My Favorite

I had a conversation with Zack on the couch and we were talking about our favorite things. I said, "Zack, are you my favorite?"
"Nnnno!" he said.
"Well then who IS my favorite?"
"Daddy is!" he said with a big grin.
He's right!

Memories of 2007...

Well, we had an amazing Christmas holiday! Starting the 24th, we had 4 consecutive days of Christmas, and it was both tiring and absolutely wonderful! The boys are still getting over the excitement and lack of sleep, but they are very much enjoying all of the new things they have to play with, watch, and do!

Nathan got so much Lightning McQueen stuff! Pajamas, markers and coloring books, a lunch box, a PEZ dispenser, books, note pads, and it goes on. He just loves it.

Zack's favorite gift this year was his very own Fisher Price digital camera from Grandma. It's drop-proof and holds about 65 pics. He has taken some great shots, and he loves being able to have a toy that makes him a little more "grown up." Zack has learned over the holidays to play our Nintendo Wii, and he is actually really good at it!! He loves to play bowling on it, and he gets amazing scores. His highest so far is 174! He beats Pete and I sometimes.

Pete's favorite gift this year is his new skateboard. Pete thinks my family is trying to kill him - I gave him a unicycle last year, and my parents got him a skateboard this year. Crazy!

My favorite gift this year is my georgeous Fender acoustic guitar from my parents. Last year they got me a piano, so this seems fitting that the rest of the band come too! :) A close second would definitely be my new blender (I know, I'm a dork - but hey, I really wanted one!).

The boys loved having daddy home during the days for a while. One morning, I heard the boys talking in bed, so I went and told them to go wake up daddy. They ran into our room, and Pete was laying on his back in bed. The boys each cuddled up on either side, and Zack looked up at me with a blissful look and said, "Mommy, go get the camera."

Erie and Tara

Zack and Nathan absolutely love when my friend Erie (we went to high school together and she was my maid of honor) and her daughter Tara come over. Zack just loves Tara - he loves to talk softly to her and stroke her face and make her smile. He plays peek-a-boo with her, and when she cries he is worried about her. He's being a big brother to her, too! We love to see them!

Isn't she the cutest ever??

A kind heart

I've always known Zack to be a compassionate boy and a great big brother, and today was just another example of his kind heart and compassionate spirit. Pete told the boys that if they finished their lunch that they could have half a cookie. Well this was a big deal, so Zack finished as fast as he could (which is not usually his style!) and got his cookie. Nathan decided he didn't want to finish his food, so therefore no cookie was given to him. Nathan was soooo sad. He cried for a while saying "cookie, cookie, cookie!" but we made our rule. Zack saw all of this and broke his cookie in half and gave it to Nathan so he would be happy. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but Zack really treasured that cookie. He rarely gets one, so that was a huge gift that he gave to Nathan. He's growing up to be aware of others and their needs too. I just love it.

Pictures!

I realized that I really haven't posted lots of recent shots, so here's some random photos that are really cute. :)

Nathan, say cheese!!

Zack wanted his picture taken with Grandma! How cute is that?!?!

Nathan wasn't feeling well, so he was laying down, and he fell asleep on the couch one day while I was making supper. What a cutie.

Singing with Daddy!

In front of the Christmas Tree looking really cute!

Nathan the cutie

So Nathan has finally (but I don't know for how long!) calmed down enough to start learning to talk. He actually will stop running sometimes to sit with us and read a book or talk with us! He's starting to stop and learn about something before moving onto the next activity as quickly as possible - imagine that! So one day a couple of weeks ago, we had his fisher price Noah's Ark out and were learning about animals. He loves that set and loves animals. He also loves that Noah and his wife look a lot like Grandma and Grandpa Heinbuch - it's so funny. I say, "Nathan, who's this?" and he says "PaPa and Grandma!!" But anyway, back to the animals... So I paired them up (being the organized person I am) with their mates and told him that these are the mommies and daddies of their species. He processed that for a while, and a few days later he woke up one morning and I came to get him, and he showed me his two stuffed puppies that he sleeps with. He held them each in different hands, and raised them one at a time and said "Mommy!" and "Daddy!" and then he made them kiss. It was so sweet. I'm so glad that Nathan can actually stop for a few seconds out of his day to cuddle - I've been missing it for so long now!

Nathan won't talk a whole lot yet, but he's really starting to try now, making it a whole lot easier to know what he wants. He only says 2 words in a row for a few things, but we're taking whatever we can get! He says "Juu Box" and "Haaaa Meeee!" (help me) and "Come Play". His favorite word is still "Car" and of course "McQueeeeeeeen" (from the movie "Cars").

Has it really been that long??

Wow! It's really been more than 3 weeks since I've written. Yikes, am I ever bad at this... No wonder - every time I've gotten a journal or a diary, I write for a few months and then all of a sudden there are just a bunch of empty pages at the end!

My boys have been such a delight to me over the last few weeks too - I don't know why I didn't write about them!!

Zack and I were sitting on the couch yesterday after his nap, just being quiet. He was looking at me, and then out of nowhere said, "Mommy, you have such beautiful eyes." Then he smiled and rubbed his nose on mine. It was so cute I almost cried. Just like when Zack and I were talking about some of our friends after praying for them. It's Nathan's idea to pray for everyone we know every time we pray. Our food is practically cold by the time we eat it because we say "amen" and he pipes up with another name that we forgot to thank God for! I'd eat cold food for a century to hear that every day!! So one day we were praying for some friends of ours that don't go to church. Zack had asked me if they knew Jesus and I said no. After thinking for a moment Zack said, "Mommy, we should take Kyle and Kendra to meet Jesus!" and after clasping his hands together and grinning dreamily said, "They would be SO happy!!!"

Happy Halloween?

So we decided that we wouldn't take the boys out for Halloween this year. Instead we went out for supper and to a friend's place for the evening. Our friend/neighbor Kyle asked if we would bring the boys by to get some candy before bed, so when we went to their door, Pete told Zack to say Happy Halloween. Zack got to the door and said, "Hi Kyle! Happy.... Birthday!"