My Babies

I feel like writing something nice about my kids so they can remember.

Maybe it's because I mutter things like, "I hate this family" under my breath when I walk into yet another trashed room in my house.

Maybe it's because I am VERY mean about school lately.

Or maybe it's because Matt and I are leaving them for five days next week, and I have my usual crazy fear that we're going to die and leave them all orphans.

Whatever the reason, I am feeling a little sentimental lately about these babies of mine.  Some of them are really going out of baby-ness.

Merrody, for instance.  13-years-old!  Wow!  Am I old enough to have a daughter in 8th grade?  I am absolutely positive I am screwing her up in some major way, just not sure which way it is or how to fix it.  She is such a good girl.  She loves the gospel and helps in so many ways without ever complaining, and usually without even being asked.  What would we do without her constant babysitting and helping out in the kitchen?  She is sensitive and kind and oh, so smart.  She is also a total teenage girl, moody and brooding, and always on her phone! We love her!

Joel will be 12 in February.  He is my strong-willed boy.  I remember how crazy hard he was as a toddler.  He couldn't be coaxed or prodded into anything.  Put on shoes?  No way!  Wear a coat?  Forget it!  He did nothing he didn't want to do without me having to physically make him.  It was a long few years there, but now we have a determined, goal-oriented boy who will not let go of anything once he sets his mind to it.  Joel recently earned all the money and bought himself a trampoline.  He's on to bigger and better things now, with the goal to earn enough money to buy himself an ipad.  It's harder than you might think, since he has to pay 50% of what he earns to savings and another 10% to tithing.  He is determined, and has spent 6 hours in the last two days weeding to earn money.  What a good boy!

This kid.  Oh, I love him!  Jack is 9-years-old and so amazing.  He is sweet and thoughtful and feisty.  In the last year or so, he has decided he is tired of being his brother's doormat.  I can't tell you how much I love to watch him, with fire in his eyes, go after his big brother when he's been mistreated.  I know I shouldn't admit that out loud, but it's just so refreshing!  He doesn't take any crap from his brother and Joel has had the bloody nose to prove it!  Mostly, though, Jack is mild and kind and helpful.  He could play with legos all day long and loves chess and writing letters to his cousins.  Jack is the best!

Norah Rae.  Six-years-old and sweet as sugar!  She is girly and smart and so beautiful.  I love our school time together.  She sits so close and wants me to help her with every little thing, but I don't mind.  She picks things up so quickly, and then happily runs off to be on "Hank duty".  I don't know how we'd do the rest of school without her help!  She draws all day long and is usually wearing makeup, a dress-up dress, and/or fixing her own hair.  She's a doll and just as beautiful on the inside!

Hazie.  My floor is going to have a permanent indentation by the time she decides it's "safe" to sleep in her own room.  She is going through a nightmare phase and just MUST sleep in our room every night.  Sometime in the middle of the night, she usually finds her way into our bed where she proceeds to sleep sideways on top of me.  It's a good thing I love her so much!  She can hold her own with her sister, and she's not afraid to voice her own opinions.  This girl was born to be in a big family.  We all love her so much!

Oh, and one more thing about my little girls.  They LOVE each other!

And finally, my actual baby--Hank.  Oh, I love him!  He is handsome and squeezable and ....into everything!  I can't turn my back without that kid getting into something.  The neighbors have brought him home to us twice after finding him way down our road (he's 19-months-old for heaven's sake!).  If the bathroom door is left open, he goes in there and "plunges" or "scrubs" the toilet, sometimes putting those dirty tools in his mouth!  He seems to find every marker, every cup of water, and every box of popsicle sticks and effectively makes a huge mess wherever he goes.  Despite all of that, we all adore him.  We just can't get enough of his sweet little self.  He knows a lot of words and loves to sit on my lap and have me read stories to him.  He is the best baby ever!

All right.  I feel a little better now. 

So, kids, if I die and leave you orphans, at least you will know how much your mother loved you!  And I do!