Boys! (wait, august isn’t included and there’s three now….so I’ll say BIG boys….)

Y’all are giving me a run for my money lately. You fight hard and love hard, obey a little less promptly than I’d prefer, and make this house the loudest and most fun superhero filled square for miles. You’re just a ton of all the things right now and I can’t tell you how much fun it is to be your mommy!

River…..

You’re cracking us up lately. You call every single superhero Gekko with the cutest little extra bit of air in the word (trying to record it so we can hear you say it that way always) and you love to obsess over all things Wolf right now. The three little pigs is your favorite story and you’re reopens to everything these days is “WOLF” with massive enthusiasm.

“Roo! what do you want for breakfast? eggs?”

“WOLF EGGS”

“Roo! Who is your best friend at school?”

“WOLF”

You get the picture. You always end it with a little smirk knowing that you’re being a bit goody and it is the cutest things around I swear. You’re getting really good at standing your ground and we’re working on breaking the stubbornness out of you so that you don’t end up quite as invest with it as Papa Shep and your Mommy. I do know that you’ll make a great leader one day because you aren’t easily swayed, so I ask Jesus a lot if He will help mold that into your greatest strength instead of weakness. I know you’ll do amazing things with your drive and determination. You’re smart as aw hip and blow my mind how quickly you pick up on the things. You can figure out just about anything that Shep does and I’m fairly certain that you’ll do amazing in all things school as time goes on. You just really love the sensation of accomplishment and jump up and down with the biggest smile when you achieve something new. You’d probably accomplish even more if you accepted help, but that’s another thing I should be praying to turn into a better version 😉 Baby steps…..

Favorite things about you right now:

Wolf love. “big bad” is your way of saying wolf another way.

FEE FYE : is your way of saying giant. You love your “fee fye gook”

Your Bible story of Adam and Eve and Satan (mainly bc of the snake) but you love telling Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit. It’s pretty adorable to watch

NOMEE: Amanda’s favorite name for you. She shouts “NOMEEE” and you respond “NO ME!!!!!!!” hence the nickname you’ve earned from her

When you ask for something special and I agree and you say “THANKS MAMA” with your little paci lisp

you eat green beans!!!! FINALLY you are no longer experiencing a complete deficit of all nutrition. Again, baby steps

You love the boa constrictor song, one two three four five..once I caught a fish alive, little rabbit in the woods, and twinkle twinkle. We do our motions in the rocker before bed and you always ask for “ONE BOO (more)”

Speaking of numbers….we had an obsession with the number five, and now its nine. NINE everything. Nine more minutes, nine more books, nine more times, all of everything must be nine.

You call school friends “five guys” actually…..now it’s “nine guys” (see above)

Lastly, your swimming like a champ. You do this thing where you practice your strokes out of the water before jumping and you have the entire pool area in stitches watching you. You hate when lessons end and last week convinced Raffy to let you join the next class bc you were so distraught that it ended. He adores you and Shep and it makes me so happy to see you enjoy it so much! You’re doing so great and making improvements every week! We’re so proud of you and your hard work!

Thank you for another season of happiness. The mealtime prayers, independence, nightly rocks in our chair, and the spontaneous hugs you give with enthusiasm. You make me smile a little bigger each day and I’m so grateful to have you here to keep us entertained and feeling loved. I’m so proud of you!!!!

 

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Shep,

You’re a big kid now. I’m realizing more and more every day that you aren’t my little little bit anymore. You don’t just look grown, but you act like it. All the make believe games involve bad guys and death and running and stomping and well, I’m less good at that type of thing. You like to remind me that you’re the biggest and strongest and when I can’t get something down the first try you immediately give up on me and let me know that Daddy will handle it when he’s home. You’re entirely too good at mario brothers on your iPad, yet you can’t quite remember what sound the letter “s” makes when I ask 😉 All this to say, you’re a healthy four year old (almost 5 year old) boy.

My saving grace is this: Your heart. It’s gentle, kind, and goes above and beyond kindness when i need it most. You give hugs without hesitation and truly hurt when you know you’ve hurt someone else. All the things that make you so special aren’t learned. You were born with them. You are intrinsically one of the most genuine kind people I’ve ever met and I’m honored that you’re my son. I get so excited about who you will become as an adult. It’s going to blow me away I just know it. I know it won’t be conventional, but that’s what will make it so much fun to see unravel. I’m already so proud of that adult version of you, but for now I’ll enjoy that four year old boy who thinks boogers are funny.

Everything is a race, or has a plan, or has rules that you’ve invented. You hate to do analytical thinking, but you obsess over creating and it amazes me what you’re able to come up with in your drawings and buildings. You steal my patio cushions to make some pretty cool forts and build towers with details I didn’t know possible with only two types of blocks. You’re so kind to your brothers, but also manage to be sneaky and a typical boy just when I’m not expecting it. You’re still my sensitive one and I’m so glad to know that you feel so strongly despite all of the other changes. You’ll make an amazing husband one day and bring the joy your Daddy brings to a room with the silly personality thats blooming. I speak five things over you daily to remind you who you are, and after my lists of things like kind, special, a child of God, you always top us off with “SILLY” and it’s so true. You are. You say something at least once a week that makes your Daddy and I lock eyes and burst into laughter. It’s so much fun hearing the things you come up with!

A few of my favorite things right now:

“speeder” “beater” “beatest” – you have the best words that come out when you’re excited

You start all games you make up with River like : “OKAY RIVER! Who jumps the highest is who wins the trophy…..” everything has rules. everything is good if the rules are being followed. You get this from your Mommy kiddo

“whew this is making me thirsty” ” I’m out of energy” ” i can’t because I need water” – stall tactics at their finest

you always respond to my “Im so proud of you shep” with “I’m proud of you too mommy”

You called me and Daddy “mom and dad” for a solid three weeks but thank goodness it stopped as fast as it started. I mean, give me the transition of mommy to mama to mom, but don’t take me straight to “MOM” status at the ripe old age of four….that’s rude considering you didn’t even call me mommy until you were two. If anything I’ve earned more time as mommy now that I think of it

You’re playing soccer right now but call the clothes your baseball clothes. haha. You also hate the idea of competition. Not because you want everyone to get along, but bc you want to WIN without fail haha! You’re fast as mess by the way! You may not be the goal guy just yet, but my goodness you’re the fastest by far! You don’t get that from either of us, so I guess you started that genetic strand from scratch.

Shep….you make me proud. You’re my first shot at being a Mommy and while I make all my first mistakes with you, you are my most forgiving and loyal and I know God didn’t leave that to chance. I know I’m your mommy and should be more worried about that role, but you really are one of my greatest friendships too. Don’t ever forget that. It means something if a 32 year old truly finds a four year old boy to be one of her best friends. I just adore you and believe with all of me the things I speak over you daily. Because you are those things. You will become even more. And the days that you’re less, I’ll remind you that it was simply a day and NOT who you are. Thank you for being my son, my friend, and the big brother to my boys.

 

Xx Mommy