The latest with the Bates Trio...

This is Caleb playing "guitars" with Daddy at our dance party...

Sweet brothers...

I've been working on the railroad...all the live long day!!!

Luke LOVES bath time...

We have had a really busy last month, but we are finally slowing down a bit. This past week Tim and I had lots of down time with the kids and cannot believe how much each one is growing. Every time I put Luke down for bed, I squeeze him so tightly and get a little sad at the thought of him not being a tiny baby anymore. The twins are as active as ever right now and are either going full speed or falling apart at the seams these days! We continue to see the Lord working in their hearts and ours as we all navigate through these toddler years.

The latest development with the twins is that hey have an imaginary friend named "Even." When we ask them if they really mean "Ethan," they respond yes. But, when they actually pronounce the name, it's "Even."

Well, Even and the twins have been up to no good. Apparently, Even helped Matthew and Caleb put all of their bathtub boats in the toilet and overflow it. Even also pushes Matthew & Caleb when they are trying to go to sleep and tells them "no, no" when they are playing with his cars. Even also tried to take Caleb's lovie this morning and Even, not Matthew, was the one who took Baby Luke's yogurt bite from him.

As you can imagine, Tim and I are having a field day with this. IT IS HILARIOUS. The best part is that they have both created this pretend friend together. The two are at the stage where they love playing with each other the best. The other day I offered several times to play football with Caleb and his response was, "No, mommy. I want Matt-chew." They have so much fun together and have created several new words that they love to say to each other and then laugh including "donkey kong" and "awoowah." They are starting to play "pretend" and their favorite thing is for one to be a doctor and give the other one "shots." I love it when they give me shots though because when I start to pretend cry, they kiss me to make it "all better."

Tim and I are realizing more and more how much they pick up on what we are saying. The other day I was in the drive-thru line at Chik-fil-a and it was taking forever. I was complaining and making exasperated sounds and Caleb said, "Be patient, Mommy. Be patient." I know where he got that one from because I am pretty sure I say it 100x a day!

They both love telling Luke what to do, especially Matthew. Speaking of that little guy, he is crawling backwards. He can't figure out how to move forward, but has the backwards thing down. His favorite thing is to sit in his brother's room and play with their legos and little Buzz figurines. Of course, the boys get upset because he puts everything in his mouth so they tell him " Baby Luke, don't eat my toys. Have milk." Luke just grins....he is the sweetest baby, I'm telling you!

We are about to start potty training at the Bates' casa, maybe in the next week. We will see how it goes. We have tried a few things, but not really gone full force. When it gets crazy, we will just have to remind ourselves how much money we will be saving in diapers a month!!!

Here is a conversation that went on at the supper table this past week:

Dad: What do you guys want Mommy to pick up for you at the grocery store?

Caleb: Maybe some bagels, cookies and chocolate cereal.

Matthew: I want suckers. All of them.

Mom: Okay, boys what are some other healthy choices that Mommy could pick up like fruits or vegetables. What about some broccoli or corn?

Caleb: Corn dogs?! I want them, mommy.

Matthew: Me, too!

Mom: sighs....