed you
Goodnight
And now that I’ve kissed you
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight
It’s a good night good night baby goodnight



Yeah, so this is basically what happened to Dustin and me - well, except the "pushed you up against the wall" part and it being midnight. I was just 14 after all.

The evening of our first kiss went like this: Dustin, me, and Dustin's friend Michael had been somewhere together. Probably hunting at the river place. I don't remember that part. What I remember is that Michael and Dustin were dropping me off at home. Dustin walked me to the front door. We said good night, probably awkwardly, and then he left. I walked into the house, shut the door, and went through to the garage. My mom had left the garage door open for me, and I was walking out there to pull it closed. When I got into the garage though, I could hear Dustin and Michael talking from the road. I wasn't really paying attention, but my steps faltered when I heard Michael ask him if he kissed me. And then, I have to admit, I stood still, holding my breath, listening for Dustin's response.

D: No, I didn't.
M: Dude, why not?
D: I should have, right?
M: Hell yeah, you should have. Go back up there and do it right.
D: You think so?
M: Just go.

I heard a car door slam. My heart was beating fast. I ran back into the house and to the front door. I opened it as soon as I got there. He was up to the porch. I had my mouth open a bit (in shock, I guess). Dustin leaned in and kissed me on my lips. He whispered, "I love you," and then turned around and ran back to Michael's truck. My mouth stayed hanging open for a bit. Then I too turned around and ran back into the house. I closed the door and took off running to my mom's bedroom. "Mom!! You'll never guess what just happened!!"

http://youtu.be/MYwDLlsaAGk

Cousins

It is so fun watching our kids grow up with other kids in our family. I am an only child and Dustin has one sister with a baby on the way, so our boys don't have any first cousins to play with (yet!). But they (and we) are blessed to have cousins ourselves who have kids (or in Dustin's case, his mom's cousin's kid's kids - say that three times fast!).

It's all girls for the family of cousins who live nearby. We've run into them out in town, and we've been able to make their parties and vice versa. We recently attended the oldest girl's 4th birthday party, and our kids had a blast playing together.

 



We were coming home from Southern's religion class last night, and we were talking about the closing prayer. We were remembering what all Southern prayed for to thank God in class and started adding some more. Out of the blue, Southern added these girls' names to our prayer list. So sweet.

It's all boys on my side of the family! Here are the five great grandsons on our recent family trip to the beach. The older three especially had fun with each other, and Remington will be right there with them next year I'm sure. Give the baby a couple years and he'll be in the mix as well :)

 



But no matter their age, they are COUSINS, and Southern knows cousins = playmates. He gets so excited to hear about upcoming visits with cousins. I get excited to see them interact, and I love how they are growing up with each other.

Religious Education Classes

Southern starts his Religious Education classes this week! I'm so excited. He is as well. He loved attending bible school this past summer and has been asking to go back. Now he will be able to go to "school" once a week from now until Easter. Yay!

The church really encourages parents to be involved, and I'm excited about that too. There are four "family days" throughout the year in which the parents and siblings participate as well, be it in the classroom or at church.

His grade level will be using the "Stories of God" program. The classes are an hour and 15 minutes long, so of course there will be "potty breaks" and "playground breaks" during class. He'll be able to meet some new friends. He's going to love it!

The Big 3-0

My husband is turning 30 this weekend. He says it's no big deal - he still feels young...

 

 

 

Here's to the next 30 years!

Christmas Wishlists

I know - it's just September - but I've already started on the kids' wishlists. I have finished my Christmas shopping for them and Dustin already. I just have a few more things to go, and I'll be finished with everyone actually. I like to do my Christmas shopping throughout the year when we have a little extra money here and there and/or when I find something good on sale.

And just in case you want to start early too, here are some ideas. There is nothing that I can think of that they "need" other than consumables like diapers, wipes, food, etc. So there is nothing on these lists that they cannot live without. Don't feel like you have to shop exclusively from them. It is great if you do, but if nothing else, they will give you an idea of sizes and likes.

Here is the link to Southern's list - http://amzn.com/w/HYOJX1UZZF6V

He has been dying for a camera of his own, so that is one thing on his list that would be important. He only has two towels that are big enough and not the baby size, so that's also something he could use as well as some more pj's (size 6 or larger) and a robe that fits him. And the Columbia fishing shirt would get a lot of use.

Here is the link to Remington's list - http://amzn.com/w/2JUD1VE29NUSC

Of course the matching fishing shirt would be adorable. Remington is very into little figures right now. He loves playing trains with Southern too. Some more forks and insulated cups with straws would be great as well as a couple more waterproof bibs. But again, this list is full of lots of good stuff to give you ideas :)

I can't wait for the holiday season!!