2 years old

Wrote this summer of 2017...posted in 2018.  Good grief!

Brooklyn turned 2.  What a year we've had with homeschool.  Brooklyn spent a lot of time on my lap, or coloring with Laekin for most of the school year.  At times it would get very noisy because Brooklyn wasn't always content to just learn with Lucy and Brandt.  It was about March when Brooklyn started saying "um on" and waving YaYa to come upstairs to play Minnie Mouse which she just calls "moush."

Time Flies

Summer has flown by...we say, Brooklyn's birthday starts summer and Laekin's ends summer.  Well, Laekin's is coming up, and she reminds us daily with the question "how many days until my birthday" and it seems like she is constantly changing her mind on what she wants to do for her birthday.  Brooklyn is growing and lets us know what she wants with either signs (more, please, drink, and milk) or by grunting and pointing to things.  Like every time we walk by the back door she grunts and points to outside.  The girl loves to swing.  Brooklyn started crawling on April 15th, and she is now standing by herself without holding on to anything.  She is pretty proud when she does it.  She has learned to come down the stairs by herself, so she enjoys exploring around the house.  She has 5 teeth with the cutest little grin.  She loves peek-a-boo...she does it all of the time.  She loves to ruin block towers and anything the kids are trying to play.  She loves books, like Wheels on the bus, Peek-a-Moo, Old McDonald, Barnyard Dance, and pretty much anyone that can be sung.  The other day at a restaurant, there was music and she was bopping while she ate.  She loves music and dancing.  Her absolute favorite food is blueberries!  She could eat a pint herself.  The girl signs more and grunts like crazy when she runs out.  She giggles when I give her butterfly kisses and she thinks her brother and sisters are quite funny.  We've enjoyed swimming this summer, and all 4 kids love the water.  They can spend hours in it.  Laekin started swimming without floaties this year, and is catching on to swimming underwater.  I'd still never trust her in the deep end.  The kids are all growing up to quickly...time flies!

Adventures with Brooklyn

Brookie is the 4th child who refuses to be ignored.  She has quite the loud voice, which she trained while screaming the 1st 6weeks of her life because of acid reflux.  After she got on medicine she was a much more content baby, that is with Mama.  She didn't want to be held by even Grandma...crazy girl didn't realize that will be her candy supply one day.  Brookie didn't laugh until she was almost 5 months old.  She was sitting on the bumbo on the counter in the kitchen while I was making dinner.  She kept turning around and grabbing the cookie jar.  I said "who has her hand in the cookie jar" and she just started laughing over and over every time I said it.  So we were all excited that Brooklyn started laughing.  Well, it was about 2 months later when she started laughing again.  I noticed that after she got off her acid reflux medicine she was a more smiley and giggly baby.  I don't know if it is related at all, but I thought that was interesting.  She loves to laugh and smile now.  Brooklyn learns so quickly.  She started doing "so big" at about 6 months old after only doing it a few times.  She learned to wave bye-bye at 8 months.  She started blowing kisses, doing some sign language, and making fishy face in her 9 month.  She is not crawling, but that's because I do not encourage mobility....come on she is the 4th child and that's going to make everything very difficult.  She is a great sleeper and I love that when we walk up to her room, rock for a bit and then walk over to her bed, she pops her thumb in her mouth before I even lay her down.  She showed me her determine side in sleep training, as in I think it took 2 months, but she is great now!  One determined person versus another determined person.  As that is in feeding time with food.  I seriously thought, she would be good with nursing forever and never want food.  Wow!  It has been a battle, but the last 2 nights, she has eaten like a champ and loves beets of all things.  Here's some dates for me to remember...

Feb 8th - First tooth
Feb 15th - sat up without help
Feb 23rd - waved
March 2nd - clapped to happy and you know it
March 21st - Brooklyn sat up in bed

Brooklyn Charlie

So our baby girl is almost 10 months old and I am finally getting around to write about her birth before I forget it.  Such is life for the 4th baby!

June 4th, 2015...we  checked into the hospital at 6am to be induced because you did not want to come out and you were 12 days late.  Dr. Williamson didn't want to go past that just to be safe.  Apparently, is was a good thing you didn't come the night before because I was told there were no beds available.  So, I got changed and the nurse got started with inducing me about 7:00.  About 9:00 the contractions started to get harder, so I requested an epidural.  So at about 10:00 I got the epidural.  I was so nervous because with Laekin I had gotten the spinal headache when they punctured my spine.  Thankfully, we didn't have that problem, but unfortunately not all of the epidural took.  There was a spot on the left side that refused to go numb, and oh mercy did that hurt.  Dr. Williamson was busy with a surgery on the next floor, and I had just finished getting the epidural when he checked in on me.  Since, I didn't know the epidural didn't take, he thought I would be fine to wait a little longer even though I was dilating quickly...I mean 12 days late and 4th baby, that make sense :)  They kept giving me more and more medicine trying to numb that spot, but it only deadened my right leg so that it felt like a log.  It worked out because I had to get a shot in my leg to bring my blood pressure back up when it started dropping below 90.  Anyhow, the doctor finally came back and we got ready to go.  3 or 4 pushes and sweet baby Brooklyn Charlie was born at 12:16pm, 7lbs, 10oz and 21in long with a full head of dark hair and just perfect!  It was a pretty uneventful delivery with a precious baby in the end.  I actually had to wait in labor and delivery until 7:00 before they had a room for me to go to.  Just as they were about to move me, everyone had come up to see you at the same time.  So we had a processional through the halls of the hospital on the way to the room.  Papa and Grandma brought Sissy, Bubbey and Laekey up to see you.  They were in love and 10 months later they still are! 

Pickle Pants

To our sweet Pickle Pants:

Daddy, Mama, Sissy, Bubby and Laekey are all waiting for you to come meet us!  You are 10 days late, and Laekin doesn't think you are ever going to come out.  We all have enjoyed watching you grow in my tummy.  Sissy loves to watch the ultrasounds at the doctor appointments, Bubby loves to patiently hold his hand on my tummy waiting for you to kick him.  You've kicked Laekin many times while I am holding her, and she looks at me and says "Pickle Pants just kicked me."  They all say good night to you every night and kiss my tummy.  So I just wanted you to know how loved you are.  Daddy gave you the name Pickle Pants because Sissy had written a story in school with a character named Pickle Pants and we all thought it was so funny.  Of course, your Daddy remembered.

We are excited to see what you look like. We talk about if you will have a lot of hair like your sisters, or be a fuzz head like Brandt.  We wonder if you will have blue eyes like mama and sissy, or brown like everyone else.  We do know you are beautiful and created by our Heavenly Father!  We wonder if you will be laid back like Daddy since you are in no hurry to come out, or maybe you just will be like Mama and need to know everything is done before you come...no surprises!  This has been a precious time with you, knowing that you will be our baby and I won't experience having a little one grow in me again.  I've prayed that the Lord will help me to treasure each day, and He has answered that prayer.  I have not been uncomfortable or so exhausted that it has kept me from doing anything.  It has just been a joy (except for the first few months of sickness) to carry you.  We pray that you will come quickly and without problems, we pray that you will grow in the knowledge of the Lord, we pray that you will be healthy, we pray that you will come to know Jesus one day, and we pray so many more things for you in your life to come. 

So as I watch my tummy wiggle around, amazed at the life within me, we will wait patiently for you!  Loving every step of life and knowing what a gift you are to all us. 

So much love is waiting for you precious one...Mama!

Catching Up

This was written in Spring 2014 and never got posted...




I wish I had a video camera following Laekin around because everything she says is just so cute!  Some of my fav translations....


coughcough - washcloth
him cute - he's cute
my paint still on - nail polish is still on her toes
sop sops - flip flops
I love when she prays... an example... tick tock go clock, now I pray, tank you for mommy, dada, sissy, bubbey, (clicks her tongue and says um a dozen times), papa go in airplane (clicks her tongue and says um another dozen times), tank you for John (because one night we couldn't figure out what she was saying, apparently it was Jen, but we thought she was saying John...don't know a John, but now she thinks it is funny), food, beds sleep in (clicks tongue over and over again and says um), go to liberry, mommy, dada, sissy, bubbey, go to ella's house (clicks tongue again and then I say in Jesus name amen and she says no mommy, not finished) and then says tick tock goes the clock, now I pray, mommy, dada, sissy bubbey (clicks tongue says um and then proceeds to ask me questions about something that happened so she can pray).  Then all of a sudden she says in jesus name, amen!


The other night Mike fell asleep while we were reading still, so I woke him up because we were going to pray.  So Laekin starts and all of a sudden Mike is sleeping.  So I shake him and say Laekin is praying....so Laekin continues her prayer...tank you mommy open her eyes when I pray and daddy sleeping.  I just busted out laughing and then she thought it was so funny and kept saying it over and over again.  The girl is a hoot!!

Time is flying

Last night, Laekin was praying and she said "dear Jesus, thank you for food, 5 food, um 2 food, and she kept going on."  I said, Laekin, we're praying not counting.  So she said, "oh, ok" and started again and then wanted help.  When we finished praying, it dawned on me that in her little mind she hears thank you 4 food, so then she continued on with other numbers.  We all laughed so hard once again at the cute things she does.




Laekin turned 3 years old, Brandt started kindergarten and Lucy is in 3rd grade.  It's hard to believe that our kids are getting so big!  We were talking about hobbies in school yesterday, and I was giving example of hobbies and Brandt said, and you're hobby is cooking and cleaning the kitchen.  He also told me a few months ago, "mama, I know your favorite things to do...cook and clean the kitchen." So apparently because I do a lot of it, Brandt thinks it's what I love to do.  I told him I do like cooking, but I just clean the kitchen because I have to.  I'm glad he thinks I love to do it because I guess that means I'm not complaining! 
Brandt learned to ride a two-wheeler this month, and Lucy went on all the roller coaster at Silver Dollar City this month when we went.  So those were big accomplishments that were fun to see because they were so proud of themselves. 
Laekin loves her Sissy and Bubba...whenever I give them choices of something she will pick something and then hear their choice and say "actually" and then choose what they did.  I'm thankful our kids are the best of friends...they love to play together when we aren't working on school, they love sleepovers in each other's rooms, and Lucy has really been showing us that she is thinking of them before herself which makes my heart happy!  I'm so thankful for our children, even though each day is a challenge to accomplish all that we have to do.  I will never look back and wish I hadn't homeschooled.