5, 3 and 1

Next week something is going to change. When people ask me how many kids I have and how old they are I'm not going to say "5, 3 and 1". Over the next 2 months my answer will change to "5, 4 and 18 months" and then "6, 4 and 18 months." I'm not going to lie I've really loved the ages my kids have been at and how perfect it sounds when I say their ages. I know it's weird but I found myself sort of sad about the changes and the increasing numbers that represent their ages. Felicity is starting nursery tomorrow. Connor is a kindergartner and in 2 years will get baptized. Parker has one more year at home with me before he starts TK or preschool. Things are catapulting forward and time never goes slow (unless we're waiting to hear about a job...then time crawls like molasses going uphill on a frozen winters day). I never blog enough. I record them, take their pictures but will I remember all their nuances and stages if I don't write or type it out? Probably not. It's already a blur. I feel like Parker will be the most neglected when it comes to tracking stages and ages. I did the least blogging when he was little and I regret it so much!

So here's a little update on each kid:

Felicity: So much to write, amazing growth for this little saint this past few months! She has such a big vocabulary and loves to yell her brother's names. She knows her friend Hannah's name and loves to say it. She is a mimmick and copies everything I say, sometimes in the same exact tone! She is a climber and I always find her standing on top of the kitchen table. She climbs in her high chair and stands on it so she can watch me cook or clean in the kitchen. She follows her brothers around and plays with them like she's one of them! She thinks she's such a big girl and hates being left behind. She loves her toys, her baby dolls, legos, everything the boys like. But she LOVES to get pretty with me. She loves putting on lipstick, pretending to put makeup on, getting her hair done, and puts on everyone's shoes and walks around the house with them on. She even figured out how to put her own shoes on the other day, just two different shoes haha! She screams at her brothers if they take things away from her or bug her. She doesn't back down from an argument and totally holds her own. Sometimes she bites if she gets really mad. Hilarious that it's an instinctive reaction, nobody taught her how to bite! If we tell the boys to apologize to her she opens her arms ready for a big hug and love from them. She loves to jump off the couch onto the cushions with Parker, copies the way he plays with toys making "whee" sounds and pushing things along the surfaces of the table or floor. She smiles so cute for pictures, her teeth are all coming in and she has the most adorable toothy grin. She loves doing snapchat photos and opens her mouth when you do selfies on there and we're doing filters. She loves talking to grandma Betsy and whenever she hears me login to skype she starts screeching "mama! Mama!" (grandma) She loves giving kisses on the screen during skype too. She loves jabbering with Avery and says everyone's name. She loves seeing the doggies and makes barking sounds when she sees any dogs. She backs up into my lap when I'm sitting on the floor so I'll read to her. She loves being read to as long as the books are captivating. The other morning I was woken up to her banging on my door yelling "mommy!" She loves to come snuggle me in the morning. She loves her blankie and can't sleep without one of her muslin blankets. Doesn't matter which one just has to have one to fall asleep. She asks for it and it sounds like she's saying "baby".  She's probably the best eater out of all the kids and finishes off everything on her plate at meal time. She loves her frozen cups with straws and they're about the only thing I use since they don't leak as bad as sippy cups. But she's really doing great with regular cups, just likes to dip things in them, and not always food. I'll write about her burn incident later but I'm amazed at how well she coped with it. She never once scratched at her face, or acted like it bothered her one bit! She left her bandage on all the time and was patient and happy as ever. I was constantly in awe at her sweetness and how she took it all in stride. She's a little princess and loves everything and everyone. She's so full of love and tenderness and there's just something about her I can't get enough of. Her spirit is so strong. She loves to sing a long to primary songs, and loves dancing to music. She really belts it out in the car and when I sing "I Am a Child of God or You are My Sunshine" she sings along and knows certain parts and words she can say so she really sings out on the "way" and "away" and "happy" words. I love it when she hugs me around my neck and holds the hug. She loves riding in her step 2 car and honks the little horn.  I could go on and on about this perfect little ray of sunshine!

Parker: Oh what a cute budding personality that tests my patience daily. He's a packrat hoarder and loves to shove all kinds of toys and non-toys into his "pack pack". There are times I find my keys in there, my jewelry, etc. If you can't find something the next place to look is in his backpack. He's a loon! We got lego duplos for Felicity and he totally commandeered them! The entire set stashed in his backpack, never even getting played with just being protected.  His speech has matured a lot and he uses a lot more words, sounding smarter every day. With that intelligence has also come a bit more stubbornness and independence. He doesn't love to listen the first, second or 100th time and copies some of Connor's bad habits. But he's overall still such a content kid and can get captivated by a certain toy, pushing it along like a train. His favorite thing is to play roller coaster with his toys, he'll push it around then say "get off, get in...then mumble something similar to the 'keep your arms feet and legs inside the ride and watch your children' then has them all scream and say whooooo!!! weeeee!!!!" He'll do it over and over and over and over....and over. He is obsessed with Star Wars and Darth degator. He wants a star wars cake for his birt day. That's all he's asked for! I think he'd happily eat the whole cake if I let him too! I realized the other day he doesn't have a lot of his own toys that are specifically his. The boys have always shared. But with Connor being a little older and more possessive Parker has been a bit more stripped of their toys and I know that makes him cling to the toys that are "his" more closely. He loves to snuggle, buries his head in my chest when he feels shy or nervous and will snuggle for a long time after naps.  He wakes up early with Connor to start crazy adventures and keeps us busy all day. He mostly watches movies in the mornings while Connor is at school or is my little sidekick. He plays with Felicity and they have a lot of fun together. He has a little temper on him and screams his head off when he's frustrated or "Fa-wiss-ity" takes things from him. He whines more than the other two kids combined when he can't have what he wants or is being asked to do something hard like eat his dinner. The other night he gagged on his food and ended up puking up some of it into my hands just because the thought of chewing his food was so awful. He was even shuddering as he took bites. It was good food too! A funny story about Parker took place about 2 months ago at the park. The kids were playing at park days with other kids in the ward. Connor was at school.  All the kids were on this little bench thing playing and jumping and Felicity accidentally got knocked down. Parker stood up, pointed at the kids and said "That is NOT OK! You say sorry to my stister RIGHT NOW!" All of us saw it happen and it was one of the cutest most hilarious things in the world!

Connor is Connor and while I wish I could be strictly positive and write all the wonderful things about him, so many of his stories are frustrating ones and I really need him to look back and maybe read these and know how much he challenged me throughout his life. So Connor, if you're reading this, know that mom earned her place in heaven by being as patient as possible with you, and you never made it very easy! Connor has really enjoyed kindergarten and I find him being more chatty about what happens than he was last year in TK. He gets excited about working with the computers and having Friday centers. He has a lot of friends and I've seen him in his element, he's a born leader. Kids gravitate to him and somehow he always gets them to fall in line. He decides its time to play pirate ship and all the kids are happy as clams to be his pirates and follow his orders! He has so much energy and I think the kids just love his positive and happy and crazy energy! His teacher tells me he's always very helpful and wanting to be a helper in the classroom. He was always that way last year too.

Connor was asking what to give Ben for his birthday last week and said "I know, I can make him a star wars space ship! I'm going to need a lot of cardboard..." He is so stinking smart and I know that's why he gets into trouble. I wish I could figure out how to make it rewarding to follow the rules. I'm working on it! We started a fuzzy wuzzy jar for him so when he does good or nice things he gets to earn fuzzy wuzzies and cash them in for different prizes. Play dates, toys, yes day, etc. So far he's cashed in twice for smaller things and has been working really hard to earn a play date! He's so full of love for his friends and just loves playing swords, police, and dressing up as so many different things. Every time he sees someone cool or an interesting job he decides that's what he wants to be when he grows up. Doctor, vet, fireman, policeman, disney worker, garbage truck driver, the list goes on and on. He's got some serious ambition! :) He loves to put together big forts or set ups for his siblings, just like I used to. Loves to play store, play with his legos, write and doodle. He is learning to read and spell and has me help him write things all the time. Currently he's holding a sword right in front of my eyes saying "you'll never know how to write now! I want your nose..." He loves playing power rangers, and all the boy things imaginable. When he makes up his mind that he wants something he can't rest until he gets it. Recently he was in time out and I was having a big frustrated cry. He talked through the door "Mom look at your necklace! It has two boys and a girl on it" He wanted to remind me that I have three kids who love me. It was the sweetest thing! Right now he's doing some dishes. Washing his lunch boxes from school. He loves to be helpful and busy, have I said that yet? And currently (I've written this over a few days time) Parker is pushing toys at my feet either playing train or Disneyland. Felicity is taking a much needed nap! Connor is learning to read and I can see so much of myself in him. Hard to focus, sometimes sloppy and fast and wanting to just get stuff over with. At least I can see where he's coming from!

So that's the run down on my sweet perfect adorable annoying crazy impossible kids. Every day is an adventure and I'm constantly tired and exhausted but I know I'll miss these days, and sorta forget them faster than I'd like to. So here's to blogging....I'll try to do it more!