Letters to our Children: Gavin Joseph

Dear Gavin,

I am thoroughly enjoying our time together here at home! I know you miss Sydney while she's at school and it warms my heart to see you two reunited at the end of the school day. You both take off and play for hours until it's time to eat supper! Some nights, you both play constantly until Dad comes home and even then, you take a short break to greet him and then get right back to playing. Watching you two reminds me of the scene at the end of Toy Story 3--where Andy brings his toys to the little girl named Bonnie and they start playing together. You two can make a story out of anything and with any characters (usually it's barbies and dinosaurs--what a combination!) I love it though and it is so much fun to watch. I try to play as well as Sydney, but it can be a challenge for me to revert to my childhood, imaginative mindset! So we spend our days building train tracks, working on and completing puzzles, building with legos, crashing trains on the train tracks we built, searching for worms (and any other bugs we can find!), reading books, and playing other games (today was Hedbandz!) I feel so blessed to be here with you every single day, you are growing and changing right before my very eyes and I am so proud of the little man you are becoming.

Whenever I let myself sit back and just watch you when you're playing on your own or with others, or if I sit back and watch you get yourself ready, or watch you with Avery...I see glimpses of the kind of person you will be as you grow older. You are thoughtful (you are a great helper and love to have "jobs"), you love to cook! (you always want to help me bake or make your lunch), you are loving (you always talk about how you miss Dad, Syd, or Aunt Bailey), you are adventurous--driving Dad crazy as you constantly flip over the rocks in the front yard in the search for bugs! You are determined and strong-willed. I admire this quality because I know it will take you far in life, however, it can pose quite a challenge for us as well. : ) I am figuring you out though and can generally help us both work through sticky situations so that we are both happy in the end. You are a problem solver! I love watching you build your trains and figure out what to do when they just don't connect...your little hands move so quickly to flip them around and connect them--then you flip around the rest to make it all work together. (this also applies to building train tracks!) Books and puzzles are still a favorite of yours and on occasion, when I cannot hear you somewhere in the house (I must admit, for a brief moment I panic!), I will find you looking through books in your room or putting puzzles together (again-you're a problem solver!) This is another quality that will take you far in life! I cannot wait to see what lies ahead for you, sweet boy. I am honored to be a part of all of the great things you will do. I love you more than you'll ever know!

Love,
Mom

Letters to our Children: Avery Jordann

Dearest Avery (aka: munchkin, sweet pea, sweetest-little-sister-ever, Avery J, Miss A...)

(Apparently being the baby of the family means that you are given dozens of nicknames. No worries-they are all given with love and affection for the littlest member of our family.)

You are now seven months old and I am almost, not completely, in denial of this fact! These months have flown by and I fear that they will continue to do so. We are having so much fun with you. You adore your brother and sister and will smile and laugh at the goofy things they do! You also love your daddy...you love looking at his hair, feeling his whiskers and listening to his deep voice. You love messing with (aka pulling/yanking/tugging!) on my hair while we rock and while you eat. You are *this* close to sitting up on your own-it happens for a few seconds at a time or if you are really focused on something, like the little toy piano. (Maybe you'll be a musician!) Also, I just got you from your nap and you were smacking your lips and when I mimicked you, you did it again! See? You are so much fun! Sometimes when I am trying to help you go to sleep, Dad will come up and tell you goodnight (one more time!) and we'll both end up playing with you more! Sometimes bedtime is hard because we don't want you to go to sleep. : ) However, bedtime can be hard sometimes when you don't want to go to sleep either--that's where we're at right now. : ) I figure you're too busy with the world around you that you don't care to slow down for sleep! A few more things and then you and I are off to snuggle while you eat. I realized this morning how fortunate we are that you are such a laidback, fairly easygoing baby. We had to cut one of your feedings in half so we could go get Gavin from preschool and before that you were carted around on an hour long walk with Mom and her friend. You are constantly on the go with us being shuffled here and there and you just go with the flow. Not only are you sweet and snuggly and fun, but you are such a wonderful blessing to our family. Each one of us loves you to pieces and could not ask for a sweeter baby to have added to our family. We are so thankful God gave us YOU!

Love you more than you'll ever know...
Mom

Letters to our Children: Cinderella

Dear Sydney,

November is here and I am having so much fun watching you admire the trees as their leaves turn to the most beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, and gold. Some are so bright they almost glow! Within just the last couple of weeks it has turned so much colder that the leaves are shedding and many of our trees are now "naked" as you like to say. We had so much fun playing in the many leaves that fell from our neighbors' tree. You and Gavin raked them up (with my help) and jumped in the pile! A friend raked a "track" in the leaves and you both loved racing on the track and jumping in the pile at the end. Even when you two were helping Dad rake them all up to put in a trash bag, you still had fun. It took a little bit longer than it probably should have, but fun was had and memories were made. The excitement that you and Gavin have shown for this beautiful time of year is enough to make it anyone's favorite season. In fact, just the other day you declared "fall" your most favorite season!

You and I did something pretty special together just a few days ago. The university here in town put on a showing of Cinderella! I'm so glad that my friend brought it to my attention and arranged our tickets/seats, etc. We snuck out Sunday afternoon, just you and me, and enjoyed a couple of magical hours. About twenty minutes in to the show, you turned around and gave me the biggest hug and whispered "I am so glad that you brought me." This was followed up throughout the rest of the show with multiple "thank yous" and "I love it!" along with many gasps of amazement and excitement. It was magical seeing you love it so much and I am so glad we got to have that time together! It isn't often that it's just the two big girls, so hopefully as Avery gets older we can do some of these things more and more.

Cinderella! You loved every minute of it!

Mom and Sydney

You were so excited to meet "Cinderella" and the "Prince"!

What a special afternoon we had. I am so grateful that we got to sneak away and enjoy this together.Every day I am amazed at how you are growing up right before my very eyes! We are so proud of the little person that you are and are becoming. I love you!

Mom