Who's Who???

We have been hearing a lot about how much our boys look alike when they are born. My favorite quote is, "You guys only make one model." 

So, here's the game....Who's Who???

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Set 5

Check back in a few days for the answers! Happy guessing!!

Answers: 
Set 1: Jonah, Jude, Eli
Set 2: Jude, Jonah, Eli
Set 3: Eli, Jonah, Jude
Set 4: Eli, Jude, Jonah
Set 5: Jude, Eli, Jonah

Finishing Up February

Better late than never, right?

We did things last month.....before the baby was born.

Eli had his first official belt test for karate. Now that he is in the actual children's program and not just a Tiny Tiger anymore, belt tests to move up the ranks are much more official and intense. Due to the Jonah's scheduled birthday, we knew we would likely miss the test day, so Eli tested early and was promoted to a Yellow Belt.

Such an honor to be promoted at his age and only a month into his new classes.  Proud of you, buddy!! .....and of course Jude had to get in on the pictures too.

He is our karate kid in the making. Practicing his moves often. On us. Ugh! It will be hard for him to wait until he is old enough to be a Tiny Tiger.

We were all ready to celebrate Valentine's Day too. Thankfully, I had Eli's Valentines finished early. It was almost like I knew we would be getting our special Valentine baby. We went with a Star Wars theme this year....seemed fitting.

Eli helped pick them out, but getting the glow bracelets in without snapping them proved to be a little tricky. Instead, he wrote his classmates' names on each one and signed his name. In cursive, of course. He's obsessed.

Jude and I did a Valentine craft one afternoon that week. I cut out some hearts from coffee filters for him to color with markers.

Then, his favorite part....he got to use a dropper to add water and watch the colors spread. I ended up helping with some of the coloring because all he wanted to do was play with add the water.

He loved it! Can you tell? I had big plans to decorate our front door windows with them on Valentine's Day for Daddy and Eli to see when they came home, but we know how that turned out.

My plans for Valentine's Day yummies didn't happen either. No worries! Jude and I made the Gooey Red Velvet cookies the week after instead. They were still fun to make and definitely yummy!

Finally, I had a post in the works about a few of the boys' favorite things. Kinda a "Stuff We Love" post for a day all about love.  Once again....better late than never....here are a some things they love:

   

Eli Loves: 

• Star Wars (duh!)
• playdates with friends
• dirt and mud
• using his imagination to play spies, etc
• karate
• riding his bike
• playing tennis
• Legos
• wiggling his loose tooth
• sweet treats
• fruit

   

Jude Loves: 

• marching bands
• trucks and diggers
• stuffed animals
• dirt and mud
• puddle jumping (and puddle drinking--eeewww!)
• spelling his name
• identifying letters
• playing games on Mommy's phone while Eli is at karate
• pickles
• sweet treats
• Gold Bug (a la Richard Scarry books)

And yes, our sweet Jonah is officially one month old today. I have been in denial and tears...honest to goodness tears...about this fact. Waaah! Please someone find the pause button and slow down time. I can't handle my baby growing up this fast. Hoping to take care of the birth announcements and a month of pictures for our littlest man soon. As if it comes as a shock to anyone, but blogging with three littles is definitely more challenging than with two. Everything is. Thankfully with the many challenges come even more blessings and smiles. 

Big Brothers

Jonah is lucky to have two amazing big brothers.

One was head over heels in love with him before he even met him

....and the other had no clue what this was really going to mean.

Eli loves babies and has always loved babies. He has a nurturing soul and as a toddler, enjoyed playing with dolls so much that we quickly got him his own. He treasured it. It was the toy he couldn't share well.  As soon as Jude was born, Eli was quick to let us know that he was ready for us to have another baby, specifically a baby sister. (....and he still wants one.)

Being a big brother comes naturally for our sweet Eli, so when it came time for him to meet his newest little brother, excited doesn't begin to describe it. 

He must have asked to hold him and cuddle him at least 10 times that first day. Just so sweet. 

Jude, on the other hand, kept his distance the entire first day, and wouldn't even come near me if I was holding the baby.

I think he figured: If I pretend this baby isn't here, then he isn't really here.  The best we got out of Jude that night was a little wave to the baby before he left. It was a start. He was happier coloring in his new coloring book. Each boy got one with new crayons as part of a Big Brother gift. 

Day 2 brought another visit from the Big Brothers, and Jude was beginning to warm up to the idea of this baby being here....and ventured a little closer this time.

I figured this was about as good as it was going to get today, but he surprised us all once Jonah began to cry a little. From across the room, he tried to soothe and calm him. "It's OK, baby Jonah." "Don't cry, Baby." From there, all it took was a little encouragement to give him a little kiss.....

...and to our surprise, he did! Sweet Jonah stopped crying as soon as Jude kissed him. We couldn't have asked for anything better. Eli loved getting more cuddles

....and finding out that we had picked Jonah (Eli's 1st choice) as his brother's name. 

The next day, it was time to go home, and the boys were there with their new shirts on to help us bring the littlest brother home. Jude was still not so sure about getting close to Jonah, so it was hard to snap a picture without Jude trying to squirm as far away as he could. 

Pure joy. That is how I can describe seeing my three boys all together. Seeing our family together. What a true and precious gift. Life.

And we were off. Jonah was not digging the car seat. 

Those are my boys. My crazy gang taking off for the elevators. I don't think I could love them more.

I turned to Matt as we were pulling out of the parking lot and said, "We have a full car." It was incredibly surreal to know that this was just the beginning. We weren't sure what we were in for or how we were going to make it all work, but we knew we would be just fine. Once again, as overwhelmed as I was, I knew that it felt right and it felt perfect. 

Since then, Jude has continued to warm up to his baby brother. He gives him daily kisses and pats. He still isn't quite sure at times how to handle him; often telling me to put Jonah down on the bed or in the swing. I consider it a blessing that he keeps his distance as he is not the most gentle 2 year old....and he is incredibly clumsy. It is safer for Jonah if Jude keeps his distance. 

Eli continues to be a rock star Big Brother and loves to hold Jonah, check out all of his tiny parts, and help out whenever he can. One afternoon, Eli came to me in tears confessing that I hadn't asked him to help very much that day and he wanted to help me. What a sweetheart!

Now don't get me wrong. We are still going through some serious adjustments around here. Most days we don't make it look too pretty, but we are making it. I give myself (and the boys...) lots and lots of do-overs. Both boys have had their moments and been acting out a bit as we are settling in to new routines and patterns that are still changing daily. But we are doing it and figuring it all out. No one has gone hungry or naked....yet. Gotta celebrate the small stuff, right? 

Jonah fits into our family perfectly. I, just like Eli, love spending time staring at him and all of his teeny tiny parts. I am trying to freeze time and capture precious, fleeting moments. Jonah is a lucky kid to have brothers like Eli and Jude....and he will love his big brothers as much as they love him.