Good Days...

Some days are tougher than others. And others seem to flow effortlessly and are filled with joy and peace. Today began rough. I've been up since 5:30am, and not by choice. :) By 9:30am, I hit my wall for the day. The kiddos were driving me nuts. And I was tired. But I began praying and asked to the Lord to meet me. I had to rely on Him for strength today. I put on their favorite worship DVD (a live concert by Jana Alayra). And we danced. We laughed. We worshiped together. And we had a lot of fun. The day has slowly gotten better. Sarah is having longer moments of contentedness (though as I am typing this, she is crying in her crib). She just does not like to be put down for any amount of time. She's discovered people. And she wants to be in someone's arms all. the. time. :) And since she's cute and I love her more than words can say...she gets what she wants MOST of the day. But my arms are tired (and so is she). So I'm letting her try to discover the beauty of self-soothing. Sadly, it's not going very well. But here are a few pics from one of her content periods today:

{can't}

 {get}

 {enough}

And these two spent the morning getting on each other's (and my) nerves. But after lunch, they played quietly and VERY well together. LOVING the peace in my home. :)

Here is a little video clip from our time watching/listening/dancing to Jana Alayra. Isaac's definitely got some moves! Wonder where he got those?? ;)

One last thing. As I am wrapping up this post, baby number three just SOOTHED HERSELF!! I can hear her sucking away at her fingers. Woohoo! What a clever baby! Praise God! :)

Naps...

Most days recently, we have been allowing the kids to have quiet times in their rooms (playing quietly) rather than making them take naps. They are both on the cusp of not necessarily needing naps. They seem to handle themselves OKAY without them, as long as they are in bed by 6:30 or 7pm. But a lot of days, this is how I find them anyway:

So maybe they do still need naps from time to time? ;) And on days like this when they happen to fall asleep during quiet time, they are up until after 9pm. It means less alone time for Kevin and me...but boy do I enjoy that nice break in my afternoon! :) Right now we're just taking it day by day. Some days they do wonderfully without naps. Others, I make them lay down because it's obvious that they need one. And yet others, I think they'll be fine without, but they take it upon themselves to doze off. :) It works for us. :)

SMILES!!

{Now THIS is what I'm talking about!}

Having my baby smile at me will NEVER grow old! I could do this all day long. Oh wait...I DO! :) Well...when she's not fussy. Hehe. The past two days have actually been MUCH better. Not sure what changed, but she's been more content and smiley!! Don't get me wrong...she still wants to be held constantly. But at least she's a bit more pleasant while I am! :) She's also starting organizing her night time sleep pretty nicely. She nurses around 7pm, down to bed...and then gets up just once around 2am to nurse quickly, and then sleeps until after 7am!! Woohoo for SLEEP! :) Let's hope this stays! Just trying to treasure these moments!

And other recent moments worthy of treasuring:

Yesterday, I was ignoring Naomi because she was whining, "Moooommmmmy!" over and over again. Finally, she stopped whining, looked me square in the face and said, "LESLIE! PLEASE help me!" LOL. I almost died laughing. Isaac was quick to correct her, "Naomi...that's her name, but we call her MOMMY!" Hehe. Super cute!

And after telling the kids to keep away from Sarah so they don't spread their eye infection to her, they both kept referring to their infections as "confessions." All day, I would hear, "Naomi...be careful! Don't give your confession to the baby!" or "Mommy, will my confession spread to the rest of my body?" or "So these drops are going to help my confession?" LOL. I reminded them of the proper way to say it a couple of times, but then just enjoyed the cuteness of the mix-up! :)

One more from today...

{it's an outside in our jammies with pink eyes kind of day}

Nakey Babies...

These two are CONSTANTLY changing clothes throughout the day. Naomi more so than Isaac. They LOVE playing dress up. One minute they are superheros fighting against the evils of this world, and the next they are fairies and princesses. :) Pretty fun. And they also spend most of their days (when at home) dressed in what they like to call "nakey babies," which means that they run around in just their underwear. Even in the chilly house in the middle of winter.

 And took this one of Naomi today...

{pink eye is NO fun}

And big brother has it now too...in both eyes! That means that I have to manage getting drops into both eyes of both kids FOUR times each day (that's sixteen drops every day for a week). Ha! I've tried every bribe in the book. We've prayed before trying it. I've tried just about everything imaginable. The nurse's advice: wrap them in a blanket and hold them down while you get help from another adult to pry their eyes open. Seriously? Someone needs to invent something to make this easier!! If only I had the time! :)

Proving us wrong...

{Proving us wrong}

She has been giving us "social" smiles (big ones and small ones) for the past two days. LOVING it!

If it's not one thing...

...it's something else! :)

So Naomi has pink eye. Or at least that's what I'm fairly certain she has. It's pink, watery, and keeps producing copious amounts of green goop. Lovely, eh? And very interesting to know that pink eye is the one childhood ailment that does not warrant a doctor's visit for getting medicine to care for it! So woohoo for not having to go back to the doctor this week! :)

More Doctor Appointments

We just got back from our Disney vacation. I'll be sure to post some photos in the next week or so. It was a GREAT time...the kids had a BLAST! :) This morning, I took Isaac and Sarah in to the doctor for their well-baby checks. Both kiddos are healthy and seem to be doing well. And here are their stats...

Isaac
weight: 37lbs (60th percentile)
height: 40.5in (55th percentile)
blood pressure: 84/42

Sarah
weight: 12lbs8oz (90th percentile)
height: 23.25in (80th percentile)
head circumference: 15.5in (65th percentile)

So Isaac continues to be right at average for his height and weight. And to think he started out SO big for his age!! Let's hope miss Sarah evens out soon too! Hehe. The only thing the doctor told us to keep an eye on was Sarah's social development. Much like Isaac was, she is a late smiler. I really do think she smiled at me a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't really done it again until today. I still can't determine if she's actually looking at me when she's smiling, though.

She spends most of her days quite discontented. If I put her down for even a second, she screams hysterically. So. Not. Cool. I have two other children to care for...I cannot tend to her every cry. Having a baby with colic definitely starts to wear on you after awhile. I just keep trying to sing worship songs or pray through her periods of fussiness. And some of the time, my nerves are so frazzled that I feel like crying myself. But other times, I just tune out the crying and go about my day as if I don't hear her at all. God, how I wish this horrific phase of her life would be over soon! I am SO tired.

Dear Isaac...

Gosh. How is this possible? That I could be sitting here writing you a letter for your FOURTH birthday?!? Where, oh where has the time gone? I am a bit emotional about it all. Every day I spend with you, I am just amazed at how much you've grown up. I feel like it was just yesterday that you were a newborn baby, cuddling up in my arms. Now, at four-years-old, you're a big bundle of energy that still likes to cuddle up every now and then! And boy do I love it when you do!!

While being your mommy can be challenging at times, you also bring me more joy and laughter than I ever knew was possible! You have a WONDERFUL sense of humor and delight in making people laugh. Though as you've gotten older, you have begun using more inappropriate methods of doing so (such as using potty talk or tooting on people). You have THE BEST belly laugh of any kid I've ever met, and give the BEST bear hugs. You are also very sweet-spirited. You're empathic, and when someone is hurting, you are quick to try to help them or bring them comfort. You are keenly aware of other people's emotions and pick up on little things that many adults don't even pick up on.

While you can get on your sister's nerves often, you usually aren't that way with other kids. You're not aggressive or mean. In fact, in a large group of kids, you tend to be an observer...a bit more timid and shy than the average kid. You like to study situations before jumping in. While you enjoy wrestling and being "all boy" you are usually the first to be upset when others get too rough with you. You are sensitive...yet strong.

And you have a deep sense of justice and we have been amazed at your boldness to stand up for what is right. Some examples of this are when you feel like we've been too harsh with Naomi, you'll yell at us, "Hey! Don't treat her like that! That's not RIGHT!" We have to explain to you why she got whatever consequence she received. But you almost always come to her rescue when she has gotten into trouble. At Christmas this year, during our "white elephant" gift exchange, you were appalled at the injustice of people stealing presents from each other (which is part of the game). At one point, you had the audacity to stand up and yell at one of the adults for taking someone else's gift! It surprised us all, and it made me smile. I just *know* that God is going to use this deeply-rooted sense of justice in you some day! One time, while in a childcare setting with lots of children, the workers were getting ready to put on a show that you're not supposed to watch. You told them THREE times (to be sure you were heard), that you weren't allowed to watch it. I was SO proud of you and your desire to do the right thing!

You are also very loving. You don't know a stranger, and will open up conversation with anyone you meet. While on vacation last year, we spent about five minutes talking to some elderly folks (there were five of them in their 70-80's) while waiting on daddy to meet us with the van. When I told you and Naomi to say goodbye to these kind people, you went up and gave each one of them a big hug as you said goodbye. They were delighted in how sweet you were.

You are definitely ALL BOY...and find great pleasure in antagonizing most people (and animals) you are around. You really only do this with people who you are VERY comfortable with, like our family. Some days, I wish that I could just bottle up some of your energy! You LOVE to run...and are actually QUITE fast for your age. You love racing people, play tag, dancing, doing gymnastics, riding your bike, swimming, and anything else SUPER active! You love being outside and getting dirty. And you also enjoy playing with your toys. Your favorite things to play with are your building blocks, dinosaurs, and "bad guys." In fact, you are somewhat obsessed with bad guys. You also enjoy dressing up with your sister from time to time and will even play "princesses" with her.

You also have quite a long attention span and love to sit and listen to stories. Your favorite books include anything with some drama in it, and you LOVE it when we make up stories to tell you. You also enjoy watching shows...your favorites are Curious George, Super Why, and Bibleman. I'm always amazed at how much you remember. You really do have a very special mind...with an uncanny ability to remember details from books, movies, and real life. We are always so surprised at how much you can recall.

We have recently taken a long break from homeschooling. When we were really working at it, you had actually started memorizing Scripture and several sight words. You are getting very close to being able to read. I am just waiting for you to show more signs of being interested in it before really plunging in. You currently know all of your letters and their sounds (so you are able to sound out a lot of words). But you can only write about five of them. You still struggle with number recognition and simple math problems. So your strengths definitely seem to lie in language development (no surprise there). :)

Some of your favorite things include...
Food: fluffer-nutters (peanut butter and marshmellow sandwhich), shrimp, carrots, green beans, ANYTHING really...you are a GOOD eater! :)
Restaurant: Benihana
Color: Blue
Shows: Bibleman, Wild Kratts, Curious George, Kids 10 Commandments
Friends: all of our neighbors (Gracie, Sam, Emma, Claire, and Micah), Morgan, and Caleb
Toys: space ships, guns, action figures or "bad guys," robots
Game: hide and seek
Books: pretty much everything we read, you love
Animals: Lions, snakes, dogs
Clothes: NONE! You LOVE running around in just your underwear!

Many of our days lately have been difficult. You've been displaying lots of negative emotions (anger, frustration, etc). And you have even gone as far as punching me last week. I'm guessing that a lot of it has to do with the new addition to our family. You are absolutely IN LOVE with your new sister, but she also cries a lot and takes away a lot of our attention. And I think acting out has been your way of gaining our attention. But make no mistake...you are such a blessing to us, Isaac. You bring SO much joy and laughter to our lives. You are full of life and passion. You are bold and sincere. And open. You aren't afraid to show us your emotions and I am genuinely thankful for that!! I do look forward to getting past this grumpy phase of life you've been in. But you, my son, are a rare gift. You have been blessed with a beautiful mind and a genuine heart. And I look forward to see what this next year of life holds for us all! I love you more than words can say! Happy FOURTH Birthday, son!