First ever blog!

I am starting this blog for selfish reasons. As much as I would love people to read and know what is happening day in and day out in the Rhoden household, I am mainly doing this to have a place to jot down the joys and trials of all that God is doing in our lives as we raise our boys, extend our arms and hearts to family and friends and fall more and more in love with our savior, Jesus Christ! Some posts may be about an area God is working on in my life personally or may be about how sick I am of changing 2 little boys diapers. :) For this first one, I am going to do a quick overview. So here goes….

Kellen is wrapping up the great age of two and we are looking forward to what his third year will bring! Having a two year old has been great! Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of melt-down moments as we all were learning how to balance life with a new member added to our family. Kellen spent a lot of this year testing his independence and we are learning how much he can do on his own and when we need to step in for a little assistance. He is talking and talking and talking! He has so much to say, and we love it! He is constantly cracking us up and he is a pure joy! When we (try) to discipline him, we usually have to turn our head away from him or walk out of the room in order to get control of our laughter and try to remain somewhat serious! Our next big adventure/task is potty training! I have a feeling that that will be one big post in the near future. :)

We welcomed Austin Kevin on September 30th! On his wonderful "Auntie Auntie's" birthday! For those of you who don't know how to interpret Kellen-ese, it is referring to Auntie Andi! Kellen is now realizing that Austin is a living, breathing human bean and enjoying his life as a big brother. Reading, kissing, tickling and every once in a while poking Austin in the face. But Austin already loves his big brother! It is amazing to watch how interested Austin is in Kellen. I am looking forward to watching their bond as brothers grow. Austin has been smiling and laughing for a while, started rolling over this week and is constantly talking! He must realize that in order to keep up with his brother he has to start communicating now! :)

Ryan and I are loving our life! We do reminisce about "life before kids". Sleeping in, leaving the house in less then 5 minutes, late night dinners at Porters....But there is NO way we would trade what we have now. Even when it does take me 20 minutes to get the boys out the door to run one errand, to have Kellen's telling me, "stop mom, I will open the door for you," makes it all worth it! :)

I think I am going to call this first blog "good". Both boys are sleeping and I am going to get the legos picked up before Kellen makes his grand entrance and Austin realizes he is hungry once again. Until next time...