Life

It's my brother's birthday today, Happy Birthday Big Brother! He's a great guy, though when I was younger, I didn't think that all the time. But I know he looked out for me and did what big brothers are supposed to do, though occasionally, I think he enjoyed the teasing part a little too much. :)

Life continues to whiz by here. We are in the midst of homeschooling 2 kids, potty training one, and trying to keep the other one out of mischief. As well as the 'normal' things, like soccer, keeping house (ha! Please don't judge me if you stop by!), doing laundry, church activities and work. Derek recently turned 15 months (yikes, he's actually closer to 16 months now...) and he's a busy little boy. Loves pulling himself up to stand.all.the.time! He's still not crazy about 'cruising' around the furniture, but he's more than willing to try walking if you hold his forearms and walk with him. I know he's going to figure that out soon enough and then I'm going to be in serious trouble. Knowing where he & Cameron are at ALL times is going to be key. For now though, he's perfectly happy playing with his blocks or emptying out my 'odds & ends' drawer or throwing every ball he can find. And he's got an arm too! If you're not paying attention, he'll surprise you.

Cameron is still a fun little boy. Potty training hasn't been awful, but it's definitely been more challenging than it was with the first 2. I think I just don't have the time to spend working on it with him. But overall, he's doing well. He's also talking a lot more. 2 word sentences from him all the time (remember, he & Tyler were my 'late' talkers, didn't verbally say much until 2.5), but he has more and more words every day. He started Sunday School (instead of playing in the nursery) at the beginning of the month and while he's not eager to go to class, he sits there and listens. Absorbs most, I would guess.

Bria is doing well with Kindergarten, though it is proving to be a little more challenging teaching 2 children instead of just one. She's very independent, when things come easily to her, but if it's hard or requires practice, she becomes whiny and says "I neeeeeeeed hhheeelllppp!". It's a good reminder to me that not everyone works at the same pace. She's has the mental knowledge, but the gross/fine motor skills are what she needs the most practice on right now, so we're adjusting to help her out. She is thrilled that she now has a bike she can ride, just wishes she could do it all the time.

Tyler is a busy boy. The boy loves to learn and absorbs everything I teach him. I hope that love for learning continues for the rest of his life. That's something that you can't teach. And if the topics that are being taught are things he's especially interested in (animals, for example), he can't get enough and I'm scrambling to find things that will help him learn more. It's not unusual to have 50 books borrowed from the library at one time. And at least 35-40 of them are ones he's requested. He loves sports, especially soccer and baseball. He asks to check scores on Espn.com every morning just to see which team won. If it's one of his 'favorites' (currently most teams with animals as mascots are his 'favorites'), then he'll tell us ALL about it. If he has his daddy's (& grandfathers', uncles, etc.) love of sports and any athletic ability at all (which is proving true), I have a feeling that sports will be a major part of our lives for years to come.

Matt & I just keep on keeping on. :) I don't feel like we do much outside the normal, everyday things, but we're not complaining either. Life is busy, but good. We're having fun and learning all that is involved with being parents of 4 young children. We are so thankful for that opportunity!!

Apparently, I was interrupting her book. That's quite a look!

Her hair is getting SO long. I think I need to give it a good trim.



Listening to Coach

I have no idea if he's trying to score or defend...often how things are in youth soccer ;)

Daddy fixed her bike

I think she's pretty excited, don't you?

His new trick, balancing on his knees without support

15 months old & FULL of personality!

These two are really starting to interact together. Sometimes they do well, other times I hear "No no Baby!" and Derek squawks back in reply.

There was a bbq judging competition at Matt's work and there were tons of family friendly activities, one being face-painting. I don't know about you, but I was pretty impressed. This is actually the day AFTER (she insisted on sleeping with it on - you can tell she's only 5 and not 15!)

The most recent news is that we recently found out that Cameron is 'highly allergic' to cats and dogs. And while we're still waiting to hear what 'highly allergic' means (the only symptoms he has shown are bad eczema flare-ups), we are beginning to think we need to replace our carpet and we can't do that until we find a new home for our sweet kitty. I've had her for 7 years (she was one of several free kittens at a vet's office where I work - I got her soon after I found out we were expecting Tyler) and I'm so sad that I *probably* have to say goodbye to her. Once she got out of her kitten stage, she's been a really sweet cat. Great with kids, excellent hunter (better than our dog, in most cases!) and always wanting to cuddle with me in the winter. She may be 'just a cat', but she's my cat. But I know it's selfish for me to want to keep her when Cameron has so much trouble with eczema. His flareups (and his scratching at them and making them bleed) breaks my heart. Obviously, I chose my son's health over having a pet. But it's still going to be hard to let her go.