the things I want to remember...

I feel like I have so many things I want to post about my kids. Each day just goes by so fast and I feel like before I know it, we'll be 10 years down the road and I won't remember any of these little details that are so important to me now. I've never been good about writing in my kid's baby books. I'm just not that mom. I find myself more often sitting back and soaking things in and just watching them.

Allie, now at the age of 5... almost 6... she is the sweetest thing. She is my little mother-hen. She likes to keep everyone in check and make sure everyone is doing the right thing. She doesn't really like to live on the edge... she's more of a 'play it safe' kinda gal and she wants to make sure everyone is safe around her. To say the least, she deeply cares about everyone around her. She often comes home from school and tells me stories about how, 'so&so' was mean to 'so&so' and that that probably really hurt her feelings... and it's not good to hurt peoples feelings... because how would we like it if someone hurt our feelings... and... and... and. She typically likes to talk about this in length. With all this sweet talk, I do have to say she's got her little evil side too. She's learning how to manipulate her little brother and she's pretty sly about it. And when trouble comes, she's quick to point the finger at him. She's also becoming waaay more independent than I want her to. She's got her own ideas of what she wants to wear, how she does her hair, what she wants to eat, when she wants to eat... you name it, she can argue about it. I know it just comes with the territory though. Overall, I'm proud that so far I've raised a pretty caring kid. And, man, is she a daddy's girl! She LOVES her daddy!

Kole, now 4.... he is BUSY. He is going from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed! Unlike Allie, he definitely lives his little life on the edge. Pretty much nothing scares him. And he is ALL boy. I constantly find him with a sword in his belt loop and his rain boots on. He is very content playing by himself and actually really thrives on it. He likes to setup all of his army guys in rows facing each other ready for a combat. He can play like this for hours... by himself. This poor little guy is surrounded by girls. He's learned to play pretty well with them... though his testosterone comes out eventually. Usually some army guys will come busting into Allie's perfectly setup Barbie house and then it's world war 3 between the 2 of them. Kole thinks it's hilarious {and so do I}! I've also learned that Kole is a very sensitive little soul. Very sensitive. He has always been this way.He gets his feelings hurt very easily and he tends to over think things, which often breaks my heart. We've struggled with this for the last few years, but I'm hoping it will be something that he'll grow out of if we work on it enough. This little kid also has his dad's humor. He loves to tease & play jokes on people. He is not shy. He's that kid that will stick his head out the window of the car and carry on a conversation with a complete stranger. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. LOL! I love this little guy... he's a little bit of everything and he definitely keeps me on my toes! I feel like I could go on and on about Kole because he just has so many sides to him. He's definitely an interesting little devil.

Hannah, now almost 16 months is my mischievous, not scared of anything kid. I think she's going to be a lot like Kole. She's tougher than he is though. LOL! Like I explained in my last post, Hannah is the ruler of this roost. Basically, we all bow down to this little girl. She loves Allie and most of the time is scared of Kole. LOL! They are both a little rough with her at times and I find myself often swooping into rescue her. She LOVES to sit at the table with the kids in the playroom and eat snacks with them. She just grins from ear to ear the whole time and you can tell she feels like such a big kid. Of all the kids, I think Hannah looks the most like me when I was a baby. Finally! One of them looks like me! Allie & Kole just look so much like Tim.  Like Allie, Hannah is also a daddy's girl. When Tim walks in the door after work, she just lights up like nothing else! If she's in the playroom and hears his boots walk through the house, she comes out all wide eyed looking for him. I love it {and so does Tim!}. I know we're going to create a monster but she really is the little princess in this house {for now, until this new little baby girl comes along!}.

I just love these guys, each in their own way. It's so funny... I remember after I had Allie, I absolutely could not imagine loving another little person like I loved her. I even cried about it when I found out I was pregnant with our 2nd child. Then Kole came along and my heart grew... then Hannah came along and my heart grew even more. I have no doubt, as hard as mother-hood will be with 4 kids, that once this new baby girl comes, my heart is going to be HUGE! I sure feel like one lucky mamma!

Here's some wrestling time with daddy. This is pretty much a daily occurrence before bedtime each night. This is usually when I just sit back on the couch and soak it in. Even though we have a lot of things up in the air right now and we may have more questions than answers, I feel very content with my life. I have a very happy heart. :o)