big bro

 

 i knew when ben was really little that he would be an awesome big brother one day.  he is such a compassionate, fun, energetic, and helpful guy.  one of the first questions most people ask me these days is, "how's ben doing with him (graham)?"  to be honest, he acts like graham has always been here, which has been such a blessing for me.  when i was real pregnant with graham, i remember at one point feeling so guilty that i was about to rock ben's world by shoving this new human into his life permanently.  of course, now that i look back, i realize that was a silly fear.  ben's life will be all the more better with a baby brother.  there is such a special bond between siblings and i am so thankful ben and graham will have that.  they'll always have each other.  i don't know what i'd do without my sister.

for those of you contemplating having a second child, so far, i highly recommend an age difference of at least 4 years.  ben is a constant help.  he goes and gets stuff for graham all the time...a diaper, wipes, pacifier, gas drops, toys, a blanket.  he can even put an outfit together for graham.  when i change graham's diaper, ben is right there waiting to throw it away for me.  he even thanks me for the dirty diaper as i hand it to him.  my most favorite thing that he does is in the car.  i moved his car seat right next to graham and if graham gets upset, he'll put his pacifier in and sit there and hold it, the way he's seen me do, until graham calms down.  it's so cute to look in the backseat and see ben singing along with a song, looking out the opposite window and still holding graham's pacifier in, just like it's second nature.  precious.  four years seems like such a big difference right now, and it will probably feel like that for several more years, and i know they'll have their share of brotherly arguments throughout their time living at home.  but when they are older, four years difference will hardly seem to matter. my sister, amy, and i are ten years apart...but the majority of the time, i feel like she is my same age.  she just must be so young at heart.  :)

one of my best friends, natalie, bought the boys these big and little brother shirts.  i'm just now getting around to capturing their matching attire on camera.  with their chocolaty eyes, these guys look great in brown.  ben loves to wear this shirt.  he is very proud to be a big brother.  graham is extremely lucky. 

i know i'm a tad biased, but these boys are just beautiful.

"i thank my God every time i remember you.."

-philippians 1:3