I know, I know

Apparently I say this a lot. Whenever James asks for something and doesn't get it right away he usually begins to ask repeatedly. If I am doing something that makes me incapable of getting what he needs right away I often say, "I know, I know". For example, whenever we are in the bathroom james loves to wash his hands so he stands by the sink and says, "hands, hands" over and over. Well, often I am kind of busy and not able to run over and wash his hands so I'll tell him "I know, I know, wait just a minute baby". So now, whenever he's standing by the sink he'll say "hands, hands, I know, I know" - cracks me up! He does it all the time in different situations so I guess I do it all the time too. We're really working on trying to teach James the art of patience but it's a tough one to explain to a 20 month old!
How sweet is this baby cuddling with his daddy but totally grinning for his mommy taking his picture!

Getting more independent everyday!

Lately James has taken quite an interest in feeding himself with big forks and spoons. If you remember from a previous post I kidded that he may not do this until he was 4 just because of the mess of it all but he's actually doing really well. He now eats a bowl of cheerios in the morning with a bit of milk and gets 90% of it in his mouth. He's feeding himself most everything (except for applesauce - I still spoon it out for him) but I think soon he'll be able to do that as well. He's a fairly clean little boy. He likes to have a napkin to wipe his face while he eats and he still loves to walk around with a wet wipe to keep clean. It's amazing how everyday he's becoming more and more of a true little boy with his own plans and ideas on things - he's a real person and not just my baby!
We've also started taking water safety/swimming classes on Saturday morning and he's loving it. We've been two weeks now and I can already see an improvement. The first week he was NOT into the floating on his back thing but this week he actually let me get his ears in the water - but he wanted to have his legs kicked straight up so we'll have to work on that in the coming weeks :)
He has also really become my little helper lately and helps me a lot with John-Mark. He'll get me diapers, paci's, bottles, you name it and he'll go find it for me. So nice to have an extra set of hands - he'll really be helpful when number 3 arrives:)
John-Mark has also gained some independence lately. Over the last month he finally started holding his own bottle (thank goodness!) Of course he would rather someone hold it for him but he'll do it if he has to. He is getting all around the house like a wild man! When James was crawling we didn't have such an open house so I don't remember him getting around so quickly but John-Mark can make it from one end of the house to the other in a matter of seconds. We had a minor accident when he made it to our bedroom and fell down the two stairs to our room. I was standing at our sink washing out a bottle and he was playing behind me and the next thing I know I hear him crying! I couldn't believe how quickly he shot back there. I now know to keep all doors closed when he's awake! oops!
Here's some recent pics:

Enjoying some rice and beans. Notice the bruised and beat up right leg - he's all boy!I'm doing it mom!

Playing around in James' crib together. James doesn't have any cute bedding or a bumper because if you remember my mom made all his bedding and he pretty much tore apart the bumper - she didn't make it industrial strength!

Can I catch a ride on your walker John-Mark?Looking for DaddyWe met several friends at the park last night for a yummy dinner and lots of playtime for the kids. Here are John-Mark and Mary Claire enjoying the swing together. Mary Claire was born one week after our John-Mark - how cute are they!We didn't get home until late and John-Mark was pooped as you can see - he passed out on his Daddy's chest - such a precious baby!

Here we grow again!

Another Allen will be arriving in mid November! I know it may seem crazy to many but once you have two 12 months apart, what's one more:) And we did wait this time... this baby will be 15 months behind John-Mark:) I know it will be a little more difficult in the beginning but how much fun when they are 4, 5, and 6! We feel truly blessed and amazed that God has given us another little life to take care of. When I look back at my life just three years ago I sometimes can't believe where we are now!Who would of guessed! One of my most favorite Bible verses is Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," and how true this verse continues to be in my life! As always we covet your prayers during this time:)

Here are a couple pics of my boys playing together in the Cozy Coupe - James was really being sweet to John-Mark this day - He is such a good big brother. John-Mark has a great example to follow:)

Easter, 20 & 8 months

We had a wonderful Easter this year - first we enjoyed the early service at our church where we celebrated the amazing life of Jesus and over 2,000 people gave their life to Him. We are so blessed to be a part of such an amazing church that the Lord continues to bless. Then we came home for the boys to take a morning nap then off to Jeremy's dad's for Easter dinner. There James had a blast hunting Easter eggs. The boys also got to play in a little fountain they have in the back yard. After all that we headed back home for a late afternoon siesta - me, james, and john-mark all slept from 4:30 - 7! We had to wake the boys up at 7 to feed them dinner then they were back down by 8:30 and slept until 7 this morning! All in all a great day!! Here are some pics from the day - hope you enjoy!
This is the first time I have ever dressed my boys in matching outfits - but how cute are they? Their cute Easter jumpers are thanks to my mom - she sewed them for us!

It's so hard to get a pic of both of them smiling!!

I'm ready!

Daddy and his boys getting ready to head to church

Let the egg hunt begin!"I think there's something in this egg!"The day wouldn't be complete without James putting the basket on his head as a hat - pretty much everything becomes a hat at some point or another!

I finally took the boys to the pediatrician for their 6 and 18 months check-ups (2 months late) and their latest stats are:
James 33 1/2 inches long (65%) and 25 lb 4 oz (30%)
John-Mark 27 1/2 inches long (45%) and 18 lb 15 oz (40%)

Let me just say that as I type this my two boys are actually really playing together. They are both under the dining room table playing with easter eggs and basketballs - and I think James is actually enjoying it - he keeps saying Ja-Ma as if he's trying to tell him what to do next and John-Mark is happily following along! So sweet.

Woo Hoo!

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for JESUS the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has RISEN! He is not here. "
Mark 16: 4-6

It's fun to be a Boy!

Last Sunday after church James went outside to help daddy work on the yard and water the plants - when I went outside to see how things were going this is what I found:

My guitar man!

James absolutely LOVES his new guitar! He loves to "play" it for us. Last night we were watching the Country Music Awards and he was in the kitchen playing but when he heard the band start up he ran in, looked at the tv, saw George Strait with his guitar around his neck and ran off and got his guitar so he could play too! Too cute! Maybe he'll love the guitar as much as his daddy. Now when Jeremy plays his guitar James has something to play too!
John-Mark is out of control! I can't believe how much he is changing everyday! He is now REALLy crawling all over the place - there is no place he can't get to. He's also pulling up on EVERYTHING! It's like it happened over night. Pretty soon he's going to be cruising around the coffee table and then walking and running!! There are certain things he always crawls straight too and ofcourse, anytime he can get to his big brother he heads straight to him. James' favorite thing to say is "no no" to John-Mark and Charlie (he may be a little bossy - wherever would he get that from:)) So now, whether James wants to or not they are starting to "play" together more just because John-Mark makes his way to wherever James is and gets in the middle of whatever he is doing - it's tough being the big brother - no respect :)!

He crawled through the end table to get to the other side of the room!

"See ya mommy - I've got places to go!"

"Am I a big boy or what!!"

John-Mark finally made it over to the Cozy Coupe and James is ready to move on to something else!