It's official.

Julian is no longer a little kid. He's a full fledged child. One that goes to birthday parties SOLO. Yes, I dropped him off, he said, "Bye Mom." And threw a quick wave before running and joining his BFF Oliver for some partay fun!

When we got Oliver's invitation in the mail, I asked him what he though Oliver would like for his birthday. His response, "A Transformer! Oliver LOVES Transformers." (This is a true statement, he often wears Transformers T-shirst to preschool. So we went to Target to get a Transformer, and upon pulling into the parking lot, Julian said, "Mommy, I want to get him a jack-in-the-box." Uhm, right.

So after much debate, and much deliberation, and much convincing, Julian selected THIS (AKA the perfect toy ever for a 4 year old)



He was still highly tempted by the likes of this guy



But I was able to convince him otherwise.

Thank goodness.

When did Julian get a social life?

Oh yeah. This week. Thursday afternoon, Julian had his friend from school come over to play. It was tons of fun, and they played Wii Sports Resort. It's hard with two (almost) 4 year olds. They get competitive. But Julian did have fun.

Then he got invited to his first birthday party, his BFF Oliver. That's not to say he's never been invited to a single birthday party. It's just different when the kid is his friend, and the parents aren't mine. Crazy. I told Julian to ask his friend, Oliver, what he wanted for his birthday. Julian told me, "Oh he'll want a Transformer." So tomorrow we're going to Target to pick out a Transformer for Oliver!

On Saturday we went to the Science Center of Iowa. Julian ADORED it. Gabe did too, but Julian was much more fascinated. They both highly enjoyed the bubble part!

Here are the boys before leaving for the Science Center.




I promise Julian was really excited, he just doesn't look it.

This picture is a little soft/out of focus, but it is cute to me.


These boys are keeping me busy. We are going to Washington in March, and Julian is SO excited. SO. I've been knitting a bit, and writing a bit. Just keeping busy.

Jesus wants him for a SUNBEAM!

Yep, you read that right, Julian, my firstborn, is now, a SUNBEAM! He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea. He was just feeling comfortable in the routine of nursery, and then I gotta switch him up!

His regular teachers weren't there, which might be bad for next week. He told Barry that he liked his nursery teachers :/ I meant to take pictures of him all dressed in his Sunday's best, but the minute we walk in the house, he stripped down to his undies, realized it was too cold and found his 'sock pajamas' and wore them until bed. Because, who wears PJs to bed? Not Julian, that's FOR SURE!

He's oh-so-cooperative with the camera also.


I guess that should just teach me, don't get between a man and his video game.



In other exciting, growing up news, Julian got a hair cut. Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, those of you that have well behaved children, who sit nicely when getting haircuts. Julian, when getting a hair cut, is something like a rabid animal. One you have to hold down, all limbs, and fight the thrashing. I kid you not, last time I was SO exhausted after his haircut. He was so crazy.

This time, he sat nicely in the chair, while a stranger cut it for him. It was a sight to be seen, apparently. Barry took him, and the boys got haircuts together. Amazing, and she did a really good job.

Gabriel also had a super successful church day yesterday. He's had some tough times, the transition to nursery is tough. SO many kids, not enough parents (well not his parents), and he's never gone in there, and stayed, without either Barry or me sitting in there with him. Yesterday, Barry dropped him off at nursery, stayed for a few minutes, and then? He was fine. I spent more time, sitting with Julian in Sunbeams, than Barry did in nursery! So go, Gabe! He's getting bigger every day.

We got a new scale this week, to ya know, help with our New Years Resolutions. I weighed the boys, Julian's 35 lbs, at almost 4, and Gabriel is 31 lbs at almost 2. I love it. Julian was the same chubby way when he was 2. I just remember how big Julian looked after Gabe was born.







My cute, sweet, darling boys. (most of the time!)