four words....

Passionate. Free-Spirit. Rambunctious. Hungry.

Four words that currently describe my four children. Can you guess who's who? Hint- they're in chronological order :)

My passionate one. Natalie Jane. Natalie is almost done with preschool? How can that be? She has loved it and has learned so much. Going into school, she knew her abc's and could count good enough but now she recognizes all of her letters, writes them all, and can express what sound each letter makes (except for her 's' still sounds like 'eth'!) She's learned about patterns, rhyming, days of the week, 8 memory verses, how to pour water from a pitcher, and SO much more. She really loves to learn and it has come very natural to her. We are so happy with the school. Preschool has really stepped it up... I know that I wasn't learning all of my letters when I went. I don't think that came until first grade. Lately, Natalie is all over Charlie. She reads him books, plays with him, changes his outfits, and changes his diapers. And he eats it up. She brushes his teeth before bed, something he doesn't ever let me help him with. Natalie is still our little actress. She seems to absorb all of this information about animals and then becomes one. So whether she's pounding her foot on the floor "like a rabbit does when it's in danger" or if she's pretending she's a cheetah- "the fastest animal in the world", she loves to pretend she's an animal. The other day, she told us that if she could be three animals she would pick a lion, a cheetah, and a bird. She had put a lot of thought into that one and I think those are great choices :) She is so playful and I hope she never loses that. Natalie is the queen of movie trivia! She is always quoting things from movies even if she's only seen them once. And the lines she chooses to repeat are so funny! Or she'll hum songs from movies and then we have to guess them. She's especially good at 'lulling' the Home Alone song performed by the choir. Natalie is so passionate. She tells me almost once a day that I'm "the best mom in my whole life" and she says it like she'll never be able to express it completely. Little does she know how in love with her I am!! And she is also in love with Jesus Christ and will sometimes tell me with such longing in her voice that she "can't wait to meet him". And what she'll do when she does. She is so full of questions about God. I hope she never outgrows that either. We are so in love with this little girl!

My free-spirit. Ruby Louise. Ruby is just hilarious. And she doesn't even try to be. She is so far gone in her own little world.... She's still all about her baby but baby has taken a backseat to fashion. The two have been competing for awhile now and Ruby is officially more interested in dress-up than in playing with her babies. Ruby spends about 20 minutes or so in the bathroom in the morning alone just wetting her hair down in certain areas and slowly brushing it out. Then she very strategically places bows and headbands and clips and even broaches into her hair. And then she ever so slightly turns her head to the side and smiles at herself. She'll turn to get off the step but then something causes her to turn around once more to smooth out one more piece of hair. Then she walks slowly into our presence, wherever that may be, and smiles at us like she's a bride on her wedding day. And we can't help but say, "Oh Ruby!" As she turns away from us, it's not unusual for us to see a bunch of clothes that she's piled onto herself, sticking out of the back of her 'gown'. And way too often, we catch a glimpse of a butt cheek because something is tucked into her underwear :) But she would tell you that she wants it that way! It's so cute and funny but I don't want to encourage her to just stare at herself in a mirror for an hour or two each day. Ruby is the queen... and she is the queen of making up random stories. We'll ask her why she did something and she'll say, "Wail" (that's how she says 'well'), big sigh, "I was just going to go shoppin' but I don't like the way my hair looks." It'll be so completely unrelated and make no sense. And boy does she have a mouth on her - which is old news! Ruby will be home one more year before she goes onto preschool. I think we need to work on manners. Although her Sunday School teachers say she does really well and listens. Ruby loves to pick on people and be picked on. And she tries to tell jokes but they're all about poop which gets old real fast! She is stong-willed but she has a heart of gold. We've had it where she tattles on Natalie but then pleads with us not to discipline her sister. She's a lover and a fighter! Ruby's got so much life in her, so much flair and we are so in love with her.

Rambunctious. That's you, Charlie Tyler. Kiddo, you are wearing me out! Charlie isn't dramatic like his sisters in the least but he is all-boy. He loves to wrestle, especially with Jordan. And his giggle is contagious! He's very curious. He wants to try everything out. He's got to hold it, bang with it, throw it. I'll pick up the house and it's like he's right behind me and undoing everything I've just done! He is just so active! Charlie would play outside all day long if I let him. But it is so hard for me to keep up with him and it's been cold lately. He plays good inside, too. He uses this cute, high-pitched play voice like his sisters. Charlie loves to eat and is always pulling me by the leg into the kitchen saying 'MO' for more. He's saying a lot more these days and everything he says is very exxagerated and loud! And he knows more sign language than the girls ever did. He really loves to use his hands... like his daddy, I guess! He knows how to use 2-3 words together and he can sign 'more milk please'. He goes in phases where he'll kiss us all the time and then he'll take a week off. And this week instead of kisses, he'll put his arm around my neck and pull it close to his head. For the entire second month of my pregnancy, I was so tired and Charlie would lay on the couch with me. That was huge. He hasn't cuddled with us since he's been able to crawl! Now he uses cuddling to get out of going to his own bed. Jordan and Charlie have a new nightly routine where they cuddle on the couch before he goes to bed. I love this little guy!

Hungry. That would be number 4. I am 12 weeks along now. I'm finally getting some of my energy back. I was sooo tired this time around and to be tired meant to be nauseated. But I only got sick a couple times. And by that I mean there was half a day where I couldn't keep anything down and a whole 10 hours where I couldn't eat. But it was better than having morning sickness every morning. And like I said, this baby has a huge appetite! It is kind of discouraging. I am hungry all the time. And I've never had such strong cravings. I wish I could eat pizza for every meal. I wanted to be really in shape for this pregnancy and to stay very active. But the combination of being exhausted and starving isn't getting me off to a great start! I had an ultrasound done at 9 weeks and was able to see the baby and hear the heartbeat. The baby already had 'limb buds' and was wiggling and rolling around. It was bigger than they expected so they bumped up my due date by 2 weeks! I'm due on November 7. We will be finding out the sex of the baby. We told the family about this new baby on Easter. Everyone was shocked and I was shocked that they were shocked. I felt decietful keeping the baby a secret for so long and I was so sure I had given something away! We told the kids a couple days before Easter. We thought they'd be soo excited but they hardly showed any expression! But Natalie enjoyed telling everyone on Easter. About the second we walked into the door at mom and dad Barkel, Natalie just blurted it out! It was perfect!! I can't wait to be able to feel the baby and learn more about it!