It's been a while!

Wow!  I just realized that it's been since December that I have last blogged!  Well, I think it's about time that I do an update on my precious boys...

Parker:
My little baby turned 4 on February 3rd.  4!  I can't believe that I have a 4 year old...next year I will have a 5 year old!!!  Ok, but not thinking about next year- I'm living today.  He is SO precious.  He just started Speech Therapy at a local elementary school twice a week.  It has been a rough start- as we still have separation anxiety, but I feel like we might be getting into a grove.  Luckily his teacher is super great and super patient with him. 
He is a fantastic big brother.  When P&B are together- all is well.  At church last Sunday, I let Beckham go into Parker's class so he could have a cake ball with Parker for his birthday.  All of their teachers went on and on about how much Parker comes out of his shell when he has Beckham with him...isn't that SO CUTE??  I love it.  They are sharing the top bunk of a bunk bed together as well.
I was struggling with his separation anxiety issues recently when a experienced mother friend of mine was telling me about how we rush kids out of their shell these days.  "Back in the day" in her country, kids didn't go to school till they were 7 or 8!  She encouraged me to hold him close to me...don't push too many "outings" on him to grow him up- he will grow up and be ready to leave me- just enjoy this time now and don't push it.  That was a great reminder to me.  Loving holding him close and pouring myself into him ;)
He is slowly starting to be more aware of right and wrong...he will catch me saying a word that he is not aloud to say ("heck" for those of you dying to know! ha!), and remind me that we are not aloud to say that.  I love it...I love that my little boy can hold me accountable and I love appreciating him for it.  I love reinforcing that mommy LOVES it when he remind me to be good.  :)  One step closer...one step closer to Parker knowing Jesus and loving him with ALL his heart...my greatest desire in life for my boys.
He still loves to be rocked and I still love rocking him.  ANYtime my Parker asks me to snuggle...I'M THERE!  

Beckham:
Oh my Boo.  He is absolutely the most precious little 2 year old.  How can one baby boy be SO PRECIOUS and SUCH A STINKER all in the same day!!??  ha!! 
He still has his brown "blanky" that he loves.  He talks a lot, but his articulation is terrible.  I have been working on his speech with the ipad lately, but I totally plan on putting him in the elementary school when he turns 3 like Parker for free speech therapy!!  (obviously they evaluate them and they have to meet their "need" requirements first :)).
My boo bear LOVES to snuggle!  If I ask him to snuggle and he tells me no, all I have to do is think about asking Parker to snuggle and Beckham comes running to steel my lap!!!  haha, he's so cute.
He LOVES to ride bikes.  He's so good at it too!  He's rides his little trikes and rocks the town on them!

Ok, I must be off, I am falling asleep!  I will come add more once I'm awake and alert!  The main point is I still just adore my babies...no matter what, they hold my heart in such a beautiful way!!! 

Typical turned into memories...

Tonight was a typical Christmas-time night for the Theiss'.  We ate dinner- had a Christmas Bible story discussion at the table, then cleaned up, put on pj's, got a cup of m&m's and jumped in the car for Christmas lights with our Christmas jam blaring!  So, we are driving around and Parker asked me to tell him a story...well that began what turned out to be something so special.  From lions rescuing abandoned babies and rasing them, to monsters who were scared off by God, to mean kangaroos, to lions eating Christmas lights, to giraffes that saved children, to squirrels driving blue powerwheels....we told it all!  I would tell a story, Parker would tell a story and then daddy would tell a story...Beckham just listened to it all, and the only pre-requisit was that you had to make up the story as you told it!  It was so special to me for several reasons.  First, when I or Blake would be telling a story- no matter how incredibly cheesy or DUMB the story was- Parker was completely intransed, asking us to go on..."what happened, daddy????"  The second thing was listening to Parker just string together all of these thoughts into a story- listening to him be creative was a life joy tonight!  I got it on video, though it was too dark to see, but I at least will always hear it!  I need to post it on this blog!  The third thing was that Blake was in a solumn mood...his knees are killing him from his marathon and he wasn't really himself.  Well, once he had to be the story teller a few times- his joy was BACK.  It's amazing how just interacting with your kids...getting on their level and allowing yourself to become a kid again, imagining goofy stuff and making up fun stories can just lighten the mood!  Praise God for that experience!

  Then, after our story time drive, we came home where I got to rock my precious babies for a little bit before putting them in their bed. 

What a typical night, that just turned into something magical! 

So cute...

The other night, on our way home from looking at Christmas lights, my chatty boys were quiet.  I asked Parker, why he was being so quiet...and he very seriously said..."Mommy, I want to put my cape on and fly to the ranch!"..."My shoes, will have fire come out of them so I will fly!".  I love how precious that was!  So innocent, so cute...

Beckham also every night after we give each other hugs and kisses, holds his hand up and says "pie pie!!!"...wanting me to give him a high five!!!  SOOOO cute...he won't go to sleep till I give him a high five.  I LOVE IT!

What's our fun, now!

Our new routine now...the boys drive their trucks (YES, Beckham is street legal now on the power wheel!!) to the cul-de-sac down the street.  I sit on the curb (as instructed by my boys) and the boys drive around acting like they are doing everyday things...such as filling up on gas, fixing my phone, driving to church, etc.  They drive from the curb where I am...to the cul-de-sac curb...(See pic)


 

Then, they drive back over to me where they get out, give me kisses and hugs, then jump back in to go do their thing! (See pic!)

My idea of heaven on Earth :)

I will cherish these pictures forever....this is and always will be one of my FAVORITE memories in the world!!!  Rocking my babies at night before bed (though it doesn't look like it...it's dark in the room)....Parker is almost 4 and Beckham is 2...my precious boys.  I am in heaven on earth here.  :)

Nights like this, I cherish....

They finally finished their last bite of food which meant they could run outside and see the Christmas lights daddy had been working on!  "Mommy....LOOK...!!!!!!!!" was what I could hear from outside on the driveway..."mommy....come HERE...LOOK!!!!"...."this is so awesome!!!!".  My sweet little Parkerman....so incredibly excited that we had Christmas lights on our house.  THEN, came the best part...the large, lit, inflatable penguin!!  Parker...and therefore Beckham now, were running around like crazy men yelling and screaming in utter blissful JOY that this massive penguin was being 

 inflated on our lawn.  "It's CHRISTMAS!!!", Parker screamed!!  The excitement and JOY that my boys experienced tonight was heaven for me!  After bath time, Parker just HAD to come back outside and say goodnight to the penguin.  So when we did, we sat on the lawn, both boys in my lap, RIGHT in front of our new found friend and sang Christmas songs and hymns...just basking in the fun of our new decor!  I will cherish every-single-night of this holiday season, because I KNOW that this excitement over an inflatable penguin will not last...I know one day, they will not want to run outside and see daddy's hard work on Christmas lights and yearn for me to share in the excitement with them.  I know that this is a season...but it's a beautiful one, a special one and one that I am so so grateful for.  Father, thank you for giving me tonight...thank you for this honor and JOY of raising my children...thank you for reminding me that life is fleeting so when I get moments like tonight...I will cherish them...

 

He brought my blankey...

My sweet little boo bear is such a love bug!  He is my snuggler and so loving!  So, today, Parker was trying to be playful and shot me point blank...about 8 inches away...directly in the eye with a nurf gun that has serious power to it!  Well, let's just say, it brought me to tears...I couldn't help it...crying...Parker and Beckham both didn't know what to do, obviously disturbed by mommy crying and so Beckham in the pit of desperation to make mommy happy went and got the blanket, I always cover up on the couch with, and brought it to me...why would he do that, you ask????  Because when Beckham is upset, all he wants is his blankey...it's a comfort to him and he stops crying.  The sweetest thing in the whole world?!?!?!  He brought me what he thought was MY blankey!  Well, it worked...through all of my tears, I started laughing so hard and smiling (and still crying, ha!).  I love you sweet boo bear...I love that you wanted to help momma, and comfort me...you are my little sunshine!