:)

I've really been struggling with blog titles lately, so I'll just go with the smiley face...it works well enough.

This little dude turned 14 weeks yesterday. He is getting chunkier by the minute and I love it. He has started chewing on his hands and sucking his thumb a lot (he takes a pacifier sometimes too). It's really cute. He also rolls from belly to back like a wild man (and I've witnessed back to belly once). He is a pretty easy going little guy, which is awesome, because his older sister is not...

Which leads me to the story behind the photos below... If I do not keep my eye on little Miss Nattie every moment of the day, she is doing something irritating (but usually funny upon reflection)...like instead of eating the handful of barbque chips I set in front of her (after she screamed for a "nack, nack, nack!" -- that's a snack in Nattie speak), she thought it would be more fun to throw them on the floor, along with handfuls of dirt from my poinsetta. I didn't notice that she had "hidden" a few chips in the actual pot until hours later when I went to water my poor abused plant. Gave me a little chuckle. She's a nut.

Oh...and yesterday on the way home from church she was yelling "Milk, milk!" from the backseat and I told her I didn't have her cup with me and she'd have to wait until we got home. She responded with a big sigh and said "Oh man!"

Silly people...

A-dub's first Christmas....kind of nice because we don't really have to buy him anything yet...he doesn't know the difference. :)

About a year and a half ago, someone shared the CaringBridge site for Kate McRae, a little 6 year old girl from Arizona who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Benny has been praying for "the little girl with the hurt brain"ever since. He asks me about her a lot and prays that "God will heal her brain and allow her to live a long life on the Earth." He is so sincere. Anytime he prays, she is part of the prayer. Anyway, her family is amazing and this is the second year they have sponsored "Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas." They ask people to send them toys and other items that they collect and distribute to other kids (and their families) who are battling cancer. It's really awesome how they are giving back when they are in the midst of their own struggle. We decided to send Kate some toys to share with others this year and Ben had fun picking them out, writing Kate a card, and putting stickers all over the package. He was SO excited and even told the worker at Target that we were buying gifts to send to little kids with cancer. I love my tenderhearted big boy and I am so thankful that my kids are healthy. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child struggling with a life-threatening illness, but I am in awe of how Kate and her family put all their trust in God.

Oh..and here's another Facebook repeat story, but it's too good not to share here. This week Ben came home from pre-K with an incident report. It said, "Ben was acting like the crazy raccoon from the movie Elf and hurt his lip. He was hugged until he stopped crying." Wow, I'd like to personally apologize to his teachers, who must have the patience of Job. For a little reminder of what the raccoon was like...click here. :)