Happening now...

  We picked the kids up from Grammy and Grampy's yesterday after lunch.  They were so tired...I did my song and dance the whole way home so Joel wouldn't fall asleep.  We are now a full ride.  Going from 3 to 4 makes me feel like I have A LOT of kids.  When they all were with me on the hospital bed I thought, wow, there are a lot of kids going on right now!  :)

  

  After naps, all 6 of us were cuddled on the couch.  I looked over at Mike to find him with tears in his eyes.  He was overwhelmed with joy.  We have always wanted 4 kids and our dream has come true.  And here we all were for the first time, our complete family.  It was a sweet moment.  It made me think about all of the things in our family that are happening right now...

 

  Joel went from my baby to a big boy overnight.  He is just so big!  This past month he has been talking up a storm, copying whatever is said, and stringing multiple words together.  The best of all has been in the past couple weeks which is that he has been saying "I wuh you, Mama" or Hannah or Daddy or "Brudder."  It just makes my heart melt.  Now he is fascinated with "Bebe" (Ava) and always wants to know where she is, hold her, and wants to check in on her when she's "tying" (crying).  Lastly, we decided to move him in with the big kids.  There will be 3 children in one tiny room tonight, pray for us!  :)

 

  This sweet girl only has two more weeks left to go until she starts kindergarten.  I knew it was close, but didn't know it was THAT close until I looked at the calendar.  Time kind of slipped us by while we waited for Ava to come.  She is excited, I am excited, but that is my baby! *tear*  Again, please pray for us!  She has proven to be a wonderfully caring and helpful big sister once again and just loves "little sweetie" (Ava).  Only two more weeks to get her cast off, we can't wait for that either!

 

  This wittle boy is entering a new and exciting stage as well.  In 3 weeks he will be starting preschool.  He is my shy guy and I am interested to know how he will like being away from me consistently.  However, with his cool new backpack and seeing Hannah go to preschool for two years, I think he'll be ready.  He also is a big help with Ava, the most patient in waiting for his turn to hold her.  He is also very interested in how baby's come out of tummies, where the milk is coming from, etc. :)

 

Now that Ava's here, the boys do look a lot closer in age.  How sweet is this?

We've got a full house happening now.

Full of children.

Full of life.

Full of love.