The kiddos...a saga

I know I have been remiss in updating on the kiddos, so here is a ton of information overload.

Braden - He is growing like a weed! He's also so skinny that we have a hard time getting a good fit in pants for him. Thanks to hand-me-downs from cousins who also have long legs and narrower hips, we haven't had too much of a hard time. Its mostly jogging pants and such. :) He is still trying to tell jokes. One that he variates every time he and Zekey start with the jokes is - Why did the chicken cross the road and the train tracks? Because it got hit! or Because it was running away from the train! or something as equally silly - which results in much belly laughing and giggling. Its funny to me that they think its funny. He is getting more bossy. On occasion, I catch him using Zekey as a mule. He will have Zekey's arms piled high with something, while he is only carrying something in one hand and then he directs Zekey where to go. Oh, boy! Gotta watch that one! Well, both of them! He's also having to be trained on being kind and polite and using his "nice" words, especially when speaking to his brother and sister. Its a process. :) He is getting more accomplished with drawing and can spend a good deal of time using lots of paper and colors. I think I might have to look into recycling the paper myself to keep up with his "habit"! Right now our recycling bins stay full with his "help".

He is doing well with reading and math. I think he likes math better at this point because reading is "hard". That translates to him having to put effort into something for more than a few minutes. ;) He really like science stuff too and is very much into space and robots right now. He has also said that he is going to work on tanks when he grows up, but has also said something about being a plumber. We just keep telling him that what he really needs to be is what God has in store for him and I think he will eventually get that. We have been very careful about letting him watch anything with magic in it because we want him to have a very firm grasp on what all that is about. We have explained to him that God created everything and the evil one takes what God has made and twists it and mutilates it. So, when we are talking about magic, really God is the ultimate source of magic, but he gave certain abilities to certain of his creations (angels) and that some of them have decided to use those abilities for evil and that's where the hocus pocus mess comes from. Anyway, I really thought it would take him a year or two more to really grasp that concept, but one day he just piped up and said that God's magic is the real magic. Yes! He gets it!!! Yay!

He still says some of the funniest things. For example, there is a tank game on the wii play game that he really likes and he says the bullets crochet instead of ricochet. I love stuff like that and it almost makes me not want to correct it because its so funny and sweet! :)

Zekey is looking more little boy and less toddler every day. He is really a very interesting kiddo. If Braden is my mini-me, Zekey is definitely Sam's. His personality is very like Sam's. He has a super tender heart and gets his feelings hurt easily. He is super helpful and wants to just be involved, which is why I catch him being Braden's gopher on occasion. He has turned into my little watch dog which is a double-edged sword. He will come and let me know when Ailey is doing something that she's not supposed to, which is really nice, but if something happens between he and his siblings, I tend to hear, "I'm telling on you!!!!!" and "Okay, I'm not playing with you anymore." He's also gotten to the point of telling us all about something and his little eyes will just light up and he gets tickled about it and he just lights up our world! Love it! I also love it when he prays. He copies Braden a lot of the time and he always repeats "please bless" each of us. Its like he gets caught in a loop and can't think of what else to say for a minute. Very cute.:) He has gotten more and more interested in books and wants me to read to him more often. I very much think he's going to enjoy reading right off the bat.

He has been determined for a while now that he wants to do stuff all by himself. He only wants help after he has tried several times to do something and just can't do it. On the flip side, there are some things he has just determined he can't do (like put his own shoes on) and we are working on that. :) One of the things he has a tendency to say is, " But I can't do that because it might be too hard. " This always comes before he has actually tried to do it, of course. He is also my early riser (another Sam trait) and will come in every morning around the same time and wake me up by thumping from his room to mine, slinging the doors open and saying, "Mom, can I have some food?" (Really gotta invest in a cereal dispenser!;) Though he's starting to say this less and less, when he gets some cookies or dessert item of some sort, he'll say, "I get one more and that's it!" He also looks to Braden for affirmation of things. He'll make a statement and then look at Braden and say, "Right, Braden?" Oh, the power of an older sibling! Anyway, he's growing so fast and I just want to be in the moment as much as possible!

Okay, little miss Lerloo... Ailey is something else entirely, I must say. She has got some will power and determination that's for sure. She's clever and feisty and silly and sweet and more all rolled up in a tiny package. She's definitely girly and likes babies and girly colors and girly things, but will get in there and drive cars around and play with blocks and let her brothers pounce on her. She's a very interesting combination indeed. She's still my little cuddlebug and at times if we haven't had enough cuddle time, she will act out and I just have to sit down with her and "rock-a-rock". I'm really glad she still likes to do that. (Braden and Zekey will do that on occasion, too, which is dear to this momma's heart.) She has her daddy moments where she just wants to be held by daddy and she wants all of daddy's attention, but the majority of the time the focus is still on me. Again, a double-edged sword. :) She has a pretty vast vocabulary for a not-quite-two-year-old. She's very vocal and repeats nearly everything she hears. One of the funniest things she does is tell her brothers, "Now, that's enough!" She also says, "I don't know where it is." Usually in response to me asking her where her water bottle or baby is. She calls Zekey, Zekey and Zekers, and seems to be focused on him quite a bit. She likes for Braden to hold her and carry her around. She calls him "Baden". She has also really gotten into watching movies. Its was nearly an overnight change from not being interested at all to sitting through a whole 30-minute segment. Now she will come and ask me, "Watch a moobie?" And she really likes Veggie Tales and calls it, "Tedgy Tales". Some of her other sayings are, "Don't want it. Don't like it. Bump my noggin-head. Baden/Zekey hurt me. Is that hot? Hungy. Want cheese. S'that mine?" and there's so much more. She might give Braden a run for his money in the talking arena eventually. :)

The baby who is nameless for now is doing just fine. The ultrasound showed that either I'm not as far along as we determined or the baby is just small...like Ailey was/is. I'm pretty sure about the timing of everything, so I'm thinking we might just have another bitty baby. We still don't know the sex and won't find out until the birthday. We have a boy's first name picked out, though no middle name as of yet. I haven't even started looking for a girl's name. I'll probably get around to all of that soon. Anyway, Sam thinks we will have another boy and I have a tendency to always think the baby is a boy, so if we have a girl, we'll be pretty surprised....again! :)