My Sweet Kids

What a fun summer it has been with these three. It has flown by with all the excitement of welcoming Gus into our family and getting settled into our new way of life with three little ones. Sometimes I feel like an octopus trying to do 8 things at one time but I'm thankful for my experience as a waitress and a nurse that has made me somewhat of a master multi-tasker and that makes my life possible. Here's some updates on the kids for those interested . . .

Claire is 3 1/2 now and just a doll. She and her Daddy have a slobbering love affair going on :) that is fun for me to watch. She loves to just stroke his face and tell him how much she loves him and he calls her his "sweetie" and yearns to spend time with her. They are planning a date for sometime in the near future and she talks about it all the time. Claire is bright and thoughtful. She and Ford have really hit a stride in their relationship where (most days) they play together nicely and I get to hear giggles and laughter and silliness coming from her room where they like to play. She loves Gus and tells him so about 20 times a day. She is a huge help - getting me diapers, finding a lost paci in the back seat, pretty much whatever I ask her to do she does with a smile and a loving heart. She loved gymnastics and ballet this summer. I can tell she has gotten stronger and more flexible since she started both. She has also finally learned to pedal a bike. It took forever but she finally has it. Since we are starting homeschool in Kenya I thought I would start building in some time each day to have some school time. To my surprise she is really excited about me being her teacher because she "wants to be with me all the time . . . forever". I know she won't always feel that way so I'm relishing in it now. We spend some time each afternoon after the boys are down for their nap doing some "school papers" (workbook pages), starting her handwriting curriculum (Handwriting Without Tears - awesome) and reading. Her not me. Yep she can read. I know, she's 3. She just knew all the letters then she knew all the sounds then she just started sounding words out and asking me how to spell everything. Now she reads little books. So fun! She is excited about moving to Kenya and asks me a lot of really thoughtful questions about it all the time. I show her as many pictures as possible so she can have a mental picture of our new home. I also kind of promised her that we would get a dog and a bunny (Rhett doesn't know this yet - I guess he will now) I think I can sell him on it because I hear we need a dog as a security system and a bunny is a great pet for a 3 year old - it just hops around our yard and eats our scraps. We will deal with when a big bird of prey swoops down and takes Flopsy away when and if that happens. The other day I had to tell her that her grandparents wouldn't be at her birthday party in Kenya. This obviously made her very sad and she said she didn't want to go. She told me instead she wanted to go to "that place where they grow pineapple and there are no snakes". I asked her "Hawaii?" Her response "Yeah - Hawaii - that's where I want to go!".

Ford . . . oh sweet Ford. He hasn't changed much since the day he was born. SWEET. Just a pleasure to know and be around. He is very tough and playful and boyish but yet still tender and gentle. He is so loving (minus a few hairpulling episodes with his sister). He loves to play outside and cries and cries and cries when we make him come in. He loves to throw balls, or rocks, or sticks or whatever. He loves to jump off of just about anything too. His vocabulary is increasing everyday. He says cute things like "I wanna EAAAATT!". He doesn't know the words to his favorite songs (Twinkle, Twinkle; ABCD; God Our Father) but he knows the tune and makes up the words as close as he can as he goes along. His favorite book is Good Night Moon. He could find that mouse on every page the second time we read it. He keeps a few books in his bed and I will find him in there long after bedtime just browsing the pages enthralled. He welcomes Rhett or me home with a huge, running, arms wide open hug and a "Mooommmmyyy! or Hi Daddy!" in the cute way only he can say it. He says good bye to everyone with a big kiss square on the lips. He tells us when he has a poopy diaper (holding off on training until we make our move). He eats everything and loves cookies. He falls asleep at precisely 1pm every day and sleeps until 4pm. He goes to bed again at 7pm and wakes up at 730 am. You can set your clock by him. He has almost learned his colors but he calls pink "Claire" which I think is pretty cute. He also points out letters and calls them all "E". He has no idea we are moving to Africa - how much can a 22 month old understand about that? But I think he will be pretty psyched about it once he realizes all of the outdoor potential.

Gus is almost 4 months old. He is a carbon copy of my other two babies - really delightful and fun. He eats well, sleeps well and is really adaptable. I'm trying to let him settle into a routine but it's a challenge with these other two in tow and all that entails. There have been few naps in his cradle and many, many naps in the car seat and swing. Hopefully as school starts after Labor Day I can let him get at least two of his naps in his bed around the carpool schedule at school. We will see. Gus is full of smiles and makes lots of cute little noises. We are currently battling out whether or not he is going to suck his fingers (his preference) or a pacifier (my preference). He only cries when he gets too tired and other than that just kind of hangs out with us! He has rolled over a few times from front to back which I think is earlier than my other two. I don't know how much he weighs right now but he looks very healthy to me. Verdict is still out on his eyes. We thought blue in the beginning but now I'm not so sure. Rhett is hopeful he will pull through and have brown eyes like him. I'm hoping for a sweep with blue - we will see! He is dearly loved by all of us and has been the perfect addition to our family.

I've composed no less than 5 mental blog posts in the past few weeks. I just can't get them down. My parents are here for a visit for the next several days so maybe I'll be able to catch up!