Update. . .

Well, I thought I would give a little update on our boys, on their growth and new everyday activities.

~Peter~
He is most definitely in his most active stage that we've ever seen him in. He tumbles all over the Family Room and Living Room. He is in a gym class with other 3-4 yr. olds and just loves it! He has learned so many new tricks with his little body and loves to show them off to Mommy and Daddy every moment he gets! We are still considering putting him into a preschool at the beginning of next year, but will continue to pray about it.
He does have a crush on a little 5 yr. old girl at our church and absolutely lights up when she walks into the room. It's so adorable, I could almost cry! He remembers the color of her dress and how she wore her hair. He'll make a great husband someday! (hopefully now for a LONG time, though!)
Peter will be turning 4 this March and cannot wait for his birthday. He knows that James' birthday comes first and he is almost more excited about James' first birthday than he is about his own. Even though we DO have those days where Peter will push James' buttons or drag him around too much, or give a little too much attention to him, he loves James very much and shows a lot of this in public AND behind closed doors.
Peter has finally understood that Daddy works second shift and is starting to deal with it in his own little way. Everyday that we have to run an erond, while Daddy is still at home, he asks if he will be home when we get back. Every time he hears the door open, late at night, he calls for his Daddy. It's sad to watch, but very sweet of him to think of his Daddy, even when he's not home from work yet. And, because Tim doesn't get home until he has been fast asleep for many hours, he still calls Daddy at work some nights, before I tuck him in.
We have a routine down now, I hope. Bedtime: Brush teeth, PJ's, 1 Book, Night-Night Prayers, Tuck and a Kiss. And his 'night-night prayers' would go on for hours, if we let him!
Peter can count up to 100 now, knows 8 Bible verses by heart, knows all of his lower case and upper case letters. He loves to sound words out and knows about five 3-letter words on his own, without our help in sounding it out. He is starting swim lessons and feels very brave about it. He has two chores everyday. . . making his bed and cleaning his room before bedtime. He also helps (kind of) with the laundry (mostly socks and underwear) and dishes. We love to bake cookies together and make breakfast for Daddy in the morning. He really is my BIG helper. He talks about becoming as big as Daddy someday and often compares the sizes of various things to Tim's height . . . it's really funny to hear!
On major mile stone that we have reached with him is his understanding of forgiveness and apologies. He is now 'getting it' on his own, without me having to explain to him, every time, 1-what he did, 2-tell him what he did wrong, 3-tell him what he should have done and 4-tell him to apologize to whomever he hurt/upset/disrespected. Now, we're still continuing to go through the 4 point speeches, but at least they're getting less and less often. He comes to me and talks to me about it now, which is a great relief, because for a while I was thinking "Is this REALLY ever going to STICK!!!! Is this worth it??" And the answer is "YES!!!" I have learned that, with Pete, consistency is SO vital.
I sat down the other day, after Peter and I had about a 5-6 minute conversation on a subject, I don't even remember what it was about, but I remember thinking afterwards, "Wow. That's my little baby that I just talked to, who sat down and carried on a mostly-adult conversation with me." I am amazed. To God be the glory.

~James~
Peter still calls this little guy 'baby James', I think he'll be that for a while.
James is not quit walking, but is getting closer and closer each day. He loves to walk, holding someone's hands. He has a little pair of size 3 shoes that his Grandma bought him, that fit him well and are definitely helping with his walking. He looks like a little man in them!
James absolutely adores Peter. James acts to Peter, as Peter does to his little girlfriend. He jumps and kicks his feet violently whenever Peter walks into his room to greet him in the morning. I don't think that James would even take a double-take if Peter started walking on water! That's how much this little guy loves Pete.
We often tease about his name, James, and make it a 'Jim' or a 'Jimmy', which we never intended on doing, and Tim does NOT care for it one bit, but it's fun to tease about with friends and family.
James loves his Daddy, but most certainly is a Mommas-Boy!!! And, I will openly admit that I really allow it too!!!! Peter was never the baby that cried for his Mommy when dropped off at the nursery. He never even looked back when he was out of our hands and in the hands of a complete stranger. James, on the other hand, notices when Mommy's not holding him, cries when it's not Mommy who he sees first thing when he wakes up and especially after nap. . .MOMMY and MOMMY ONLY! Tim thinks that I'm cradling him, and . . . I am. And I LOVE it!!!
James' nickname here is 'Monkey'. If it's there, he climbs on it. If it's too high, he'll try to climb UP it. If it's Peters, he takes it. If it's James', he'll throw it. If it's food, he'll cram it in his mouth. If it's (anything) on the floor, it's in his mouth and he crawls away in a hurry when I catch him doing this. He also knows how to shake his head 'no' and makes all kinds of funny sounds with his mouth.
He won't let Mommy get snuggle time with him, unless he's tired, but will give countless hours of it with Daddy.
James is a very sweet little boy and loves to give kisses to Mommy and Dee-Dee (Aunt Caralee). And, let me specify what I mean by 'kisses'. . . . I mean, hands pulling on our hair, mouth dripping with drool, open mouth kisses on/in our mouths and then shakes his head to spread the slobber around our faces. Sound gross enough?? Too bad, because it's the BEST thing in this world!
James will be ONE on the 23rd of this month and I cannot believe it! I am really excited to see what he does to his birthday cake, because (unlike Peter), James LOVES sweets. Ice-cream, cake, pies, you name it, he'll eat it. So I hope that he destroys the cake with his mouth!!!
To God be the glory.

We are very blessed with these sweet boys and wouldn't trade them for the world (on most days!)