Life Lately for the Rabans

This boy is crawling everywhere!!! (8 mo. old)

For the last month or so, Hunter has been worm-crawling and could basically get anywhere he wanted to go. I guess that seemed to be the secret-- he had to want to. Cuz up goes the Christmas tree with so many temptations and suddenly, he wants them all and is going for them and anything else he sees lying around. So for the last week or so, he really has been traveling the house and I'm still not sure how I feel about it yet! He is growing too fast, and finally has 1 tooth!

And these two are growing, too--

They've become really good friends and play mates lately and that has been nice to see. Cole looks out for Mason and in return, Mason is Cole's faithful follower-- in all things, good and bad! Just the other day, Cole told me that he thinks he should be Mason's boss, like I'm daddy's boss. I thought that was pretty funny (and probably more true than I care to admit!).

Cole's been going to a preschool this year and while many days it is still a struggle to get him up and going (he likes sleeping in like me), he does seem to enjoy it. And he is learning a lot. The other day, he just started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance-- I was shocked! Mason and I get to spend some one-on-one time together while Cole's away. Mason likes his independence and I fear that he gets overlooked because of that, and because he is currently the middle child. So I'm grateful for more time with him. I feel like that is a lot of the struggle of parenting for me lately-- making sure that each child gets their own alone time, as well as time with their siblings to learn how to get along. And then finding time for the husband, church, time for myself, the house, etc. Ahh, finding balance is tough!

All in all, life is good for us. Rusty and I feel very blessed this holiday season- grateful for our family, and grateful for the Gospel. Hope all of you have a happy holiday (in the event that I don't update this blog between now and then). Merry Christmas!