My Three Kids

It has been a fun few months at our house. We are learning to adjust to having 3 kids to keep up with. Here's a little about each of them:

All bundled up for a cold winter day

Helper Hannah wearing her skirt Grammy made.

HANNAH is loving her new sister. She picks out Eden's clothes everyday with out being asked. She likes to try to find outfits that match what she is wearing for the day. It is always a struggle to get her to wear something warm because she wants to wear skirts or dresses everyday. She is very "girlie," as in she likes to play tea party and house. She wants to paint her nails and prefers pink and purple colors for everything. Her favorite characters are Minnie Mouse and hello Kitty. Her favorite show to watch at the moment is Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  She definitely fits the mold of the oldest child- she loves to be the boss of Troy and the babysitter for Eden. She plays well with Troy when he is willing to play by her rules and leave toys where she put them. She is not very understanding when he wants to do things his own way- that always ends in screaming and crying. She loves craft projects and coloring books. We started a binder to save some of her art. She is going to preschool twice a week and we have seen a lot of progress on her letter recognition and writing.

Play dough "vegetables"

 TROY is full of energy. He never walks, he bounces around the house. He drinks 2 gallons of milk or more a week and, since he out grew the waist band of his 3T pants he got for Christmas, I switched him to 2% milk! He has finally learned to enjoy watching TV so when I need a break we can turn on Curious George and he is mesmerized. He is living up to his nick name "Troy the Destroyer." He easily wasted $15 of food just this week by getting into the fridge and cupboards and smashing/spilling things on our carpeted kitchen floor. (if you don't already know this, I HATE having carpet in the kitchen!) Eggs, milk, yogurt, sour cream, chili, mac and cheese, cream cheese, a box of rice crispies and a new container of oatmeal are among the casualties just this week! He figured out how to get into the lock on the fridge and the second lock I bought he ripped off in less than 24 hours! As much as he pushes the limits of my patience, he also warms my heart. I just took a break from typing because he was yelling from bed, "Mom! Kiss me!" because I forgot to kiss him good night. He loves to be read to and he is often found sitting in a pile of books looking through the pictures all by himself. He has surprised us with learning his colors own his own. He does not talk in complete sentences, but he has a very large vocabulary and is able to string 5-6 words together to get his point across. His favorite toys are his horse and cow figurines and his barn. He loves to play with play dough and often rolls it into balls and calls them "vegetables." He likes to put them in pots and pans and pretend to cook. He is mom's "helper" in the kitchen. I cannot cook anything with out his "help." He is very independent and loves to help with certain tasks around the house: shaking babies bottle, throwing away his diapers, stirring the juice, adding detergent to the dishwasher and washing machine are some of his favorites. Several times per day we hear Troy yelling "My do it! My do it!"

SMILE

 EDEN is living up to her nick name as well, "angel baby." She is sweet and patient with all the "helping hands" of her siblings. She has learned to smile and coo- and it melts our hearts. Her first smile was memorable. It was late at night, on Skype Papa's bday, and TJ was telling her good night while I held her. He rubbed her head and the corners of her mouth started to rise. Then she looked right at him and squinted her little eyes and gave him a big open mouth smile! So cute!  We laughed and smiled with her and mommy may have shed a few happy tears =) About a week later we noticed she was starting to coo and gurgle in response to us talking to her. We feel so blessed to have her happy spirit in our home. She has added so much to our family. It has been fun to see Hannah reading and telling her stories and Troy loves to give her kisses on the forehead.  Hannah was entertaining her this morning while I got ready for church and I overheard her telling Eden all about dinosaurs and she also told her that when she gets bigger they will share clothes and dress up like twins. I hope they do! Eden's other nick name is "piglet." She has had a stuffy nose for a few weeks and when she gets hungry she roots around and snorts like a little pig! It is adorable.

Big SMILE

Hannah picked out penguin PJs for all 3 of them

 TJ has started a new job working for his cousin who owns an HVAC company. So far he enjoys the work. he is also busy with his cows this time of year. He gets up at 3 or 4 every morning to check on them and sometimes has to go back in the evening after his 9 hour work day. I am not sure how he gets it all done, but he never complains. He started a new calling last month as the Young Men's President. Other than the 7:30 am meetings he seems to enjoy it.



Thanks for reading along and I hope you all enjoy the pictures. I have learned it is not easy to get a picture with all 3 kids looking at the camera- so this is the best we have so far. More to come though. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!
 
Mom- Thanks for all the love notes you emailed! XOXO

Eva- Thanks for Eden's cute penguin PJs!