A few January moments...

 I am *really* trying to take the camera out more which is tough in the midst of a busy day. When I have a great shot on a moment, the camera is upstairs and when I am upstairs with the perfect moment to capture, the camera is down the in kitchen.

Ah well, will just have to settle for moments as these where I had just plopped Zane down on the bed (where he can now sit unassisted! More on that later, if I ever get around to a 6 month post!) after waking from his nap. It was hard at first because he was so excited to be up and interacting again. Most shots were his blurred action like this: 

He is honestly one of the happiest and content babies I have known. I still pause often and thank God for answering my prayer. The prayer that went something like this "Please Lord, give me a third child that is NOT like Alaina." HA! Just kidding. Well, sort of. I digress.

He IS like Alaina in that he is very active and physical. Now that he is sitting unsupported, he will sit contently for a few minutes but then leans or lunges, landing on his tummy. The difference is that Alaina would have cried and Zane will then just look around, reach for what he can and happily kick one foot against the floor repeatedly as he lays there with not much to do. Sweet boy.

I did get some sweet pictures of his face when he was still. : )

           Look At. Those. Lashes. 

This picture was taken while he was laying on his stomach staring at Conner, who was on the computer. Zane has eyes for Conner. I mean if Conner is in the room, you can bet that #1 Conner is interaction with Zane and #2 Zane is eating it up.

Onto my girl. You know, the girl who dresses to impress no matter what time of day? Well, I told her to go get her pajamas on and this is how she returned.

 

Okay, so technically, she does have pajamas on. 

Next time I need to say, "Alaina, get your pajamas on but please don't add crazy socks, high heels, a shawl and sunglasses." 

She is certainly catching on because when I took the picture she told me not to show anyone. I promised I wouldn't. Technically, I am not showing it, I am posting it, right? I figure she will forgive me when she is 25 years old and we look back at these pictures and laugh. Let's hope so.

The last moment just occurred about an hour and a half ago. Conner has been asking more and more to put Zane to bed, so with Keith being at the N.C. State game tonight, and me being busy with getting Alaina out of the bath, what better night? 

Well, this is what I found. My precious, loving, sweet heart of a child Conner reading the very book I read him when I would put him to be as a baby. It is Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton. Notice the back cover is ripped off and the binding and to bottom of the book is chewed off. I used this book with Conner, Alaina and now Zane. To see Conner reading it so lovingly to his little brother stirs something in me that is unspeakable. It is even hard to allow myself to feel. A sadness that my baby is not a baby anymore. And a joy in seeing that big boy holding my third and last *real* baby who is relaxed and content in his brother's arms. Thank you Lord for these precious moments!

Time flies....

....when your life is extremely full! (Just so you know, I almost typed "chaotic" instead of "full" but I am trying to keep a good attitude so there you go)

Wow. I kept meaning to post, but it seemed there was always something more pressing to do....like, I don't know...feed a crying baby, help with homework, give someone a bath, make baby food, fold some clothes, respond to emails, break up a (petty) arguement, make lunches.....and the list goes on and on. 

So I have several posts to catch up on so this one will have to be a post in pics so I can move on to the Christmas post and a post about a certain little baby who turned six months in December!

This month...

We did end up getting a great Christmas picture and my cards actually went out on time. Yes, it was a Christmas miracle.

The kids spent lots of time on the trampoline together and Conner even took some time to help out in the yard and blow some leaves, or is that blow the tree trunk? 

 Alaina continued what has certainly become a norm, dressing up from head to toe for absolutely no reason other than the fact that she was born to do it. She has a fashion sense like those big designers in New York. You know, the ones that have the models on the runway wearing an outfit that only looks good on them and that you would NEVER put together because in all reality, it doesn't match. Yep, she has that kind of style. And I love it. She has always been preoccupied with other people laughing at her and I love to see her confidence grow. It has actually been a great opportunity for us to talk about not worrying about what others say or think about you. Have to start that conversation early as we know how girls can be..... : )

Since he was not sitting up on his own yet. Zane enjoyed the rotation of bumbo, exersaucer and jump up on a daily basis. He has become a pro and picking up and manipulating objects and is content to stay in the exersaucer for long periods of time just playing and observing the world around him. Still such a happy baby.

With the weather being nice, we spent time at a park.

Okay, that is not completely true. We had 30 minutes to kill on an early release day so we pulled in the parking lot of their old preschool, and they have a play structure next to the parking lot. Just keeping it real here.

It was really fun. Maybe we should actually GO to a park sometime. Hmmm....I know. I really think outside the box.

Here is that confidence I was talking about. Those are Conner's shoes from a few years ago that he never really wore. She found them, and while they are at least a size too big, wanted to wear them. She loves to come up with outfits and she adores her brother, so this was a winning combination for her.

This month I decided to push even further into the world of "clean" eating and have been making all of Zane's food. Here he is enjoying avacados. Or is that peas? Who knows, he pretty much likes it all and it has been somewhat, emphasis on the "somewhat" enjoyable making it.

Other than being rotated from baby item to baby item, and eating, Zane stayed busy in December being mighty cute and wanting very much to be able to move more than an inch. It's coming buddy, trust me. Just give Mommy at least a month or two of the beautiful phase of sitting independently without being mobile.  Please?

In other news, Alaina dressed up a lot. Oh wait, we       covered that.

When I think back to last month and think what we did, most of what I can really remember doing is just DOING. Doing laundry, doing errands, doing, doing doing. 

While "doing things" is a part of life, I do pray I can continue to adjust my priorities so that turning "doing" into "done" is not the most important thing. That having a clean (and empty) kitchen sink, empty laundry hampers and clean toilets is not what is going to make my children feel loved nor will it create memories that will last in their mind forever.

So when they want to pile up a million pillows and drag half the toys in the house under Conner's loft bed so they can hang out together, I say yes. Those are the moments that I need to be "doing" more of.

Notes to Self

1. Fifteen single socks belonging to one boy after you have scoured his drawer, his laundry and his room is what is contributing to your current disheveled state, lack of time and future dementia.

 2.  Looking at this sweet face helps lessen the stress and frustration with number 1. 

(Look! I have teeth!)

3. Go ahead and accept that your dreams of having a baby who will be content to sit and play, after Alaina crawled at six months and has never sat a day in her life, are dashed.  Yes, your 5 1/2 month old is already up on all fours rocking back and forth.

Christmas Picture....Take One!

  I was seriously dreading excited about taking our Christmas picture. Three kids all looking at the camera with their eyes open and smiling in good light? No problem. I also wanted to get them done early, and by that I mean, in December. I am not working at all the first half of December and have lots of work the last half, so trying to make the most of it and get it all done. So, my first thought was to go to a beautiful park and have my three angelic children sit on a park bench. Yeah, scratch that. The light in our bedroom is always good, so I figured I would start there. Alaina helped me out with the test shots.

OK, the light is good although I don't like the background...

Conner joined in (we were waiting to wake Zane up from his nap so he would be super happy). Yep, light is good but man, the background is bad. 

So, lets switch perspectives on the bed.....nope, background worse. Plan B.......

We (the kids) had the idea to have Conner lay on the bottom, then Alaina, then Zane. We tested that but all I could picture was Zane tumbling off, crying and then no picture. So I tried Keith's suggestion, take it from above. Yeah, somehow that didn't look like all the cute pictures I am seeing on the photo company website. Ugh. Plan C.

We headed outside, I had the idea to have the kids lay on the trampoline. It was covered with leaves which I thought would be a very natural foundation to the picture. So I sent the kids and Keith out there while I got Zane up. Well, my sweet husband decided to sweep of the trampoline for me. Yeah. Took a test shot but not liking the trampline backdrop. Ugh.

 Plan D. The fence. Hey, it is an earthly, natural background, right? Despite the fact that you can see the neighbors junk through it, that is. Test shot with Alaina....I like. 

 OK, here we go, bring on Zane! He was happy, I was grumpy and already barking orders, but hey, we were making progress.

 Alaina, you really need to look at the camera for this to work.

 Alaina, easy on the smile, and Zane, look alive.

 OK, Conner, I need you be looking up. Please, someone look at me!

 Glad they are having fun, but at this point I was SO frustrated. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get them all looking at me. Zane was engrossed with the leaves. Probably because I never take him outside, poor kid. Yes Zane, there is a whole other world outside of our living room and Target. : )

*SIGH*

I will say, we did eventually get a good picture. In fact the Christmas pictures I ordered arrived today and I have to say, I love them. You all will just have to wait by your front doors in anticipation for the mailman to bring your card to see the final product. HA!

At least that is one thing off my list of Christmas things to do. Now on to the other eighty six things....

Conner

 I have been wanting to write about Conner for some time. He turned 9 on October 18th and while my intentions to do a birthday post (heck, even a birthday party) for him were there, it never came to fruition. So here goes. And in usual style, I am going to let pictures speak for themselves. Warning: lots of proud Mommy bragging will go on here.

Hmm...don't even know where to start. This ninth year of life has been an amazing transformation for all of us. He is at that age where he is somewhat detaching from us and venturing out. May not look like a big way from the outside, but I see it and feel it on the inside and am really proud of him. All the times I forced encouraged him to be independent has certainly paid off in dividends. I find myself allowing him to do things on his own, like pulling up to a fast food place so he can run in and go to the bathroom, allowing him to take his sister to the bathroom at restaurants (he waits outside for her of course), at the beach, giving him a key and allowing him to go up to our unit to get something and come back, even going in a store to purchase something and go through the checkout on his own. I love that he wants to do it and literally see his confidence building. Those are some ways I see it and am proud for him, but there are other moments that just touch my heart where proud doesn't scratch the surface. I see some of them around here, like these:

The novelty of a baby brother has not worn off, in fact, I see his desire to interact and connect with Zane more and more each week. This weekend, Conner and Keith went camping (where apparently

you can set up the timer on the camera and take as many "farting" pictures as you want while eating Doritos) and when he came back, he took Zane in his arms and said "How's my boy? You have me back now", in the sweetest baby voice you have ever heard. He has yet to deny my request nor complain when I say, "Can you watch your brother for me? or "Will you go talk to Zane for a minute?" Conner was even able to go upstairs get Zane out of the crib and bring him down to the kitchen for me. Sweet for me! And oh so sweet for he and Zane. His love of babies didn't start with Zane however, he had a

cousin born last January and from her birth, he has been enamored with her. (see right) It wasn't the token, "I'll hold her until I get bored", he was content to hold her and just be. This is the same kid who, on a playground will play with kids of any age. It is not uncommon for me to see him playing with toddlers even when there is bigger kids around. He will strike up conversations with Mom's, Grandmother's with no hesitation and demonstrate an innate kindness that is admirable. I say innate because I have seen it since birth and unfortunately cannot claim credit for teaching it!

What may speak more than anything to the subject of his kindness and ability to get along with kids of all ages is this:

This is Alaina's five year old birthday party. A girly girl "sleepover" (you don't really think I am crazy enough to actually have that many girls stay over do you?) and do you see who that is in the left corner of the pic? Yep, Conner. He wanted to be there every bit as much as Alaina wanted him there. That said, he will ham it up with the boys every chance he gets. Here he is with his "co-authors" at school at the book reveal party at school.  The ONE thing Conner's teacher said he could work on at 

 school was his silliness with the boys. She did add that it was a problem for all of them and hey, if he is going to have an issue in school, I will take that one! He (and we as parents) are so blessed that school comes easily for him. He is the type that can ace a test without studying and is able to comprehend concepts, especially mathematic ones, without much effort. He got straight A's first quarter and his love of school is not only reflected in his grades, but his attitude when he gets in the car at the end of the day. It is rare that I don't get "It was an awesome day!" from him. : ) Let's all pray this continues!

Not only do academic things come easily, Conner is an athlete. His favorite "subject" is recess and his competitive nature, which he is still learning to control, combined with his physical ability allows him to excel and enjoy sports. So far it has been soccer and we are holding back the lion in him that has requested tackle football since the age of 3. One day, Conner, one day. We are going to give basketball another go round this winter and and he is eager to try baseball as well. The one thing that rivals his love to be on the field would be football watching. Yep, he and his Dad have become regular football game watching buddies. In fact, last night when we were supposed to be decorating the tree, I was left alone with the ornaments as Conner sat and watched a game. Yep, it happened. The appeal and magic of Christmas Tree decorating has died it's first death with Conner. Thank you NFL. You know your son loves some football when he runs upstairs to give you a play by play of the last minutes of a game including the details of time left, penalties given, yards run and even plays used. It will be interesting to see which sport he ends up playing the most!

Okay, this post is getting WAY too long already. As you can see, I am madly in love and madly proud of this boy and could go on all day about him, but here are some moments of love that reflect those sentiments.

 Conner and I sitting in the hospital looking at Zane, talking about him and bonding over this new addition to our family. Conner's questions are always genuine, and demonstrate a mature curiosity and thirst for knowledge that I love.

These next two were from a beach trip we took when Zane was just 3 weeks old. Tell me that Conner requesting skin to skin time with his baby brother is not one of the sweetest things ever. Love. 

I was lucky enough to catch this moment. It was the first time that Zane looked at Conner. I mean, really looked at him. It fills me with anticipation to think what their relationship will be like and I feel blessed beyond belief that Conner is the big brother that God has blessed Zane with.

 

 Conner is not only great with Zane but is great with his sister. That does not mean that he doesn't annoy, aggravate and intentionally torture her. I mean, what brothers DON'T do that?? But he still loves to hang out with her. Here was a moment I caught on the beach this summer where they were sitting in the surf having a conversation for a good while

And then there is all that they do together on a regular basis. The occasional bubble bath where he keeps his sister laughing with all his inappropriateness  silliness. They still have sleepovers on a regular basis and always make some type of fort out of the furniture, his loft (see below) or have a movie night together. Their excitement over it is really remarkable. Wonder how long that will last??

 He has really struggled with Alaina in other ways. She wants his attention constantly and that takes the form of aggravating him and always wanting to be in his room. He has verbalized to e how hard it is for him sometimes and we have had many honest conversations about how difficult it can be to have Alaina as a sister, but also what a blessing. Oh how I hope God gives me the wisdom and strength to help him navigate his relationship with Alaina!

 And his Dad. What Dad is not seen as a hero by their son at some point? Conner loves his Daddy fiercely. They do things together every night. Every single night. Keith is amazing in that respect. Where I am pushing them off to bed without hesitation, Keith is always careful to consider if he has had his one on one time with them that day. Me? I am busy trying to get one on one time with myself. Just sayin. This weekend Keith cut off his long scraggly hair locks and Conner, after weeks of refusing to have his hair cut, welcomed the clippers without hesitation the same night. I feel beyond blessed to have Keith as a Dad for Conner.

 Now I know I have portrayed Conner as a saint, and while he is wonderful in so many ways, he is also a normal boy. He struggles at time with all the typical things...telling the truth, obedience, responsibility. In fact, after we left Trader Joes the other day, I found he had "stolen" a sucker out of the treasure box. While free, kids are only supposed to take one item and he had chosen a chocolate coin and wasn't supposed to take anything else. He had slipped the sucker in his pants to hide it. I called him on it and he promptly ran back in the store to put it back in the treasure box but it bothered me and I let him know. He demonstrated a big love of money (literally, the boy loves some cash) and video games. Keith and I will always be looking for wisdom in teaching him that balance and oh what challenges he will have ahead with a world that is embroiled in money and media. *sigh*

My prayer is that since I have been given this privilege to parent his amazingly beautiful creature, that I can do it to God's glory. That I can guide and lead him to know Christ and be a light for Him. I have not done the job I need to do in that area, but God has mercy and thankfully lots of it. He also has the wisdom that I will need to nurture Conner and allow all these amazing traits to blossom into full maturity where he can one day lead others, lead a family and most of all know our Father