Oh how I love them!

This morning I have visited a few blogs that I love because I always get to read things about their kids. One of the bloggers is a mom of triplets! I love going to her blog. There is something so amazing about a Mom that can go to Target with three two year olds, then go to ChicFilA and live to tell about it! When I take my one and a half year old and three and half year old into Target or Wal Mart and especially the library, I spend a lot of time praying. "Lord, please let this be a good day. Please!!!!!" If you are a Mom, you KNOW how great you feel when you have made it home without having to threaten, bribe or negotiate. Seriously, Moms could negotiate any business deal! Better yet, send us to the White House, we know how to communicate and I love George W. so send me to talk to the media, I can do it and they will listen!

Now normally I don't like to use bribes, threaten to take all Thomas The Trains away or negotiate for a new Thomas The Train but sometimes a Mom has to do what a Mom has to do! I am sure I make plenty of parenting mistakes but I am always learning something new. Just yesterday as I locked myself in my bathroom, I began to pray out loud. It was a hard day with the kids. Sometimes I don't know if I am choosing the right punishment for the child. Sometimes I am unsure of my every move so prayer is KEY! "Lord, you have to help me. Some days I have no idea what I am doing. How do I teach them to share? How do I teach Josiah to not cry when he is frustrated? How do I get Ava Beth to quit grabbing Josiah's trains and then running across the house with them? Lord, please help me to nurture their relationship. I need your help. I can't do this alone."

We all have them. Bad days. They come but thankfully, they go! Then we have good days and they make you totally forget the bad ones. Isn't that amazing? If you would have asked me in the beginning of this pregnancy whether or not I was done, I would have said "YES, three is plenty! We are done!" The beginning of my pregnancy I was sick and sick all day, every day! Just a couple of days ago someone asked me, "Are y'all done? Are you considering four? You have always said you wanted four!" And much to my surprise I responded with, "I don't know. I would like to have four maybe." You see the morning sickness is gone. I am a few weeks into the second trimester and I feel great! That's what happens, we forget! The good outweighs the bad, ALWAYS. Now if someone asked me that question on the day of my first outing with THREE children, the answer would probably be different.

My point is, I love my children so much. I don't know what I would be without them. Just this morning I awoke to a little boy staring at me. He had gotten in our bed this morning along with Elmo and his "B" (blanket). Our first conversation this morning was all about Thomas The Tank Engine! In fact he speaks of Thomas so much that I am actually having dreams about The Island of Sodor! His best buddy, Jackson, comes over two days a week and they play with their trains for hours. Seriously, hours. As we snuggle in bed, Josiah looks in my eyes and says, "Mommy, your eyes are green and that's the same color as the drums at Trey's church." He's obsessed with the drums and guitar and he saw a green drum set at our friend's church. "Daddy's eyes are brown and my eyes are just like Daddy's. Sissy's eyes are blue, the same color as Thomas the Train." Last night at the movie store I let him rent a Thomas DVD, then at the grocery store I let him pick out a sucker. "What color do you want Josiah?" Why did I ask? I should have known. "Probably I want blue like Thomas!" He says probably all the time. Kind of funny! Josiah keeps this house full of entertainment. He loves to talk! Then again what three and a half year old doesn't?! When he was a newborn, it was hard to imagine this age. Josiah had to have an emergency surgery at two and a half weeks old, then he was colic until three months and he had acid reflux until nine months old! It was a rough time for a first time Mom! He's my first, he's still my baby and now he's my little buddy. It's kind of neat how I can carry on conversations with him now. He knows when I am sad, he knows when I am happy. He is my delight and I am so proud to be his Mom! Oh how I love him!

And then there is Ava Beth! Now this child is 100% totally different from her brother. She may be the baby, but she knows what she wants. She is not a follower, she is not a tag a long, she is the leader! She may be only one and a half years old but the girl has a thing for shoes like you have never seen. Since Mommy doesn't have any flat shoes, she has learned how to walk in heels, one time she walked in stilettos and she can walk in a wedge like nobody's business. I think she almost has as many purses as me and currently she only has one bracelet and one pair of earrings but she wears them so well. If I let her, she would change clothes all day long. She loves clothes! She even lets me fix her hair without a fight. This little girl wants to look good and wants the world to see it! I prayed for a girly girl and I got one. But she is the best kind of girly girl because she can throw a ball, kick a ball and play in the dirt with all the boys and never be intimidated. She may love her baby doll but she loves her brother's cars, trains and trucks too. This usually causes a problem! This is where the whole sharing thing comes in and me trying to explain to her that it's not nice to steal her brother's toy away and then run! One of the nice things about the second child is all that the good things they learn from their older sibling. We have always made Josiah say yes mam and no mam, yes sir and no sir. Ava Beth has started saying it too. Last week I was getting on to her in a playful way. "Ava Beth, don't give Daddy all my kisses. Do you understand?" I couldn't believe it but she said, "Ye mam." She is saying a lot of stuff but she is learning some of the most important. Like when we pray with our kids every night, we end each prayer, "In Jesus Name, Amen." Well now we don't have to say amen because she knows as soon as we say "In Jesus name" to say "AMEN!" I remember when Josiah did the same. These are the moments parents live for. It's rewarding to see when your work is paying off and when the kids really are "getting" it. My daughter has changed me in many ways. She has allowed me to be a little girl all over again. She's my baby for a few more months, she's my delight, she's my future shopping buddy, she's my feisty, spunky leader, she is something else!! Oh how I love her!

Now this post would not be complete without writing about this precious third baby that will arrive in January. In a few more weeks we find out if it's a boy or a girl and will begin calling the baby by name. I am starting to feel like I know what it is but either way, I am happy. This morning before I got out of bed, I spent some time praying for this baby. I am at that stage where in the morning, I have a big bump on one side of my stomach. I love that! I love how I can feel how the baby has shifted and is nestled in one comfy spot. Even though I can't feel kicks yet, I can totally sense this baby's movement. I was not able to do that with the first two, but this one has been totally different. I am already imagining holding this little one and seeing he or she for the first time. Josiah was born with blonde fuzz, almost bald head. AB was born with tons and tons of black hair but now it's blonde. Josiah looks exactly like Daddy while Ava Beth looks exactly like Mommy. Who will this little one look like? Josiah is a lot like his Daddy while Ava Beth is exactly like Mommy! So as I prayed over this baby this morning, I prayed for God to speak to this child even now. I prayed that God would whisper this precious one's destiny into my womb. I know that HE will. My baby, my third baby, will be here before I know it and everyday I fall more and more in love with he or she. Oh how I love this baby!

In a few minutes I am off for a date. That's right I have a date with someone other than my husband, my son. We are going to the Library, just the two of us. Then at noon we are all going to the water park in our city. This is the last week they are open and we want to go one last time as a family. Next Summer we will have three kids to take! Wow! I just wanted to share with you stories about my kids. They truly are the loves of my life and they make me so happy. I love being a stay at home mom. This is the best job ever! I am so thankful that the Lord has given me this life, for I am truly blessed beyond measure.