The baby

This little guy has stolen my heart...I'm completely in love with a two foot five, seventeen and a half pound, toothless, incontinent man who barfs on me several times a day. What can I say? Mothering hormones are one of God's best creations--and this smile can melt the hearts of people who aren't even blood related to him:

He's such a sweet, easygoing baby. He will let anyone hold him and doesn't even complain when his brother accidentally rolls him off the (thankfully low) futon. Not that that happened here this afternoon.

He's only four months old, but I really can't imagine my life--or our family--without darling little David Samuel. It's especially meaningful to have a baby at Christmas time. What a good reminder for me of how Christ humbled himself to become a tiny, toothless, incontinent, barfy little guy. For us. It's amazing, if you think about it. Merry first Christmas, baby David!

Hava Joy

My baby girl is growing up...she's starting to use the potty chair, wear Disney princess undies, learn her colors and numbers and shapes, and talk to us about everything! We get a kick out of her telling us stories. Yesterday she told me a joke that went a little like this:

Havilah: poopoo diaper

Me: you have poop in your diaper?

H: yes

M: (opening the diaper) no just pee

H: poop! Hahahaha!!!

M: just pee

H: (wicked laugh) that's funny!

Hey, it's funny if you're two years old.

Come to think of it, so much of a two-year-old's life is about their bathroom business. Frankly, I'm getting a bit over-pooed these days, but that's a different story. She and I both chuckled over her first joke. I know there are many others to come--probably all bathroom jokes, too!

Hava is a ham and a charmer (today she announced "I'm a cute girl!") but she can also be quite emotional and aggressive. John had a huge Hava-bite-size bruise on his leg last week. I think he took her baby doll or something else offensive and she took a chunk out of his leg. alas. But how can you not adore this little smile?

And...she's got hair! After all these years, she sported her first "pigtails" a week ago. She was very proud!

It's coming in curly, like Billy's. I'm excited to play with her hair more as it continues to grow.

And the chick has a sense of style too:

Hava has nearly everyone she knows wrapped around her finger. She plays a little game with Billy where he says "Hava, are you Daddy's girl?" and she says "No! Mama's girl!" but really she is Daddy's girl and Mommy's girl. I'm so glad that we have our girl!

gum

John wanted a piece of gum, so he got up on the counter to get it. I walked into the kitchen to find this:

Silly kid!

Starting from the top...John

John Willis is four in every way. The brightest parts of his life right now are definitely his siblings and school. He adores his preschool and the amazing Ms. Martin, Ms. Nancy, Ms. Kim, and Ms. Jenny. This year they have had field trips to the fire station and the dentist (?).

John is talking a lot more these days though almost every sentence is missing at least one word. We have been taking a break from speech therapy, for several reasons (one being the baby). I know he still needs the therapy, but sometimes I don't know if he can handle more in his life right now. Soon we'll begin again...I'm already searching for a new SLP. John's teachers think he'll be ready for typical kindergarten in the fall but we haven't decided what to do about the next school year. He was born less than 12 hours before the cut off date so he could either be the very oldest or very youngest in his class. We're kicking around the idea of starting him in kindergarten next year with the option to have him repeat kindergarten or start first grade the following year. Only time will tell what will be best for him.

On the "Cars" slide at his school carnival. Last year he wouldn't get near this thing; this year he went down it at least a dozen times and said "I did it!'' after every slide.

Hava and David are John's buddies for sure. Hava copies everything John does--sometimes that's good, sometimes not--and will play whatever game he wants to play. David is comfortable with John (now Hava is anther story...) and seems to know that John thinks he's the best thing since Duplos. I'm glad that David has John for a big brother because he will always have a bigger kid around to look out for him and care for him.

John doesn't usually care about having his picture taken, but he often asks me to get the camera when he's holding David. Which is why a lot of the recent pictures of John look like this:

John is nearly obsessed with the alphabet, his name, his family and friend's names, and anything relating to letters and their sounds. He can write his name and isn't far from writing other letters too. His favorite hobby is testing the limits with mom, which requires a lot from me and makes me even more grateful for the times Billy is around to take over. Why are dads so much more intimidating than moms?

John loves to snuggle, have his back rubbed, ride his Razor, eat, talk very loud, color, cut papers into little pieces, help me cook, talk on the phone, play on the computer, and read books. No wonder we're both tired at the end of the day!

And the WINNER...

...of the Most Delinquent Blogger Award is...me!

thank you. thank you.

I'm honored, humbled, delighted, and disgusted with myself for deserving this award.

I don't want to hog the trophy though so I'm going to get back in the swing of things. Coming today: the holidays (beginning with, ahem, Halloween). Coming later this week: a post for each of my darling children who zap all of my energy each day so that the thought of blogging exhausts me. But they really are cute and deserve a little blog love, which I will be happy to share with you in the near future.

Anyway...

The kids in costume: Hava had a sweet princess witch (or at least that's what we figured it was) costume that my mom sent for her. I got John a firefighter jacket on Etsy since he wanted to be a fireman. Right now he's trying to figure out how to be both a firefighter and a police officer when he's "big like Daddy" so the jacket was a big hit. David was a pumpkin head, thanks to a little knit pumpkin hat, also from Etsy. I don't have any pictures of him in the hat (what kind of mother am I?!?) so you'll have to imagine his sweet face combined with a pumpkin.

We spent Thanksgiving at my Nonni and Bumpa's house (mom's parents) with all of the family who lives in town. John and Hava spent the whole day playing in the sand around the play structure. They came home filthy but happy. David was a bit doted on since he's the youngest and a very relaxed baby (completely opposite of Havilah!).

This picture is my very favorite:

And here's David, not just with his great grandma (Nonni), but his great, great grandma as well (Grandma Dorothy). If your title has commas in it, you know you're old and special.

Here's one of me with my constant accessory, DS. He likes to stick his fingers out of the sling these days. Maybe so I don't forget about him in the midst of the typical craziness around here. This was taken while I was making ginger cookies for the Feast.

The day after Thanksgiving, we made a trip to Home Depot (it's not exactly Mt. Hood, but close) for a Noble. The front room now smells delicious and although we had several fiascoes with the lights, the tree is now up and completely enjoyed by all.

Back to Thanksgiving... this year--as always--I have so much to be thankful for. My husband has a job, when so many people do not. David was born full term and healthy, and he is such a pleasant baby. I have been able to work much less this year so that I can devote my energy to John, Hava, and David. I have lovely friends who put up with my silliness and my blogging deficiency. My family is large, supportive, and they pray for me. I have a God whose mercies are new every morning (need that). I have a comfortable bed and a husband who gets up with the kids every morning he's off of work so that I can stay in bed. The future is bright (though hazy) and God is faithful. What more can I ask?

More soon!