What's Happening With the Hagers: September 2011

Okay...so I barely missed August's post, but geesh, we had a lot of preparations going on at the Hager house and not to mention we had to squeeze every single second from our summer! Preparations for school..yep that's right, not just me going back to school this year, but my babies just got bigger! Braydon is now attending kindergarten, and much to my dismay, Rhett is now going to pre-school. Nothing against the pre-school, it's just that due to his late birthday he will get a good three year dose of pre-school and misses his private sitter terribly.
One of the hardest parts of the past few weeks is the separation anxiety Rhett has been experiencing..not from me...from his brother! I can only hope they stay as close as they have been this summer. Rarely is one without the other and this summer they began to play together more and seemed to really enjoy one another's company. Of course, there were times they pestered each other and pushed one another's buttons, but for the most part they are best friends, which makes me so happy! After we had Braydon I knew in my heart of hearts that we just had to have another baby. I had selfish reasons of course...you know when the baby loses his baby look and you miss that baby smell around the house? but the more long-term reason was so that Braydon would never have to be alone once Garett and I move on. I know that my siblings are a blessing now that I'm an adult. If you would have asked me that 15 years ago my answer may have been different, but there are also many more years between us than between my boys, so for me at times it was like having another set of parents. But now, they are my best friends and I depend on them for many things. The cool thing is that Braydon and Rhett seem to have that bond now and I can only imagine how much stronger that has the potential of being as they grow. I often pray that I won't screw that up for them by the way I treat them in relation to one another. They are so different in their personalities that you do sometimes have to treat them differently and I never want to favor one over the other. It is true that you don't love more one than the other. I know my mother -in- law told me that when I was pregnant with Rhett and worried at first of how I could ever love another baby boy as much as I have loved the the first born. But you just do..your heart grows in size so that your love knows no limits.
With all that being said...it is so cute to see Rhett follow Braydon as if he is his one and only role model. In turn, it is adorable to see Braydon teach Rhett everything he knows as if his 2 1/2 years seniority has given him many moons of expertise to share. Rhett follows up with everything Braydon says with a head nod and a look as if he could never be wrong or untruthful. He is consoled by him, seeks his approval and watches his every move. It was heartbreaking and so sweet at the same time the first week of school when Rhett cried as Braydon boarded his bus because he didn't have a bus and then cried again when Braydon got off the bus at Rhett's pre-school, which is Braydon's after school care, and hugged Rhett for a millisecond before he ran off to play with his same aged friends. He can also be the most hurt by him and gets the most aggravated with him at times..after all they are still brothers. But I truly think they have a bond that will stand the test of time. When I get down because I know we won't have more babies I think of what a third may do to their relationship and count my blessings that we have two awesome boys that will have one another forever...I just wish they didn't grow so fast, because when one is grown...I know the other will only want to "follow him"!