Girls . . .

I love having boys.  I  adore them.  I couldn't be more pleased with my wild ones.   That said there are two times I want a girl to add to the gang.   The first is when I walk through the little girls section of a store; the second is when attending Women's Conference and see all those adorable girls with their moms and want a little girl sitting by me.  Granted I can't imagine anything worse than having a teenage daughter especially if she's anywhere as indignant as I was.  But an eight year old--perhaps with curly red hair?  What could be sweeter?

At least I have some dang cute nieces!

waiting

Between Chloe's accident, vacation to Texas to see the fam, and Stephen's interview in Germany and other post-doc options our adrenaline got maxed out.   We've put the stakes of our tent in the camp of the unknown, and are now simply wallowing in feelings of ennui until we hear something a little more believable than that Spring is coming.   No, really I'm just struggling with the curse of being one with my generation and expecting instant knowledge while Life simply laughs mockingly at me and my petty demands.  

In between Life's laughs, I've been getting a few of my own. My children are something else.   Christian, despite his mother being an avid fan of Gandhi, sings battle cries nearly constantly.  This kid is obsessed with cheap two inch soldiers we bought he from the various American wars. (Granted the obsession started with soldiers his great grandparents got the boys sent a couple years back).  Simeon has absorbed the obsession and now they play for hours at a time with the afterthought plastic.  Christian begs for books with wars in them at the library and refuses to leave until we get them.  I started reading Harry Potter; he loved it and had me read the first four chapters the first night. However once I got the part about buy wizard items, Christian lost all interest.  He only wants to read about what is "real"  (I think Stephen as a child was known for saying that same thing.)  That said, he enjoys a fairy tale as much as the next kid. We're still trying to figure out what to do for kindergarten for Christian next year.  

Simeon has become even more affectionate these past couple weeks and insists we pray for Chloe in every prayer.  He loves to see pictures of her and I'm surprised at his compassion. Of course his prayers usually turn into wild screams, but we all have our own way to worship . . .  Speaking of which, the transition from Nursery to Sunbeams has been hard on this boy. He desperately wants to just play with the toys and there's something about everyone meeting all together at the beginning (alright, just junior primary) that is far too overwhelming.  Simeon enjoys the pictures in books and instead of listening to me read, will sometimes look at the other books and wait until I'm done reading to look at the original book.  He's stopped drawing on the walls, but has instead taken to drawing on himself whenever he happens upon a pen not properly put away.  He and Christian enjoy running around in their underwear, wrestling, making "creations", sailing boats, and have had their fair share of Curious George and Magic School Bus thanks to this unending Winter. 

They both had a delightful time in Texas, and Simeon really blossomed.  While Christian enjoyed the rules of other people's homes, Simeon had a harder time, but by the end was reminding Stephen and I about the rules.  

I use to say that Joshua thinks he's an oldest child with his waking so easily, being so picky, and wanting so much attention.  Now, he thinks he should be the only child as he tries to push Simeon out of my lap or steal the books I try to read to him.  He's been especially clingy since five months of going to bed with a bottle.  I know, I know, I was never going to make the bottle mistake again, but at least this time I curbed it earlier than I did with the last two. Now we have no bottles in our home, and we couldn't be happier (though we could use a little more sleep).