Look-alikes

Baby Kate has this funny little baby fuzz mohawk on her head which is nearly impossible to capture in a picture. (I should say, with my camera and photography skills it is nearly impossible to capture.) Finally I got a decent shot. I hope you all can appreciate the hard work because it took about 14 pictures and this was nearly the only usable one and even this one is kinda blurry. One of my small accomplishments this week.

The other... potty training. I remember very clearly why I have been putting it off. We're not there yet, but its getting better everyday. We cannot seem to be able to get #2 in the potty and not in the pants. Any suggestions out there?

Floor Time

Brucie was playing with Kate on the floor the other day and I thought it was so cute, so I got the camera and was actually able to capture some of it. We watch the boys very closely around the baby so they don't "love her too much." This is an example of a good baby interaction day. I think Brucie does very well for a 2-year-old and this video shows a little of the baby talk they do with Kate.

Summer Days

So, I know it has been a really long time since I posted anything. I can always tell when its been too long because my dad always asks me when I'm going to post something new. So thanks to my dad for inspiring me to not be such a slacker. Some things never change. :)

This is a recent photo from Kate's baby blessing. (From left: Clark, Caleb (back), Bruce, Debbie(back), Kate)

Well, I can't remember when 3 months have gone by so quickly. Having 3 kids has definitely upped the ante. It's like hitting the fast-forward button for life. I can't believe it, but Clark just turned 4! He's going to pre-school in a month. Bruce is getting so big. Literally. He's a solid 2 year old at just about 32 pounds (3 pounds off from Clark). Kate is growing chubbier and cuter every day. She is such a happy baby, I can't even believe it. I tell people that I don't know if it's because I'm a better mom at child #3, or if there is more "action" to keep her entertained, or if she just has a sweet personality, but Kate is an easy-going and happy baby.

On the realistic side, it's 3 times as hard with 3 kids. There are 3 times as many tantrums, 3 times as much work, 3 times as many messes, and 3 times as much laundry. (Seriously, I can never "finish" the laundry these days since it just keeps coming.) There's also 3 times as many cute stories, 3 times the laughter, as well as 3 little people in our family that I love very much. So, those are some things keep me sane.

Alright, a little update on my little ones.

Clark blowing out his candles. I know it looks like there are 8 candles, but the long ones don't count since I thought they were going to look like sparklers (they said they were sparkler candles). Oh well.

Clark playing with Baby Kate.

Clark just celebrated his 4th birthday. We had a fun time decorating for it and getting ready all week. He picked out his birthday cupcakes - confetti cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles - but he never eats the cupcake only the frosting. I was standing in the grocery aisle trying to talk him into something chocolate when Caleb called me back to the present and reminded me it was HIS birthday after all. Good call Caleb. :) He wanted to leave the decorations up "all the time", but we agreed to leave them up for a week. Clark was very patient with Brucie, who thought it was his birthday too. After saying his bedtime prayer on his birthday he asked "Can I say another prayer? Heavenly Father, thank you that I could have a good birthday party and thank you for a Mommy who loves me..." Of course it makes me smile to hear my little boy say something so sweet. He is a very thoughtful boy and his wheels are always turning. He's getting good at building things with blocks and using his imagination. He's learning to play board games and starting to recognize his letters and their sounds. He's excited to start his half-day preschool class next month. You know, 4-year-old stuff. :)



Brucie with his helmet/grocery basket on. He's wearing an inflatable swimsuit in case you're wondering. We were about to go out to the pool when we took this picture.

Bruce is so sweet. He always wants to sit in your lap and cuddle, which is getting harder since he is such a big boy. Brucie growing so fast, in fact I think he is going through a growth spurt right now. I usually make the boys wait for dinner without snacks, but dinner still had a while and Bruce was sounding desperately hungry, so I fixed him a bowl of Cheerios. He sat down and ate 4 full man-size bowls of Cheerios. They weren't even Honey Nut or anything. I can't even eat that much. Bruce keeps track of everyone coming and going, he remembers everyone's name and will keep tabs on where they are in the house. He will mention people by name that he barely met days or weeks ago. He loves his brother and also clashes with him (like a 2 year old does) about every 5 minutes. Recently, he said to my mom (Grandma) when she was telling Uncle D they might have to go home, "You are NOT going home! Because I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!" It sounded more like a threat in the delivery, but very funny if you've heard him before with a full scowl on his face.



This is Kate in a good mood. This picture says it all and is pretty accurate as to how she is most of the time. If all babies were as sweet as Kate is, I'm convinced that more people would have children.



Kate in her Sunday outfit. It doesn't matter that the temperature is mid- to upper-90s. I couldn't help it, I love the bonnet!

Kate is growing fast, like little babies do. She's about 3 months old and smiles all the time. She's getting more interested in toys, but is still mostly interested in people's faces. She's trying to use her hands more and more. Its too soon to really know, but we think she might end up left handed since that is the hand that reaches for things first and usually the hand that ends up in her mouth. She is very patient with her brothers and I love to hear them talk baby talk to her. "Ooooooh. Who's the cute baby? Are you a teeny girl? Are you a little baby Kate? I love you baby." That kind of talk coming from such active 2- and 4-year-old boys is funny to me every time.

Mostly we've been hanging out at home since it is so hot outside and hard to get 3 little ones in and out of the car by myself. I have low motivation when I don't have a specific errand to run. Good thing we have so much family nearby to hang out with. We love it.

Here are some pictures I took today of the boys playing around. Clark found some swim goggles and they were just being silly together.

Thanks for reading our blog! I will try to be better about posting more often.

She had the baby in the car!

Here she is!

It's been difficult to find the time to post anything on my blog since the baby was born, but here I am (finally) blogging the story for all of you out there who haven't heard it yet. I also have to admit that I told it a lot the first few weeks, and I needed a little break before I told it again here. This story is definitely in the "Never thought it would happen to me" category as far as life experiences go, but (as everyone tells me) it is a pretty good story for Kate to tell when she gets older. Here we go. I'll start at the beginning.

Before you continue I'd like to add a little disclaimer that this is a birth story and may be long, boring, and a little too much information for some, so consider yourself warned.

It was a normal Sunday and went by pretty much as the Sunday before. Get up, breakfast, church, lunch, naptime for the boys, etc... I was 5 days overdue and commented to Caleb that I was starting to believe that this baby would never be born and I would, in fact, be pregnant forever. He agreed with me. We were all feeling the "overdueness" and I'm sure his comment might have had something to do with how my feeling miserable was affecting our family dynamics. If mama ain't happy, you know... :) I had had Braxton-Hicks contractions for the whole last month of my pregnancy and even started timing them on 3 different evenings before they faded away and we went to bed a little disappointed.

We went for a walk with the boys to get some family time, but also to see if it would get labor started. I wasn't feeling very optimistic. Actually, I was kind of grumpy (sorry Caleb) since it was pretty warm outside. We came home, made dinner, put the boys to bed. Normal, normal, normal.

I had been having some contractions, but that was common in the evenings at this point, so I went to lay down and Caleb did the dishes (I know, he's awesome). Pretty soon after this I told Caleb I was having some contractions and maybe we should time them. This baby had to come out sooner or later (and this was on the later side), but I don't think either of us was very optimistic. So, I was resting, we were timing, and I even called my mother and said she could come over and hang out at our house with the disclaimer that we weren't sure if this was the real thing. She said she would eat dinner and come right over. Everyone was feeling pretty laid back.

Caleb and I had taken some "natural" childbirth classes because I wanted to go without an epidural this time (Funny, huh?), so I've read all these books and I'm planning on sticking this out for the hours and hours it takes most people to have a baby. It took me 5-6 hours for both of the boys, so I'm thinking this is the very beginning of a long-term process. I took a shower to relax and if (I was still thinking "if" at this point) this was really labor I might not get the chance to shower anytime soon. Well, after a few stronger contractions, Caleb called my mom and relayed the message that she should not wait to eat dinner and she should come over right away.

This is the point where things started to get painful, my memory starts to get a little blurry, and I started saying ridiculous things like "I don't want to have a baby anymore." I remember Caleb calling the doctor and saying we would be coming in sometime within the hour. By the time my mom arrived (she did not wait to eat dinner), contractions were coming pretty strong and I told Caleb we need to leave NOW. While my mom helped me down the stairs (we live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building), Caleb ran things up and down to the car. Literally ran. He told me later that he felt an impression like he should "run like the wind." So he did, or as nearly as you can while going up and down the stairs...

My mom and I stopped a lot on the way to the car. We took my mom's little Civic, since our van had the car seats and she would need them in the morning to take the boys back to her house. I sat in the front seat and was anxious to get to the hospital because I had pretty much decided I would take whatever drug they would give me when I got there. So much for natural childbirth, I thought. The hospital is close to our house (about 10-15 minutes), and we took the interstate to avoid traffic lights. The contractions were coming hard and Caleb was rubbing my back with one hand and driving with the other. He stayed pretty calm through the whole thing, but not so calm that he didn't feel the urgency to pass other cars and get there as quickly as possible. I don't know how fast he was going, but I remember thinking we couldn't get there fast enough.

About the time when the hospital came into view, my water broke all over my mom's front seat. I was worried about her being mad and kicked myself for not having a towel or something to sit on, but only briefly. With the next contraction I started feeling pressure and told Caleb so. He said "Don't push! We're almost there! We can see the hospital." I still thought we had enough time. I mean, we could already see the hospital, but that changed quickly.

With the next contraction I told him to pull over because the baby is coming NOW! I went into auto-pilot a little and told him something to the effect that I thought I should take my pants off. He said "Do what you need to do." I told him to pull over, but he couldn't at this point because of the guard-rail on the exit ramp. Then I had another contraction and out came the baby. In the car. On the seat. On the exit ramp. Caleb said he didn't believe me until he heard the baby cry. He said it was a weird feeling knowing that 2 people got in the car and here was a new person. I was kind of in shock, and then he told me to pick up the baby off the seat so she didn't fall on the floor. That snapped me out of it and I picked her up and held her against my chest.

So, we pull up to the emergency room seriously, like a minute later. I'm feeling a lot better now. Caleb jumps out of the car and pulls the pillowcase off his pillow in the back seat to cover the baby (still attached) so she won't get too cold. He runs into the hospital and says, "She had the baby in the car!" The nurses came out with a gurney and I remember them helping me get my shoes and pants all the way off and holding up some sheets (for privacy) as I got out of the car. I remember eyeing the woman staring at me as she walked by into the hospital, and then climbing up on the gurney (baby still attached). People were watching me as they wheeled me through the emergency room and saying "congratulations" and things like that. I was feeling pretty embarrassed. They took me upstairs to Labor and Delivery to deliver the placenta and wait for the doctor to arrive. I guess the rest is history and I am now the lady who had a baby in the car.

Katherine (or Baby Kate as we like to call her) was born at 9:21pm. We starting timing contractions at about 7pm, so it was a little over 2 hours from start to finish with about 30 minutes of hard labor. Obviously a little faster than we had expected. With the boys my labor took about 5-6 hours, but apparently things can move a lot faster with the more children you have. I don't feel like we dawdled this time, but next time (if there is a next time) we will probably have a lot of false alarms instead of risking something like that happening again. Don't want to do that twice. We were really lucky because Kate is healthy and I am healthy and we are very thankful for that. (Also, since people have asked and you may be wondering too, yes the doctor still charged us. Another fun fact, on her birth certificate her birth place is listed as "vehicle". Didn't know they did that.)

But that is our story. A fun one to tell, since most people I run into have heard it (or some version) before we even had a chance to tell it. Maybe I included a little too much information, but I tried to edit the more graphic details. If you really are curious to know more, you'll have to call or email me.

Kate and I about an hour after delivery. Sorry it's blurry, but it's almost the only one I could find with me in it.

Proud Papa in the hospital.

Baby Kate on the way home from the hospital.

This is the first time the boys met Kate. They were very, very, very excited.

"The" Car. Caleb did a good job of cleaning the seat. Not a spot.

Sleeping baby girl.

Sweet, sweet Baby Kate! She's a very alert baby (when she's awake). :)

In the swing while I'm making dinner. She has some "offerings" from Brucie in case she gets bored. :) Sorry its sideways, but I'm too lazy to reload it...

Baby Kate w/ Daddy at about a month old.

Some Memorial Day fun at Grandma's house with Bruce and Cowboy Clark wearing Grandpa's hat.

Still Hanging in There...

New baby, where are you???

No baby yet. That seems to be how all my conversations are starting these days. So, if you were wondering, my blog silence has NOT been due to our new addition. I have to admit that I was surprised to pass my due date, since both my boys delivered early (Clark 3 days, Bruce 10 days). I guess girls just need a little longer to get ready. :) Mostly I'm trying to stay busy and not plan too far in advance, just in case. Luckily, I have some great friends and family who have been helping me keep my mind off things. Including H & M, who drove all the way to see me! :) The good news is that we've narrowed down our baby name list and seem to be closer to a decision.

Fabric that is part of my baby bedding that I'm making with my mom. (M. - didn't get to show you when you were here.)

Backpacks for the boys from M. Yay! She makes all sorts of cool stuff. You can check it out here: www.etsy.com/shop/mermadegoods. She just started her etsy site, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more stuff up there soon... :)

Baby monitor from H. Yay!

Here are some recent pics from my mom & dad's camera that they were nice enough to let us borrow.

A picture from Easter of all the cousins (minus baby N. & our Colorado cousins) at my parent's house for the Easter Egg Hunt. (From left to right: Bruce, Cousin T., Uncle D. (in back), Clark, Cousin C. holding baby C.)

Decorations from my baby shower.

A fun game we played at the shower. It involved blowing up a balloon and popping it (giving birth). It was a relay and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Obviously, we're posing with the balloons here except for me and S. who is also pregnant.

My little rascal, Bruce. This picture was actually to document his red face, but he made such a cute smile that I couldn't resist. His skin doesn't seem to agree with salad dressing... Here are some Bruce things that he's been saying/doing lately.

• Will eat almost anything you feed him if you make it talk to him first. In a high voice: "Bruce, will you please take a bite of your peas?" Well, okay then...
• "I need to poop in the potty." = You're too late. I've already pooped.
• At Easter he was eyeing the palmetto in my parent's backyard after the egg hunt and said, "There's something frightening in Mr. McGregor's garden." With a very serious look on his face. (Grandma has been reading him Peter Rabbit stories.)
• LOVES Veggie Tales, but is scared of the "cheese curls" in one of the movies. Actually has bad dreams about them.
• Bruce was playing cars yesterday. He had woken up from his nap first, so I went into the other room to do something. A while later I heard him saying, "Quit peeking at me!" I thought Clark had gotten up and told Clark not to bother his brother. Again, Bruce was hollering loudly. I went to check on them and see what the problem was, but Clark was still asleep and Bruce was playing alone with his cars. Just practicing getting his brother in trouble I guess. Typical little brother... :)

Clark, the train engineer. He has found a new obsession in creating the most complicated train tracks his 3-year-old mind (and our limited track supply) can come up with. If I make it another day without having the baby, we will be able to spend the day at Aunt A.'s house and play with all her boys' awesome trains and tracks with C. and T. Here are some other things that Clark has been saying/doing.

• When he wants to do something loud in the apartment, "Probably the neighbors aren't home Mommy."
• Whenever Bruce is taking too long to come play with him, he will call from the other room, "I need my brother!"
• He is getting very independent and will put on his own seatbelt, help carry bags up to our apartment, and is very proud that he is tall enough to pee standing up.
• One morning when he saw his messy hair in the mirror, "My hair looks like yours, Mommy!" Yeah, yeah, I know...
• Torments Bruce with "the claw." Where did that come from? He's a big teaser.

He's not impressed, Clark. :)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I think that the boys are trying to tell me my blogging time is up. :)

The End is Near!

There are about 3 weeks left until my due date (April 27th). I try to distract myself as much as possible (which means I think about how close I am to the end of this pregnancy a lot). So... uncomfortable... I know, I know, I shouldn't be surprised. It was like this the last 2 times, but they tell you that you will forget. And you do. The weather is also getting warmer. We crossed the 80 degree mark, possibly not to return for the next 8 months or so. Ugh. (Gripe, complain, moan.... Moving on.)

We've been doing as much fun stuff as I can think of during the day. Partly out of guilt that the boys will be sharing the spotlight soon and it won't be just the 3 of us hanging out together. I know it will take some time to start juggling those extra responsibilities in my routine, but I've never had 3 kids before so its hard to know exactly how things will change until they do. At least the boys can walk themselves up to our 3rd floor apartment by themselves. When they want to. I'm excited to see this little one who has made sleeping through the night nearly impossible.

Easter was a lot of fun this year. Uplifting Conference talks, good food, fun with family. We really had a good weekend. Probably too good, because the boys were beat by the end of the day for Saturday and Sunday. (Easter candy + extra excitement = lousy naps and cranky boys)

Clark opening his easter basket. I tried to be minimal in the amount of Easter candy I gave them, but somehow (after the second grandparent's house) it didn't seem to matter what my original intentions were. They knew there was candy and they were determined to find and eat it! Apparently I'm more lax than I thought I was. Well, me and the leftover candy seem to be getting along just fine.

Shake it, Bruce! (Please excuse the varying quality of our pictures. They come from different sources.)

Ooooooh! Bubbles!

Our family tradition includes hiding the Easter baskets, so these pictures are after the hunt. They boys thought it was a lot of fun. Bruce needed some help understanding what exactly he was looking for, but caught on after a while. We also hid some plastic eggs.

And here are some random pictures of our recent adventures:

Playing at the zoo: Clark, Bruce, & Cousin A. hanging on the elephant trunk statue.

Clark digging (for dinosaur bones) and Cousin A. wandering.

Bruce playing in the sand at the zoo. We seem to do this everywhere we go.

Clark brushing the goats. (Very stinky!)

Bruce brushing... himself. I know, so gross!

Clark and Bruce harrassing that same goat.

Playing at the park with Uncle D.

This is our favorite activity lately. Uncle D. played very patiently with the boys. He looks a little bored here, but he never complained. (What a good sport!)

I'm sure you noticed all the nice playground equipment in the background. The closest we got to it was filling a bucket with mulch to bring back to the sandbox/bare-spot-in-the-grass. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Well, considering my once-a-month blogging pattern, this may be my last post before the baby is born. Maybe not. Blog readers consider yourselves warned. Both of you. :)

I Would Like to Thank...

Thank you cucumber. You have my undying gratitude for saving my grocery shopping trip when my 2 year old was in melt-down mode. You endured being called Larry and repeated renditions of the "Veggie Tales" theme song for 15 minutes in the extremely long Wal-mart checkout line. Please don't be mad about the bite marks...

Thank you Choco Puffs. You are second-best to your cousin Cocoa Puffs, but it doesn't seem to matter. I have you hidden away from prying children's eyes and hands (and mouths), since the 2 year old in me doesn't want to share you. You make my day as a guilty nap-time snack.

Thank you dishwasher. I didn't realize how much I missed you until getting you back in my life. Deep down I feel that your plastic-ware melting heat makes my dishes that much cleaner. Even though you sound like a hand saw for the entire wash cycle, you make my life so much easier.

Just some random thoughts of gratitude for the day...

Kid Quotes

Funny things my kids have said recently:

Me to Clark: "Okay Clark you have 5 more minutes."
Clark: "No, no, 4 more minutes."
Me: "Okay... 4 more minutes."
Clark: "Is 4 more minutes a long time?"
Me: (Thinking about putting Clark down for a nap...) "Yes, 4 minutes is a long time."

Bruce to Clark, who just snagged his pretzels: "Clarkie! You spit that out right now!"
Sorry Bruce, but you probably don't want it anymore. It's the thought that counts I guess.

Clark to Mom: "Mom, I want to go with Grandma." or "No, Mom, I want to sit by Grandma."
He's got it figured out already. Grandma is a softy.

Bruce, while sitting on my lap: "OH! The baby bumped me!"

Me to Bruce: "What should we name the new baby?"
Bruce: "Thomas the Train."
I don't think she would be to happy with that one when she got older...

Clark, after grabbing a toy from Bruce and being scolded: "But Mom, he didn't want it anymore."
Is that right? Nice try mister!

Wrestling

Seriously? Wrestling? I feel like my house is WWE Friday Night Smackdown every day (growly voices included). Wrestle on the couch, on the floor, anywhere or nowhere in particular once the mood strikes them. I have to say I prefer the couch, since it takes longer for the inevitable injury to occur.

Really, I'm not exactly sure where they got the idea, since Caleb is not really a wrestling-type Dad. It doesn't matter because it's like the flu and they've already caught the bug. I have assumed the roll of the nagging mom all day. We are constantly trying to limit injuries as well as bumps and thumps on the floor (for the benefit of our downstairs neighbors, who have already developed saint-like patience). It's possible that we are worse than the base-thumping-music-type neighbors, but that may be up for debate. That's apartment living I guess.

The most nerve-racking move I have witnessed would have to be when someone climbs on top of some piece of furniture (like in the corner of the wrestling ring) and jumps on the other participant. Is that called a body slam? Usually, this follows by an eruption of laughter (thankfully), but sometimes a boo-boo. I feel like they are going to start smacking their elbow for a "flying elbow drop" any day now. So, I apologize in advance to other mothers. I hope my Wrestle-Mania hopefuls don't pass this bad habit along because there is no turning back. Just to let you know, we're working on it (for probably the next 10 years).

(sigh)

Also, don't keep scrolling for pictures. We still don't have our camera, although I'm sure you would love to see my little wrestlers in action.

At Home Today

We have one car in the family these days, so we try to plan as much as we can in order to get out of the house (and keep my sanity). I have to say that sometimes it's good to have an at-home day the whole day. With doctor's appointments and other errands keeping us busy lately, today I felt like I accomplished something just by not getting out of the house. Really just regular stuff that I had been putting off (like folding laundry and organizing).

As I was sitting folding the boys' clothes and thinking about how much laundry those little bodies produce, I was watching Bruce trying on every single pair of Clark's (clean) underwear one by one. (Sorry Clark, but in my defense he was wearing a diaper.) It made me laugh and think that being busy is fun, but this has been a good at-home day. And I love being a Mom to these cute, silly, energetic little boys.

Sorry about the blurry pictures, but these were taken with my phone (since we may never find our camera).

Hangin' out with our buddies J. (behind Bruce) and S. (on the left) the other day. Please excuse the mess...

Coming and Going

We have had a few changes since my last post. Well, I should hope so since it has been almost 3 months since I've written anything on this blog. Which may be a disappointment to the 2 or 3 readers who were brave enough to check, but have since stopped checking, on whether or not I would break my silence...

To my defense, we have had some major changes in this time. I'll try to catch you up without writing an entire autobiography.

1. I'm pregnant. Like really pregnant (27 weeks I think). I'm due at the end of April and we are looking forward to having a girl this time (if the doctor was right). I still have my doubts in the back of my mind as to the accuracy of when the doctor says its a girl versus a boy.

2. We've moved! No, we haven't moved out of Florida, but back closer to the grandparents and other family members (which we have really enjoyed especially over the Christmas/New Year holidays). We get to hang out with our relatives a lot more often and still get to sleep at home at night. Awesome! We also have almost double the square footage of our last apartment, which has done wonders for my sanity since Caleb has our one and only car every day at work. On the down-side, we pay almost double the rent since we were living in campus family housing which is really cheap. Also on the down-side is all the cool people we don't get to see so often anymore. We miss you guys! Clark keeps trying to convince me that we haven't moved that far away, so we could go back and play with some of his friends. Hopefully we'll be back soon to visit when we get our car fixed (which has been plaguing us this week with problems).

3. Caleb graduated from UF with a BA in English (with honors). It was pretty cool all around and I appreciated that there were no long speeches from anyone. I seem to remember my graduation being boring (as graduations tend to go), but I was really excited to see Caleb walk across that stage. Caleb was smiling pretty big the whole time. I was and am very proud of him and all his hard work. I would post a picture, but he has also misplaced our camera... So, no pictures for now. Also, Tim Tebow was graduating in the same ceremony. That was pretty cool, even though I'm not really a football fanatic. I feel I have put up with enough game-day traffic to appreciate it.

4. Caleb got a job! I know you were all wondering, since he was an English major. :) He is working for a railroad signal engineering company and doing well. (Nope, not writing a novel or teaching high school.) After 2 years as a full-time student, we are very relieved he is gainfully employed again at a job he feels has a good future. So, next time you're stopped at a railroad crossing you can think of us. (Or sing Thomas the Train songs, like we usually do. Either way.)

5. Bruce has turned 2 years old! This is a little bit of older news, but nonetheless it has happened since my last post. He usually seems older to me because he speaks pretty clearly for his age, but then he has a meltdown and I remember that he is only 2.

He is such a creative little guy and always saying funny things. He stood up in his booster seat the other night at dinner with his arms stretched to the side exclaiming, "I'm a sword!" I have no idea where that came from, and I couldn't help but laugh. I made the mistake the other day of hoping for a repeat performance (since it was so cute), but when I said "Brucie, are you a sword?" I just got poked in the eye by a very fast finger.

We were also talking about eating things that were good for us (eating vegetables at dinner) and how the things that mommy eats, the new baby eats too. Bruce thought about this for a minute and then said, "Mommy, the baby says, Oooh! That's Hot!" He had just burned his mouth on his food a minute before. I'm constantly amazed at how content he can be playing by himself and the funny things he comes up with in his creative play time.

Bruce is still enamoured with his brother and is so excited when Clark wakes up. Sometimes he'll even hug him and say "I love you, Clarkie!" (This, of course, is contrasted with plenty of the sibling struggles that are common to 2- and 3-year-olds.)

6. Clark has moved up to the Sunbeam class (3-year-olds) in Primary at church. He seems to be doing well and enjoying being a "big boy" now. He even has a cute tie to wear (just like Daddy). I get to see him during singing time since I teach the 4-year-old class now. He loves singing and is quick to learn the songs, but is still learning how to stay in his seat. Bruce has been distraught by this development, since Clark no longer plays with him in Nursery class (18-months to 3-year-old class). He was so upset this last Sunday that he had to sit with Daddy in his class for a while and calm down, but was coaxed back by the promise of snack time and did just fine after that.

Well, Happy 2010 to everyone. I'm looking forward to catching up on my blog reading now that we have the internet again! Hopefully, it won't be so long before I post again.