They just keep getting bigger

All three of my boys have weighed about the same at birth.  8lb 4oz.  8lb 9oz.  8lb 5oz.  But what I find super interesting is how differently they've grown since then.

For instance, at 1 year old, Brooks weighed a whopping 17lbs.  He was a very petite baby.  And he's still a tall string bean of a kid.  Carter weighed 17lbs around 8 months.  Pretty average.  And Bennett hit the 17lb mark at FOUR months!

Here's a picture of the three boys when they were all about 6 months old.

Brooks

Carter

Bennett

It's amazing how three kids from the same parents, all fed the same, can be so totally different!!  Our theory is that it's a survival factor.  They have to keep getting bigger to avoid being crushed by their big brother :)

a quick prayer answered quickly

Have you ever said a quick prayer, but not really expected it to be answered?  You pray because that's what you do.  Or perhaps because you don't know what else to do?  That happened last night.

Let me back up.

Our two big kids go to bed every night around 8pm.  Bennett goes to bed around .... well, whenever we can get him to sleep.  He's always been a night owl.  Always.  I can count on one hand the number of times he's gone to bed for the night before 9pm.  And most of the time that's ok.  Because he's such a laid back baby and because a certain toddler of mine requires a LOT of my attention, I don't get to spend as much time with Benny as I would like.  So after 8pm is our time.  He get to play on the bed with Daddy.  Have extra snuggles with Mommy.  I think he's figured this out, and that's why he stays up so late.  And most of the time I don't mind.

But sometimes I'm just tired.  Weary.  And Chris and I have almost no time for just the two of us.  No time to have a conversation without being interrupted or without having a fussy, overtired baby in our arms.  And when Bennett finally falls asleep around 10:30pm, we're usually right behind him going to bed.

So last night I come home from work around 10pm (late night for me!) and Bennett is just waking up from a nap.  Lovely.  I try to nurse him back to sleep.  No go.  He seems content so I lay him down in his bed hoping he'll fall back asleep on his own (that does happen sometimes) and go downstairs.  Of course, because I'm desperate to see my husband and have an actual conversation with him, Bennett starts fussing.  Then crying.  (sigh)  It's going to be another long night.  (the night before he was awake until 11:30pm)

After a few minutes of crying, I finally muster the energy to trudge back upstairs and start the fight to get him to sleep.  Just as I'm heading up the stairs, I say to Chris "say a prayer that he'll go to sleep", but I didn't really expect anything from it.  But he prays.  He offers a up a quick "Jesus, help Benny to sleep" and off I go.  I make it up the last 8 steps and just as I'm about to open our bedroom door it's quiet.

I pause.  Still quiet.  Did he really just fall asleep?  Just now??

I wait some more.  Sweet silence coming from the room.  After another minute of listening, I tip toe back down the stairs, kind of stunned.  I can't believe he actually fell asleep.

I do believe that is one of the quickest answers to prayer I've ever received.  Thank you Jesus!  And it seems so trivial, but Chris and I were able to sit on the couch, snuggled together, talking about our day, just the two of us.  And Lord knows we needed that!

boys on an adventure

One thing I've learned about raising boys is how much they love adventure.  To conquer.  To rescue.  To win!  And these adventures seem to creep into our daily lives.  Chris takes them on "special missions" to buy eggs.  We go "treasure hunting" at rummage sales.

So in the spirit of adventure, I decided to take them on an exploration hike this week!  (Ok, that sounded way cooler than it actually was.  Really they I was just desperate to get out of the house in hopes that they'd stop fighting with each other for more than 26 seconds.)

And since this Wisconsin girl has just been aching lately for a forest (or the woods.  Heck, I'd even take a thick shelter belt), I decided to take them to the closest thing to a forest this part of South Dakota has to offer ..... the Outdoor Campus.

So we packed up the van and headed out.  And where to my city boys want to play as soon as we get there??  Inside!  GAH!!  And I could hear my mother's voice coming out of my mouth as I said "It's too nice out to play inside!!"  We're going on an adventure ... remember?  So I shooed them outside.  The Outdoor Campus actually has a lot of nice walking paths throughout their property.  Some are through the prairie grasses, but we followed the wooded paths.  Because I really miss trees.

This handsome-pants came along too :)  

city boys

And I would like to take a moment to pat myself on the back and tell you that I actually remembered to bring the bug spray!!  I think the skeeters love the woods just as much as I do and my poor Carter always seems to get bit the worst.  In fact, I was actually excited to try a new bug spray my friend Esther sent me.  She just started selling Radiantly You products and asked if I would try out the bug spray and give her some feedback.  So I sprayed the boys down and I am happy to say that we left the woods bug bite free!  And I love the fact that it wasn't stinky or sticky like regular bug spray.  It actually smelled like a sweet citronella.  Bonus yet that it's made with essential oils and not with "who knows what" chemicals.

Anyway, as we were "exploring" the boys found a toad!  Not gonna lie, I really didn't expect to find anything noteworthy.  (these boys seem to have an attention span of a mosquito)  But I was really glad we did and was I proud of the boys for actually holding it.  

(Note: the bug spray does NOT repel toad pee.  Just sayin'.)

Poor toad.  Holding on for dear life.

We walked as far as a two year old has stamina for (which is not that far) and we headed back to the main building.  The boys played on the different activities set up outside for quite a while and then we headed home.

All in all, I'd say it was a good adventure!