imitation

he really does do everything the big boys do!

at the fort

such a beautiful day with some really lovely ladies.  and a lot of bike riding and digging with "aardvark power!" 

::  picture courtesy of gabe ::

his day

our day to celebrate him was special this year.  in the morning, steve preached at church.  i am so proud of him, he did beautifully.

after dinner, we met the baughers and kayla at the beach.  we brought along the brownies that gabe and i made steve (he is an addict, after all, and these are seriously divine!)  it was a gorgeous evening and not at all too hot.  in fact, gabe looks a little whiny in some of these pictures because he decided he was cold.

titus yelled at the waves, ezra piled sand everywhere (including on me), and gabe rode every wave he could manage to catch on his little boogie board.  they all soaked up an evening playing with dad and went to bed exhausted and happy.

what a blessing he is, that daddy!

this father

how he loves his boys!  parenting alongside him is a blessing, and i am so proud of what an incredible dad he is to our three crazies.  they think he is the strongest, smartest, coolest daddy in the world, and want to be just like him.  i hope one day they are.

squeeze

out of the mouth of gabe

::  "let's name our next baby 'jesus'!"

::  "is your name kayla because you love kale?"

::  "maybe when i am 21, i will tell a fireman, 'somebody stole our recycle bin'."

::  "hey mom, i love you as fast as a peregrine falcon can dive."

::  "maybe when i get older, me and esther and our 11 kids can go on a ghost tour."

::  "grandma, your shadow is bigger than God!"

::  while twirling a spaghetti noodle, "this is a spinning rattle snake!  it keeps the crazy mans away!"

::  as i am preparing a chicken to roast, "mom, you see that crack?  it's the chicken's butt!  it's like the butt of a human!"  he was amazed!  talked about it all afternoon.

::  overheard while steve and the boys were wrestling one night, "hey dad, lay on the floor so ezra and me can climb you.  we will start on your stomach, then climb onto your balls, then up on your legs and onto the bed."  after a while, he corrected himself with, "oh, oh, oh, i mean we WON'T climb on your balls"

::  "mom, bugs think we are compost.  i always get bit up!"

::  "adam is a boy, so he has nipples."

:: "you say bread is made of wheat.  well, ketchup and hot dogs are red, so they are made of blood!"

at two-and-a-half...

sweet ezra

::  is {mostly} potty trained.  we started potty training quite some time ago, and he has been underwear-only during the daytime for a month or two now, but he has reached his regression and has become unreliable again (silly me for thinking this day wouldn't come!)  i am sure that he will be over it soon, though.  and anyways, doesn't the possibility of wet or soiled underwear at any point, in any setting make life more exciting or something?

::  is really kicking up his language development.  and as it turns out, he is pretty funny.  last night, after reading the story of creation as a family, he and gabe ran around pretending to be as fast as jesus (you know, because my kids think jesus had super strength and stuff).  ezra stopped in his tracks, turned to gabe and told him "no gabe jesus.  me jesus!"  now that he can express himself he is really starting to take a stand for what he wants!

::  loves to be praised and is so proud of his own accomplishments, no matter how small.  at the library last month, as ezra was watching gabe play on the computer, he called over his shoulder to me, "mama, watch me watch gabe!"  

::  prefers to pick out and wear clothes from gabe's drawers, even though the shorts always fall down.

::  surprised us by being much more excited about the animals at sea world than we expected.  when we went to the dolphin tank, he ran around hugging people (many of them strangers) and yelling with absolute joy, "dol-feen! dol-feen!"  

::  has spent the last few months obsessing over the hymn "let us love and sing and wonder," or as he calls it "washa gutta bud!" (washed us with his blood).  we have to listen to it every time we get in the car and sing it every night before bed.  i don't mind; it is really sweet.

::  imitates gabe all day.  if gabe jumps, so does ezra.  if gabe sings a song, ezra sings with him.  if gabe runs circles around the kitchen, ezra does it right behind him.  if gabe pretends he is a cheetah, ezra is a cheetah too.  it is so sweet to see how much he adores his older brother.

::  hugs titus randomly throughout the day.  and anytime we meet someone, ezra introduces titus by pointing to him and announcing "bay-bay" until the person acknowledges titus's presence.  he is so proud of his little brother.

::  makes this face whenever i ask him to smile.

::  is still the world's best napper!  some days, he will nap for three hours!  it is lovely!

::  is proud of his status as a big kid.  in fact, if you tell him he is a baby, he will tell you "no, i a bo" (translation: boy, or big boy)  and, sometimes if i tell him that he is precious or lovely, he will also respond, "no, i a bo!"

::  calls steve "goggy" or "gaga" instead of "daddy".  he is perfectly capable of saying the word "daddy" and has slipped up and said it before.  but he prefers his own original names over the traditional.

::  loves wrestling with steve.  all the boys do, in fact. but recently ezra has announced his intentions to start a wrestling match by jumping on our bed and hollering, "i wresee! i wresee!" until steve comes in to tackle him.

::  is really into goodbye kisses.  in our house, ezra instructs steve in the mornings as to who he should kiss goodbye.  and if ezra misses someone or thinks that steve has missed someone, there will be no rest until that person gets their kiss!  we are so glad that this incredibly affectionate and sweet boy is ours!

at four years...

crazy gabe

::  weighs 38 pounds and is 41 inches tall.  he is still above average on both counts for his age.

::  is an animal fact enthusiast.  all day long, he spouts off facts about various animals in the form of questions... "mom, did you think that pigeons don't feed their babies milk?... because they do."  he loves to read zoobooks and the animal encyclopedia and tell anyone who will listen all about the creatures inside.

::  just finished up his first season of soccer!  he was old enough for the team by mere days, making him one of the youngest kids out there, and it showed.  he would stop in the middle of the game to pick grass or throw dirt or sit down.  once, when the coach called him over, gabe bunny-hopped all the way across the field to him.  it was an adventure every week and we so enjoyed watching him learn.

::  is perfecting his culinary skills.  almost daily, he insists on making himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  often enough, he ends up making sandwiches for his brothers, too.

::  has joined the older kids at church in sunday school and is gearing up for homeschool in the fall (more on that to come, i am sure).  he is beside himself excited about being such a big kid these days.  he can't wait to start school and loves that he is in a class all on his own.

::  has discovered his imagination.  he is finally able to play alone in his room for extended periods of time, and really seems to enjoy doing so.

::  is learning to control his four-year-old temper.  we are working on recognizing and utilizing a few things that calm him when he is raging, and it seems to help sometimes.

::  is so incredibly compassionate.  he really empathizes with people and their feelings.  he comforts me when i am having a bad day and loves to pray for people who are hurting.

::  is endearingly goofy and fun.  we are so blessed to have him as part of our family!

together!

a couple weeks ago, we picked my brother up from the airport and met my parents and sister in orlando.  it has been almost three years since my mom has had all three of her children in the same room.  she was more than a little excited to have us all together for four straight days.

we spent two of the days at sea world.  it was incredible.  the boys loved it almost as much as i did!  ezra has been going through a walrus phase (don't ask, my kids don't go through normal kid phases) and was really psyched about seeing one. gabe couldn't wait to ride the "kid coaster".  in the end, all three boys flipped out for two days straight over all of the creatures while the adults watched and giggled over their excitement.

for the last day, heather, jared, steve and i went to the wizarding world of harry potter!  it was so much fun, especially getting to go with the biggest harry potter nerd i know.  it was definitely worth waiting all this time to have her there with me.

it was such a precious time for our family, knowing that heather will be leaving again soon to teach in taiwan and it may be quite some time before we are all together again.