Luke shaved his head.

It's true.. he did it!  Without my permission and when I was out of town (who does that?).. but I do admit, it looks great.  I have a super hot husband.. hair or no hair.  We'll just see how this goes in the winter when he is ghostly white and how it goes when I have to shave it for him to keep up with this new look of his.  ewww.

Britt's shower happened.

I love baby showers! Really any reason to have a party, eat some food, do some decorating, and celebrate the soon-to-be baby Prosser! Our brother and sister, Nate and Britt are expecting their first little peanut in August. They don't know the gender (although the world will be shocked if it's a boy).. I say bring on some girls! They are going to be amazing parents and we couldn't be more thrilled to do this parenting thing with them! Steph and I had so much fun prepping for this shower. Enjoy the photos!

happy half birthday Finn!

to the littlest Prosser boy, 

Oh we love you Mr. Finn man!  You are a whole 6 months old and are making your sweet personality known to us more and more each day.  It's so crazy to think that 6+ months ago, you were still a mystery baby in my belly and we only dreamed of another little boy.  Now you are here and we absolutely can't imagine life without you.

You can roll over both ways, and usually end up hanging out on your stomach.  You straighten those arms as if you want to get moving, but no signs of crawling yet.  You love to stand with us holding you, so sitting doesn't seem your style either and you usually arch your back until we let you stand again.  You are getting a little frustrated because you want to get moving, but don't have quite the drive to figure out the crawling thing yet.  Just one of those ways to want to be different than your brother.  Go ahead, little man, be your own person! 

You are mesmerized by daddy when he plays guitar, you may be our little musical one.  You light up around your dad, he can get the big smiles and laughs out of you!  You love mommy's hair and it's often used a tool to calm you down, letting you touch it.  oh, that's the sweet stuff.  You are tons better at sleeping and sleep until 7:30-ish in the morning.  thank you so much, my boy!  You adore your older brother and he can be a little more rough with you and you just smile away.  But don't worry, you are always protected against the big monster kid.

You started to eat rice cereal in your high chair (see, high chair already?  you were just born.)  You love it so far and seem to be a great eater.  Oh.. little babe.. you snuggle.  It is one of the most precious things in the world when you bury your ear into my neck and just stay there.  That's a moment I'd like to freeze, take a picture of and hang on my wall.  Right now, you're in the bouncy thing, staring at all the toys and making yourself laugh!  

We love you, we love this age and don't want to change a thing right now.  stay little for a bit?

love, your family.

giving.

dear boys,

We want you to learn something that is very important to your dad and I.. it's how to give.  We always have to be reminded of this ourselves and are constantly working at it, but we hope you learn from example to be giving.  You have a very good life.  Even on the bad days and even if you don't realize it, life is good, life is easy.. and you are incredibly blessed.  You have a lot.  You have a huge house (well, it may seem huge to your little bodies), tons of toys, you get to experience so many fun things in your little lives, you have wonderful beds (ahh), food at your beck and call, and more than all that, you are so loved!  You are constantly told that you are loved, we love to kiss and hug you all day.  lucky boys.

We want you to know this is a blessing, not what's expected.  We want you to know the world around you and know what other children live like.  That there's a lot of kids your age that don't have this stuff, that may not have even beds and food, and the basic things that most people should have.  We want to you know that God loves them and God loves you.. and that you can and should give.

We pray that you are the boys that share your lunch with kids at school, that give your clothes and toys to kids that don't have them, and that give part of your money to church.  We know you won't remember doing this, but last Sunday we picked out a little boy to support.  His name is Angelo, he's seven and he's from Mozambique, Africa.  We're so excited to teach you about him and for us all to pray for him and support him.  You helped us pick him out Leyton.. we showed you him and you said "purple!"  sweet, he likes the purple shirt.. let's go with it.

You are loved little Angelo!

love, the prossers.

a mother.

Luke made this sweet sign for me for mother's day and it feels like a good day to share it.  thank you, husband.. and applause to all the mom's who are feeling the Monday in today..

and one with my Finny, cuz he's precious..

Brothers, Week 21

prayer.

warning, this is more of a personal post, a little more of an intimate moment about my boys.. but I really love this blog and continue to do it so that a) I can remember every bit of this time in our lives.. through my writing, through sharing photos.. and b) to relate on another level to everyone else out there going through this same journey!

As we've said before, we pray for our boys. a whole lot.  We pray for their lives, their hearts, their health and everything in between.  We pray consistently and often, sometimes as if our lives depended on it.. and it does!  I am reading the book "The Power of a Praying Parent" by Stormie Omartian and absolutely love it.  I would completely recommend this book, it's so encouraging and challenging.  It basically goes through different ways, different areas to pray for our children (good relationships, keep from harm, developing a hunger for the Lord..), it gives Bible verses along the way and my favorite.. a sample prayer with each chapter.  It is so helpful to show me, as a parent, how to release my boys to the Lord, to entrust Him with their lives!  Those moments when I am able to sit (usually in the beautiful sunshine), and pour over this book, I find myself crying the whole time!  I know I know, I'm one of those.. but honestly, when it comes to my kids, it's an incredibly powerful thing!

I want to share one prayer from this book.. again, I do this to document and remember my heart right now and also.. to let you pray this along with me!  For your children, your family, your future family.

"Lord.. I pray for Leyton & Finn to feel loved and accepted.  Fill their hearts with Your love right now and help them to fully understand how far-reaching and complete it is.  Your Word says You loved us so much that You sent Your Son to die for us (John 3:16).  Deliver them from any lies that may be planted in their minds to cause them to doubt that.  Jesus said, 'as the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.'  Lord, help Leyton & Finn to stay firmly planted in your love.  May they say as David did 'cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust (Ps 143:8).' Manifest Your love to these boys in a real way today and help them to receive it.  I pray also that You would help me to love these boys unconditionally the way You do, and enable me to show it in a manner they can perceive.  Reveal to me how I can demonstrate and model Your love to them so that it will be clearly understood.  I pray that all my family members will love and accept them, and may they find favor with other people as well.  With each day that they grow in the confidence of being loved and accepted, release in them the capacity to easily communicate love to others.  Enable them to reach out in love in a way that it appropriate.  As Leyton & Finn come to fully understand the depth of Your love for them and receive it into their soul, make them a vessel through which your love flows to others.  In Jesus name I pray."

We love you, our precious little boys!

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."

John 15:16

Brothers, Week 21

after a pretty tough week around here.. I could stare at these pictures all day.  My two boys.. quiet and still and perfect.

Luke's party

I surprised Luke this past weekend for his golden birthday with a party in the park.. I thought it was super fun and he loved it as well :)  I'm pretty happy the surprise actually worked, that took a lot of lying and covering, and lying.  But it was worth it!  We biked up to the park on Sunday afternoon (thought it was his idea).. to a bunch of friends and family ready to party!  I love when the kids can hang out, they're all quite entertaining.  Added bonus.. Ryan and Lisa and the boys drove up from Des Moines (thank you!!)..

happy birthday Luke!

we love you to pieces!

sincerely,  your wife and kids.

Brothers, Week 19 & 20

These boys crack me up.  The brother pictures are very real, very true to our life around this house.  The bibs, the bandaids, Leyton stealing Finn's toys, Leyton copying Finn, the pacifiers, the blankies.. and Leyton's pained face every. single. time.

ps.  Finn's in his frustrated stage, where he wants to get movin!  but can't quite get where he wants to go. My this age (5.5 months).. Leyton was on his knees starting to crawl.  Finn's not there yet, and that's just fine with me!  And Leyton's always in a stage..  He got suuuper sick last night, it was one of many difficult parenting times, where I kinda question who qualified us to care for these boys!  But once again, God gives us what we need to care for them (he also gives us tylenol and gatorade).. and Leyton is on the mend today.  

my boys.. today.

It still kind of amazes me that everyday I learn something new about my boys.  They are constantly changing, evolving, becoming their own little people.. and letting me know just who they are along the way.  I don't want to miss a thing, and even the tough, annoying stuff.. that's still stuff and it's still a big deal to me!  Like for example, in the tough category.. Leyton is really pushing his limits lately and seems to enjoy his stubborn side.  I think he likes that he can talk now and can really communicate what he wants, so he likes to practice.   The other day in the car, he said he wanted some water.  So I gave him a sip of my water.. I asked for it back.  he said "no mommy."  I said "yes Leyton.." and on it went.  Then he gave it back to me, I had a sip and he said "put it down mommy!"   Like he was allowing me to have it back but not drink it..?!  oh my boy.  Then I asked if he wanted to watch dinosaurs when he got home and he said, "no mommy, no dinosaurs.  watch little foot!"  (same thing Leyton, same thing..)  He wants to push my buttons and he's getting there!

Other Leyton things.  He's a homebody.  At least once in the morning, usually when I get him dressed (heaven forbid), he says "stay home mommy."  He really would love just stay home all day and play with his toys.  Even if we run a short errand, when he sees our house, he says "yaaa home!"  :)  He also gets stressed when I talk about tomorrow or things happening later.  He's just comfortable doing what he's doing right now.  He's also going through a bandaid phase, can't get enough of em.. and he is fully convinced that kissing the owie heals it.  Keep that going, little man.

his artistic side (love the paint set up.. thanks Mom!)

In other news, Finn popped out his first tooth!  Leyton was way later with this and way more dramatic, so I'm glad it wasn't too painful!  I can see it in this picture but you have to look real close.. so you can just trust me.  Or let him bite you.

we went out..

Last Saturday, we got to be a part of an awesome surprise party for our friend Nic.  This was big.. his twin sister and her husband flew in from Norway, his brother and wife flew in from Seattle, all to come together at one of our favorite places in Minneapolis, Brit's Pub.  As per tradition, it did rain and we were not able to lawn bowl.  lame.  But, before the rain, we had so much fun and got to enjoy this great surprise!  Here's a few fun pictures..

and this is what our boys were doing while we were kid-less.  They enjoyed the beautiful summer night at the lake, feeling the water, turtle hunting and eating ice cream.  thanks grandma, Steph and Kabes!