All My Children

Not much new and exciting news to post about around here. Until yesterday we had been having beautiful weather and spending most of our days playing outside and enjoying just being out of the house after several cold weeks! We're going through a little rain spell right now so we're back in doors for a bit. Here are some pics of all my babies in action!

It's not easy being the mom of super hero's but it sure is fun (doesn't James, I mean Super Man, look too excited about this picture :)

James put this dish rag on Gracie's head and told me she was an angel :)

So, as the kids have been running around outside you will often find me much like this, (except I'm sitting in the bigger chair with my feet in the smaller one) reading and soaking up some Vitamin D :) I looked outside yesterday and saw James "thumbing" through my latest novel and trying to be just like mommy - I'm reminded once again that they are always watching me :)

My sweet John-Mark giving me a CHEESE for the camera !

John-Mark and Elmo looking out the window and checking things out - Elmo stays busy with these boys :)

While cleaning up yesterday I turned around and found that Gracie had put on her Daddy's hat, grabbed bunny and a wash cloth and was having a ball!

Climbing, Climbing, Climbing

Made it to the top!

Ready for the best part - the SLIDE!

Here I go!

Miss Sassy Frass :)

Well, it didn't take long at all for Gracie to be a full on walker. I went out of town last weekend on a girls beach trip (so fun and so thankful for a wonderful hubby who stayed home with all 3 kiddos for 3 days and did a great job! He is like super dad!) Anyhoo - when I returned Gracie girl was a full on toddler! And she loves it! Since she started walking she has climbed the ladder to the trampoline and the play house ALL BY HERSELF and has been trying to figure out how to ride the tricycles! I knew once she started walking there would be no stopping her!
I've known this for a while but the older she gets and the more independent her little sassy frass side is coming out. She is a really happy easy baby most of the time but when something doesn't go her way she definitely lets you know it. For example, if the boys try to take a toy from her she will pitch a fit so much so that they immediately return the toy to her and say "sorry sis, sorry" - ha! She already has them trained! Another example, if I'm walking with her and holding her hand often James will come over and want to hold her hand as well and "help" - she does not like this at all - she will pull her hand away from him and give this grunt. Sweet James asks, "why does she do that mommy" and I just tell him that's just the way she is - he's learning early about the moody ways of women :) She is definitely going to keep ALL of us on our toes!

Gracie wanted to wear the puppy costume like the boys always do - how happy is she!

Is this the sweetest puppy dog face EVER!?!

A new funny James story - yesterday he came out with a pretend sword and told John-Mark that he was the giant Goliath and he was going to kill the Israelites! Um, I think he's missing the point that the little shepard boy slays the giant! I think he's just in to giants right now!

John-Mark updates - I feel like I don't post very much about our current middle child even though he is very post worthy! He is a little over two and a half and he is one busy boy! Jeremy and I often talk about how we have to remember that he's only 2 1/2 and a lot of the discipline struggles we have with him have to do with his immaturity but it's so easy to forget his age because he is right there with James in everything they do. He can talk just as well and clear as James (in fact, half of his conversations are exact copies of what James says but if you were to just meet him separate from James you would be shocked at how well he carries a conversation).
One of my favorite things about John-Mark is that he LOVES to sing, especially in the mornings. He wakes up singing a song - and loud! We'll be laying in bed and hear him belting happy birthday or the national anthem - yes, he loves to sing the National Anthem! He doesn't know all the words but he knows the tune and loves to sing it.
John-Mark is also our most polite child - he always says please, thank you, and you're welcome without being prompted. He cracks my up when I'll ask him to share a toy and he'll hand it over to his brother or sister and without them even responding he'll say "you're welcome" :)
He is also our little dirt child. This boy can be outside for less than 2 minutes and be covered, head to toe in dirt! It's like he's a magnet for it - and he LOVES it! :)

James HATES loud noises and always covers his ears when I vacuum or Jeremy mows the grass or anything. I grabbed this cute pic of the boys sitting on the steps outside while Jeremy was doing some yard work - and of course John-Mark is right there with his big brother :)

"mommy's cooking a baby in her tummy"

I'm pretty sure everyone that reads this blog already knows our news but if you didn't read it on my hubby's fb or haven't had James tell you that I'm "cooking a baby in my tummy", WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY! We're due Sept 21st. James and john-Mark will turn 4 and 3 in August and Gracie will be 22 months when baby #4 arrives. James has had lots of comments about this pregnancy. When we first told him I was having a baby he replied "you don't need a baby - you already have one". Very true. And yesterday I told him I needed to go to the doctor to check on the baby and when I returned without a baby I made the mistake of telling him the baby was cooking in my belly which started this whole conversation about cooking babies in the oven and on and on and the more I tried to correct myself the more he continued to talk about the "cooking of the baby". Sure enough this morning at the gym he told some friends "mommy is cooking a baby In her belly" (to which they just laughed and laughed because they actually didn't know yet:)
For the most part people have been really excited and supportive - of course there are those people who look at us like we're crazy - and some have even said as much! But we know the Lord has an amazing plan for our family and we already have 3 of the most amazing kids I know so we can't wait to see who He is adding to our family!

"Momma, I got a question..."

James probably says this to me a good 25x a day - however it feels like 1000x sometimes :) I love him and I love his little inquisitive mind but some days I wish I could turn him off, or at least down! I really need to put a video of him up so you can get the full impact of him asking me all these questions - full of dramatic faces and lots of hand motions. I love to ask him about something he did during the day because he is so animated when he retells stories (wonder who he gets that from - ha!)
We had several days of really nice weather last week so the boys played outside A LOT!! I must say that right now my boys can be relatively easy. I can totally send them to their room or outside to play and they will interact and entertain each other for hours, literally! I let them have a picnic in the top of their play set and they were beyond thrilled!
I bought James some baseball pants at a recent consignment sale just for fun and he wants to wear them everyday! I have a few more sales to go to this season and hope to find a few more pairs other wise he is going to wear these out before summer gets here!

Melt my heart! I don't know what prompted this but the boys were eating their afternoon snack when I looked over and they were sitting together with their arms around each other! I had to try and grab a quick pic! Sweet Love!

Ready for summer!

I was going through the kids closets cleaning out winter and pulling out spring clothes and came across their flip flops for this summer - the boys were so excited they wanted to put their "flippy floppies" on right away and then James promptly asked me to take their picture :) I love the little things that make them happy - I guess everyone likes a new pair of shoes :)

Trouble? Who me? Never...

This sweet face has figured out how to climb pretty much every piece of furniture in our house - and doesn't she look proud of herself!
Can you tell she just got caught? I have to be careful or she would climb all over the table too! She was actually climbing DOWN off the table when I snapped this! You would think with such skills she would be a pro at walking by now. Speaking of walking, she did take her first steps a few days ago. We were all playing in the boys room and I was messing with James about something and I looked over and she was WALKING to me! I couldn't believe it. We all clapped and cheered and she grinned and walked some more. But apparently crawling is still her preference - and she really only likes to walk on the carpet - not the hard woods. Silly girl.
She has also mastered getting on and off and riding all the riding toys we have in the house. She can maneuver around the house pretty fast that way as well so the whole walking thing still may be a while before she gets serious about it when there are easier ways to get around:)

Coming Through!