September 27

Okay, I'm getting really bad at this. I've been a bit busy, I guess. Anyway, we found out that we're having a third boy! Everything is going really well with the pregnancy; I feel great and the baby, Nicklas, is growing and active. Brendan really enjoys feeling Nicklas kick and wiggle, Luke isn't so thrilled by it. Of course, Nicklas does seem to have a habit of kicking Luke while he snuggles with me...
I started Preschool with Brendan at the beginning of the month. He's such a bright little boy and I love watching him learn. He already knows his numbers from 1-10 and can actually count objects up to about 6 most of the time. He knows most of his colors and shapes and is getting much better at coloring. He knows most of the Lord's Prayer and a good portion of the Apostle's Creed.
Luke is taking more and more, although he rarely does it in front of anyone but us. He can do several signs as well.
Both boys are obsessed with motorcycles. Thanks, Dad. Lately, the keyboard bench has been being turned upside down and used as a motorcycle. Before that, it was the box that my photo printer came in.
My friend Becky and I took our children to the zoo earlier this month. Brendan loved the alligator and the jaguar; Luke wanted to join the kangaroo herd. Last week, she and I took the children to the fall festival at Salomon Farm. Luke was delighted by all of the tractors; Brendan enjoyed the petting zoo and the pumpkins.

August 6

Sorry it's been so long. It's been a rather busy few months.
Brendan is completely potty-trained now!
Luke is starting to talk a lot more, although you still have to be paying very close attention in order to catch anything he's saying.
This afternoon I was finishing unpacking their room when I walked out to the living room to put something in the Co-op box. There was Luke, sitting at their little desk, sharing his pacifier with a stuffed puppy. He'd give the dog a turn, then take a turn himself. Very cute and sweet.
Brendan has fallen in love with Curious George. Oma bought him a book of Curious George stories last week and it is his new favorite. Today, he named his sock monkey "George". I pointed out that it wasn't actually Curious George and he looked at me and said very firmly and matter-of-factly, "George!" And that was that.
Our new house is very nice. I'm happy with it. It's much smaller than I'm used to, but I'm trying to use that as motivation to get us more organized and to get rid of the stuff we never use anyway. There are a few things that need to be fixed, but the landlord is working on them. It's going to work out well.
The new little one is doing great. Spends a lot of time bouncing around. Michael has already felt him move once. I'm so happy to be pregnant again; another new little one to love and raise, what could be more wonderful?

May 19

Both of my boys are pastors now. The past few times that Brendan has been playing pastor on the stairs, Luke joins him. When Brendan sings, Luke sings. When Brendan prays, Luke prays. When Brendan turns to face the imaginary altar, so does Luke. Very cute.

St. Brendan's Day

Happy St. Brendan's Day!
I gave Brendan a box of 24 crayons for his name day. He's thrilled! Right now, he's at the kitchen table trying out each color and helping Teddy color.

A Few Cute Moments to Share

Brendan's meal prayer-
The other day at lunch, Brendan kept asking me to pray again. Well, we had already said Komm' Herr Jesu once, and after 3 or 4 extra prayers, I told him that if he wanted to pray some more, he was going to have to do it himself. He paused for a moment, fold his hands, looked up and said, "Jesus. Nummy, nummy carrots. Thank you. Amen." Then he ate his carrots. It's the first prayer he's come up with on his own.
No, Thank you, Luke-
Two days ago, Brendan was sitting in my lap, talking to my mom on the phone, when Luke walked up to us with a sippy cup of water. He offered it to Brendan, who responded, "No, thank you, Luke." That's the first time he's said no thank you. We've only been working with him on that for a little while, too.
Thank you, Pearl-
That same day, Brendan found a small feather on the floor. He brought it to me and asked what it was. I told him that it was a feather from Miss Pearl (our parakeet). He walked over to the bookshelf where she lives and said, "Thank you for pretty feather, Miss Pearl. Thank you!"
Signing "I love you"-
Yesterday, he mastered signing I love you. He started doing it at dinner, signing it and saying "Love you Luke! Love you Mama! Love you Daddy!" He was incredibly proud of himself. He did it again at bedtime, laying in bed and signing it to me while I rocked and nursed Luke.

Introducing Rev. Brendan Standfest...

That's right, folks, Brendan is a pastor. He told me so himself. I was washing the breakfast dishes while the boys played and when I was done, I found them upstairs in my bedroom. Brendan was standing on the kneeler, wearing a cross necklace that he had pulled out of my jewelry box and chanting. When he saw me, he told me that Brendan was a pastor and could he have his Bible, please?

April 30

Sorry it's been awhile since I last posted. I got a pretty nasty cold and then was very busy finishing the stole and then with trying to catch up on the housework that had been neglected during the illness and the completion of the stole.
Brendan and Luke are both doing great. We recently discovered that they both have wide feet. So we've spent a little extra money to buy them each a pair of Stride Rite shoes in wide-width. Brendan's look a lot like Daddy's, which he thinks is really, really neat! Luke's arrived today and he was so excited, he was trying to put them on over the pair of shoes he was wearing! He's recently decided that he really likes to wear shoes. He likes to stomp around the kitchen in them.
Brendan decided that he needs glasses like Mama and Daddy. On Saturday, we went to Cape Girardeau and stopped at LensCrafters to have Michael's glasses adjusted. I let Brendan try on a pair of kid's frames. He was thrilled and was quite upset when I took them off and put them away. So today at WalMart, we bought him a pair of sunglasses. They were even on clearance, yay! He was so excited to have his own pair of glasses! Oh, and Papa Tupper, he even figured out how to hang them from his shirt, like you sometimes do!
Luke has begun to talk a little. He said something sounding alot like Hello today. Yesterday, he said Austin, well, "Ah-tin", as in the kangaroo from the Backyardigans. He also has a word for peek-a-boo, but I'm not sure I can accurately write it down, so I'm not even going to try right now.
Yesterday, I was folding laundry and Brendan came in and started putting things away without even being asked! I was so proud of him for being such a good helper.
We've moved Luke into Brendan's room. So far, they're thrilled, but it's making for a very difficult bedtime. It's getting better, just very slowly. Brendan's being pretty good, but Luke keeps getting up, singing, bouncing, rattling the doorknob, etc.
This morning, Brendan drew a picture of church. He had been sitting at the table with a piece of paper and pen and called me over to show me the picture. There was actually part of the picture that vaguely resembled a steeple. He asked me to draw a cross there for him.

Family Photos

We had our photos taken by Olan Mills yesterday at the Parish Hall. It was the first time that the boys have had professional portraits done. They refused to smile. The photographer did get some good ones, though. I hope that at least one of the family photos turned out well. There's one of just Michael and I that I think was really nice. I know there's a really cute one of Brendan giving Luke a kiss. There's a really nice one of just Brendan. I'm not sure if any of the ones of just Luke turned out well. Either way, I know we're going to be spending way too much money!
During the family pictures, Brendan started to get a little upset - he wanted Teddy. Luke picked up on the fact that Brendan was upset and had a meltdown. It reminded me of a couple days ago when Luke woke up from his nap in a terrible mood. Brendan tried giving him a pacifier to calm him down, but Luke refused to take it. Brendan was just devastated that Luke was upset and he couldn't make Luke happy again. It's so sweet to see how much they care about each other.
Oh, and I did eventually get Brendan to smile at the pictures by saying hamburger and french fries.