1st day of Pre-K

The summer has come to an end, and school is officially back in session for Isaac.  I hadn't really dwelled on this day too much, we were having a good summer and were staying busy enough to keep us all entertained.  This summer was a big one for my big guy, he learned some new big skills!  The three main things he accomplished are:  1.  He learned to swim!  He is a fish!  2. He learned to write his name...it's not perfect, but it's legible and pretty cute.  3.  Just last week he learned to ride his bike without training wheels!  He calls it his motorcycle, even turns it on/off with his pretend key and makes engine noises as he drives.  It was a fun summer, we made many good memories with family and friends! 

Now it's back to school and a good routine.  Isaac was a bit hesitant at first, but then found out that he would have one of his teachers from last year as his main teacher this year and he was thrilled!  He was so excited this morning as we were getting ready and he walked right in to his class with little hesitation.  Today was only a gradual entry day, which means the kids were only there 1.5 hours and we stayed in a meeting the majority of that time.  Isaac had a lot of fun during that time, they painted and played.  I am excited about the year that lies ahead for him, I am confident that he will learn a lot of new academic information and will grow spiritually as well.  I am so thankful he is in a school where God's truth is taught in all they do.  I will admit though that it hit me hard today, this is his last year as a preschooler, his last year of "freedom."  My heart is a little sad, my baby is growing up so fast!  My prayer this year is that he has a wonderful year, full of growth and fun, and that the Lord prepares my heart for the next step (I think I'll need the entire year to prepare for sending him off to kindergarten).

Rockstar/Worship Leader

Isaac has always enjoyed music and singing.  He got a guitar for his 3rd birthday and has played with it a lot over the last year.  Lately though, it has gotten a lot of playing time.  He has discovered YouTube videos of his favorite songs, one in particular, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh."  He will only watch the videos that show someone playing a guitar.  He plays the video, stands in front of it, with his guitar in hand and often sunglasses on (every good rockstar needs glasses).  He will sing and play the guitar to his little heart's content.  He tells us he's on stage and he's the worship leader.  He gets very into this!  This past week he was able to be with us during worship at church, so he saw it all first hand.  This spurred him on even more, and he had all kinds of questions about why things are done certain ways.  Even though I get really tired of hearing the same song over and over again, I do love watching him enjoy music and worshipping so much.  Maybe he will be a worship leader  one day or do something else that involves music.

Little fears...

Okay I will have a confession...I HATE roaches!  Growing up we had roaches in the house at times, and I always hated them.  I think that as I've gotten older my fear of them has gotten worse.  Last week my parents came home after a 5 week vacation, so when returning to their house their were a few dead roaches.  Isaac saw them, and did not like them.  I can handle a dead roach, so I did not show fear, it was all on his own.  Well, since we've lived in our house we've had very few roaches, and the majority of them have been this summer.  Today we had some friends over, we were getting Hannah up after her nap and I saw a dead roach by her bed.  I was digusted, how could there be a roach in her room?  Did it get in her bed?  Is it the only one?  Yuck, I was not happy.  My friend picked it up (because I had my hands full holding Hannah), and we all headed to the gameroom.  Isaac was still by her room and he yelled, "Mama, a roach!"  I thought he was kidding, but I could tell by his behavior this was no joke.  I grabbed a shoe and started searching.  I saw it crawl behind the changing table...eeewww!  So I did what any good mom would, I called for daddy.  He came to our rescue, but we had to hunt that thing down.  We finally found it, after only a few screeches from me and the kids, Carl killed it and we all moved on.  WELL, apparently I've scarred Isaac.  Tonight after having been in his bed and quiet for about 30 minutes, he calls for us.  I went in and he hollered, "There's a roach on my blanket!"  I tried my best to stay calm, flipped on the light (Luke was already asleep, but I had to have full light to find this thing.), and looked at the blanket.  Then Isaac said, "Oh no, it was just this light on the firetruck picture (on the blanket)."  I told him I had killed all the roaches, he didn't need to worry about them...only a little white lie, then kissed him and came downstairs laughing.  Thankfully Luke slept through the entire situation.  I learned my lesson today, stay calm even when scared/disgusted by a bug.  I'll try my best to do that next time, but I can't promise that.

Luke is growing too fast!

Okay, maybe Luke's not really "growing" he is still my peanut, but he is maturing so fast lately, he's really turning into a little boy.  He is finally starting to talk more and more, I think he tries to say new words daily.  Isaac started to talk at such a young age, so I don't really think Luke is behind, he's probably average.  He is putting words together to make little sentences, and sometimes they are so silly.  He won't call animals by their name, he calls them by what they say.  So a dog is a woof woof, a cat is a meow, and a cow is a moo.  You get the idea.  He loves ducks, he has always talked about them.  He enjoys going to feed the ducks with Emmy and Gumby in their neighborhood, so now when we drive by their neighborhood pond he says, "Emmy, quack quack, eat."  Which means, Feed the ducks with Emmy.  One of his latest words that I love is, "help."  It's great that he can say that now because it means less yelling when he can't do something.  One of his new words that I don't like is, "Mine!"  I guess it's inevitable that he will learn that word when he spends all his time sharing toys with his brothers.  ;-)  One of the cutest things he says is, "Ow Ow" which means owie.  He also talks a lot about his private part, aka wee wee...such a boy!  When he is asked a question he often says, "ummm" before he answers.  He says a few words that I don't understand, but for the most part his words are very clear.  He loves to sing, one of his favorite songs is a song he learned in Sunday school, "Deep and Wide."  He is very proud of himself for being able to sing that. Hannah's favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, so we sing it a lot, and he now hums the tune, which is precious.  Isaac loves to sing a song called "Pharaoh, Pharaoh."  The main chorus says, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh, ooohh whoe, let my people go."  Luke sings, "oohh whoe, Oma Opa, go."  I'm not sure where that came from, but he has decided that's how he will sing it.  Besides talking he is also maturing in other ways.  He is great in the pool, he floats around by himself in his puddle jumper.  He is so careful getting in and out, I don't think I've met another boy as careful as Luke.  He absolutely adores his sister, she can always make him smile, and he loves making her smile.  He has always enjoyed reading books, he will bring me books at random times all day long.  Now he even gets books and quietly looks through them by himself.  Oma and Opa gave him a Thomas the Train magazine from Holland, and I have often found him sitting alone studying each and every page of that magazine.  My little Luke is a thinker, a focused worker, a bit of a stubborn boy, with a sweet sweet heart.

5 months

Hannah is 5 months now!  Wow, really someone slow her down!  She is so precious, sweet, and fun!  She has a combination of Isaac's mellow temprament and Luke's determination.  She LOVES to be with other kids, especially her brothers.  Her face lights up when someone talks to her or makes eye contact...she is a social butterfly.  Although, I have noticed that she is getting attached to me more and more, she's started to sometimes hesitate a little when going to other people (especially when she's tired).  We still keep her with us during church, but I haven't been able to sit during the last few sermons because she is so talkative and loud, I feel like I'm disturbing everyone.  She likes to yell out during the quietest times, like the prayers, I think she's just praying along with them.  She always sleeps through the worship time, I guess she's used to the noise and sleeps well with that going on.  She has gotten on a pretty good schedule, she naps 2-3 times a day, depending on the day and the length of the naps.  She goes to sleep around 7 every night, eats again before I go to bed, and then wakes to eat around 5 am every morning.  Thankfully she goes right back to sleep after that, sometimes until 9:00!  She enjoys being outside, she watches everything going on around her and just relaxes.  She also enjoys the pool, she just chills.  We started cereal today, I am not sure how much she actually swallowed, but I think she did like it.  The boys were thrilled to see her eating from a spoon!  She can roll from her stomach to her back, and can roll from her back to her stomach (but she has no interest in being on her stomach, so she doesn't do that often).  She is so squirmy, sometimes it's hard to hold her because she gets to wiggly!  Her hair still sticks up and has a reddish tint to it; everyone always comments on her silly hair.  She has a great big smile that lights up a room and makes everyone around her smile.  The boys are still so great with her, they love to tickle her and make her giggle.  When she wakes up they are always the first in her room.  She immediately stops fussing and starts smiling when she sees them. 
I am so thankful for our sweet baby girl, she has taught me to be flexible, slow down a little, and really savor every moment.

Summer

This summer has been fun!  I was worried coming into the summer that we would be bored, and go a little stir crazy, but the month of June was the complete opposite!  We stayed busy almost every day with friends or family either coming over or us going to play some where.  It was great!  Although I will admit, it wore me out some days.  July started out just as busy, but has slowed down the past week.  It's been nice to slow down a little, have time to catch up around the house, and have time to just play as a family.  The boys are playing really well together these days!  They will play trains, push around cars together, Isaac will read to Luke, and their favorite new game is Hide and Seek.  Their giggles are precious to me, I love when I hear them from another room playing and laughing together.  Of course, it's not always laughs and fun, they have their fights, but they are always short lived and they get back to playing together.  They have one common love and that is their sister!  I am not sure who loves her more, they are both crazy about her!  Luke refuses to say Hannah, he calls her Grace.  Every morning as he's coming down stairs he asks for Isaac and Grace.  His face lights up when he sees them!  Isaac wants to be involved in everything I do for either of the little ones.  He is quite the little helper these days. 
This afternoon my eyes filled with tears as I sat with Hannah and Luke, we were watching TV and Luke reached over, grabbed Hannah's hand and sweetly held it as we sat together in the chair.  Whenever she cries Luke is the first to say something, always saying, "Uh-oh!" as he points to Hannah.

The summer is only halfway over and I'm sure we have a lot more fun times ahead, including plenty more swimming, playing with friends, going to parks, and storytime.  I can't wait to make more memories!

3 and 4 months

Wow, Hannah is now 4 months old and I never got around to posting a 3 month update.  Oops, sorry sweet girl.  I'll just give a big update that encompasses both months. 
In the last couple of months, Hannah has started to really come to life.  She started cooing just before 3 months, but now by 4 months she is really "talking" to us.  Hearing her talk is precious, she makes the cutest most expressive faces, like she's really into whatever she's telling us.  She has also started cutting her eating times short because she wants to see her brothers or just because she has something to tell me.  She will talk to me, then smile real big and laugh.  Her ticklish spots are her tummy and under her chin...oh I love tickling her and hearing that sweet giggle.  Right around 3 months she started making the cute spitting face and noises.  It is still cute, but getting really messy.  She has been chewing on her hands for about a month now and drooling like crazy...almost like she is teething already.  Hannah loves her brothers!  They can crawl on her, put their faces right in front of hers, and she just smiles!  She loves the attention!  She also enjoys watching their cartoons, the girl will twist her head all around just to find the TV.  I've also found that the TV aids in tummy time, if she can see it when she lifts her head up she won't complain about being on her tummy.  Don't worry, I don't let her sit around and watch TV.  She is a content baby, usually pretty mellow, as long as she can see those around her.  She is sleeping well, she naps two to three times a day, in her bed and goes down around 7:30 for the night.  The nights are still inconsistent, although she typically sleeps until any time between 4 and 7.  If she's up early she will go back to sleep after eating, and usually sleeps another 3-4 hours.  Hannah still loves being outside, and has found a new fun activity...swimming!  The girl is completely content in the pool, just watches everyone swim around her.  She is growing well, I can't wait to take her for her 4 month check up to find out how much she has grown! 

This week has been challenging, as it's been raining everyday, so we've been stuck inside, but even with these hard days I feel like we have all adjusted well to our new routine.  I think the days are getting smoother and we have settled into a routine.  I love my 3 little ones that God has blessed us with, He created them each so differently, but they compliment each other so well, and oh how they love each other!