Monkeys in a tree

Could these brothers be cuter?? It's moments like this that I get excited about another BOY. And then I remember what life is USUALLY like! They annoy each other, but then they just have a good knock-down, drag-out and it's done. Jack is about to catch up with Noah size-wise (we're praying for a growth spurt for Noah-boy!) and is also just naturally more agressive. There are days when all I hear all day long is "Mom, Jack's trying to hurt me", which means anything from "Jack is SAYING he's going to hit me" to "Jack came within 10 feet of me and *I* interpret that to be aggression". Noah plays the victim well. I feel like I spend lots of my time investigating "potential" incidences. Usually, after a long day of worrying, Noah's fears come to nothing. Sometimes, though, his predictions come true, and Captain Jack DOES attack (usually with a hanger, used as his "hook"), Noah tackles him to the ground, Jack realizes he is NOT yet the alpha male, and things return to calm. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just stripped 'em down and let 'em have it out first thing in the morning so we could side-step the whole "wanna fight?" scenario. Am I ready for MORE of this???

By the way, thank you for your prayers for me and our family. Please keep them coming. Things are going well and this little buddy won't give me a break from the kicking...a constant reassurance that he's in there doing fine, so I'm grateful for that. I try to keep the blog positive (for the most part) because it would be so easy to just vent here and dig myself into self-pity. I guess positive self-centeredness (as if my kids are the only cute ones in the world) is better than negative self-centeredness. Maybe I should work on focusing on others altogether...but not today. I have so much to be thankful for and find that when I reflect on that, and rejoice in the many blessings in my life, including Ruby's short little life, and this new little life, too, I feel less self-pity. And that is ALWAYS a good thing. Really, you have no idea how much your prayers lift us and keep us going. It's almost like God knew what He was doing when He told us to bear one another's burdens! Praise Him!