Two

Last week my baby boy turned 2.  Has it really been two years?!  We love our sweet little Luke and wish he could stay cute and little just a little bit longer.  But alas, that can't happen.  Our sweet baby is turning into a full fledged little boy.  He talks a lot.  He always wants to be doing what the other boys are doing.  He wants to be outside all the time, even if he is freezing.  

 He loves to play with toys, especially trucks. That's why for his birthday we made him firetruck cupcakes.  I once had a friend ask me why I spend so much time on birthday cakes.  The biggest reason is that my boys love it.  They may not remember what they got for their birthday but they remember what their birthday cake was.  Luke probably won't remember his birthday this year, but the second reason I spend an unusual amount of time on their cake is because I like making food look pretty and presentable.  More and more I just don't have time for that because it's not really important.  So every once in a while I do something a little fancy.  And while it's kind of hard to not be the control freak I often am when it comes to stuff like this, I let Ben and Jack help because it doesn't have to be perfect.   

While Luke was sleeping we finished up the cupcakes and then tied balloons on his crib, so they would be there when he woke up.

We had a little party with family.  Luke got a toy garbage truck, a monster shirt, a book called Down By the Station, some clothes, and a package of pre-cooked bacon.  He loves bacon.  I will have to write more about it later.  

March is a busy month when it comes to birthdays.  

Up

I hate waking up in the morning.  It doesn't matter if I have gotten plenty of sleep, morning just feels full of doom.  At night I lay in bed and go over the events of the day.  And on the nights it takes me forever to fall asleep, I spend a lot of time going over the day.  Most days I am just relieved the day is over and I plan the next day in my head.  I almost always feel optimistic that tomorrow is going to be a better day because I am going to be more patient, more fun, more effective with my time.  But then morning comes and I feel awful and very unmotivated. I hate waking up.  

You know what's worse than waking up though?  Having to wake somebody else up.  Ben takes after me and has a very difficult time falling asleep at night.  And although almost everyday he comes home from school and has enjoyed his day, when he wakes up in the morning he just doesn't want to go to school.  On average it takes Ben an hour to fall asleep and a half an hour to get him up in the morning.  It's hard to be patient when I have to spend so much time getting him up.  I am patient the first couple of times I ask him, but after asking him again and again to get up I get frustrated.  He doesn't seem to be phased by an alarm, so it's up to me to get him up.

Yesterday I got up, took a shower, and when I was done noticed that my bedroom light was on.  Ben and Luke end up in my bed every single night (Jack is amazing and stays in his bed all night almost every night) and I saw that Luke was sitting up in my bed.  He had turned on the light and then sat down by Ben.  Next thing I knew, Luke was laying on top of Ben yelling, "up Ben, up!" And after a minute, Ben was up.  It was awesome!

I can't believe Luke is almost two years old. He grew too fast.  The past couple of weeks his vocabulary has taken off.  It is amazing to Chad and I how much he is saying and how much he is participating in the routines of the family.  He loves to get dressed in the morning and insists on having his socks and shoes on, even if we aren't going anywhere.  If he hears me tell the other boys to get their coats on, he puts on a hat and grabs his coat and brings it to me to put on.  At night, if he hears Chad tell the boys to get their pajamas on, his runs and get his pajamas and brings them to us because he wants them on too.

He has gotten a bit feisty as well.  We like to call him the 'no man.' He just loves to say no, even if he means yes. He makes me laugh.  All the boys do.

Awwwhhh

They are so cute when they are asleep...

Cutie

 Who am I gonna take pictures of what this little boy won't let me anymore?  (It's a rare occasion that I get good pictures of my other boys.)  Everything he does is so dang cute!

The Grape Thief

Luke 18 months

Yep.  We let his hair get a little out of control.  We had it cut after we took these pictures, but it's already getting out of control again.