February 19, 2014

 Spencer likes setting up "fwee sample" booths in our kitchen during the time I'm cooking dinner.  It's...really helpful..

 This chubby angelbaby loooooves solid foods.  No surprise there.

 Spencer went on a field trip to HEB with some friends.  He had more fun than this picture suggests.

 O-bear and I have fun together at his doctor check-ups.  Especially when Dad comes home to watch Spencer so that I don't have to bring him, too...

 Remember Landon?  He's in kindergarten, so he misses out on a lot of photo ops around our house.  So I try to catch him when I can.

I can never get enough of this face. Or babies this age.

Life rolls on! Being a mom of three is definitely different.  Owen has reached that semi-mobile stage where I have to be careful where I put him down and what he's putting in his mouth.  And he is a HEAVY little (big) thing.  So my back is pretty tired from carting him around all day.  We'll figure it out.  His happy little (big) nature has just graced our family so perfectly.  He's brought his own special light and spirit to our home, and I just love it.  He fits in so perfectly with the other two.  He makes me want to have seven more kids. (I won't.)  Talk to me again about that when he's 14 months, but seriously, right now... is there a happier creature in the world than a 7-8 month old smiley baby??  I submit to you, there is not.  I could just eat him. And there would probably be plenty left over.

Spencer is just blossoming (sorry, that's not a very manly word, Spence, but it was the best I could come up with) into such a sweet little boy.  Since Landon is gone at school, Spencer has definitely stepped up to the plate to "take cah-wa" me.  He has mellowed out a LOT and is just a cheerful happy little thing most of the time.  He has such a fantastic imagination and a cute little face.  He's such a huge spirit in such a small little body--I suppose I can relate to that.  Definitely not a wallflower, our little Spence.  He's doing awesome in primary.  I don't want to say I was totally surprised, but I was.  I thought he would hate it.  But I owe much of that to Debbi and Jessi, his teachers.  They really "get" Spencer, and just love him, and that means a lot to me to see how kind and patient they are with him.

Landon continues to be a stellar kindergartener.  We had a couple "incidents" this past weekend with some pantry-sneaking, but after a few good discussions and an FHE lesson, we are hopefully back on the right track. It's so hard with the oldest one because I feel like we're constantly treading in unfamiliar territory.  Every new stage is different.  And BK and I make mistakes sometimes with the way we deal with things, but Landon is just such an awesome kid.  I'm sitting here tearing up just thinking about how great he is, and how much I look up to him.  I see so much of myself in him, but he's balanced out a lot better with a calm streak from BK.  His younger brothers are so lucky to have him.  I know he will be a great example for them in so many things, as he already is now.  He's so patient with Spencer most of the time.  They share a room, and I know Spence drives him nuts sometimes, but he lets Spencer sleep in his bed because Spencer gets scared sleeping in his own bed by himself right now.  And most nights when I go to turn off their nightlight, I find them fast asleep right next to each other.  I'm so glad they have each other.

I feel like life both encourages me and humbles me on a daily basis.  Being a mom is hard, but it's also the best thing I've ever done.  I learn something every single day.  And I laugh hard every single day--sometimes at myself, sometimes with myself.  I tickle my kids and I pinch their buns every single day--all three of them.  Their laughter and smiles are a balm for my anxious little (big) spirit.
Every night before I put Owen to bed, I rock with him in his room and nurse him with just his nightlight on.  After he's done eating, I pick him up to walk him across the room, but usually I just stop and hold him for a minute before I put him down.  He's awake, but so tired, so his body just rests against my chest and his head lays heavy on my shoulder.  I just hug him so tight and make him promise to stop growing so big already, and I kiss the top of his head and just relish in his calmness.  (I'm realizing I need more calm in my life.)
Every morning, whichever of the older boys wakes up first comes and gets in bed with me.  They usually don't say anything, but they cuddle up close to me and stroke my hair.  When I open my eyes, they tell me good morning with such a huge smile on their face--they're so happy to see me--and while maybe it still takes me a few moments to be happy about being woken up before 7, I sit here now, happy that they love me so much.  No matter how rocky the day was before.
Speaking of calm in my life--I'm grateful that I'm married to Mr. Calm himself.  We balance each other out so well.  I feel like he doesn't get mentioned a lot on this here blog, (mostly because I don't want to share details of his work day online for multiple reasons) but he's still around! He works hard and takes a lot of extra hours so we can have extra money to do fun things. He's given me such a beautiful life, and one of these days I'm hoping I'm not a tired, haggard, trainwreck by the time he gets home in the evening, so that he can see I really do enjoy myself most of the time.
Well, I'm going to go soak up the last couple of hours of my day in a good book.  :)

Feburary 3, 2014

Owen has recently taken an interest in his older brothers.  They love making him giggle and smile.  I still have to remind them about 6 gajillion times a day to give him space and not talk so loudly in his ears, but mostly, I'm just glad they like him, and he likes them.  Give him another year and I'm sure he'll be running around and a part of their brother puppy pack for real.  He's lucky to have been born into a family with such awesome brothers already!

It has made my heart grow about three sizes watching Spencer figure out what being a big brother is.  He seems to realize this added responsibility to take care of Owen and look out for him.  He's matured a lot in the past couple of months since he's decided he's head over heels for "Baby Oh-beh." [O-bear.  He hasn't quite mastered "R"s yet... haha!)  Spencer is the most imaginative little three year old ever.  He is constantly building something or pretending something.  He entertains himself so easily.  He is so delightful to be around these days.  He's cheerful for the most part and has lots of interesting things to do and say all day long.  I laugh at least 586 times a day at the things he says and does.  His latest self-given responsibility is bringing a snack in the car for Landon when we go to pick him up from school.  He jumps out of bed after his nap (He still takes a 3 hour nap... bless him.) and immediately starts brainstorming snack ideas.  He gets two granola bars or string cheeses or what have you and heads to the car.  He carefully guards Landon's snack and excitedly hands it to him when he gets in the car.  It's so sweet.

Landon continues to be such a responsible and mature little 5 year old.  He loves going to school.  He's definitely tired and cranky when he gets home, but I can tell he's getting used to it!  All of the sudden he knows how to read, too.  No surprise there, but it's still so cool to see his little brain work and figure out new things.  He's amazing, not only because he is so smart, but because he seems to understand other people's emotions in a very mature way for a small child.  It's hard to explain, but he's just so observant and concerned about "big people" things.  I try to remember to still treat him his real age and let him be a kid, but at the same time, I really appreciate his independence and ability to help around the house.  We are lucky to have him!

BK and I chose our family theme for 2014.  It's the hymn "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?"  Each month we are going to discuss a different line of the song.  We listen to a cute version of this song almost every day in the car and the kids almost have all of the words down! It's been a good reminder for me to have this written on my chalkboard in the kitchen.  When I find myself getting irritated about an inconvenient service opportunity, I try to remember the words and make my choices based on them.  It's helped a lot.  But of course, because the Lord is so merciful, He always seems to bless us tenfold when we make the smallest of efforts.  In one instance this past month, I knew of a friend who needed a rather large favor--my first reaction was to not volunteer to help, but I looked at my chalkboard and felt guilty--how can I teach my children to serve and love doing it when I'm not? So I changed my mind and responded to her plea.  It ended up being a huge blessing to our family in a couple of unexpected ways. I wasn't really expecting to get anything in return, but like I said, it seems like when you do service, you end up being the one who gets more out of it--more patience, more humility, more perspective.  At the end of the day, it really does come down to what we've been able to do for others--not about our perfectly scheduled day or about getting all of our "wants." This is what I've learned so far with this little project.  I still have much to learn!!

Well, the little chickadees are getting restless... it's that magic hour right before BK gets home... I better go come up with a plan for dinner and take some deep breaths! ;)