When did they grow up?

Today Crew bore his testimony in church. It was the sweetest testimony. There was something about watching him speak such simple, powerful words that just melted my heart. I don't think there is anything sweeter than hearing Crew say with such conviction that he knows Jesus is real. He is such a special boy and I really feel so blessed that he is mine.

Tonight, Broc and I were on our bed reading stories with the boys. Crew had picked out "Green Eggs and Ham" for his book. Broc started reading it to him and realized Crew knew some of the words so he let Crew try to read it. He really surprised us by reading the whole book to us! The only word he had a little trouble with was "anywhere". Dr. Suess knew a thing or two about how to help kids read. Those books are amazing because they are pretty simple words but they repeat a lot of the words over and over. Crew is only four and reading Dr. Suess books! We knew he could read some sight words. We knew he could try to sound out words but tonight he took reading to a whole different level. He loves reading. He loves learning. And it is a bit sureal to watch. It is excititing to see this new phase in his life and yet at the same time sad because it means he is growing up.

Let's not forget Jack... who will be 16 months tomorrow! He has surprised us with the new sounds and words he is starting to say. He loves animals, especially dogs and cats.

He will say the sounds of:
dog= ooph, ooph
cat= owe (in a soft sweet voice)
tiger= raw
elephant= swings his arm (or arms) up and makes a noise

He knows the parts of the body: eyes, nose, mouth, arm, toes and button (belly button). He says "uh oh" when he drops anything or when he wants you to get something for him. He sings some sweet songs "ra Ra Ra ra ra ra"... oh hearing this is one of the best sounds in the world. He will do some of the actions to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". He can go up and downs stairs like a champ! He loves books. He loves to read and then destroy them. This is when living in a crammed space gets tricky. Because Crew loves read he always has his books out (which are NOT board books) and Jack loves to do whatever Crew is doing. So he will get one of Crew's books and not so gently turn (or bend) (or rip) the pages! Good thing we don't have any of our nice books here. Well I guess we have one nice book here and Jack found it. Little stinker tore out two pages out of Broc's scriptures. This drives Crew absolutely crazy! For Crew everything has to be a certain way (really not sure where he gets this atribute :) Jack loves to tease Crew. He loves to pull those ringlets and watch them snap back. He really hates wearing a diaper. The other night, on our way to bed we found him asleep completely naked- no diaper! Where did his diaper go? He had thrown it out of his crib. But aside from the funny stinker type things that Jack does, he is a little sweetheart. Even when he is mean (pinch, pulls his hair, chucks a toy at him) to Crew he will give him loves and kisses after. He will fold his arms when you ask him to or if you say "prayer" he will fold them. He is a snuggler and I love it! And he gives the best open mouth slobbery kisses ever! He keeps us laughing with his silly little personality. Ooh I just can't get enough of him!

Every Sunday I usually struggle trying to keep both boys entertained and quiet because Broc has to sit up front. Yes, we had our moments today when Crew wanted to hand the boy the sacrament tray of bread and got upset because I did. And Jack's meltdown at the end of the meeting because it was past his nap. And the cup of spilled cheerios because Jack had chucked the lid (never be found again). But there were a few moments that Crew and Jack sat still. Jack sat on his own chair and did so well... for a little bit! I thought to myself my boys are getting so big! And then I watched Crew get up a share his testimony. Seriously, it was a proud mama moment. What an amazing feeling it was to watch both of my boys reach a new phase!

I don't know how we got so lucky to have two amazing boys. They are everything to me. And I love watching them grow and develop and transform into the little misters they are becoming. Sometimes in the craziness of life I feel that I miss so much of the sweet funny moments because I am refereeing or correcting. But then I have days like today when I get a glimpse of who these boys are growing up to be and it is priceless. Being a mom is hard. Being a mom with a husband in medical school is rough. You have those hard moments but nothing compares to sweet moments like these. And it really is those sweet moments that make it all worth it!