Always my Babies

Over the winter it hit me pretty hard that we would no longer have any more babies in the house. It was definitely something I struggled with and had to do a lot of going to God about. I don't know if it would have been different if we had made the choice ourselves to have no more children, but the choice was pretty much made for us (two different doctors told me I shouldn't get pregnant again due to complications with Sydney and Jared). As with anything in life you can either let it completely tear you apart or you can trust God to grow you through it, so (and it is much easier to say this looking back) I felt these were emotions I had to allow myself to feel and then also count my blessings and thank God for so, so many things.

In the last week or two I have really been realizing how much I love the stages the kids are at. I would have thought that potty training our baby would be a hard reminder that the baby days are over; it wasn't. In fact, we have a new freedom and a boy with more confidence in himself than he had a few weeks ago. I have also been overhearing conversations. That's pretty normal since I do have a daughter (LOL), but these have made me stop and listen. You see, Jared is now joining in on the conversations. When Jared was born I used to tell people it was still pretty easy since I had 3 kids but only one was able to talk back. Now I see how much happier they all are that they have each other to talk to. I hear them laughing and calling out for each other. Earlier, Jared found Sydney's blanky and he was looking all over for her so he could give it to her and he was calling out, "Sydney... Where are you?" So sweet! So, I have to praise God on the times in our house right now! Sure, it's not always perfect, we still have tears and fights, but we also have a family that seems to be more connected to each other every day. Recently, when Sydney and Corban were in VBS we saw just how connected they are as Jared worried all day about them leaving and then cried every night. When one is not here the other two don't know what to do! I honestly think they could live without Mike and I (at least for a bit while we go out to dinner!) but they are a mess without each other. And it is *so* fun to watch!

Even on his field trips Corban can't escape his little sis.

Another fun time is bed time. The boys room is right across from Sydney's and they will often talk back and forth to each other. Last night Mike heard, "Good night, big brother!", "Good night, little sister!", "Good night, little brother!"