Meghan: Things I don't want to forget...

BRANSON

He thinks burping is just about the funniest thing ever. Anytime he burps he looks to see if anyone noticed, then says, "I burped!" and laughs hysterically with is adorable squishy face.
He pronounces Starscream from Transformers, "Carcream," and I'm not correcting him.
"Don't be mad Megatwon, be happy!"
"I want my bwuhder" (when he's sad and wants Nolan).
We are constantly admiring his playing skills. You wouldn't think this is an art, but it really is! He is so independent, creative, and just overall fun to watch play.
One of my favorite things he does right now is he'll grab your hand and say, "come here." Then lead you somewhere, hand you a toy, and say, "you be him." Then he'll usually just have you hold the toy while he 'defeats' it by banging it with another toy until it falls.
He has at least 5 or 6 Star Wars guys in his hands at all times.
His favorite toys at the moment are the two little lightsabers that came with the Star Wars Mr. Potato Heads. He carries them EVERYWHERE, and even takes them to bed.
He was an absolute monster at bedtime for a few weeks, crying/screaming when we put him to bed, but he's much better now. Still doesn't like going to bed, but doesn't put up too big of a fight.
Whenever I change him into his pajamas I'll get his pants on, then take his shirt off, and just as I'm about to try to get his shirt on he'll yell "wrestle!" and wrestle me to the ground. Crazy kid!
He loves to jump. It's crazy how high he can jump and still land on his feet!
He loves to lift up his shirt and say, "Look at my tummy!" (and sometimes makes you show him your belly too haha).
Whenever we take his socks off he'll smile, stick his feet up, wiggle his toes, and say "smell my feet!" or "stinky feet!" until you sniff them and say, "ohh, yucky! stinky!"
He does a pretty impressive dramatic death scene. If you get him with a lightsaber or 'shoot him with a blaster' he'll do a dramatic, "uh..." then fall to his knees, then crumple to the floor. Sometimes he'll even run into a wall or something else first haha. It's hilarious!
He likes to put his hand behind his back and say to one of us, "guess what I fooouuund?" with an I-know-something-you-don't-know look, then excitedly reveal a long lost toy (or sometimes one we haven't seen in 5 minutes 😜) like, "ducky PEZ!", "Poe!" etc.

NOLAN

He is a master at bedtime stalling. Most nights I try practice piano right after they go to bed and I'll often hear rustling and sneaky footsteps behind me (so frustrating!). I tell him to come out and he proceeds to give me the silliest reasons he needs me. "My blankets are messed up" "Will you pack three oreos in my lunch tomorrow?" "I think I need to check that the DVD got taken out of the player." "I don't go to sleep until Branson does." etc etc. 😆
He takes an ETERNITY in the bathroom. Seriously what is taking him so long?! He just plays around I think haha. Mostly he takes forever washing his hands. Oh and flips out (upset and crying) when we ask him to hurry up! Although recently he has just told me, "I can take as long as I want!" haha.
He is an absolutely incredible reader for his age and even does well at comprehension. He can also do simple addition and subtraction.
He loves board games! His current favorites are the ones we got recently Race to the Treasure, Cauldron Quest, and Dragonwood (and he likes to throw in Candyland here and there). Grandma also bought some good ones - Dinosaur Escape and Hoot Owl Hoot.
On the way home from church one day he asked why mom and dad go everywhere he goes or something like that. So we explained that he goes to Jeanni's house without us, and at church he goes to class without us, and someday he'll go to school and mom and dad won't be there, just his teachers and friends. Then he started talking about, "well, what if kids are mean?" and "what if they're bigger than me?" etc. It broke my mama heart to hear him thinking about those kinds of things. I pray every day that he won't have to deal with mean kids and that he can find even just one good friend. But even if he does have to face jerk kids, I know he'll be strong, and I hope he always knows how much his family loves him!!!
He refuses to laugh at Bransons attempts at jokes because he says they're "not funny" which we laugh at because Nolan still isn't quite sure how to come up with a good punchline haha.
He is a walking IMDB. He knows who plays who in his favorite Disney movies and even knows what other characters the same person plays. For instance, he knows that Tony Jay plays Frollo and Shere Kahn in Jungle Book 2.
My absolute favorite thing he's saying right now is he'll say, "ARE YOU CRAY-ZAY?!" as a response to just about anything.
He is a really good boy. He whines more than I'd like and stomps when he doesn't get his way and sometimes does things or says things just because he knows his brother won't like it, but that's pretty normal for a 4 yr old. For the most part, he's kind and easy to be around. My favorite is when I get to be with him one on one, he is a wonderful conversationalist and is so fun to be with!

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One family night we came up with our own list of Top 10 Disney villain songs.

"Make me the Emperor." - Branson

"Find me!" (one of B's favorite hiding spots :))

Just looking adorable in their snow gear on the way home from Jeanni's house.

Ugh, he's such a big boy lately :(

Most kids carry lovey blankets or stuffed animals around everywhere, B carries his light sabers.

Sneaking up to Shannon's house to surprise her with Valentine's Day cards and treats 💗

Valentine's for Jeanni!

They love their name in pancakes.

Branson is always putting on our shoes. Silly kid.

Kangaroo Zoo with the Carruthers who were in town this weekend!

About 40-50% of the time we'll come into the boys room before we go to bed and find B with a pillow on top of him. I guess this night Nolan joined him in the weird department.

Color Me Mine with Charlotte and Shannon for Shannon's birthday. It was so fun to have a girls night with these ladies. And I'm super excited about the special plate I made. I'm hoping to make it a tradition to use this plate whenever someone has a special day or simply does something worth celebrating!