To my Sweet Blake on his Fourth Birthday

I just love this tradition of writing a special letter to each of my kids on their birthdays.  I hope they will treasure these years down the road when they are out of the house.  I know that time will come all too soon.  I always just sit here and bawl when I look back on the past year and realize how fast time is going, and how quickly my little babies are growing up.

Blake, you told me that you would be my baby until you turned four, so I guess that changes today.  :)

This picture just sums you all up, Blake.  You are so happy and laid back.  Jane will be pulling your hair and you just very patiently say, "Mom, the baby is pulling my hair," and then wait until I come to your rescue.  It's a very rare occasion when you get angry or grumpy.  You're my little ray of sunshine.

You love all things super heroes right now.  You dress up in your many costumes throughout the day and run around saving the world. More often than not when you are watching Netflix, it's the Batman or Spider Man cartoon.

You adore your sisters. You want to do everything Natalie does, and are very influenced by her.  Which is why we are always reminding her to be a good example.  You even said to me the other day, "I want to marry Natalie, because she's nice".  Even when Natalie hurts you or doesn't want to play with you, you are so quick to forgive and forget.  You are so full of love.  I just melt when you come up from behind me multiple times a day, hug my legs and say, "Mom I love you so much!"  You have such a tender heart.  You smother your sister Jane with hugs and kisses, even though she gets irritated and pushes you away.

You're a naturally good boy.  You're sensitive to others' feelings and are always the first one to jump in to help when I need it.  When someone's sad, you take notice and try to console them.

You're very in tune with your surroundings and this incredible world that God created.  Many times, you've mentioned, "Mom, this is a really beautiful day." or "Mom, look how blue the sky is."  You say often, "I love our home".

You are a very grateful and apologetic person as well.  You're quick to say thank you, even for little things.  For example, not long ago, I made you a super hero mask in about a minute out of paper.  It was a shoddy job, but you were so pleased and said, "Thank you for my mask!" and wore it all day.  About a month ago you had the stomach flu and threw up all over your bed during the night.  The next day you said, "Mom, I'm really sorry for making a mess last night".  So sweet.

You started preschool this year and love to interact with the kids there.  You've always been so friendly and outgoing.  You used to say "hi" to random strangers at the grocery store and tell them stories.

I love the way you talk, how there are only a few consonants that you can pronounce correctly, even though it means speech class might be imminent when you start school.  It's cute and it's who you are right now.  Natalie will try to coach you in the back seat of the car when we're driving her to school and get really frustrated, trying to get you to say it right, but in your mind, you are.  The funniest example of this was when she was correcting you and you said very matter of factly, "I said it wight!"  We all got a good laugh out of that one.

I just love all your sweet mannerisms.  You are my adorable and precious boy and I feel so blessed to be your mom.  What a privilege and joy it is.  I love you Blake!

Love Mom

Blake's Pics

I brought my nice camera to the park today and had tons of fun snapping pics of the kids while they played. Blake kept saying, "Hey Mom! Take a picture of me here!  Now here!"  I love that he wears his snow boots everywhere.  He's totally attached to them. :)

We love this boy!

Look Who's 18 Months Old!

I can't believe that our sweet Jane is already 18 months old.  How time flies!  She is such a joy to have in our home.  She may be little, but she has a big personality!  She can be so sweet one moment and totally feisty the next.  She loves to snuggle with each of us in her towel right after her daily bath (which she won't let me skip).  She adores her brother and sister and wants to do everything they do.  The only words she says right now are "Momma", very rarely a "Dadda", and as of last week "baby".

She is so loving with us.  She'll grab my face with both hands and come in for a wet kiss and a face snuggle.  She loves dolls and barbies, watching princess movies and having water tea parties at Natalie's little table.

Most of all, she loves books!  All day long, she brings me books and pulls herself up on my lap so I can read them.

Every morning she wakes me up with a little "Ah?" (it sounds like a question) and it slowly gets louder until I go get her.  :)  If I let it go for too long, she'll break out into a cry, but otherwise she usually wakes up very happy.

She's a definite go-getter!  She knows exactly what she wants and is so determined.  The other day she made a huge mess with a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom and even dipped it in the toilet.  When I was cleaning up in there, she came in and tried to pull more toilet paper off the roll.  So I put her out of the bathroom and locked the door.  Our bathroom has two doors, and I didn't think I'd need to lock the other one, but she outsmarted me and ran around and came through that door.  She then immediately started making another mess.  :)

 She loves being outside, so I took her and Blake to the park to play.  Without fail every time we go there, she ends up bleeding in some form or another.  The last two times have been from a bloody nose and this time was a bitten lip.  She's a daredevil and goes down the huge twirly fast slides on the big kids' playground, which is where most of the injuries happen.

 

We just love this girl!

I wish my kids would stop growing up so fast, but I'll admit I'm relieved that she's in nursery now, so I can finally start attending my classes again.