Three of my favorite things

Adam-

We have Adam reading now and Chip taught him about exclamation points and question marks. Whenever he comes to an exclamation point now he SCREAMS! It's pretty funny. All I can think of right now is there is this one sentence that is, "You can too!" And of course he says, "You can TOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It's pretty deafening actually.


Van-

Something Van has started saying which I guess he has picked up from Adam who I think picked it up from me is, "Actually" As in, "Van, do you want a peanut butter sandwich or pizza." And he will say, "A peanut butter sandwich. Actually, pizza." It's cute. He says it several times a day.

Anna-

I totally get that my kids, (Anna included) are like in the 10th percentile for weight. Anna weighed in at 16.5 pounds at her 9 month appointment and she was like 9 and a half months. But anyway. I love her fat hands and feet. The little dimples in her knuckles and the way I have to dig in between each finger go get the grime out is just cute to me. And her toes are like CRAMMED on her feet. They look so fat like they can't even move. Very cute.

Happy Birthday Adam!

My Adam is five years old this year. I like this picture of him because he is laughing and it was one of the ones we were trying to take for the Christmas photo. I know I used to say that I always think of their birthdays when it gets to American Idol time and this year I haven't been watching it so it didn't really strike a chord with me.

One thing that I always forget about, but am then reminded of it at the time is the 'Sullivan County Heart-a-thon'. I remember clear as day when I was pregnant with Adam and on bedrest I guess (I was taken out of work and put on bedrest for high blood pressure, even though I never asked for the REAL meaning of bed-rest, I just sort of took it easy), I was up in what is now Anna's room, but was my computer and craft area, on the floor making scrapbook pages waiting for his arrival. I had the radio on the floor as well and I was listening to the heart-a-thon because they put it on each year. This year, the heart-a-thon is tomorrow.

Adam is a great kid. I got a letter from a parent this year explaining to me about her daughter which I was about to have her in class. (Which I don't recommend from a teacher's perspective.) But anyway, I remember her saying, 'You will never have a problem with 'Maude'.' I am not saying that just because a parent says that, that is always the case. I had another parent tell me this year that her daughter is the smartest kid I'll ever have. Another thing I don't recommend, and in this case, is NOT true. But anyway, I feel that way about Adam and the first parent. I don't think anybody will ever have a problem with him and his behavior. He is a good boy, he listens and has a strong conviction of what is right and wrong. And he is pretty smart I might say because I am his mom. But never would I ever say he's the smartest kid anybody will ever have. Are you kidding me with these people?

Five years old is an awesome age I have decided. (And I am a pretty big fan of three too, but I won't get into that now.) They can use the bathroom, put on their shoes, pick up their toys, play together, watch a show while you take a shower, do crafts, go to fun places. I am LOVING this age range. Adam loves to play with all of his trucks and farm equipment. I am really happy he is still at this stage in his life. Honestly, for Christmas we got him some transformer things and Batman things because it seemed like he was interested it in. But he doesn't play with any of that stuff and that kinda makes me happy. I think he'll have time for all of that and the Bakugan stuff or whatever it is in a couple of years. I think he's a genuine five and I like that. We are planning on going to Sesame Place this year again. He still sleeps with Elmo each night and would be upset if he were missing but I don't think he responds to the show as he used to. My oldest boy. Last night he was buttering up to me. He was saying that I make the best food and do the best things and am the best mom and when he dies he wants to be between me and Daddy. Huh? How did that one get thrown in there? He's a piece of work and I love him.

Just for fun

Anna- 9 months

Van- 9 months (look at those two teeth sticking out!) :)

Adam 2 years 9 months, Van- 9 months

Adam- 9 months

Happy Birthday Van!

My sweet Van turns three this coming Saturday. I love all these pictures I posted of him. His sweet little innocent face the day he was born. And then all the other pictures of him being his crazy self. I believe he has had the 'terrible twos' for half of his little life. It started when he was about 18 months and still continues. He doesn't bang his head on things or people anymore thank God but he still will melt onto the floor. He is 110% boy as you can tell in the last picture. He likes trucks, tractors, four wheelers, snowplows and dirt. He's always fixing, digging or getting into something. He has a mind of his own and knows how to get his brother's goat.

I still think of him as a baby. I know I shouldn't but I do. And I call him baby too on occasion which sometimes he responds to and other times he'll say, "I'm not a baby!" I love his angelic little face and the way he marches to his own beat. Happy birthday to my sweet sweet boy. I love him to pieces.

Daddy's girl

Anna and her daddy have quite a thing going on. I love the last picture of the two of them. He plays with her like she is a little boy and she loves every minute of it. I have to say he doesn't treat her like a little girl at all and I don't think she even knows she is a little girl. She always grunts and growls, never a little dainty coo. And when she gets in her jumper, she goes insane. You can't walk by her without her trying to smash into you. She crawls after the boys and grabs their trucks and pushes them around. Chip calls her his little diesel mechanic because he is convinced that she is going to grow up and be one.

This morning when I go and get her out of her crib, she has a rubber football in her bed. I yell into Chip, 'Do you know that Anna has a football in her bed?' "Oh yeah", he said, "I put that in there with her last night when I put her to bed. She likes it."..... Huh? I think. It actually cracks me up to see them together. She gets SO excited when he comes home from work and she gets to see him. I am anxious to see how she is when she is older. I am going to keep dressing her in dresses and hope for the best. :)

Playing Farm

The farm set has come back to play in a big way in our house. That is a hay elevator that Adam made going into the barn you can see above. And he has the manure spreader backed up to the barn, just like we do at home, to collect the manure and spread it out over the corn fields. Last week one of our cows had been pregnant too long or something and gave birth to a still birth calf. The heifer was wild so my father in law couldn't get a hold of it to help it or something. This was the first thing I heard about when I got home that day. There was a dead calf in the drop and Papa took the calf out with the tractor bucket. You can be sure that scene was re-enacted here with the farm set. But such is farm life I guess. I like that they are playing with the farm set again and using their imaginations. I thought that hay elevator was pretty clever.

Swimming lessons

We have put the boys in swimming lessons at the Lodge in Rock Hill after church on Sundays. I am very happy with the program. This is real instruction opposed to a program we have done in the past where you basically walk your child around the pool for a free swim half an hour. You can see in the one picture above, it is one instructor per like 3 kids. And I don't even have to go in the pool for this one! The pool is very warm as well, otherwise my kids would not have even attempted to go in. They walk right in so I am happy about that. Van of course is sort of a free spirit. Today he shimmied himself along the side of the pool to the other end and they had to sway him back. They put flotation devices on their backs and teach them how to swim properly. Adam can swim, but he does this side to side motion to keep him afloat. I want him to learn how to do it correctly. They enjoy going and I probably will put them in another semester.