Big boys...

How time flies! I went to the market this morning carrying Grant in the wrap and the ladies that I usually buy from were shocked at how big he has gotten. I haven't been to the Saturday market in months and months. They remember a seriously pregnant gringa with a crazy two year old running circles around her :) And now that crazy two year old is three, staying at home with Daddy while Mommy does the shopping and the little one I carried within I now carry (and can I just say what a lug he is? :) on my hip. I was looking over our recent pictures of the boys and was reminded of just how big they are getting. Nathan got a big boy bike for Christmas and took it out for a spin yesterday with his daddy, and last night the boys took their first bath together. I'm so thankful they're close in age and will grow up together, for better or worse :) I'm trying to remember and better learn the art of appreciating and enjoying every stage of my little ones lives' (something I struggle with daily... remembering that the diapers, bottles and babyness will pass all too fast leaving big boys in its place). So for now I will be thankful for baby snuggles, baby fat rolls :) and baby jibber jabber, knowing that they make up for the yuckies of babyland that I am ready to leave behind.

How cool is this place? The big park in town is divided into two sides... one for playgrounds and one for bikes. The bike side is what you see Nathan riding in, fully equipped with traffic lights (although they don't obey them in the street with cars so why should they obey them on bikes :) and traffic markers. He had SO much fun with his Daddy (and I had so much fun knowing that he's at the age now where he can go and do with his daddy all by himself :).

Christmas Photo Shoot...

Well, before the Christmas craziness began tonight we attempted to capture a few pictures of the boys and here's what we got :) We pray that you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. May God bless you with wonderful moments, precious memories, and the blessing of those you love around you. Merry Christmas from the Bulls!

It's officially Christmas...

Christmas can officially begin because there's now enough homemade caramel corn on my kitchen counter to feed a small army :) Today was a baking frenzy... two loaves of pumpkin bread, over 80 no-bakes, three dozen lemon bars, and well, you can see how much popcorn :) I love the holidays, such a wonderful opportunity, oh alright... excuse to bake up a storm! Hope you are having fun enjoying the holidays wherever you are! Merry Christmas!

And because what good is a post without pictures of one of my precious boys :) Now tell me who does this first one remind you of?

Couldn't be his big brother could it? What is it with my boys and closed eyes?

And just because he looks so precious :) This is definitely his happy place... eating :)

Squints...

Here in the Bull house we like to teach 'em young the art of the red eye reduction squint :)

Fun was had by ALL!

Here in Cochabamba one of the things I miss most from our lives' in the states is the opportunity for interesting and fun activities for our kids. There's no children's museum, no children's theater, and though there is a zoo in Santa Cruz it's basically birds and crazy monkeys. So when fun things come to town we try to take advantage. This Monday I ran across two of our good American friends the Holmans. They told that the Backyardigans were coming to the coliseum here in town. This Thursday in fact. I called Gary and asked if he thought it would be a good idea and after a thumbs-up from daddy, it was a go. So today found us here...

and here...Nathan's faces ranged from... shocked...

to guilty (for mooching potato chips from a sweet lady behind us)...

to irritated... seriously stop with the pictures you guys... I'm trying to enjoy the show :)

to absolute glee...

I had more fun just watching the sheer joy on my precious little one's face as he yelled out for Tasha, Tyrone, Pablo, and the rest of his Backyardigan friends! It was worth the mounds of detergent (you had to buy two bags of detergent per ticket) and extra fees to watch him excited beyond words! Thank you Grannie Wallace and Grannie Sterne for the Christmas money that allowed us to all go! Nathan loved it and we really appreciate you both! Thanks Holmans for the heads up, ride to the show, and for bringing Nathan four of the sweetest dates he'll ever have :)

And just because I'm curious... could someone tell me why my child always seems to look so goofy in family photo shoots? We're seriously going to have to work on this :)

They think they're sooooo funny!

Today I told Nathan to go put some underwear on (again, running around in his birthday suit!)… when he came in wearing it on his head I realized I should have been a little more specific about where to put them :) He of course thought it was hysterical and laughed and laughed at himself... it's so much fun when they start learning how to play with humor :) I can only imagine the fun we have in store with two little boys running around the house together... oh the adventure... maybe I should start asking for prayers now :)

Oh and while we're on the topic of underwear... can I tell you how hard it is to discipline a child who's curled up in a ball on the floor, back (and backside) facing you? Through the wails and gnashing of teeth (on the part of the child, not you the parent :) you look down to see Mater smiling at you (screen printed across the backside of your sweet little boys undies). Oh my goodness, I couldn't hold it together. Sometimes you just have to laugh :)

Call it a day...

So I think after a crib (including the bumper pads) covered in pukies, a booster seat (including the seat it was strapped to) covered in poopies, an ATM out of service (which in this cash only culture makes life an adventure), a pair of 2T/3T tightie whities hanging from my new angel tree topper, and a thirty minute power outage that almost resulted in a meltdown from Nathan who couldn't watch his new Winnie the Pooh Christmas movie (a tradition for we have to watch a new movie on nights that Daddy's not home) and I think it's about time to call it a day... whatcha think?

Owwwies...

Yesterday Grant and I went to run errands... it's amazing how walking the streets can distract a 9 month old from the teething process! Nathan stayed home with his daddy to take a nap and when I got home I found band-aid wrappers covering the living room floor. I asked Gary what exactly happened while I was gone :) He then proceeded to tell me that because of the blister he has on his pinky toe, Nathan decided it was time to try out his doctoring skills.

Now the extent of Nathan's medical experiences here at the house is for scratches and owwwies (Okay, okay, there was the time we super glued his chin... but there was just the one time!). The "making it better" usually involves alcohol/hydrogen peroxide, neosporin, and a band-aid. It seems that Nathan decided to spare his daddy the pain of alcohol and went straight to the neosporin. Only (as we learned yesterday) in his 3 year old brain any tube of cream is neosporin. So as he approached daddy's foot with Lanacane Gary got a really good laugh :) Then Nathan showed off his fine motor skills by unwrapping and applying the band-aid to daddy's toe (only apparently Gary hadn't been behaving well because he got a boring band-aid... no Dora, Diego, or Curious George for Daddy).

Fast forward to this morning... I'm coming out of Grant's room from putting him down for a nap when Nathan comes running at me with Quincy (his little Einstein). And this is what I see...

It appears that Quincy had quite the accident and so again, Dr. Nathan to the rescue :) (can you see the Lanacane on Quincy's forehead?... Maybe in honor of Ralphie he had an adventure with his own Red Rider BB Gun... he could've shot his eye out!)