Being the Baby...

I have repeatedly admitted that I am now officially guilty of creating a typical "baby" of the family. Being a teacher, I have seen enough kids to be a true believer in birth order effects on personality. With just Carson and Maison I felt it was a fairly even treatment because he was our only boy and she our only girl. Enter Knox...we have a typical baby. Everything he does is funny. He refuses to talk, manages to always get his way, and at 19 months has a temper that flares without warning. He is spoiled rotten! But, he is also at the mercy of his bigger family members. You can see Maisy enjoys playing with him. She "tattooed" his face, dressed him in heels, and taught him how to ride the skateboard with her down the driveway. Carson adores him and dotes on him constantly. Jeremy likes that he has some meat on his bones compared to our other skeleton children. He loves to wrestle with him, even when Knox smacks his face or pulls his nose practically off. I am just clinging to whatever baby is left in my toddler. Since we have been home from Puerto Rico, he has been obsessed with my skin. I have termed it nursing flashbacks. He pulls up my sleeves and puts his cheek on my shoulder, or he pulls at my collar and presses his face to my chest. So sweet!

Will he ever grow out of this "baby-ness"?

I don't think so.

Puerto Rico-A Soggy Paradise

It was a beautiful week! Tons of rain, but enough sun to come home tan, but not scorched. Believe it or not, I am a sunscreen addict now. Trying to redeem myself for years of bad skin choices. Jeremy and I had so much fun together. I think we both agree that time alone is essential, but too rare for us. That has been one of the only real regrets we have about being here. Grandparents are too far away! Thankfully Dennis and Debbie made the trip and stayed with the kids, adhering to our rigorous schedule and challenging eating habits. God love them! All went well here I was told, so hopefully that was really the case. I am beginning to believe we bring out the worst in our children. They seem so good under other circumstances.

Jeremy and I spent a lot of time just hanging out together, no big tourist excursions, other than to local eateries . We read, played games, swam, and enjoyed each other's company...a lot. While it was weird to have all that time to focus on nothing but ourselves, we managed to figure it out pretty quickly. We stayed up late, slept in, napped, took our time getting ready, tried new foods, and met new people. Santiago, our cab driver, was a favorite. Jeremy has even voiced an interest in learning Spanish, which he was constantly trying out on the locals. :) Rosetta Stone will be under the Christmas tree this year for Senor Smith. I went out on a limb and ate some authentic Puerto Rican foods. Rare for me...it was decent though. All in all, it was so nice to have time to reconnect with each other, and we came home excited to be Mom and Dad again.

Dinner at our House-Turn down your volume!

Dinner together is really important to me. Or, it has been until recently. Right now it feels more like a three-ring circus than family time. This short video doesn't even do the chaos justice, but I thought it was worth watching. Knox is becoming quite the entertainer with the encouragement of his siblings. Notice his cowboy boots too. He loves them! You will hear all kinds of craziness, including a burp. Sorry! Carson is really enjoying being a boy! Then Maisy starts fake burping. Gotta love my little lady! While Carson shushes Knox, Maisy screams with him. You are welcome to experience this anytime for yourself...come on over!

My Big Girl!

After...so happy! Look close and you can see them. Pink flowers!

Before the piercing...very nervous.

Need I say more...

This weekend Maisy played her first baseball game. She did great! It is coach pitch, not t-ball, which is different. Anyway...I am the pitcher, which I think is a bit of an advantage for her. She got two good hits and played first base and outfield. It is a beginner league, so there are no outs and each child gets to bat every inning. We only played two. :) It was fun. She liked it too. In all honesty, she is not a bad little player. She hits well and isn't afraid of the ball, which is huge at this age. She has a good arm on her and catches decent. Fun times!

On another note, today was exciting for her. She got her ears pierced...finally. She has been talking about it forever, but keeps wimping out. Today she did it! Even though I was okay with it, I got a little teary when they did it. I don't know if it was knowing it hurt her or that she was old enough to decide to do it. Either way, she did it. It hurt, but she didn't cry. Way to go, Big Girl!