Amelia is "3"

From her first "Daddy/Daughter Date" at Olive Garden

Amelia turned "3" almost 2 months ago and I finally got a chance to ask her a set of 20 questions, here are her answers.

As you can see, she is rarely serious.

1. What is your favorite color? Red
2. What is your favorite toy? my pink crown that's really pretty
3. What is your favorite fruit? 'trawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Barbie in Swan Lake
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? chocolate milk and samiches
6. What is your favorite outfit? my two favorite dresses, the pink one and my 'now white one
7. What is your favorite game? cooties
8. What is your favorite snack? raisins
9. What is your favorite animal? a cow is my favorite animal, I will buy one with you
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? the, the, the, this kangaroo book (Does a Kangaroo have a Mother, too?)
12. Who is your best friend? Wyatt
13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms, I like that cereal
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? pick flolers (flowers)
15. What is your favorite drink? soda
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? bears
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? cereals
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? a big pink dinosaur
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a dad
• No, you can't be a dad. What do you want to be when you are bigger? a dinosaur
• dNo, you can't be a dinosaur. What do you want to be when you are bigger? a fish

Stats - I forgot to write these down but she was around 39" and 31lbs.

Some things that she's doing:

• She can write a few of her letters.
• She LOVES to draw, look at books and color.
• She can make her bed.
• She can brush her own hair (and do a good job).
• She can get herself dressed.
• She loves to talk but struggles with a few blends and words, such as:
• Tomatoes are bematoes
• Potatoes are betatoes
• Mosquitos are baquitos
• She doesn't pronouce the "s" in any word that starts with an "s" followed directly by a consonant, like 'tick, 'ticker, 'trawberry, 'nack, 'pider, etc.
• She is daytime toilet trained.

Sofia is "1"

A year ago yesterday, I was (im)patiently awaiting the arrival of my sweet Sofia. Today, she is a whole year old, where has the time gone? It never ceases to amaze me how long the last few weeks of pregnancy seem to be but how quickly the 1st year seems to fly by!
She has MANY knicknames - Sofi, Fia, Topi, Topapia, Tofi,Tofers, Topes, and slimer
She is very close to walking.
She loves to chase her siblings around the house.
Sofi tries to "sing" along with music when she hears it playing.
She climbs everything that she can reach.
She enjoys playing with Evie's baby dolls.

Sofi's Stats:

Height - 28 1/4"

Weight - 18lbs 2oz.

We had a first when it comes to stats. Sofi is my first baby to measure below the 50% mark. She is now on a high calorie, high (good) fat, and high protein diet. Our Dr. thinks the big drop in weight and height is due to the fact that Sofi would still prefer to nurse over eating other foods. She needs to "bulk up" of how high her activity levels are now that she's crawling and such.

Sofi's cake says "S" "O" "F" "I" around the sides and has a big "1" on the top.

Enjoying the frosting more than anything.

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Sofia: 9 Months

I took Sofia in for her 9 month checkup last month. Sigh. Time is flying by so quickly it seems. She started out our biggest baby but has tapered off to be our most petite. Here are her stats:

• Height: 28" (70%)
• Weight: 17lbs 11.5oz (45%)
• Head: 45.5cm (90%)

Here are some things that she is doing:

• crawls all over
• walks around furniture and while you are holding her hands
• loves to "talk", especially to other babies
• says "dada", "mama", "num num", "nigh nigh", "no no", and "ba ba" (ball)
• loves to look at herself in the mirror.
• reaches for and grabs anything and everything that she's close to.
• smiles and laughs all the time, but especially at her siblings.
• has a stubborn streak and a firmly resists doing things that she doesn't want to do. Don't ever play chicken with her, she will beat you. ;o)
• she LOVES to be in the water - playing in the pool, bath tub, toilet, etc.
• she still has no teeth (not even at 10 1/2 months) but loves to eat "big people" food
• she has started liking her sippy cup but still refuses a bottle

An Interview with Evie Sue (age 4)

Amelia, Reagan, and Evie getting ready to go to the water park on Evie's birthday (5/14/12)

Evie turned "4" last week so I asked her a set of 20 questions, here are her answers (that is when Reagan finally let Evie answer the questions for herself):

1. What is your favorite color? Pink and purple
2. What is your favorite toy? My babydolls
3. What is your favorite fruit? Oranges
4. What is your favorite tv show? Little Einsteins
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Macaroni & Cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? My purple shirt and long jean skirt
7. What is your favorite game? Candy Land
8. What is your favorite snack? Peanuts, I mean trail mix 
9. What is your favorite animal? Bears
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? The ABC Book (by Dr. Seuss)
12. Who is your best friend? Arika
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Plant flowers
15. What is your favorite drink? Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? All of my stuffed animals
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Fruit and yogurt
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Ice cream & cheeseburgers
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? 5
• No, what do you want to be hen you are bigger? a teenager
• No, what do you want to be when you are bigger than a teenager? a mom with kids and a husband

Some Stats on Evie:
Height: 42.75" (95%)
Weight: 37.6 lbs. (70%)

Some things that she's doing:

• She can write most of her letters.
• She is starting to write her own name.
• She can fold and put away most of her laundry.
• She has finally figured out how to pedal her bike.
• She can make her bed.
• She can brush her own hair (and do a good job).
• She can get herself dressed.

A Knight's Tale

Last night was King's Kids bonus night at church. All the kids were supposed to dress up as Knights or Princesses but I forgot to take pictures so Reagan let me take a few pictures of his costume this morning.

Serious Knight

Showing off his sword

Getting ready to slay the dragon

I will try to get a short tutorial put together soon for how I made the costume.

Sofia's Newest Milestones

Sofia can now sit without support. She started doing this while we were in Puerto Rico (January 20-27).

Sofia has been trying to "crawl" for a little while and finally did it on February 27th. She doesn't get up on all fours yet but does a cross between the "army" crawl and an inch-worm. It's cute to watch. :o)

Sofia joined Reagan and Amelia on March 1st by making "Dada" her first word. Evie is the only one of the four to say "Mama" first. Jared's reaction, "Booyah!"

People

It's always an adventure going anywhere with all 4 kids. No trip is ever the same, or goes the way it's planned. Sometimes things go surprisingly well and at other times things are horribly chaotic. Either way, people will say things to me or give me "looks" when they see me with the four kids. I get the smiles, the "she must be crazy to have that many kids so close together" looks, the scowls from store employees who would rather that I not be there with my 4 kids who will most likely get into something, and so on. Here are just a few of the usual comments that people make:

• "Wow, you must have your hands full!" Ya think?
• "Your kids are so well behaved." This is usually said by someone who sees them when we've only been in the store for a little bit but I generally do not get this comment from people after being in a store for a while. I generally reply with a simple "Thank you" as I know within minutes of someone telling me this one of the 4 is going to do something horrible.
• "Oh, I remember those days." If I'm having a rough time, I have to quell my urge to say, "Really? You remember what it was like to have 4 kids in 4 1/2 years?"
• "I bet you're done now." Code for: "You would be insane to have any more" or "Why on earth would even have as many as you have now." 
• "You are way to young to have kids!" I like this one as it makes me feel good about myself. :o)
• and on I could go...

It really used to bother me when people would comment on the number, age, etc. of my children. I know it's an oddity in our culture to have more than a couple of kids but it kind of made me feel like a freak show.

I'm rabbit trailing again...Ok, I'm back on track now.

During last week's shopping excursion I had 9 people (yes, I counted) comment on "how full my hands were" and only one person tell me, "I had one boy and three girls, too, and I loved it! The Lord bless you!". After all this I started thinking about my attitude toward these comments and truthfully toward my position (having 4 small kids so close together). I realized that the reason these comments bothered me so much was because (to a degree) I resented my position. It wasn't my plan to have 4 kids in 4 1/2 years (although, I did have someone ask me once why we planned it that way). We'd always thought 4 would be a good number but we'd planned to stretch them over 6-8 years instead of having them practically right on top of each other. But God had worked things differently and I wasn't happy with the way He'd done it. 

I have decided to work at changing my outlook on these comments. I can be a witness of God's grace through these little ones that God has given me. People look when they see our little entourage and I don't want them to see a mom who is annoyed with her little treasures. When someone makes a comment like...

• "Wow, you must have your hands full!" I am choosing to reply with something to the extend of "Yes, they keep me busy but they are truly a blessing and a joy most of the time."
• "How on earth do you manage?" I reply, "God's grace gets me through."

Pinewood Derby

Last year was Reagan's first Pinewood Derby and his car didn't do as well as hoped. But...he had fun working on it with Jared. Here are a couple pictures of last year's car.

Reagan's Packer Superbowl Car

His car was #12 after his favorite QB, Aaron Rogers.
Can you see the "Rogers Belt" on  the top?

This year both Reagan and Evie are competing in the King's Kids Pinewood Derby (and Jared has a car in the adult derby). Reagan decided that he was going to make "Bumblebee" (yes, the transformer not the insect). He also wanted to be #52 after Clay Matthews because he's tough.

Evie wanted a purple sparkle ballet slipper with a ribbon bow on top. She chose #14 because May 14th is her birthday. She LOVED painting her car and told me that she has the most beautiful car ever! Can you tell that she is a girly-girl?

Reagan's 2nd Birth

Reagan has been asking questions about heaven, salvation, and death quite a bit over the last few months. As parents, we feel a great burden to reach our children for Christ but at the same time have not wanted to rush him (or any of them) toward a decision.
This week was different, Reagan's questions really made us think that he was ready for us to go further and share the Gospel completely with him. Last night as we were getting the kids to bed, Jared had the wonderful opportunity to show Reagan how to be saved and Reagan prayed asking God to forgive his sin and save him. :o)

Reagan Notes

Reagan is learning fairly quickly how to spell/write words, and will sometimes even read signs or labels if they are made up of smaller words. He wrote this note with minimal help. It says, "Reagan for dad and mom, 'I never want to leave.'"