The Things They Say...

Miles vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds. His sentences are really coming along. Here are a few of my favorite words and saysing:

• Tootsie Roll - The boys get a tootsie roll when they get in their car seats without complaining or delaying. When I tell the boys it's time to go somewhere, Miles starts saying, "Tootsie roll? Tootsie roll?"
• Lisa - "ee ha"
• purple - "puple"
• Hot beat - Miles was describing what kind of music he wanted to listen to on our drive home from Nana's house. He was yelling from the back seat, "Hot beat! Hot beat!"
• Miles woke up and saw Nate's Harley blanket. He pointed and said, "Ooooo - look at that bobbie!"
• When Miles drops something now, he says, "I'll get it."
• Five days ago Miles said, "choo choo" for Thomas. Now he says, "Thomas" clear as a bell.

And now a little from Cooper:

• At breakfast the other morning, Cooper said, "Mom - have you ever had a broken heart?"
• "Mom - can you take my clothes off? I'm a gorilla and gorillas are naked."
• The boys were splashing water out of the tub while I ran to get something. When I came back in, I scolded them and told Cooper he knew better than to do that. He said, "but it wasn't bad if you didn't see me." (There was quite a conversation after than, but YIKES!)
• Talking to Miles - "See? Watch your big brother do it!"
• While trying to dispute naptime Cooper said, "there's no sleep left in my body!"
• I was cuddling with Cooper at bedtime, teaching him how to spoon. He said, "Mom - how do you spork?" Thank you, Taco Bell. :)

Daddy's Prayer

Cooper's prayer before dinner:
"Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you that Daddy is home safe. Thank you that Daddy is so special to us, and that we know we are so special to him. Amen." My babies truly are so special.

Gentle Women

Today I opened the back door for Cooper because he was carrying a heavy load. As he passed through the door he said, "See Mom? Sometimes gentlewomen open the doors for men."

(We've been having the discussion about how gentlemen open the doors for others - especially for ladies. Can you tell?)

When I Grow Up

As the boys get older, I've frequently wondered 'What will my boys do when they grow up?' Will they go to college? What professions will they choose? Where will they live? These and many more questions I can't help but wonder about as I see them grow up. And I also wonder, how similar will they be in the future to the way they are now? Are their behaviors, likes, dislikes indicative of the future?

If the above is true, I'm convinced Miles will be a great success in any full-contact sport. He gets angry when he's hurt, is aggressive, and uses brute force to get his way. If there is risk or danger, Miles is full-speed-ahead.

Cooper, on the other hand, seems to be nearly the complete opposite. He likes to snuggle, is very sensitive, and excels at anything academic. But there is also an incredible music element to Cooper. Carey caught this video (notice the stage...) of Cooper singing The David Crowder Band's How He Loves. What the future holds only God knows. Maybe, just maybe, we're raising the next solo artist.

Miles is 2!!

Miles woke up bright and early on his birthday and opened his presents first thing! He got a magnifying glass, a dump truck, a Boz movie, and some truck counters. The dump truck was a favorite for sure!

On Saturday, we celebrated Miles' birthday with a group of family and friends. He had a Lightning McQueen party.

One of his favorites presents was from the Harader family - a new cat! This new kitty doesn't have a name yet. Miles calls it "Cat -y." So cute!

Thank you all for celebrating this little man with us! We are blessed the Lord has trusted us with him!

Enid, OK

Our family took a trip to Enid, OK, to visit Nate's family this weekend. What a trip!! Enid, OK is a dream town for our boys. It is a farming community, and there are tractors everywhere! There are trains on land and military jets in the sky. A spray plane buzzed the house the first night we were there. The highlight of the trip, though, was seeing Grandma, Pupaw, Uncle Wade, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Hanna, and Uncle J.


Before we left, we had been explaining the trip to the boys. When Miles woke up on Thursday morning, the first word out of his mouth was, "Papaw." That boy was ready to see his Grandpa!


On our way into town, we passed the John Deere Implement. cooper said, "Isn't a Gator a sensible machine? It can do work in small spaces." His explaination continued, but he ended with, "A Gator is such a sensible machine."

The new house is beautiful! Here is the front view:

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Here are the boys riding a 4 Wheeler.









Miles LOVED Aunt Hanna's kittens.






Uncle J took the boys on a ride in a combine AND a tractor. Cooper got to help steer the tractor.







What a trip! Thank you, Bethell Family, for hosting us!!

Writing...

Here is a note that Cooper wrote to Ms. Rachel for her high school graduation. My favorite part is the E. Notice it has 8 horizontal lines instead of 3. As Cooper was writing it, he said, "Mom, check out this 'e'! It's going to be a great one!"


This is the bus Cooper drew for Aunt Lauren:




And last but not least, this is Cooper first attempt at writing the alphabet.


This stage is so fun!

Freak Out!

The boys and I went to Quarrels Supply yesterday to pick up a paint sample. When I told them we were going, Cooper ran, got in the van, and buckled himself in. This is not yet a skill that I expect him to accomplish on his own, but I was very appreciative! (As an aside, I am trying to figure out what responsibilities I can delegate to my children so they can help me more!)

After we were finished, we were loading up in the van. I said, "Cooper, hop up in your chair and buckle yourself in." He got in his chair, and he said, "Oh, Mom I can't do it! My arms won't reach!" After several times back and forth, I said, "Cooper, I'll wait for you to buckle yourself in. If you need help while you're doing it, I would be glad to help you! But I know this is something you can do." And we waited. Man he's a stubborn guy. I wonder where he learned that? So as we sat there, I started giving myself some positive self talk, "It's okay, Carey. We don't have anywhere to be. Wait it out. He can do this. It's okay." After waiting longer, I turned around and said (with some increased intensity), "Cooper - buckle yourself in!" He looked at me and said, "Mom - did you just freak out instead of disciplining me?" And without missing a beat, "Deep breaths, Mom. Deep breaths." Guess who buckled the seat? I gave in...he out-waited me. What a booger.

Video

Cooper learned everything you see in the video below from Jeremy Scowden. :)

Fridays...

Fridays are fun around the Bethell house. We buy the boys doughnuts every Friday, and what a treat! Cooper wakes up WIRED just knowing it is Friday and Friday means doughnuts! His volume level is set somewhere around 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10) and he has a song in his heart.

Friday mornings are unique for another reason, too. Cooper has B.U.M. kids from 8:30 to 11:30, so I have to have the boys and myself ready to leave the house by 8:20 or so. (At this point, I want to pause and acknowledge the working moms out there who have to do this EVERY day. You are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There's no other way to say it. I don't know how you do it.) Most days, I just ask the boys to get themselves dressed by Sesame Street at 9:00, so we have to hurry to be ready by 8:20. This morning, it looked something like this:

Me: Miles do you need to go potty?
Miles: Yes. Be bean. (Jelly Bean...he gets one when he sits on the potty.)
Me: Okay! Let's go! Run and stick Miles on the potty. Wait for 3 minutes while he decides what color of jelly bean he wants. Run back to Cooper's room.
Me: Coop, here are your clothes. Please get dressed.
Cooper: Mom, I need help. Will you help me?
Miles: MOMMY!
Me: Run to check on Miles. Are you all done going potty?
Miles: Des. (Yes.)
Me: Okay - let's get you down. Remove Miles from the potty.
Cooper: Mom I need HELP!
Me: Run to help Cooper, and grab a diaper while I'm at it.
Miles: MOMMY!
Me: Cooper - you're going to have to get dressed. Run to check on Miles in the bathroom.
Miles: Be bean. (Jelly bean.)
Me: You want to sit on the potty again? Do you need to go potty again? Stick Miles back on the potty. Wait while he selects his color of jelly bean.
Cooper: MOMMY!
Me: Run to Cooper's room.
Miles: MOMMY!
Me: Run to the bathroom.
Repeat.

So by 8:30, I had all of us dressed, Cooper at B.U.M. kids, and I was exhausted. But on Fridays, when Miles and I have time to ourselves, we clean the house together. He LOVES to spray the Windex on the glass. If I try to touch the bottle, he jerks it away from me and gives me a passionate, "I DO!" Okay, okay. You spray the Windex. We clean glass and dust together. Then he watches a little Sesame Street while I clean the bathrooms and kitchen. That's usually all I get done before I have a very special hour of time with Ms. Amy, a college student I meet with weekly. She is so amazing - I love seeing how mature she is and how much the Lord has already taught her. I have much to learn from that girl!

After Amy left today, Miles and I had only a short time together before we went to pick up Cooper. Then we flew through lunch and it was time to head to Ms. Lisa's house. I picked the boys up at 5:00 and we headed home for dinner.

The sweetest moment of all for me today was after dinner. Cooper and I swept the floors and vacuumed so that we could relax together and watch a movie. We had popcorn with M&M's and watched WallE together. Cooper sat on my lap and Miles snuggled right next to me. It was such a sweet moment. This is what being a Mommy is all about!