December fun

Alex is rolling. This is a game changer. No more putting him down and expecting him to stay put. No more leaving him on the diaper changing table (one of his favorite places) for extended periods of time. I have a video on Derek's phone but can't get it to load so I'll just post a few pictures of him instead :) By the way, he will be 3 months old next week. Where does the time go? Didn't I just have him yesterday?

















Since we've had Alex and I'm working more, Luke and Derek have started having little outings each week. They just run errands, go to a basketball game or what not. Here are a few pictures from these fun times:



































Last weekend we took the boys to Dothan for the day. I met Kailah and Presley (two precious college girls I disciple) for lunch and Derek and Luke went to Chuck E Cheese's:









Afterwards, we went shopping while Luke napped in the stroller and Alex in the sling. We spent 3 hours or more at the mall.








We were in Dothan for the entire day and I'm pretty sure neither boy made a peep. Luke was so well behaved and Alex was his usual go-with-the-flow self. It was a wonderful little blessing to us since it was the only day we had to Christmas shop. We even ended up staying for dinner..it was a fabulous day as a family.

This is the only way we've found to wash all the dirt off this little boy (oh, I kid). He loves to play in the washing machine.










Luke's four back molars nearly killed Derek and I. Cutting teeth led to congestion, which led to an ear infection and horrible cough, which led to an antibiotic and breathing treatments, which caused terrible diaper rash, which all resulted in a pitiful 2 year old that didn't sleep for 4 days and nights. Good times. The worst part was knowing how much pain he was in and not being able to make it stop. He kept saying "ouch" and "pease," as in please make the pain go away.

Meanwhile, our 2 month old started sleeping through the night (huge praises for that).









Lastly, a little brotherly love:


















As I sit and think about all of the things I failed to get done this month I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness for Jesus who was born to die so that I don't have to be perfect. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and that we can all be still during this busy week and celebrate our Savior's birth...the ONLY gift we need.

Update on my boys

Luke is really into cars right now.  He loves to lay at one end of the hallway with me at the other and roll cars back and forth to one another.  He also loves to pretend he is Daddy.  In the picture below he has on his gloves and toboggan.  The other day he put Mr. Potato Head's glasses on his hat and brought him to me and said, "Daddy!"  Derek wears his sunglasses on his hat sometimes.  We also got a big box of oranges (which Luke calls apples no matter how many times you correct him) and Derek usually eats one each night.  Derek sits in his recliner and uses a spoon to peel the orange into a bowl.  Luke has started getting an orange, a bowl, and a spoon and sitting in the recliner.  It is so cute to watch him copy his Daddy.  I hope he grows up to be just like him.  He loves to watch "choo-choo" (Chuggington), "Jake" (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and has a slight obsession with Buzz Lightyear.  He has been telling us a lot lately about how Buzz flies in the sky.  His favorite foods are pizza, french fries and milk.  He also loves imaginary play.  You'll see him below with his bear in the grocery cart.  He loves to climb, jump, make loud noises and make messes.  There is really no doubt that this kid is ALL boy! 

Alex is into formula, sleeping, smiling, his play mat and bouncy seat.  He's trying really hard to roll over from his back to his tummy.  And I can't get any work done for kissing him.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Talladega with The Irons.  We had loads of fun and Luke was the center of attention as always although he had a little competition in his little brother.  We had to do our usual grandparent detox when we got home but we wouldn't change it for the world.  Luke loves his Grana and Papa and I am so thankful that they love him and Alex so much!  They are blessed to call them grandparents.  Luke has started sleeping in a sleeping bag in Grana and Papa's room and he thinks this is so cool.  Grana got him a monkey sleeping bag and makes a very comfortable pallet on the floor just for him.  It's a little overwhelming that my baby is old enough to do this but he loves it and sleeps well. 

While in Talladega we took Luke to a great little playground.  He had fun with his Daddy and Uncle Deron.  I have tons of pictures and it is hard to tell who the kid is :)  He spent a lot of time in Grana and Papa's backyard playing with their dog Shelby (which might be his clearest word), digging holes and making mud pies.  Next time with will bring our boots.  We look forward to spending more time with our family over Christmas. 

I love this picture of Luke smiling at Nana

Not sure what he is telling Grana but it looks like he is being very bossy

Watching Shelby

Swinging with Daddy

Climbing up the slide to Uncle Deron

All 6 Irons boys



That's Funny

Luke's little personality is really coming out as he picks up new words everyday.  I'm so happy that he is finally able to communicate his wants and needs with me.  It's just so much fun!  One of my favorite things that he says is, "that's funny" or "I'm funny."  Anytime you laugh at him he gets the sweetest little grin and says, "I'm funny," and he is.  He is constantly making us all three laugh.  He is a very silly little boy.  I can't post the pictures or video but this weekend Derek and I heard the pitter patter of his little feet accompanied by giggles running through the house.  We found him stripped down naked with his rain boots on streaking through the house. 

He is also very particular about things.  I think I've mentioned this before but as he gets older it gets even more noticeable.  He wants things just the way they are "supposed" to be.  For instance, I put out Christmas decorations and then a few days later decided one of the angels was blocking the TV so I moved it.  Everyday he moves it back to to where it originally was placed.  This is just today's example of his particular-ness (yes, I just made up my own word).  On a daily basis we see this characteristic more and more.

Notice the gigantic map in the floor...it was hanging on the wall above his bed and he destroyed it one day during his "nap" thus the reason we call him the tornado.

Soooo ticklish

Grana, I'm sure you can just hear him, "I've got boots on!"



Alex's Nursery

I don't think I ever did a post on Alex's nursery.  It already looks a little different since these pictures were taken but I want to document it like I did Luke's. We used the same bedding as Luke but painted the walls with the leftover paint from Luke's dresser in his big boy room (BM Owl Gray).  We brought the lamps from the living room into the nursery and I made the curtains and blanket on the recliner from some scrap fabrics we had lying around.  I also made the little houndstooth pillow on the chair.  I wanted to use that fabric more in the room but it was a little pricey so a small pillow had to do.  I got new knobs for the dresser on clearance at Anthropologie.  I made the 3 gallery framed scriptures on my computer and printed them on card stock and the new mobile and elephant hamper were baby gifts.  I think it turned out perfect for our little Alex.

Where's sleeping Alex?

I hand embroidered this and then wrapped it on a canvas

2 Months

 Alex is 2 months old.  He is such a sweetie pie and I can't imagine life without him.  It's amazing how it's already so hard to remember not knowing him.  He is a sweet little baby and loves his big brother to pieces.  He is constantly smiling at him.  He has started belly laughing and I just can't get enough of his precious chubby cheeks.  At his 2 month check-up he weighed 11 lbs 13 oz (50th percentile) and was 22.5 inches long (75th percentile).  He is the same length as Luke at this age and a little lighter.  Here is a link to Luke's 2 month post. I can't remember his head measurement but it was 95th percentile.  No Irons family member is surprised by this...the Irons' have big heads ;) Alex eats 3-5 ounces every 4 hours.  He is sleeping through the night and wakes up with a big smile on his face. He has the softest auburn hair and I love his little spike.  He loves the chevron pillow on our couch and will stare at it forever.  He isn't a huge fan of the swing but loves his bouncy seat.  He does not like to be cold and loves the bath tub.  He receives kisses with a huge smile...it's a good thing because he gets a lot between the three of us.

I love my boys so much and can't imagine life without them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord for entrusting these sweet little boys to me!



What we've been up to in iPhone pics

Imaginary play:



Learning Bama's fight song and cheering on the Tide:






Exercising:



Getting ready for Christmas:




Taking naps:









Being silly:









Building Forts:



Loving life with two little boys: