{Family} Iiiiii, Dada

 This little man rocks our socks!!!  Silas is 11 months old today.  How is that possible???!!!

We've been enjoying seeing his little personality emerge.  He's snuggly and gives hugs easily...especially to Mama, Dada, and Elijah.  Silas loves playing ball and throwing anything that seems throwable.  He's determined and somewhat strong willed.  He definitely knows what he wants.  Si loves our cats and plays with their food.  Naughty boy...he won't leave it alone.  This little man can scream with the best of them especially when he's being messed with by big brothers or Mama takes something away from him, like cat food.  Si loves being outside, crawling as fast as he can.  He's curious and brave and doesn't bat an eye about crawling away from mama though he gets upset if he can't see me in certain situations.

Obviously, Silas is pulling up and standing.  He's starting to take mini steps along whatever he's holding onto.  And stairs...he'd climb the stairs if I'd let him.  But I'm trying to teach him how to go down the stairs first before he has more freedom.

We're starting to recognize some words and signs... cat, Mama, Dada, ball, hi, bye, all done (this is the only sign we've taught him...as an appropriate response when he's done eating rather than throwing his food!)

This particular evening, Mike was out mowing and Silas was hanging out by the door, a common hangout spot when any of the family is outside and he is not.  He kept yelling and waving, "Iiii, Dada!  Iiiii!"  Every time Mike walked in front of him, Silas got so excited.  

The cutest thing.  It made me giggle and cry at the same time.  

So thankful I was able to capture this moment.

Luke, My Boy

Do you ever have those days when you just want to brag on your kids?!  I sure do.  Today was one of them. 

 

We had the craziest of crazy days today, in the car for more hours than at home, running all over the place for a variety of reasons.  Each of the children deserve a reward for good behavior and long suffering from being strapped in for so long. 

 

One of our first stops was to the dentist for the four bigger children's bi-yearly cleanings.  The boys are pros and love going to the dentist.  Sadie has only visited one time and that did not go so well.  The hygienist and dentist were so good with her, but she just wasn't having anything to do with it. 

 

 

I assumed that today's visit would end with the same result given the torrent of tears before we even left the house this morning. 

 

While Luke was having his teeth cleaned, Sadie sat in the room with him watching and talking up a storm with our hygienist.  As soon as it was Sadie's turn, she got all shy and teary-eyed.  The hygienist was so gentle and patient with her when she was refusing to sit or even come over near her.  I suggested that maybe Sadie would like to sit on Luke's lap and have her teeth cleaned because I was holding a snoozing baby boy.

 

Luke has this sweet way of saying, "Sure" and getting right on Sadie's level to talk with her, big brave brother to little nervous sister.  He convinced her to sit on his lap and squish him like a pancake so the hygienist could count her teeth.  Sadie eventually opened her mouth for a quick cleaning in the safety of her brother's arms.  I just wish I had my camera to capture how securely he was holding her and speaking encouraging words to her.  Our dentist was just in awe of how well he cared for and loved Sadie. 

 

He makes me so proud.

 

 

Luke, my compassionate boy, the one who loves little kids and babies and kitties.  Luke, my gentle boy, who instinctively knows how to comfort little ones.  Luke, my man child, so mature in some ways, yet a still a little boy.  Luke, my sensitive heart boy, you empathize with others and do your best to encourage.  Luke, your compassion is a gift from the Lord.  I pray that you will use it for His glory as you grow into a man.

 

And just for a more rounded picture...Luke, my loud boy, who has some crazy dance moves and loves to sing worship songs heard on the radio.  Luke, my athletic boy, who is not afraid of a good rough and tumble game.  Luke, my big, strong boy, whose feet almost fit perfectly in my shoes... 

 

Someone freeze time.

This Girl

Oh my...this girl!  She's added a whole new dimension to our family.  Her undeniably girly ways.  Her love of pigtails.  Her snuggles. Her unique relationship with each of her brothers.  Her teasing of daddy by refusing kisses.  Her way of playing karate princess in the midst of boyish games.  Her sweet voice full of story and song.  Her plans for her third birthday full of pink and Dora and balloons and cake.  Her hugs and "showing off" for baby brother as if he can actually see her.  Her high pitched giggles.  Even her screams and squeals expressing extreme turmoil over hair in the tub or bugs or having no socks on her feet at bedtime.

Her.  We love her.

We love her almost as much as she loves candy and bubbles and nail polish...grin!

Stickers, Mike & Ike, & Popsicles

We're one week into Miss Sadie's self initiated potty training. She spotted her Dora underwear in the diaper basket and refused to wear a diaper...so I quickly jumped on board.

She's been doing great!!!

It does help to have three big brothers and mama cheering her on! Plus, who can resist the reward of a sticker and a Mike & Ike for every dry underpants and pee-pee in the potty. (Popsicles for poops - she's earned two so far!) She doesn't lack for someone to read a book, sing a song, or encourage her. Sadie is relishing all the attention...as if she doesn't all ready get enough attention from "my brudders" anyhow.

If you get bored while waiting for pee-pee water to come out, you can attempt to thread your hair into a straw...

"It's coming. Almost! Sing anoder song den it will come..." (Hmmm...I'm on to this little manipulation. He, he!)

We used the potty seat for one day, but she didn't like how it stuck to her bottom every time she stood up. Now she's all about the "daddy potty" with a kid seat on top.

I'm thankful for how "easy" this has been...the girl is just ready!

A Few Sadie-isms

This sweet, expressive face and personality lights up our days...

Sadie loves, LoVeS, LOVES blueberries - fresh or frozen - as seen in the evidence on her face. And her fingernails...they often look blackish, but I swear they aren't dirty!

Sadie loves to sing. She sing-songs a lot of conversations...especially when she's playing alone. "I love my mama. I love my dad-deeeeee! My 'Lijey is my brudder! Lukey and I-ick are my brud-derrrrrrrrs! I plaaaaaying! I hold my ba-beeeeee..." When she's not making up songs, other favorites include the ABC's, Jesus Loves Me, and the Dora the Explorer theme song.

After caroling several times, Sadie began to pick up on some of the songs. By far her favorite was, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. The earth receive her butterflies!"

Mike complimented Sadie on something she did, "Sadie, you're smart!" Sadie replied, "Yes! I am pretty!"

She loves to brush hair - hers and mine - while we snuggle in my bed. It's become our nightly ritual while I read her stories and sing songs. Then just before we hear daddy and the boys coming upstairs, we hide under the covers and daddy comes in yawning, "I'm so tired...I think I'll lie down on my bed!" Then we get squished...so. funny. every. time.

We laugh at her high pitched, girly voice then laugh even harder at her pretending-to-be-a-baby voice when she goes a few pitches higher.

Sadie often argues with herself in two distinct voices while she's playing alone. The argument almost always goes this way, "No, I not. Yes, I am. No, I not. Yes, I am. No, I not."

We answer Sadie's "foot phones" or she answers them herself, "Hello, foot!" as she puts her feet on the sides of her face.

Over the past few months, Sadie has picked up counting...she does pretty good all the way up to twenty-nine usually skipping fifteen. Then she continues, "Twenty-ten, twenty-eleven, twenty-twelve..."

Oh, Sadie...what did we ever do without you???

Handsome Is...

Isaac...all four and a half years of him. Golly, I sure do love this sweet cowpoke!!! He has a smile that lights up his whole face and a sparkle in his eyes! And his giggle...be still my heart! Isaac means "he will laugh" and this boy loves to laugh and joke and ham it up! So blessed that he's ours!!!

Our Elijah turned 8 years old!!! Gosh, I love this boy! We've been enjoying extended celebrations...a special outing with Grammy Potter last Friday, a family party on Sunday, a friend coming to play tomorrow, and a mini party with two families on Friday! Whew! Turning 8 is a big deal!!! Here are a few pictures from his birthday...in reverse order from how I wanted them to be...

The chainsaw Elijah, Daddy, and Luke created from his K'nex Education Kit "Gears."

He loves a good building project!

Hard at work

Opening gifts on his birthday morning

A REAL slingshot...oh, yeah! It shoots small paper balls really well for tons of fun IN the house!

Elijah LOVES reading "manual" type books...his favorite, well-used, well-worn book is The Survival Handbook: Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure by Towell. We found these great books from Popular Mechanics that he's already taken a liking to: The Boy Camper, The Boy Scientist, The Boy Mechanic, and The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys.

And, of course, we all enjoyed the "traditional-9x13-sprinkle-filled cake" with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday!

I love you, Elijah! You are a joy and a pleasure! How blessed we are that God has given you to our family!!!

She's Just Cute

Sadie stands at the deck door watching the boys play in the backyard! Lots of babbling and banging on the window as she observes. Her newest accomplishment is pulling up to stand which means I have more fingerprints all over the door! I almost wish she was walking at this point as we enter wet, cooler ground conditions but she loves crawling! Whatever...she's just so cute!

Sadie's First Birthday

To: Sadie From: Sadie's whole family

A feast for a princess - spaghetti pie (Sadie LOVES), salad, fruit


In lieu of a cake, we made brownies with whipped cream and strawberries...mmm!!!

Birthday gifts - book that plays music (Sadie LOVES music) and Strawberry Shortcake.

This smile comes out for the big brothers...

Sadie Kathryn...you have been such a tremendous blessing to our family. You are a mama's girl all the way, but you are slowly developing a sweet spot for your daddy that always includes snuggling deep into his shoulder. Your big brothers adore you and do everything big brothers can do to make you laugh...and annoy you. You seem to reserve your biggest smiles for them. As a dear friend said, "One year ago we believed the dream of having a little girl." I still have to pinch myself sometimes to believe it is true. Oh, the fun you and mama are going to have while the boys do "boy things" with daddy. You've done almost everything differently than your brothers leaving us wondering if you'd ever do those important things like sleeping through the night, feeding yourself, getting liquids from something other than mama, crawling. You will probably keep up guessing and doing things differently for the rest of your life! But no matter how you accomplish those important milestones, our most sincere prayer for you is that you will grow up with a heart that is always passionate and sensitive to the Lord's leading in your life. We love you, Sadie, and praise God everyday for the blessing of your life!

All I Want for Summer is my Two Front Teeth

At the rate Luke is losing teeth, I don't know how he expects to eat sweet corn this summer...

Sadie Katie's Spoon Adventure

Sadie Kathryn is learning to feed herself with a spoon! It sure is yummy and messy and oh, please can I have more? ...But when she says all that it comes out more like, "Uh, uh, uh, UHHH!"

Missed the mark a few times but not bad for her first try!

Sadie's Smile

We are loving, LOVING, LOVING Sadie's infectious smile! She is becoming more and more free in giving it to us as a reward for our antics, but also spontaneously when someone...(ahem)...mama walks in the room. Those big brothers sure are funny! The pictures below are in response to Elijah being a goofball! And they are the first really good pictures we've captured of her smile!!!

We sure do love this little girl! It's hard to believe she's 5 months old...practically a little girl, no longer a newborn! She's full of girly screeches especially when the brothers are surrounding her(girls ARE different than boys), loves to cuddle (mama, that is...), loves mama so much that she's waking once or twice a night to visit (I'm trying not to wish this time away too quickly), is starting to tolerate daddy more and even enjoy him (if mama isn't in the room) and charms us with her "shy" act by grinning and hiding her face on my shoulder. Did you catch that she loves her mama??? A. LOT. What a joy and blessing she is to our family! I can still hardly believe that she's ours, our sweet, adorable Sadie-Katie!!!

Isaac's 3rd Birthday

Our sweet Isaac turned 3 years old this past week! He is a rough and tumble, sweet and cuddly, ham it up little boy. He pushes the boundaries and does things in his own time. We love hearing him tell stories about fighting lions, giants, dragons and bad guys with his swords, bow and arrows and guns. There isn't a day that goes by that he isn't wearing a costume - his favorite being a superhero cape. He tries to keep up with Elijah and Luke and has learned many things earlier than we expected like riding a two wheel bike with training wheels. And at the same time, he is perfectly content to be in his own little world playing by himself. Sometimes his daring and fearless personality scare mama, but I love his spunk! He is independent and a "big boy" most of the time but usually gets his "mama's baby boy" snuggles in atleast once a day. He is a little sweetheart with a large sweet tooth. He asks atleast ten times a day to have a piece of gum, his favorite treat. What a treasure he is to our family. We are so blessed that God chose Isaac for us at the time He did...God's perfect plan has enriched our family beyond what we ever could have imagined. We love you, Isaac Joel!

Cupcakes with BLUE frosting and BLUE candles!

Just beginning to enjoy his birthday cake...

Yes, it was all over his face and the surrounding area!

Luke, Isaac, Elijah with their baseball glove and Yankee's hats...we're huge baseball fans these days!

Birthday gifts...a baseball glove and a "Hankies" hat (He can't quite say Yankees, but Hankies is close enough...)

Sweet Six Weeks

Is there really anything to say? She's adorable and we're loving her!

Sleepy girl...

I love this ladybug butt! However, I love the little roll on her legs even more...we've never had a chubby baby and she just keeps getting chubbier by the day. I LOVE IT!!!

Berenstain Bears and Ruff Ruff

Two of Isaac's other favorite things - besides the daily costume consisting of a sword, belt and black cape - are his stuffed dog, Ruff Ruff aka Dirty Dog and the Berenstain Bears. It was sweet to catch him "reading" to Ruff Ruff early one morning in the room he now shares with his brothers who, by the way, sleep through all his early morning antics...loud singing, sword fighting and general disturbia.

Can you guess his favorite Berenstain Bears book these days??? "The Berenstain Bears New Baby" where small bear becomes a big brother and gets bonked in the nose by his baby sister. Almost every time we read that story he says, "Baby ______ dunna bonk I in da nose...he, he...but dat otay."

Typical Morning

A typical morning scene as the boys watch a TV show to "wake up" and mama prepares breakfast...

Luke is such a tender-hearted little boy (inside that rough and tumble exterior) that adores giving and receiving cuddles. He is the first to jump up and retrieve his brother's "quilties" and stuffed animals if they are sad or hurt. If a baby is near him, he spends a few more minutes "playing and talking" with the baby instead of running around with the other boys. He's the first one to offer tissues if mama is having a tearful moment. I pray that this quality always stays with him...what a honey he'll be one day for a special girl and their children. I have no doubt Luke will have a very special place in his little sister's heart as well!