Meet the Herd...

This is Justiss when she was 7 years old. She's now 15, and would kill me if she knew I posted it. (Although she would be even more mad if I posted a current picture of her. Not that I have many...whenever a camera is in sight she ducks, runs, covers, turns, hides. Whatever it takes NOT to be in a picture.) But I just love this picture, and always have. She was 5 when Jon and I got married. She moved in with us last summer. I can honestly say that she has not given me one day of trouble. Not even an hour of trouble. She's definitely not your stereotypical "teenager". I mean, she loves to listen to music, and text, and sleep in...but she doesn't have a bratty bone in her body. She's very down to earth, and doesn't take herself too seriously. Everyone loves to be around her. She can make people laugh like nobody's business. :o) She's naturally very caring, and sympathetic towards everyone. She loves animals. Hates Ketchup. And what teenager do you know will notice if you are having a really crazy busy day, and do the dishes and clean up for you? She will. Unreal. She has been EXTREMELY patient with Jon and me as we've been trying to finish her room downstairs. Love ya Justiss!





Here's Cody. Code. Bugga. Bug. He'll be 9 in May. He was 8lbs. 3 oz. when he was born, 20 lbs. by 4 months, and 35 lbs. at 12 months. Never had a roll of fat on him. He is what we call a "BRICK" :o) He's a fun kid. Pretty mellow, goes with the flow. Extremely protective of his siblings. Likes to be silly and funny, which he is very good at. He's gotten strait A's since Kindergarten. His favorite thing in the world is to go out with Jon and me for dinner and a movie. He's a sports NUT. He's a natural athlete. Right now is basketball season. His team has only lost one game. Playoffs are only a week or so away. Jon is one of the coaches. And let me just say, Cody worships the ground Jon walks on. He basically copies everything he does. Cody also has a very tender heart. He gets extremely sad when he thinks of bad things that have happened to other people. He's a kid that is really fun to be around. I love it when he comes with me to the store, or we go to the library, just the two of us. Not just because it doesn't happen too often, but because I generally really enjoy his company. I like talking to him too. He's an all around neat kid. Love ya Code!





And here is Brenna. Bren. Miss Bren. Boo. Boo 2. She is 7 years old, going on 17... Now I know a lot of people say this about their young children. But I don't know if it could be truer for any other child. Brenna is one of a kind. She has no fear...except of failure. We are working on that though. She almost didn't run in the Turkey Trot at school (a race between all the girls in her grade at Thanksgiving time) because she was afraid she wouldn't win. (She creamed everyone, btw. She gets her speed from me. You know it's true Jon.) She is a very happy child. She was a good baby, and oh so smart. Started talking at 8 months, and didn't stop. She's one of those kids, that if you answer a question of hers on one day, then answer a different question another day...she'll say "Oh, ok. That makes total sense with what you told me the other day." She makes connections in her brain very easily. In fact, she does it a lot during the day. Cody was asking about daylight savings...not the easiest to explain. Brenna turns to him, and says (I didn't teach her this) "Just remember Spring Forward, Fall Back. We're approaching spring, so we set our clocks forward one hour." Cody also was asking what "PG" and "G" and "R" mean in reference to movie ratings. Brenna answered him before I had a chance to even open my mouth. She is also "very concerned with being a good person." That is a quote from her. She tells me all the time how it's more important to be a good person on the inside than to be beautiful on the outside. We talked about that one time, (thanks to a Dove commercial) and she decided there that she wanted to be beautiful on the inside. But let me tell you, she puts plenty of energy into trying to be beautiful on the outside too. She LOVES my make up and high heels. She'll get one of my knee length dresses and put it on, so it becomes a floor length dress for her. Then she gets a pair of my high heels, and walks around in them. Switching every few minutes to a new pair of heels. (she does a great job walking I must say!) She loves gymnastics, and is in level 3 currently. She's just a good kid, ya know? She has her little dramas, but all in all, nothing bad at all. She can kind of get lost in the shuffle with all of Cody's sports and friends, and Ella's dominating personality. But she's pretty good at communicating, so she manages well. Love ya Brennie boo!



And here we have the life of the party. Ella. Ella Bell. Feena. She'll be 5 in May. Ella has got to be the funnest little kid to be around. She makes me laugh and smile so much every day. She was my hardest baby by far, but it was worth it. I could listen to her talk for hours. The other day after I had helped her with about 10 things in a short period of time, she says to me "Mom, it sure must be hard to be the mom of a kid like me." She is the first to laugh, and has no problem laughing at herself. I get the feeling from her, even though she's only 4, that she's really happy with who she is ya know? She enjoys taking you through her whole thought process. "Well Mom, first I thought this...so I knew you would want this...so I thought I should do this...but then I thought that might make you sad, so I did this." She's very candid too. "I'm being a little shy right now, so I don't think I can talk to you." Or "Dad, you're eating like a cow." Or "Mom, your breath stinks." And what's cool is she can do it in a way that is really non-offensive. Maybe it'll be a little more offensive as she gets older, but it's really very endearing now. She is much more into having fun than anything else. She loves loves loves "Ella-Daddy Time" Just the 2 of them play games, or go to the store...I would have to say that she is really very much like Jon. Kindred spirits. Watching the two of them together makes my heart just melt. Love you Ella Bell!


And last but not least...Brady. Bubbers. Bubs. Brader-Taders. Taders. Braders. He'll be 3 in May. He was the sweetest, cuddliest, best baby in the world. He's 2 now, so of course he has his moments of tantrums and fits. But he really is just the sweetest kid. I've never seen a kid love to learn more than he does. He'll bring me a magna-doodle and say "Mom, teach me letters." (He likes it when I write them, and then he has to say what they are) Just as I've been writing this, he's been in here 3 times to ask me about different dinosaurs. He'll hold up one of his toy dinos and say "What does this one eat Mom?" He's obessessed with dinosaurs right now. Is it a meat eater or a plant eater? That is very important. Dinosaurs and trains. He's a happy camper with both of those... We were at the park the other night when the sun was setting, and the moon was visible. He asked me to tell him over and over and over how the sun went behind the mountains every night, and the moon comes up. Every morning since then he says, "The sun is back and it's morning time now!!!" He's in a Mommy phase right now, and wants ME for everything instead of Jon. Part of me loves it, but part of me is ready for him to be ok with Daddy getting him his drink. :o) He's just my little buddy, and the time I get one on one with him is absolutely precious to me. Love you Bub!