4 year old Abe.

I need to document who Abe is as a new 4 year old, before he becomes 4 1/2 or even worse, 5! I'm so behind over here. And sitting at the computer is the last thing I want to do when I have time to myself. But here I am. I want to remember it all one day. I want the boys to be able to read about themselves and our family life.

Abe as a 4 year old...He's sweet. He loves to gives hugs and kisses. He squeezes my neck so tight when he hugs. It feels amazing. He loves to cuddle and sit close, if not right in my lap. Yesterday, he sat in my lap for an entire movie at the theatre. He never once got restless or decided he move back to his own seat, which was right next to me. He is by far the biggest momma's boy yet. He prefers his momma at every turn. And daily, he makes me feel very loved in a very natural way. I know that is a weird thought. I just mean, I could leave town for a few days and the other two wouldn't care at all. Abe would miss me and maybe cry. And he would not look forward to my absence at all.

In some childcare situations he is having a really hard time these days. Mother's Day Out and Wednesday nights at our church, his teachers think he hung the moon and often tell me how well behaved and sweet he is. They experience all the goodness in him that I see. But Sunday mornings and our homeschool co-op he gives them all a run for their money. Unfortunately, they don't see the sweetness. I don't understand it. I don't know how to fix it for the unfortunate teachers. And I am just hoping that he soon outgrows it. When I ask him weekly, why he was making bad choices in one of those classrooms, his answer is typically: because I missed you. See, I don't know what to do for that! So I think he's a pretty easy kid for me. But some of the teachers that have him weekly would strongly disagree with my statement.

He loves to be read to. He is captivated by books and stories. He will even flip through the big boys chapter books that have a few black and white pictures scattered throughout. He will do this for large chunks of time. I hope one day he will become a great reader like the other 2 boys. I plan to start some school with him this summer while the other 2 are taking a break. He is really great at playing alone. The toys he plays with most often would be legos and his pretend play things (pizza, k-cup coffee set, wooden icecream set). Those are some of his favorites. He also loves his leap reader pen to go through his books independently. I am so thankful that he plays so well by himself.

People often ask what Abe does when I do school with the other two. That is a moment when I get to brag on this boy. He often starts out in the office. He will sing along on whatever hymn we are working on. He will play quietly while I read to them from the bible. That's about the first 20 minutes and then he is ready to go upstairs and play. Usually he ends up watching one cartoon while we finish up school each morning. But he is really a superstar at entertaining himself and letting us get our school done each morning.

Abe is still completely fascinated with fire trucks. He has been for over 2 years. Fascinated, obsessed, whatever you want to call it. He also loves Batman. And he loves to drive through a car wash. And he loves to talk about tornadoes. He's been known to tell me: Momma, I love you like a tornado car wash. Just think about it such a thing existed. That would be some powerful love! 😊

Abe loves to paint with water colors. He loves to jump on the trampoline. He loves to be outside and color our driveway with the sidewalk chalk. Last fall he attempted the bike with training wheels and it was more frustrating than fun. But we need to give it another try in the next couple of weeks. Abe also loves music and singing. Every time we are in the car I can hear his sweet, but deep, little voice behind me singing grown up worship songs along with the radio. Good, Good Father has been one of his favorites for a very long time. I pray the truths of these songs are being etched into his heart and mind and one day will be a small part of transforming him into a follower of Jesus.

Abe is a fantastic eater. He loves fresh veggies and hummus. His favorite is slices of bell pepper. But he also loves carrots and sugar snap peas. Honestly, he will dip just about anything in hummus and eat it. But it HAS to be Sabra. I can't even trick him with other brands or homemade hummus. It has to be Sabra Roasted Red Pepper or the Pine Nut one. Otherwise he turns his little nose up to it. He frequently asks for extra veggies and hummus after he's eaten everything else. Who is this kid!?!! But I love it. He doesn't really eat bread or pasta. He is more into fruit, veggies and meat. But he also loves to eat crackers, chips, yogurt, rice and beans. He has a spicy pallet. He needs his own salsa bowl when we eat Tex Mex. Even when it's spicy he loves the stuff.

Pax and Abe have a very sweet relationship and they have since the beginning. I'm going to give Pax most of the credit here. He is pretty easy to get along with and is just the perfect both big and little brother. Holden and Abe are going through an annoying rough patch that I hope will improve with time and maturity.

This kid...who knew my heart could love another boy so much. I'm crazy in love with this one and feel so fortunate that God found us fit to be his forever family.

Abe's 4th Birthday

Abe turned 4 on December 2nd. So behind over here.

He began his day by opening a gift from Holden and Pax. New legos!



Then our sweet Master Builder helped him to build it right away!

 Everyone's favorite breakfast at our house is always donuts.

We also let him open this new fire station. It was actually handed down to us without the furniture. I ended up buying a set of wooden pink furniture for it, because it was the cheapest I could find. He didn't mind at all that it was pink. :)

He was so excited to have a fire station.

Not long after breakfast we took off for Chuck E Cheese to meet a few friends and celebrate.

 

 

 We had games, pizza and Paw Patrol cupcakes.

After lunch, we came home and Abe had a nap. Then my parents came over that evening for frito chili pie (one of his favorites!) and more presents and cupcakes.

 

 I love celebrating my boys birthdays. But this #4 came all too quickly. An "all about 4 year old Abe" is next on my blog-to-do list!

November

November consisted of....

(OK, this first one was actually the last weekend in October.) Jeremy participated in a Spartan race with a few of his best friends. These relationships go all the way back to middle school. These three had a full weekend together. I'm so thankful these friendships are still going strong.

 They stuck together through the entire race.

 Holden's dream of getting glasses sort of came true.

 We converted Abe's toddler bed into a full bed. He affectionately refers to this bed as his "firetruck bed".

We celebrated 14 years of marriage with a fun little date night at Painting With a Twist. It was such a fun and special evening.

 I'm so thankful for this guy. Good seasons and hard seasons, busy seasons and restful seasons... I'm glad he is by my side.

 And without our monthly date night, I think I would go cuh-razy! :)

Also, during the month the boys had their very first piano recital.  They did so great!

 

 

 

And then our sweet teacher retired to stay at home with a new baby. I can't blame her, but goodness I thought we had found such a great fit.

And also in November we went to ICE at the Gaylord. We have taken Holden and Pax one other time. They were so young then they could barely walk without falling in the blue parkas. So it definitely felt like a new experience for them this time.

 It was 9 degrees.

 These two skinny boys can not handle 9 degrees very well. Holden was miserable. Daddy was attempting to warm him up.

 But the ice sculptures are pretty incredible. And Pax and Abe loved the ice slides. Holden would have also loved the slides if there was sunshine and it was closer to 40 degrees.

And finally, also in November, a good friend of mine took some family pictures for us. She captured some great photos of the boys and our family. We found lots of keepers.

I can't believe how big and grown up these two are. Didn't they used to be babies?

And this baby of the family smiled so good. I bribed him with Skittles! His favorite!

December update is right around the corner...

Halloween 2016

I'm determined to do a major blog catch up this week and never fall behind again. Hahaha. That will be impossible. When I look at our winter/spring calendar it is extra full and extra exciting. And like always, documenting on this little blog will most likely take a back seat. But Jeremy is always encouraging me to keep these little posts going, knowing that one day it may be special for our boys to look back on all of our family adventures. So here we are at Halloween...

 Abe had a little fall party at Mother's Day Out and he wore one of my favorite shirts that the big boys had worn several years ago.

 This year, we painted pumpkins instead of carving. The boys loved it.

 And keeping with tradition, we had our friends over for frito chili pie and then walked the neighborhood with them and some neighbors. Unfortunately, right about the time I had dinner ready, Holden informed us that he had a migraine headache. He gets them on occasion. So he spent the evening at home being sick from the migraine while I took the boys trick or treating with their friends. For the record, Holden had a black ninja costume, similar to Paxton's costume. He is determined to wear it next year. And this momma is just hoping it will still fit. He grows at a very rapid rate. :)

Here we have a green ninja (Pax), a firefighter (Cruz) and Batman (Abe). It was a great night. I was just a little sad that our biggest boy had to miss out on the fun. But sweet Cruz, Pax and Abe made sure to fill his pumpkin with their own candy.