This week

One day this week the boys' writing assignment was a journal entry about the upcoming arrival of their baby sister.  I encouraged Zach and Tyler to express their feelings on the subject.  I thought their entries were sweet, but I was surprised to discover that I gave them the same assignment a couple of weeks ago.  Reading them side-by-side made me smile.

From Tyler:

Take One: "I think getting a baby sister will be fun.  She will be fun.  She will be cute.  She will be small.  I might get to change her diapers.  I will get to help Mommy with her.  I might get to help Mom when she is pregnent (sic).  I will get to play with her.  I think I will like getting a new sister.  She will be an awesome sister!"

Take Two: "I am going to have a baby sister named Katelyn.  I am happy because she is coming soon.  I am sad because I wanted a boy.  I am excited because I am getting another family member.  I am worried that she might be sick."

That last bit on the second assignment surprised me, so Tyler and I talked about it.  He has been very concerned about my health and the baby's for some time.  He's the family member who consistently prays for our welfare.  Tyler was very relieved to find out that Baby Girl has reached a "safe zone" for delivery, so she will most likely be just fine when she is born.  I feel bad that I neglected to communicate this to the kids!  They are sweet to be worried.

From Zach:

Take One: "We are getting a baby sister in August.  We are going to have to change more diapers [and] get special baby food.  We will also have the baby share a room with Lexi.  The baby will also cry a lot.  I would rather have a brother but a sister will still be fun."

Take Two:  "We are having a baby sister.  I want to name her Shyloh, but Mom says Katelyn.  I am excited about a baby sister.  She will probably be cute.  I am worried that I will have to change her diapers and feed her."


That last entry is classic Zach: always seeing a power struggle, always afraid of too much work.

I have not taken many pictures of Zach and Tyler lately.  Life has been kind of boring for them, with a daily routine of morning checklists, fighting with each other, doing consequence chores, running errands with me, and playing with friends.  We did have a very fun park outing today, but I neglected to photograph the event.  When I tried to pose them for a picture tonight, Tyler burst into tears about life's latest injustice, so I gave up.

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Last Friday I had a miscommunication with my babysitter and had to take all of the kids to Gavin's OT appointment at the last second.  Although he was initially freaked out about seeing Miss Dana without me (I had to sit in the waiting room with his siblings instead of going into the gym), Gavin ended up having a fantastic therapy session.  Lexi, however, cried the entire 45 minutes of Gavin's appointment.  She wanted to go back and "play" with Gavin.  Tyler was finally able to console her by reading a story.  It was a tender moment for a frazzled mama!

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Gavin continues to love "practicing baseball."  This usually must happen in the front yard.  Gavin actually enjoys hitting pitched balls more than whacking balls directly off the tee.  On this day the weather was cool and breezy--perfect for me but a little cool for the kids, apparently.  Gavin needed a hoodie, which was a little sad because the Transformers costume looked so cool by itself.

Lexi was a spectator for a while but eventually took her turn at the tee.  I love her expression in the last photo!  She wasn't pleased at the distance of her hit.

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Garry is the best hands-on Daddy ever.  He makes the most menial of tasks more fun.  After working a string of late nights, he was home last night at dinner time.  In fact, he brought dinner home with him.  Then he was a hero with bath time and bed time.  I heard so much laughter in the bathroom that I had to see what was happening, and this is what I found.  (Sidebar: I'm still so amazed at all this platinum blonde hair in the family, even though Garry and I had hair like this when we were young.)

  

  

Later, while I was lying in bed, I laughed until I cried as I listened through the wall to Lexi's bed time songs.  Garry was totally hilarious.  "Leo the Lion" has never been so entertaining!  And after all the kids were down, he rubbed my swollen feet and tucked me into bed at 8:00.  Yep, he's the best.