Snowman and curly hair!

Aaron made Korben his very own snowman! Korben and I watched his every move from the window. Korben would clap and say "awesome!", "man-man" (snowman), and "Yay, Daddy!" Aaron is so talented. He is so creative, and anything he ever does he does exceptionally well. I think his snowman is awesome! Especially for making it all by himself!












































Just had to share these pics of my curly headed little guy! It is not always this curly, but sometimes when he wakes up from his naps it is out of control like this! A lot of people said that after we got the first hair cut, Korben would lose his curls. Now that his hair is getting long again, I guess we are seeing that isn't true! I'm so glad! I love his curls!

Korben's First Snow Experience!

Fort Smith was lucky enough to get SIX gorgeous inches of snow (or at least, that is what we measured in our back yard!) It snowed all yesterday afternoon and all night. I seriously felt like we were living inside a snow globe. It was so beautiful! It had stopped snowing this morning, so it was time for Korben to experience it for the first time! Even though we have told him it is called "snow" , he continues to call it "man-man" which is his word for snowman. He got that word down pat at Christmas time after looking at so many snowman christmas decorations just a few months ago. When we finished playing in the snow today, without prompting, said "Bye Bye, Man-man." it was so cute. I guess we should have built him a snowman. The day is not over! :)

Soon, I will put up the video Aaron took with his camera of Korben actually walking out into the snow for the first time. It is on facebook, if you haven't already seen it. It was so hilarious because he didn't like it at all. Especially the fact that it was getting all over his shoes. He just kept saying "Shoes, Shoes."

We convinced him to stand in it long enough for me to shoot a little video of him in the snow. He thought it was funny when Aaron threw a snowball at me.





Here he is telling his Daddy to, "ZIP IT!" His coat, that is.






























"Cheese!"




























































































































This picture sort of looks like Korben is sitting in the snow, but he is just hanging in the air in an "L" shaped position. This is the position he would lock himself in if we would try to put him down. He did NOT want to get back int he snow! It was absolutely hilarious. The abdominal strength it took him to hold this position was astounding.

























It has been an incredibly fun weekend! The past couple nights Aaron and I have enjoyed watching the entire first season of the TV show "Friday Night Lights." We found that the first three seasons are available to watch free through our "live stream" netflix that we can watch through Aaron's X-box. If that sentence didn't make any sense, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Anyway, we have fallen in love with this TV show that started in 2006 on NBC about a high school football team in Dillon, TX. It is SO addicting! We only have to watch about 30 more episodes to be caught up to the year 2010. I am currently drinking my homemade french onion soup out of a mug as I finish up my blog, Aaron is playing a video game, Korben is napping...the house is quiet. I'm staring at the gorgeous snow through the window. These are precious memories I will never forget. What wonderful weekend this has been for our family.

Taller than Daddy?

There is a "guessing" formula that some doctors use to predict how tall boys will be when they are fully grown. At 2.5 years old they double their height, and use that to predict how tall they will be when they are full grown.

Korben is currently at least 36 inches (haven't measured in a while). If we doubled that now, he would be 6 feet tall when he is full grown. However, the formula says to double it when they are 2.5. That is almost 8 months away! I predict my little boy is going to grow to be taller than his daddy who is 6'2"!

This all became very real to me last week when we were all sick with the stomach bug. Aaron and Korben were still feeling pretty weak, and Korben was resting on his daddy. It is very rare to catch Korben lounging in someone's lap because he is ALWAYS on the move. After taking these pictures I realized just how tall he actually is! He definitely took up "half" of his daddy's length! CRAZY!

















































Poor Korben has had a run of bad luck with his health lately. He caught the stomach bug last week. Then, this week he has been running a fever of around 102. We took him to the doctor yesterday, just minutes before our snow storm hit, and he turned out to have pink eye in BOTH eyes. How did I miss this? As well as a REALLY red throat. I was so glad to hear that his ears looked good though. I'm always afraid to hear that he is going to have ear infections, even if he does have tubes! Dr. Beene gave him an oral antibiotic to kill the pink eye, and she said it could possibly help with his throat if he happens to have strep throat. His strep throat test was negative, but it is not 100% accurate. It is probably something viral though. That is what we do around here...we catch viruses. Professionally.

Cupid, guitars, 4-wheeling, and baby pics!

He doesn't look sick, does he? My poor little guy caught the stomach bug I had, and woke up this morning throwing up. He only wanted to drink water and a little bit of juice today, and his entire diet today consisted of 5 crackers. So far, I have to say, this has been the easiest stomach virus he has ever had. He has had 5 or 6 stomach viruses in his little life, and most of the time they are terrible. He went back and forth from really energetic, and then he would want me to hold him. I snapped these pictures during an energetic time this afternoon while I was tickling him.




















































































I snapped these before we left for church on Wednesday night. Here is my personal "guitar hero" jamming out before going to hear the Refuge Band lead worship.















































He tried to speed out of town on his 4-wheeler the other night before I could get him in the bath tub. Luckily, I caught him before he got too far (after I took the picture of course)!






























I just had to compare a picture I took of Korben today, with a picture I took of him at 2 months old. The picture I took today brought back so many memories of almost every picture I took of him when he was a baby because he would always hold his hands in that same position. Are these not the sweetest shots? Well, I guess I am a little biased!


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SING SING SING

Chris Tomlin's worship song, "Sing, Sing, Sing" has definitely become Korben's #1 favorite song. He asks for "Sing, Sing" all day long, and goes searching for instruments to accompany him. Even when he is done eating in his high chair, he will start beating his spoon and fork together to a beat and start singing "Sing, Sing, Sing..."

All we have talked about the past couple days is how beyond a shadow of a doubt, Korben has "got the music in him." I know every parent thinks their kid is a prodigy at something, so, we're not trying to be obnoxious here. However, he does really seem to have a gift for music. He would rather play with his guitar or drums than ANY of his toys!

He really likes to listen to music and stand up on his stool (his "stage") and dance, while he plays the guitar. Here is a short clip that will give you a little, tiny bit of a preview into what Korben likes to do all day long!

We are amazed at how well he holds the guitar, and how he continues to strum even when he is dancing.




Aaron thinks Korben learned some of his moves from Kris Allen. I'm pretty sure Korben has never even watched Kris Allen, but I'd have to agree that there is an uncanny resemblance of styles!






Have I mentioned how much fun we are having with our boy? :)

Ten Videos!!! You're welcome, Grandmothers!

When Korben was about 10 or 11 months when Lady Gaga came out with the song "Just Dance." We would just die laughing at how our baby, who couldn't even walk yet, would dance his little heart out when he heard this song. Our iPod dock has been broken for almost a year, and when we finally got it fixed, we played "Just Dance" for him to see if he loved it like he did a year ago. Sure enough, he did! I think it is so funny at the end of this video when he notices CC's picture on the shelf while he is dancing! This was shot at the end of November, hence the Christmas decorations.








I shot this at the beginning of December when he had just learned how to say "MEEE" at the end of this song. He LOVES sing this, although, there were a lot of distractions in the back yard that day. He really would have preferred to just "jump", which is what he said during the middle of the song.












These next two are from when Aaron's parents came to eat at my mom's house over the Christmas break. We were watching Korben dance to his favorite song "Down Down." After he had requested to hear "Down Down" about 15 times in a row, I just happened to catch on video when Aaron asked him what he wanted to hear and he said "UP!" I guess he is learning his opposites?





Here is Don (Poppy) showing Korben the video he just shot of him dancing. I love it when Korben puts his hand over his face like he is embarassed!


Here is the video I promised I would post of Korben and his cousins screaming on Christmas eve. It was so hilarious. It made for some great pictures, because it looked like they were smiling!



It is really hard to video Korben while he is "in the moment" anymore because he is so obsessed with my camera. He always wants to see what we're videoing, so the things I videotape are never as cute as the real thing. Korben knows that at the beginning of this particular song, it is a guitar playing. Anytime this song comes on, he runs to his room and gets his guitar. Here is a quick, re-enactment of what Korben does when he hears this song.



Here is the video clip with Korben learning to pray. I tell the entire story of this in the blog post "22 months: facts and stories."



I'm sure you've already seen this one on Aaron's facebook/twitter. But if not, this is one of our favorite videos from Christmas. Korben was teasing the cat with one of those toys that has a string and a fake mouse on the end. We definitely know that Korben was having more fun than the cat! You can't help but laugh when you watch this!



And last, but not least...if you need to see Korben dance to "Down Down' one last time, here it is!

Last night at church

As you probably have heard me say before, Korben loves music. Especially the drums and the guitar. It works out great that he has the opportunity to go early to youth on Wenesday nights and hear the Refuge band warm up. While he was there last night, two of his friends named Gabby and Izzy (almost 2 year old twins) came to visit their babysitter, Dyan, who happens to sing in the band. Korben was so excited to see them, he greeted them with big hugs, complete with the sound effect "awwww" as he patted them on the back. I can't remember if it was me or the twin's mom who said something about a kiss, maybe it was even Korben, but before we knew it Korben had kissed Gabby on the lips. Izzy couldn't be left out, so he kissed her before long too! It was so sweet! So, there you have it...his first kiss was at church, and with twins.

























































































After church, our drummer named Adam, was kind enough to give Korben another drumming lesson. Okay, maybe he just let him hit the drums. But, Adam actually said could already tell Korben had improved since he got his drums for Christmas! Adam really is the sweetest 16 year old guy I know, and Korben just adores him. Praise the Lord for all the great male influences Korben has to look up to in his life.















































Then, we let Korben have a little "open-mic" night when almost everyone had left the Refuge building. As you can tell in these two videos, he loved hearing himself on the microphone!

22 Months old: Lots of facts and stories!

Where has the time gone? On January 10th we began the two month countdown until Korben turns the big TWO!

Here is a bunch of random information about my 22 month old, stud muffin!


He is growing like a little weed. He is somewhere around 32 pounds, and very tall! Strangers will even comment on how tall he is for his age. His 2T clothes fit perfectly, so I know that 3T clothes are on the horizon (his 2T shirts are actually getting a little short, due to his long torso). He wears a size 8 shoe, but not for long, they are already a little bit tight. He wears a size 6 diaper, and will until diapers are no longer a part of our lives.


He is a much better eater than he used to be! He is eating a much wider variety of things than he did a few months ago. He still won't eat everything that we eat, but he is more willing to try things than he ever was. He has developed a love for all different types of berries, which makes me very proud because they are SO good for you. He has been eating blueberries, and strawberries for a while, but now he is eating raspberries and blackberries as well! He loves the little mini oranges ("cuties"), grapes, and (occasionally) bananas. He likes to eat chicken noodle soup (the kind that has characters instead of long noodles, because it is easier for him to pick up in his spoon), and he will occasionally eat things like sausage, ham, bacon. Other than popcorn chicken, Korben would not touch any other type of meat for a long time. So, he is making some progress in his picky eating. He is still a lover of pasta, scrambled eggs, yogurt, soy cheese, popcorn, and green beans!

I remember buying him his first crayons and coloring book back in October, and he really wasn't interested at all. What a difference 3 months can make, because all of a sudden, all he wants to do is COLOR! His favorite thing about coloring is asking you to draw a heart. That is his number one request. He will also ask for you to draw a sun, moon, star, circle, square and the letter "K."



He has started putting two words together a lot more often. The phrases I am hearing the most often are "Open it, get it, read it, color it, and zip it (his jacket)." One of my favorites is when he wants me to hold him he says "hold you." He wanted me to hold him the other day when I was finishing up using the chi (flat iron) on my hair. I said "Just one minute", so he went up to the tv, reached his arms up to Dora, and said "Hold You." It broke my heart that since his Momma didn't pick him up and hold him, he had to go ask a cartoon!

He is also figuring out possession. He will point out things and say "Korben's, Daddy's or Momma's." He also seems to understand to add an "s" to things when there are more than one, such as cups, toys, and blankets. We have been working on saying "No, Thank you" instead of just "No." It cracks me up when he is trying to tell me that he doesn't want to eat something I am offering him because he will shake his head no, but the words coming out of his mouth are "thank you." You try that. It is kind of difficult. Kind of like a "pat your head and rub your tummy" sort of thing!

You know the hand motion you do when you say the words "Come here"? Korben was in his high chair this morning, motioned me with his hand, and said "come here" just as plain as day. I said "excuse me?" and and he did it again...motioned his little hand, and said "come here." I just had to laugh. That was a first.

If you have just put on something new, like a scarf, jacket, or a different shirt, Korben will always tell you "CUUUUUTE." It always makes me feel good, even if he is 22 months old!


On the way home from church last night, I heard Korben sneeze. Before I had a chance to say "Bless you", he said to himself "Korben, bless you." You can tell that this child has not had a sneeze in his life that has gone un-blessed.



He likes to associate the stuffed animals in his room with the animals in his painting. When I get him out of bed in the morning, he never really wants to get "right" out of bed. He likes to stand in his bed and tell me things. Every morning, he grabs his red stuffed snake off the side of his bed, says "snake", and then points at the red snake in the painting and says snake. He even reaches up and touches stuffed snake to the snake in the painting and says "hiss". Then he points at Geoffrey, his giraffe in his room, and then points at the giraffe in the painting. It kind of looks like he is introducing them to each other. "Giraffe? Giraffe. Giraffe? Giraffe."

We sometimes refer to Korben as our little "Holy Spirit" because he never lets us forget to pray. He loves to pray at meals mainly because he loves to hold hands, bow his head, and wait for his big moment to say "AMEN." But last week, he actually prayed by himself for the first time. We had already prayed as a family, and Aaron and I had started eating. Then we noticed Korben bow his head and start talking with his eyes clothes, then he looked up and said "AMEN." That was Korben's first prayer by himself! Then Aaron got his iPhone out, and we videoed his 2nd and 3rd prayers. We're going to be careful to not use this as another one of Korben's "tricks" that we ask him to do all the time. We want to raise him to know that prayer is not just an act or ritual, but it is actually talking to God.


Korben's favorite song for over the past month has been the hip hop song by Jay Sean, called "Down." Korben calls it "Down Down." He asks to hear it at least a thousand times a day because he LOVES to dance to it. He is also into the worship song by Chris Tomlin "Sing, Sing, Sing." He will carry his guitar around the house and just sing the lines "Sing, Sing, Sing" over and over! It is so cute!



His hugs and kisses are life changing. When Korben hugs us now, it is a tight hug, and he will pat your back and say "awwwww" at the same time. Priceless. And, when you put him to bed, he will go back and forth, from hug, to kiss, hug, and another kiss, for about 7 times before he actually "releases" you. I leave his room every night with tears in my eyes because his hugs and kisses are so sweet!


Back in May, Korben's Poppy wrote him a song entitled "Oh Oh, Cheerio" (I'll have to get a video of Poppy singing this whole song...it has multiple verses and everything). This came about when they kept him while we were on the cruise. He would sing it to him every morning when they ate cheerios together. Korben has not forgotten this song. Every couple of days, Korben will just start singing it, out of the blue. Last Sunday he was singing the words "O. I whispered to Aaron, "Listen, he is singing that song." Then, I turned around to smile at Korben and he said, "Poppy!" He KNEW he was singing his Poppy's song! We were so impressed.

Guitar Love

Nothing like a rock concert before bedtime!


And the crowd goes wild for KORBEN...











He looks just like a worship leader to me in this picture because his eyes are closed while he is playing the guitar.

























Picking out his favorite books before bed. "Hop on Pop", "The Foot Book", or "Go Dog Go" are always the top three on his list. You'd swear he could read because he never gets the titles of these books confused, and practically knows every word to "Hop on Pop."

Bye Bye "Bor-tay"

I have no idea why, but for about six months Korben has referred to himself as "Bor-tay." In his head it must have sounded just like "Korben." Every time he would see a picture of himself, he would consistently point himself out and say "Bor-tay." Well, today....it all stopped. I was showing Korben pictures on my blog, and he was naming everyone in the pictures..."Momma, Daddy, Kim, KORBEN." I was like, "Wait, who is that.?" He says, "Korben." JUST AS PLAIN AS DAY. So, I called his daddy (who is currently waiting to catch a plane in Memphis), and said, "I think we have to say goodbye to 'Bortay'" Then I held the phone up to Korben and pointed at his picture, and he spoke into the phone and said "Korben." Aaron couldn't believe it!

Last night, I decided to go look at Korben before I went to sleep. Can you believe that this is how I found him? Here is a little boy over 3 feet tall, crammed in the corner of his big bed...bless him. I'm so proud to know that he knows what a pillow is for though.

Christmas Day

Our car was packed to the ceiling, and we headed off to Heber Springs by 9 a.m. Guess what Korben found in the back seat? I can't believe he loved this hard hat so much! I still can't get him to wear a warm hat when I want him to wear one.

























We arrived in Heber Springs at 10 a.m., and we were greeted at the door by Don, Julie, and Dustin wearing Hawaiian shirts and lays around their neck. We heard Hawaiian music playing in the back ground. I know our eyes were as wide as plates trying to figure out why they were doing that. Before I could get the words out Dustin told me, "Don't get too excited, we're not going to Hawaii." As it turns out, Don had just learned how to play "Mele Kalikimaka" (Merry Christmas in Hawaiian, just in case you've never heard it) on his guitar, and he was going to play it for us. The funny thing is, after all of the "scene setting", he never even played the song!

























Julie and her boys!












































I apologize that I didn't take nearly enough pictures, and the ones I did take are not all that great! The Rodgers family doesn't take nearly as many pictures as the Cunningham family, and I am probably the worst one about taking pictures. With my previous blog posts, I had several people's pictures to choose from. For the Rodgers' house, all I have are my few pictures.

I say all of that to say, because of the poor quality of this picture, I feel like Korben and I could both be part of the Cullen family (I know only a few of you will get that.)





















I absolutely love this wooden puzzle Don and Julie had made for Korben! He has already memorized the "K" and recognizes it when I write it (which says a lot if you know my handwriting). When he sees the "O" he says "circle", which is pretty smart if you ask me!



























Dustin gave Korben this blue truck. It is really cool because it is made of soft plastic so if he were to fall on it, it wouldn't injure him. I just texted Dustin yesterday to tell him that Korben affectionately calls his blue truck "Dushtin." I'm pretty sure he thinks that is the name of the truck, since we told him so many times that Dustin gave it to him! Ha! It is really sweet!

























Don and Julie also got Korben this "Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike." Sadly, I have yet to get a picture of Korben on it. I will get one posted soon. He is making progress on his pedaling, but in the mean time, he really likes the learning aspect of the computer on it.































To go with the giraffe theme, he also got this neat puzzle. His sweet Aunt Tink added this Zebra to his collection of animals from the painting in his room. Thank you, Tink!
























Aaron and I are modeling some of our gifts from Dustin. I got the pretty red scarf, and Aaron's hat is monogrammed to model the hat in the video game, "Halo." Aaron is always blown away with Dustin's creativity.

















Aaron had to make a quick trip back to Fort Smith for church during our time in Heber Springs, but Korben and I just stayed there. After I finished dressing Korben for church, he begged to put on his hard hat and vest...again! Never ceases to amaze me how much he liked that.




























Korben and his Poppy hanging out with Samson.


























Julie had NO food in the house, so poor Korben had to resort to eating this. Okay, so maybe everything about that statement was false. This isn't what it looked like...I promise. It is amazing what the camera can capture in a split second.


























We truly could not have had a better Christmas with our awesome family! I will be posting videos soon!

Christmas Eve- WHAT a day!

After we put Korben to bed on Wednesday night (Christmas Eve Eve), we opened gifts as a family. It is easier to do our personal gifts without him awake, that way we can take our time opening one gift at a time, and make it last. This has been the second Christmas without my dad. It has already become our tradition before we open gifts to spend some family time in prayer. You know how every dad has their "chair"? Well, we circled around my dad's chair, lit a candle next to his picture, and all spent some time thanking God for him. It was wonderful to hear each other's hearts. We all shed some tears together, and I believe that was really healthy for us. Word can not express how much we miss Dad, however, we are all so grateful that we will see him again.
Thank you, Jesus, for the hope we have in you and only you.



Here are all of my Dad's girls (after we cleaned up our runny mascara).
























Christmas Eve morning we were able to give Korben 100% of our attention, because it was all about him and his Christmas gifts! Here he is opening his huge dump truck from his Aunt Kim!








































He couldn't wait to put on his new Elmo slippers. There is something precious about this side profile of Korben in this picture. There will be one day that it won't be cool to wear tight pajamas, and I'm positive that the "diaper booty" won't be adorable forever. But for now, this little profile of my toddler, is the sweetest thing on earth.


























CC got him more Baby Einstein movies. His favorite! This boy loves movies!


























Giving CC a "thank you kiss" while sporting his new Cookie Monster hoodie.



























His soul was made complete when he received these drums from my mom. Korben was born to be a drummer. He has rhythm that is not normal for a baby, I do not think. When our clothes dryer is making that banging noise that all dryers make, Korben will run in the laundry room and start dancing to the sound. He has a toy train that his Aunt MeeMee gave him for Christmas. His favorite thing about it is the button that makes the "Chuga Chuga Chuga" sound. Why, you ask? Because it is the perfect sound for dancing! I will post a video of my rhythmically advanced little boy soon!




























This was seriously the most fun day. We had tons of new stuff to play with, and had a Christmas party with all of our cousins to look forward to that night. We were supposed to be at our cousin's house for our family Christmas party at 4:30, and Korben needed to work in a 2 hour nap before we left for their house at 4:00. One second it was 8 a.m., the next second it was 1:30, and I hadn't even thought about putting him down for a nap because we were having so much fun with our new stuff! I love days like that. It all worked out though, he got a great nap and was raring to go play with his cousins by 4!


























We had to do a picture at the piano to compare his growth with last year.
























Last Christmas







































Family picture before nap time!























Awake from his nap, dressed and ready to go to his cousin's Christmas party. I promise you, it was completely Korben's idea to wear his new hard hat and vest. He took it very seriously.





























Christmas party time! We had to take a picture of ourselves...not for lack of people to take the picture, it is just sort of our trademark shot! Haha!






























Korben and his hero, Carson.






























Priceless memories with the best cousins in the whole world. They are screaming at the top of their lungs, having the time of their lives. (will post video soon)








































Kim pointed out to me that if we wanted a preview at what Korben will look like in a few years when he sings in his first preschool choir performance at church...here it is!





























God, bless these sweet little boys. Please let them grow up to love you and each other!




















We couldn't have had a more ideal Christmas Eve with our family. We are so blessed, and I refuse to take a moment of it for granted!