Madelynn: 5 years, 10 months
Madelynn is a month and a half away from finishing kindergarten and turning SIX. Her birthday is on the last day of school this year and she's been planning her party for months. She is thriving at school. She's doing far better than I could have ever wanted. She has tons of friends, is doing first grade work, reading like a champ and truly loves learning and playing with her new friends. She started soccer this month which has opened her up to more new friends and gives her something she can do that's just for her. She's playing at Blue Springs, where I played as a child, and I absolutely love the nostalgia. I never thought I'd be watching my little girl play on the same fields that I learned how to play soccer on.
Madelynn is a natural leader and teacher. She comes home and teaches her sister things that she learned throughout the day and she loves teaching Noah how to do new things. Her relationship with Annabella and Noah is so sweet and unique. There is plenty of fighting and arguing, of course, but most of it is because Madelynn is trying to take control and they don't like it! She's kind, smart, funny, goofy, adventurous, fearless, helpful and loves Jesus. She accepted Jesus into her heart in October and was baptized in November. She goes to school and tells her friends all about Him and it makes my heart explode with pride.
Annabella: 3 years, 11.5 months
Annabella will be the big FOUR in 10 days. It blows my mind that my little girl is getting so big. She's finishing up her last month and half of preschool and is LOVING every second of it. She only goes twice a week, but she would be perfectly happy going full time. She's friends with her entire class and comes home talking about all of the fun things she did that day. She's recently learned how to write her name and she's doing really well writing all of her letters. At the end of class, her teacher lets them get a lolly pop and each day, she gets her little brother one. She has such a giving heart.
Annabella is funny and has the silliest facial expressions of any of my kids. She's also intensely emotional and we're learning how to teach her to control her outbursts, but it's part of her personality and I love it. She's inquisitive about everything-always wanting to learn more and more, always asking question after question. We asked her if she wanted to go to pre-k at her current school or if she wanted to go to Madelynn's school and she immediately chose Madelynn's. So next year we'll have two littles at the same school. We're also putting her in gymnastics soon and I can't wait to see her individuality come out trying something new. She still LOVES little toys and creates stories with them all of the time. She's very creative, imaginative and loving. She still loves to curl up and snuggle with us and lately she's been asking for "a hug and a kiss" out of the blue. I love how affectionate she is. Three days a week, she's home with Noah while Madelynn's in school and their relationship has grown so much. They play together so well and love each other so much. She's not quite as selfless with him as she used to be and now that he's older they're fighting a lot more, haha.
She loves to help me around the house and is finally starting to clean up after herself! She's also drawn to animals and animals seem to be drawn to her. We call her the animal whisperer. While Skillet will run from Madelynn or Noah, she lets Annabella pet and kiss her without flinching. The other cats and Dexter are the same way. She's very gentle and has a sweet, sweet spirit. We can all sense that. She talks about Jesus and asks questions about him all of the time. She's still in my Sunday school class at church and she's soaking in every last detail of our lesson each week.
Noah: 2 years, 3 months
This little boys is still a wild card! He is fast, loud, wild, silly, cuddly and such a joy. He loves pow-pows (pretend guns), pirate swords, all things pirate and dinosaur, and BATMAN! He calls Batman, Bat-guy and it's so cute. He plays with action figures, has a Batman baseball cap and several other trinkets that he carries around regularly. He has a great appetite, but he can be pretty picky at dinner. He loves going to church and gets along with other children seamlessly. He's a lot like Madelynn socially-he jumps right into the chaos. He LOVES his sisters and has recently started calling Madleynn "Maa" and still calls Annabella "Sissy". He watches Madelynn play soccer, so he runs up to every ball and yells "kick!" He talks SO much! He pretends to work on his cars with screwdrivers, he LOVES having his hair done and will get the pomade for me to style it, he loves to help and he loves to play outside.
Noah's rough, tough and fearless. Next year he'll be going to preschool twice a week to help get some of his energy out. :) He's a mama's boy, but man does he adore his daddy. He's very independent and has just started asking to go potty, so we're working on that right now. He is also sleeping in a toddler bed at night and rarely wakes up and comes downstairs. He's growing so much, so quickly, but it's so fun to watch!
I feel like this year has been the year with the most noticeable growth. The girls matured so much once they started school and Noah is gaining so much independence. Raising them is so much fun and it's such an honor to be able to watch them flourish. I'm so blessed to be their mommy.
