Three Great Kids

There are a lot of times...like tonight...where I get so impatient with my children. They just won't listen, they challenge me on everything, and worst of all...they laugh when I try to discipline them. So nights like tonight, I feel it is important to sit down and think about all the great things about them and remember why I love them.
First off, there's Jackson. He is getting so big and yet sometimes is more of a baby than Sydney and Kate (wait, I'm supposed to be positive). I only say this because today we tried to take him to the YMCA. The plan was for he and his cousin Braden to go play in the Kid Zone while my mom and I did water aerobics. Well, he did NOT want to be left alone and insisted on sitting on the edge of the pool for an entire hour and suck his thumb. Of course everyone was looking at him and then he whined about that saying, "MOM! I don't like everybody looking at me!" Ugh. Anyway, I really do love the kid. When he wants to be good, he's a really, really good boy. He is pretty good at sharing because he has to do it all the time. He's also become a very polite boy, especially after we do something really fun. For instance, after seeing Wall-E as we were walking out the door he said, "mom, thanks for taking us to see Wall-E...it was really fun!" It's just so nice when they say things like that without being prompted. He's a good big brother and looks out for Sydney and Kate. He always likes to be with them and always wants to be touching Kate. Sometimes that becomes a problem, but overall it's really cute. Anyway, he misses his dad like crazy right now and can't wait to build stuff with him. Every night in our prayers we ask Heavenly Father to bless daddy that he will pass the bar...well, now Jackson thinks it's funny to come up with other things daddy can do with the bar...sit on it, go in it, jump over it. He's such a jokester.

Next, we have our little Sydney. Just look at her...so sweet and innocent! HA! She has us all fooled...until you watch that little mischief maker get into anything and everything in a manner of seconds...smiling the whole time. She's so stealthy that she usually gets halfway into it before we realize what she's up to. But on the other hand, I just can't resist her sweet face. Sometimes I just feel so lucky that she loves me and wants me to hold and kiss her. She's such a sweetheart. She's really quick too. Tonight in bed she was telling me the story of Cinderella, including the stepmother and fairy godmother and the dress and the slipper and the prince. It was really cute. I don't think I realize how much she picks up on. She also has a little lisp that makes the words "yeth" and "appleshawsh" just the cutest.
And lastly, for now, our baby Kate. What a split personality! She can go from cloud nine to the depths of despair in mere moments. I live for those cloud nine moments though. She is "talking" up a storm these days...cooing and oooing and ahhhing. I can't wait till she can tell me what she's really thinking...well, not really. I'm enjoying her baby days! But it will be fun to hear her little voice one of these days. She is moving a ton now and on her way to rolling over. She rocks back and forth and has almost turned several times. She's a wiggler and a hand wringer. Stay tuned for her 4 month photos I took tonight. Nothing fancy, but I caught some of her signature moves.
So here are my three peanuts. They make me laugh...they make me cry...they make me crazy! But they make me a mom and I love them to pieces.