So What Wednesday...

Today, I'm saying "so what" if...

*I am done Christmas shopping for the boys and have all their gifts already wrapped and ready to be placed under the tree.  I am not a particularly OCD person and I normally procrastinate on just about everything, but I DESPISE shopping in the month of December!  Even grocery shopping is ridiculous!  Insanely long lines, parking lots crammed full of crazy drivers who are in a hurry, cranky shoppers AND sales associates, not to mention having to plan my shopping trips around possible bad weather (driving in even the tiniest amount of snow makes me nervous!).

*This blog has been mostly pictures lately and little else.  Life has been crazy busy, and yet, I feel like I have nothing new or interesting to say.  So, you just get pictures of the two cutest little guys I know!  :-)

*When a dish comes out of the dishwasher dirty, I put it back in and try again.  If it comes out dirty a second time, I MIGHT consider hand-washing it.

*I have not ordered my Christmas cards yet.  I have them made and saved on my Shutterfly account, but I am waiting for Shutterfly to send me a coupon for a super great deal before I make my purchase.  So, you might get your Christmas card in January February.

*We don't do the whole Santa Claus thing with our kids.  I never believed in Santa as a child, and it just really doesn't appeal to me to get them all hyped up about something that isn't real.  I don't have a problem with other people telling their children about Santa, and I will try my hardest to make sure my kid isn't the one who ruins it for someone else's kid, but I just really don't get it.  If you showed Joshua a picture of Santa, I don't think he could even tell you who it is.  But he knows who Jesus is, and that's what this season is really about, right?!

*I just played an episode of Blue's Clues on Netflix Instant for the boys so I could take my shower.  And now they are 3 episodes in...

*My Christmas decorations consist of mostly snowmen.  In fact, as Mike would say, it pretty much looks like someone vomited snowmen through our house.  I love them.  When everyone else is taking their Christmas decorations down in January, I don't have to take mine down 'til March!  Or April...you never know with these Illinois winters!

*Being a pastor's family can be tough.  Especially around the holidays.  Don't get me wrong.  We are so very blessed to be serving the congregation and community we are.  They couldn't be more wonderful to us.  But, during this time when everyone else is spending special days and making special plans with their families, it can be tough.  We miss out on a lot of family celebrations.  Of course, we knew that would be part of the job.  And our families are great at planning around our church schedule so we can all still try to get together.  But it still hurts sometimes.  And people can be so critical of a pastor and his family.  Because we are supposed to be "perfect" or something.  HA.  We are just as broken and screwed up as everyone else.  Sometimes, I just want to be like Moses and tell God, "I can't do this!  You must have the wrong person!  I am not good enough, eloquent enough, smart enough, compassionate enough, a strong enough leader..."  And then I remember all the great things God did through Moses for His people, and I am so humbled.  I may not be the "perfect" pastor's wife, but I could not be more humbled and awed and amazed that God has chosen us for this mission, to do our best to lead as many souls as possible to Him.  So, while it can be difficult sometimes, SO WHAT?!  God is good.  He is powerful.  He is moving in this church, community, country and world.  I am so thankful to be His servant, and to be given this incredible opportunity to minister to His people.

*I bought about 10 different sippy cups before I finally found one (thanks to my sweet friend, Ruth!) that Luke likes. 

*I have worked my tushie (I have no idea how to spell that!) off the past couple days and am planning on doing very little today!  :-)

I guess that's about it.  What are you saying "so what" to on this chilly Wednesday?

And, because I just can't write a post without including at least ONE picture, here are a couple Black Friday shopping photos!  We got the boys up early and were out the door by 7...I was so proud of us!  They were SO GOOD and endured all 5 hours of shopping without complaint. 

Boring

Ok, so I know I've been kinda boring lately.  I have been running around like a crazy woman, cleaning and decorating.  I just really don't have anything exciting to say, LOL.  I do, however, have more pictures to share!  There is never a shortage of photos in this household!  :-)

Our friend, Abby, gave Luke this adorable hat and a matching shirt for his birthday.

Is he the cutest or WHAT?!  :-)

 Cutie patootie.

Boys Bein' Boys

Lots of cleaning and laundry on the to-do list today, but here are some recent pics of the boys that I haven't had a chance to post.  Enjoy!

Gamin'

Remember THIS photo of Mike & Joshua from 2 years ago?  One of my favorite photos ever of the two of them!

Check this out!  Like father, like SONS!

They all have the exact same look on their faces...it KILLS me!

Brotherly love?  Or, is Luke saying, "Mom, he's TOUCHING me!!!!!"  :-)

Singing "Happy Birthday"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvkasoDcJxQ&feature=youtu.be

Just One of Those Days...

 Today is just one of those cold, wet, dreary days that makes us want to stay indoors, snuggled under a pile of blankets, watching movies and relaxing.  And, aside from a few household chores a some packing, I think that's exactly what we'll do!

 Grandma Sharon made this adorable Lightning McQueen quilt and pillow case for Joshua, and he LOVES them!

 Veggin' in front of the TV...do they look like brothers or what?!?!

 As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, I am so thankful for these sweet days with these two, oh-so-sweet boys!

Just Because

 These showed up at my front door a couple days ago, with a note from the hubs that said, "Just Because."  Totally made my day.  ♥

One Year Old!

On Nov. 14, 2011,  at 8:54 a.m., our precious baby boy, Luke Brennan Holleman, was born!

8 lbs. 7 oz. 20.25 in. of pure cuteness!

Still one of my all-time favorite photos of the boys.

Lukey, your Daddy & I just cannot believe a year has passed since you were born.  You have learned LOTS of new things this past month.

You love your brother.  You are always trying to do what he is doing.  You could spend hours in his room with him,  playing trains, cars, trucks, hide-and-seek, reading books, building blocks...you just love to be with him!  A few weeks ago, I walked in on the two of you doing a puzzle together.  JJ was helping you and saying, "That's it, Lukey!  You got it!  Good job!"  Made my momma heart melt!

You said your first word, "Yay!" and have now started to say a few more:  "Dada, Dadd-eeee (we can't get you to repeat this one, but it was ssssooo cute!), Mama, baba (bottle), buh-buh (buh-bye) and Hi-yeeeee (hi)."

You clap and say "yay!" when you are excited about things.  You shake your head no when we say, "No no."  You give the BEST, slobbery kisses, although sometimes you bite us in the process!  You love to give high fives.  You point at things and babble, but we have no idea what you are trying to say.

You still have 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  I think a couple more must be trying to work their way in, because lately you have been gnawing on your hands like crazy and a little fussier than usual.

You squeal and giggle at pretty much anything your big brother does.  You have recently discovered you can tease him while he is in time-out.  It's funny, but kind of defeats the purpose of time-out because he just laughs and laughs at you.  We are either going to have to find a new time-out spot, or make sure you aren't in the same room while he is taking a time-out!

When you are about to do something you shouldn't (like pull the fake grass out of the pot of Momma's fake tree for the one MILLIONTH time), and I say, "No, no, Lukey..." you squeal and giggle and crawl as fast as you can toward the forbidden item, knowing I will chase you down and grab you.  You love that game!

You are wearing mostly size 24-month shirts and 18-month pants.  Size 4 diapers.  Size 4 shoes, although you HATE shoes and always take them off.  I often don't even bother putting them on.

You seem to be a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to things being on your high chair tray or the coffee table.  You will not feed yourself if I put food on your tray - you pick up every single piece and drop them onto the floor!  And if anything is on the coffee table, you will clear it off.  Remotes, coasters, toys, books...apparently, you like things clean!  LOL.

We recently changed your nap schedule.  You started fighting your morning nap, so we decided to try omitting it altogether.  After a couple days, you were completely fine with this, and now you take just 1 nap in the afternoon for about 2-3 hours.  The afternoons when I can get you and your brother to nap at the same time for the same amount of time are GLO.RI.OUS!  :-)  I have actually found time to read a couple books lately!

You pull yourself up onto your knees and sometimes your feet, but haven't tried cruising around furniture or taking any steps yet.  I am definitely not in a hurry for that, little buddy!  Just this week you started doing this hilarious move where you bounce on your bottom all the way across the room.  It is SO CUTE.  And man oh man, you have got to have some strong ab muscles to do that!  We started calling you our little kangaroo!

We went to the doctor this morning for your well-baby visit.  You weigh 25 lbs. 2 oz. (94%), are 31.5 in. tall (96%), and have a head circumference of 18.75 in. (88%).  You are a big, healthy guy!  You had to have your 1-year immunizations as well as the flu shot today, and boy were you a trooper!  I am hoping an extra-long nap is in order this afternoon as a result of the shots.

You are into EVERYTHING.  Your favorite toys in the kitchen are spoons, cups, containers of Gerber Puffs and pots and pans.  When I take you into the bathroom with me while I'm getting ready in the morning, you love to play with my plastic curlers.  Who needs toys, anyway?!  ;-)

You are really becoming a copy-cat.  It is so cute to hear you try to mimic words and sounds.  You were playing with a book the other day that has buttons for the numbers 1-10.  It would say, "One," and you would try to repeat.  You were really concentrating on saying those words!  So sweet.

You have just started throwing "tantrums" when something doesn't go your way.  Most commonly when your brother takes a toy from you.  The other day, Joshua asked to watch the Lorax.  I started the Blu-Ray player, thinking the Lorax was already inside, but your Praise Baby DVD started playing instead.  I took Praise Baby out and put the Lorax in, and you started crying and whining because you wanted to watch Praise Baby!  Too funny.  You also cry when we take you out of the bath tub; you just love splashing around in there!

We have been working on the transition from bottle to sippy cup, but haven't really found a sippy cup you like yet.  Momma has bought quite a few, but you just aren't interested.  We'll keep working at it!  You are now getting 2% milk in your bottles and drinking about 24 oz. of milk per day, plus eating 3 solid meals and usually one mid-morning snack.

 Luke Brennan, we are so very blessed to have you in our family!  You are such a sweet, happy baby and we love watching you learn and grow.  Even though it sometimes makes me sad how quickly you are growing up, I can't help but be excited about and proud of the little boy you are becoming!  Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with two such sweet little boys!  God is good!  Happy birthday, precious Lukey!