Growing Up...

This post is going to be long, but since I have been terrible at writing in the kid's journals, I wanted to write a few tidbits about each child and throw some photos up of each of them too. Enjoy. They are growing up far too quickly for my liking. 

We start training young around here. Hear no Evil. See no Evil. Speak no Evil.  Ha! I love this picture. We jokingly told them to do this and they thought it was hilarious. I love these kids. Btw, the Hoola-Hoop was already there. They were sitting in it like that when we came in the room before church. :)

Benjamin
My little Benji, as he is most commonly called around here. He has had several names. Big Ben stuck for awhile (because of his large "stature", Benjamini, Ben, Benjamin, Benny Boo, Benja, Benjo, etc. But, the kids have taken to calling him Benji, so it is kind of sticking (for now).

Our little Benji is just a delight to have. He is rarely rarely rarely fussy. All smiles, giggles, and happiness. He only gets sad when he is tired or hungry or sometimes when there is just a big ol' burp he needs help getting out. But, he goes right to sleep on his tummy with his little thumb with no fight and sleeps like a champ. He sleeps 11 to 12 hours at night and takes 3 naps a day, one that is usually at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours long. He is trying his darndest to get that wide little body to roll over, but to no avail yet. He is trying to sit up and doing pretty well if he uses his little gorilla arms to prop himself up. He is very aware and loves to watch his siblings. Alex and Rebekah are pros at making him laugh. He lights up when any of the three enter the room. He loves to snuggle, is trying to hold his bottle and loves loves loves to hear himself coo and babble. I love this stage of infancy. So innocent, so sweet. He may just be the one that will trick me into having a 5th. If every baby was as "easy" as him, I would do it. If only there were a way to make sure that happened. ;) This kid can cheer up the saddest of hearts (even Rebekah or Kaitlyn when the world has ended for them because a princess was taken away for bad behavior).

He is now eating 4 8 oz bottles a day! We just had his 4 month check up yesterday and get this . . . he is 19 lbs, 13 oz and 26 1/2 inches long. Off the charts for both weight and length. Alex, my biggest besides Benjamin was 18 lbs at 6 months . .. but 19 lbs at 4 months! What the what?!?!?! No wonder he's happy . . . and no wonder he didn't cry when he got his shots. He couldn't feel it through the chub on his sweet legs. Benji, we sure do love you. You make me smile a million times a day. Don't get bigger. You are already wearing 9 month clothes. Sweet baby boy. I love you. Lots of pictures to catch up on. Mmmmmm, 4 months worth! AHHHHH!!!

Just two weeks old. Saying Goodbye to Grandpa Tim, who he gets his middle name from. I'll miss you Grandpa!

And goodbye to Grammy Jane too. :( Sad day. I already miss you Grandma!

About 3 weeks old here. Alex couldn't stay away.

We would often find him doing this and still do whenever he has a moment. 

Nice hair Kaitlyn. ;) 

One Month Photo I believe?? Getting chunky already!

This was one of his first smiles. He smiled soooo early! Around one month . . . maybe 6 weeks. 

I believe this is his 2 month photo. Poor 4th child. No exact dates for anything except his birthday! :/

Thumbsucker #4. Seriously. We are going to make some orthodontist out there very very wealthy. :)

Thanks for the Dbacks hat Aunt Charla! I love it!

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. ha! Poor kid. He is far too loved.

We'll go with 3 month photo here!? :)

Or perhaps this is his 3 month photo? Probably 3 1/2 months. Who knows? It'll all be worked out in heaven right?

The girls were fighting over who got to feed Benji the bottle the other day and I decided to let it go. They apparently, worked it out. 

We'll go for this being his almost 4 month photo. :) His shirt describes him well. Thanks Aunty Nicole. :)

And a really truly 4th Month Picture ... taken only 3 days after his official 4th month mark! Yay for me!

I could kiss this kid all day long. Really, I could. 

Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn, my Kaitlyn oh my oh my. She is the cheese of our family. She has us laughing often . . . unless she is throwing one of her 45 minute screaming tantrums. Daddy calls her Katie Kaboom for a reason. She knows how to Kaboom like no one I have ever seen. But, she is also so sweet, loving, smart, and silly. She is as smart as a whip and catches on to humor and the world around her faster than I thought a 2 year old ever could. She is at a very very fun age right now where she uses words she knows in the wrong way and it keeps us laughing all the time. She loves to make people laugh. She also loves hair. I think that might be why she loves Rapunzel so much. She often comes up to me and asks if she can "play with my hair." I loooooove it. Her latest hilarious phrase is "What da Peck!?" She must hear us saying What the Heck, but man it cracks us up to no end. Kaitlyn is our most adventurous eater. She will try just about anything . . . unless it is a vegetable. She has a large aversion to veggies, but she loves all sorts of soups, pastas, meats, spicy stuff anything. So, thankfully, I can usually hide veggies in the things she eats. She loooooves sweets more than I can say. I think I addicted her to them when I was pregnant with her. Sorry K. She is still our little sprite. She bounces all over the house and is so light and bendy (weird word I know). She hates to have her hair touched (odd since she loves hair) and IF she lets me do it, it is OUT by noon. Always. She loves to be big and wants to do everything her siblings do at all times. And, oh is she ever a tease. It is probably her favorite thing to do. For sure. She is working on learning her colors and shapes. I think she'd know them if I did more with her . .. but I won't use this time to beat myself up over it. :/ She loves to sing and I often catch her singing and making up songs or singing songs from Tangled. She also looooves to be outside and IN THE DIRT. She loves dirt this girl. I think she may be my tom-boy. Loves to be barefoot outside. I can't keep shoes on her to save my life. Loves to help with anything, but especially cooking. Loves to eat. Loves cereal. Loves milk. Has night terrors now and again. Its awful. I had them when I was little too. Loves water. Loves swimming. Kaitlyn is strong willed, an entertainer, and a lover of fun. She always wants Charles Jones or Randy Paige (older men in our ward) to take her to nursery. So funny. She looooves and adores them both. She is definitely not shy and will talk to anyone. My sweet Kaitlyn. We love and adore you so much. You are our little pixie and we can't imagine life without you.

Rebekah
My sweet Rebekah has grown so much lately. I feel like I see her grow (mentally) every day. She has risen to the new challenge of being the eldest at home most of the time and loves it I think. She can write her name beautifully, knows all the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and recognizes all the letters, and wow can this girl color. She is precise and careful and just so creative. I would describe Rebekah as a very creative spirit. She loves to choose her own clothes and will often exit the room with 3 different pairs of socks on so that she can be more colorful, and several layers of clothes that do not match, but to her they "Go." I love it. I love her free spirit and her creative edge. She asked for paints for her upcoming 4th birthday and we are excited to give them to her. I think she would really love to take an art class. We are working on that. Her other love is flowers. She almost can't help herself. If she sees a flower, she simply must pick it! We are working on that too. :) She looooves Benji and often talks about someday when she is a mommy she wants 20 kids. 15 girls and 5 boys. Good luck sweetheart! :) She is a good little mommy to him and most of time is very willing to help with him . . . sometimes I have to threaten her. :) She and Kaitlyn are best friends and play well together and I am so happy that they have one another. They play all day together, some days with very little arguing, other days . .. screams every 10 minutes. :) Rebekah has an infectious laugh and a room brightening smile. She is very sensitive to other's needs and feelings and feels very sad when someone is not being included or is left behind. She actually cried once because I didn't wait for Daddy to drive right behind us on the way to church, worried that he wouldn't find his way. She has grown leaps and bounds in her ability to be outgoing and confident. You couldn't bribe her with anything to get up in front of people a month ago. Just a couple of weeks ago, she memorized her part and got up there and recited her part for the ward Primary Program! Yeah, so she twirled her cute pigtails the whole time (made it even cuter), but she did it and we were beaming with pride for her. What an accomplishment for a little girl who detests public attention! She is memorizing the articles of faith now and has passed off her first one. We have a wonderful primary president who has really encouraged her in this and I think passing off her first one is what gave her the courage to get up for the program. Thank you Sister Jones! Her best friends right now are her two neighbors, Gwen and Jacob. She says she'll marry "Jake" one day. It's adorable. She originally wanted to marry Daddy, but I explained that Daddy is taken and that she'll have to find someone else. So Jake it is! She loves her Jake. :) Rebekah loves to paint, color, draw, write, make things, cook things, and be involved in anything I do. She wants to be a mommy. She loves her princesses and babies and is like a broken record alllll dayyyy long, asking why? why? why? Her famous line is, "Why is _______ Why?" Always a why before and after every sentence. She loves to pretend and does it all day. I don't think her mouth stops moving until she goes to bed, and even then it doesn't because she still sucks her thumb and her "star blanky." Rebekah is excited to be 4 and to start preschool and more activities soon. We just love our Rebekah. She brings such a sense of love and compassion to our family. She is fiesty and silly, but also has such a big heart. I love you so much Rebekah. You are an angel in our family.

A prime example of her creativity. This is an African shawl that a friend gave to me when I was in Iowa and Rebekah found it and put on like this and then came to me, "Tie it mom!" This girl is awesome. 

Alex
I did a previous post on Alex and starting Kindergarten. Since then, he has just grown leaps and bounds. Sometimes I catch myself getting sad about it. He is just really growing up so quickly. Big milestones have happened for him. He has now lost 5 teeth! He four front bottom ones and now, one of the top middle ones. He looks absolutely adorable missing that front tooth and thankfully he has not grown out of being called adorable. ;) He does roll his eyes at me when I say that, but he still "lets" me say it. I think he knows I don't want him to grow up. ;) He is READING! (And writing really really well I should add) It is so. very. fun. to watch your child learn to read. He still has to sound out longer words, but there are some sentences that he can just coast through as if he's read for years. He is even working on getting better at expression and loves to tell me about exclamation points, question marks, commas, periods, etc. His reading comprehension has always been off the charts in my opinion and continues to be so. He could comprehend far above his reading level before he could ever read. I like that quality because he fun to discuss books with. He often has a different opinion than me about the meaning of things and it's fun. Alex has always been very sensitive to right and wrong and that quality is helping him to be a real asset to his classroom. Mrs. Sneed said he has a gift for leading others to do what is good. That makes a mommy proud .. . even though I know a large percentage of that was in him before he ever came to me. She also said he has an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The material they cover in class (particularly in history and science) is never enough for him and he raises very good discussion questions often. He likes to be helpful and serve others. He likes to "fulfill his duties" at school. In other words, he wants so badly to know exactly what the teacher expects that sometimes she has to tell him, "Alex, there is no correct answer, its okay . . . just tell me what you think." This worries me a bit, but we are trying to encourage him to share his true thoughts and feelings even when he doesn't know the expectation. The hardest part about his stage of life right now is his thirst for independence. He wants to make every decision for himself and he wants to be trusted. We are trying to encourage that, but it is harder than I thought. Alex continues to find things and dig dig dig until he knows everything about it. Over the last few months, it's been changing more often because of all the things he learns in school. We've been through Indians, China, Police, Firefighters, American History, a few others, and he is currently deep into Killer Whales and The US Military. He came to us yesterday and boldly announced that after his mission he is planning on entering the Air Force while he goes to college to be a Marine Zoologist. Well. Don't know how I feel about that, but I'm not going to be the one to squash my 5 year old's dreams. I would be proud of him if that was the path he chose . . . worried . . . but proud. Alex loves and adores his baby brother. Not a day goes by that he doesn't take time to hold him and play with him. The first thing he wants each morning is for me to put Benjamin down on Alex's bed so he can talk to him for a few minutes before breakfast. He is the best at making Benji laugh, and taking care of him. He can feed him and burp him with no help and is a pro at cheering him up when he is squawking for attention. Alex is excelling in Taekwon Do and has a gift for focus and concentration. He works so hard as a little kindergartner and we are just bursting our buttons over him. He often makes me think deeply about the gospel with his questions. He is a unique young man and though I really just want him to stay small, I am excited to see the type of person he becomes. I pray for him to have the courage to face this scary world. I love you Alex. You are a great pillar of strength and love in our family. 

When he lost his 3rd and 4th bottom teeth in October.

Working on his Christopher Columbus Timeline for school.

 

5th Tooth Lost. Mrs. Sneed pulled this one for him. Best. Teacher. Ever.

His other front center is also very loose, so he may just be able to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth soon." AND, his two other front teeth on either side of the middles are loose! He is losing teeth like crazy!

 

The almost finished product. He colored his drawings after he drew them. 

I am so thankful for each of my kids. They are a joy to be around (most of the time :)) and teach me so much. Alex asked me recently, "Is it hard to be a mom or a dad?" I said, "well yes, sometimes, but most of the time it is the most wonderful job there is because I get to be around my favorite people." I love my kids. They are my little angels that bring me closer to the Savior.