Liam!

Liam is a sweet-tempered, loving, energetic little 2 year old. He loves to climb, run, jump...in other words, keep Justin and me on our toes! He is learning so many new things every day, we are so happy he is learning how to talk more and express his individuality. He has us wrapped around his little finger...he definately gets away with a lot. His favorite things are garages, cars, and Little Einsteins. He knows his colors and we are working on the alphabet and counting. He eats just about anything, except my lasagna...but I guess you can't win every battle. He was not gaining weight for a while so we were seeing a dietician...despite the advice and what we would try, he would not gain weight. He was never on the charts since birth and was hovering in the 3rd percentile. I stopped worrying about it a few months ago and now I can proudly say he is on the charts, finally, at the 5th percentile at a whopping 24 pounds. He loves candy and "coke"...we can still pass this off as rootbeer for now, but he does have sips of mom's diet coke every once in a while. He loves to give kisses and hugs and loves to be held. He is not completely angelic however, he definately knows how to get into trouble! The other day it was a little too quiet while I was getting ready in the morning. I called out-"Hey, Liam, what are you doing?" He replied: "Doin'?" That is never a good sign. He had put Nestle Quik in the flour so everything I made for a while had a sketchy brown tint and a hint of chocolate to it. Needless to say, I baked a lot of cookies for a while! He really is adorable and has the cutest personality...we love him tons and are so happy he is in our family!

Luke!

What can I say more about Luke? He is a sassy, sweet, stubborn 5 year old. I think when they were handing out personality(attitude?) in heaven, he went through the line twice. It also doesn't help that stubbornness is quite dominant in both Justin and I and we must have passed it all onto this cute boy. He is lucky his face is so angelic--he definately works this to his advantage! He just recently lost 2 teeth and it just makes him look adorable. He is a kindergartener at Jordan Ridge and is just learning how to read. His favorite color is blue and he loves trains, play with his brothers and friends, and to dress up. His favorite movie is Star Wars, favorite food is spaghetti, and his favorite thing to do is play the X box. He wanted me to say that he does not like Strawberry Shortcake, the movie. I love to hug this teddy bear boy and just squeeze him. This boy is the reason I have not been able to post pictures on the blog for a while--he dropped my camera on the floor when I walked into the room one day. Not until I took my memory card to the store to print pictures did I realize why he dropped it so fast--he was about to get caught taking naked bum pictures of his brothers. Oh well, boys will be boys. (I did have a talk with all of them about the importance of keeping their privates private! :)) I just love him to death and I hope that he never loses his spark.

Andrew!

Andrew is the sweetest, most sensitive 7 year old you will ever meet. He is always looking out for others and wants to make sure everyone is happy. He is in first grade at Jordan Ridge and is also doing very well. He is reading at a 4th grade level and enjoys reading the Magic Treehouse Series of books. He is doing well with his math facts and he says his favorite part of school is recess! Andrew HATES sushi and marinara sauce--anytime I cook spaghetti for dinner you would think I was committing a crime. He is ALWAYS hungry and in the kitchen, I have now set rules about how late the kitchen is "open". I don't know where he puts all of the food he eats-- We tease him that he must have a hollow leg where he is storing it all. Andrew says his greatest talent is making friends-he is very good at it and loves to play. He also plays violin like his brother and is almost through the first Suzuki book and his favorite sport to play is soccer. His favorite color is green and he is obsessed with Star Wars. He loves to play the X box and his Nintendo DS, go sledding, and be with his brothers. He also has the most infectious laugh, it is wonderful. I love him tons!

Nicholas!

Nicholas is a wonderful 9 year old boy. He is in the 3rd grade at Jordan Ridge Elementary in the ALPS program and is doing very well. He reads at above a sixth grade level and knows his times facts through 12. He is also learning how to write in cursive which freaks me out because I can't believe he is old enough to do this. He loves to play baseball, can't wait to play football, plays his Nintendo DS every chance he can, and loves to play with his friends and brothers. He also plays the violin and is getting pretty good, he is just starting to learn vibrato. His favorite color is red, favorite food is hamburger, favorite movies are Flushed Away, Harry Potter 5, Knight's Tale, and Lord of the Rings. His best friend is Keaton Taylor. His least favorite food is sushi. He is a great leader and makes friends easily. He also has his dad's red personality so he can have a fiery temper as well. He also has a pretty good sense of humor and can be quite sassy, but he is a sweetheart and is a great oldest brother and example to his 3 younger siblings. I love his guts and am so happy that I am his mom!

Counting my blessings!

Today Liam had his six month evaluation for his speech therapy and he is doing awesome. It is hard to believe that six months ago he was only saying 7 words...now he is saying at least 50 spontanously and will repeat almost everything you say, which is a HUGE improvement--but I am glad I said "DARN it!" today when I spilled a box of pencils on the floor and not the alternative!! Oh, and when he tells me my lasagna looks "gross"...that isn't too fun either! :) Even though he is just in therapy for his speech, the test included fine motor skills, gross motor skills, etc. because most of the kids in speech therapy have developmental problems as well. Liam's motor skills are actually above average for his age and he passed all those tests with flying colors. I was, however, reminded as he was performing these various acts of skill that just two weeks after he was born, his neurologist stated after seeing an abnormal MRI that he would be surprised if Liam ever sat up on his own, let alone ever lift up his head. I just looked at my perfect, crazy, beautiful, wonderful 2 year old boy putting puzzles together, stringing beads on a piece of yarn, stacking blocks, running, jumping like a mad man, just being normal... and was overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude. I feel very blessed with my darling little family.

Luke's temporary paralysis

We were at my mom's house for dinner tonight and went downstairs to play a game. Luke had gotten the Star Wars figures out before we had eaten and they were all over the floor. When we got downstairs, he went on the couch and had just gotten comfortable with his pillow in just the right spot and all tucked in with a blanket when we told him that he needed to help us clean up the figures before we started playing the game. He replied that he didn't think he could help because he didn't think his legs would work. After a chuckle from all the adults, I asked him if I could help him off the couch, and luckily, his legs were in full working order!

Luke just has a lot to say!

I went up to visit my Aunt Dorothy who is in the hospital and afterward my mom, Andrea, and the boys went to lunch. Luke was dead set about going to McDonalds and we passed a couple of fast food places on the way there and mentioned Wendy's. He said "Nope!" and as we were driving down the street and waiting at the light to go to the golden arches, he asked if we could eat at "Subway, eat fresh." I said no way (because he had made such a big deal about going to McDonalds but was laughing because of his comment) and he said "Darn it." Then later he asked my sister if she got Caroline anything to eat and Andrea said "No, she just eats milk right now."
He said, "Oh, she just eats zero year old food huh!"