Randomness!

Phone unload!!

Sent this to my 12 yr old niece who can braid her and my hair just like anything you can find on pinterest..she is kinda amazing! This is probably the only braid I'll ever be able to do on my own so I texted her a picture last week!

I thought this bow was fitting for this shirt;)

I told Charlie to get dressed one day so we could run to Target..this was what he chose! What cracked me up was when people would say to him "hey, you play soccer?". He would look at them like they were complete idiots and say "No, I play baseball"....that kid!













- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

These pictures are from a while back..they were taken the day I lost my phone..so it has taken me a while to find them again!!  The kids and I went to the park with Tylene and Grayson and Ty brought along her camera and got some great shots of the kids.  I love pictures that capture them doing normal things giving me their normal..sometimes sassy..expressions!

This kiddo loves his scooter and loves to take it out places..he thinks he is the stuff when he is riding it!

Could.eat.him.up
Um. he is beautiful....and kinda sweet too!!
 
Charlie looks so old and mature with his sleeves rolled up..he was working up a sweat this day!
I need to see this sweet face today.  I am really trying hard to figure out a way to parent Charlie in a way that leaves both of us happier at the end of the day....I'm tired of going to bed feeling like a crappy mom.  This kid..he rocks..he has the most amazing heart and he is SO funny.  He is thoughtful and loving..but for some reason..he doesn't like to show others this sweet side.  I feel like the rest of the world misses out on this awesome kid..because he doesn't always show people his sweet side.  I know I am not helping the situation..I know I get frustrated to easily and my expectations are to high. I often forget to treat him like a 4 yr old. I have dedicated this week to praying Col 3:21 with Charlie specifically in mind.."Parents, don't come down to hard on your children or you'll crush their spirits."I told Charlie that his verse this week to focus on is Col 3:20.."Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord.":)I also dedicated this week to getting up at 6am all week and having my quiet time before the kids get up..I'm hopeful this starts the day off better and sets the tone for the day!

This look so says "What are you looking at?"Um, your beautiful face sweet girl:)
I get this look a lot:)

This face is usually smiling while uttering "hold you"...um, Easton..your 32 pounds...mama cannot hold you all day..despite your constant urging:)
Stinker!

My buff athletic kid..or so that's what this picture would make you think!!

I love all three of these boys...they are all so sweet to each other!

Charlies many expressions just scream "BRADLEY"!!

Hello Chubby thing!
Harper Jane may give Easton a run for his money on the "happiest baby ever" award!
This look..this is what I'm praying about:)

family

the last of the family photos...finally, right!!  There were not any pictures that just amazed me and rocked my world..there is a 4 1/2 yr old a almost 2 yr old and a 3 month old...so I had low expectations!!  I loved the photographer and she got some great shots, but Easton would look good in this picture, Bradley in another and Charlie in another....Harper and I pretty much nailed it in every photo..I'm just saying...

I'm happy to have these pictures and I love that she did capture the faces and expressions that I see every day:)

Hands down most difficult person to photograph..my husband???  Am I alone here or do other people have this problem??  Braces come off at the end of this month and I fully expect some awesome smiles soon!!!

Charlie...love it!

okay, so maybe Harper did not nail all the pictures:) 

all my babies

Enough sweet and sappy post..these are some of my favorites of all my kids! I think I only got one of the three that I really loved, but these other ones make me smile..I love the ones that capture their "real" expressions!

I just LOVE this one!

this one is my favorite!

Charlie's face cracks me up here!!

mys sweet, sweet, sweet boys:)

harper jane way

these pictures were taken in late Febuary/early March.  The boys look the same a few months later, but I can really tell that Harper looks different!

Harper Jane...my girl, my daughter...my sweet baby! 

I always wanted 3 kiddos..for a brief little bit I wanted 4, but for most of my life I wanted 3 kids.  I loved being part of three growing up.  I loved having big brothers and I cannot ever remember a time where I wanted a sister.  I loved my brothers and was happy it was just us three.  I have had just a handful of friends my entire life who had sisters..most everyone I grew up with had brothers..so that's just what I knew. 

I knew I wanted 2 boys and a girl..same as what I came from, but the birth order was a bit different though!  I worried about the boys being close in age and sharing friends and never feeling like they had their own identity.  I worried about middle child..which I think is only valid if you have two of the same gender back to back:)  So, while I was worrying about Charlie and Easton and their birth order..Bradley tells me he always wanted our first 2 to be boys..he kinda wished he had a brother growing up and wanted that for our boys:)  Suddenly, it seemed like the greatest idea ever!  I pray everyday that they grow up to be best friends and love each other! 

When we got called about Harper I had convinced myself she was a boy.  We had about 2 weeks till we found out and I spent those two weeks planning for a boy..take home outfits, names and nursery ideas.  I wanted a girl so bad and was so fear full that I was not going to get what I wanted..for a lack of better words!  I spent those weeks praying that God would bless our family with the perfect fit for our family...I did not pray for gender or race, but rather whatever would be the best for Charlie, Easton and then Bradley and myself. 

I wanted a little girl for one main reason..no, it was not the bows:)  I love my mom..she is my best friend.  She is who I turn to when I need to vent, to share a great story, or to ask advice on my kids.  I cannot imagine a life without this awesome bond we have...and selfishly, I wanted that for myself and my daughter. 

I am thrilled that God saw fit for Harper to be the perfect addition to our family..there could not be a better fit!

Harper reminds me of Easton in so many ways.  They are half siblings, but they sure do share a lot of personality traits.  Harper has been my easiest baby by far.  She eats great and sleeps great and can tolerate tons of noise..which is a bonus in our house!  The only time this sweet girl fusses is when she is hungry...but "fusses" may be an understatement!!  This girl gets angry when she gets hungry..like super mad.  The minute she is done eating she smiles at you and is once again the happiest, sweetest thing!  She smiles at everyone and anyone and has made tons of friends with the older crowd since she is so smiley and happy:)  Seriously, no matter how frustrated I am..one look at her and she gives that HUGE gummy grin and I cannot help but smile back. 

Harper is eating 9oz 4 times a day and she gets cereal twice a day. She weighed #17 5 oz at her 6 month check up...witch is about 3-4lbs lighter then her brothers! I have just started thinking about food with her.  She is sooo ready to eat though!  She watches your mouth when you eat and opens hers, grabs plates and totally dives towards your food!  Heaven help me if I have another Easton on my hands!

I love to watch Harper react to her brothers and I love to watch them beam with pride when she responds to them..and she always gives them great reactions when they engage her.  I love that Charlie always ask to have Harper sleep in his bed with him "just for a minute" each day at nap time and bedtime....I love his face when I tell him yes:)  I love that Easton calls her "Barper" and it makes me a little sad when he occasionally gets her name right:(  I love that these three have each other and even though all their adoptions are different, I love that they have each other.  Because one day..in a really long time..I may not be as totally awesome to them as I am now... and it makes me glad that they all 3 have each other to lean on, vent to, complain to and talk to.  The minute we adopted Charlie is was important to me to have all me children be adopted..I never wanted anyone to feel less loved then someone else because of how they joined our family.  I'm happy that while all their stories are different, they are also so similar.

alright, the bows...are freaking awesome!!!! 

I love dressing this girl and I love shopping for this girl!!  I love to dress my boys, but after dressing 2 boys for a few years, I totally appreciate the fun change up that is dressing a girl.  I love picking out her clothes each night and grabbing matching "head gear"!  We stay home most days..and every day you will find Harper in a dress, romper or dressy something.  I'm not even sure why I have a drawer full of onesies..they never make it on her!  I love to dress her up and even if we never intend to leave the house you can almost always find her in a dress and bow!

I love Harper's rolls..she is my rolly-ist baby yet.  I keep waiting for rolls to be the new "in thing"....I'd be adorable..:)

Having Harper at home has been everything I always dreamed it would be(except in my original dreams you were mixed races and we had loads of fun with your hair) and I look forward to many years of having my girlie time with you and bonding with you. I also pray that you are so much better to me as a teenager then I was to my mom and dad...for reals, tween/teenage girls scare me...scare.the.crap.out.of.me.:)

Harper Jane..you are amazing.  You make me smile and I find I am just smitten with you..not more so then I was with your brothers..just in a different way.  Something about you sweet girl is just different..and it is exactly what I hoped and prayed it would be.  I love you Harper Jane..you are the perfect ending to our adoption journeys!

easton andrew way

Easton or East as I very often call him..even though I hate nick-names:)  This kid is a rock star.  He amazes me every day.  Every day I look at him and thank God that he is mine..he is that awesome!  Anyone who spends any time with this kid wants to steal him and take him home.  I don't blame them:)  He always has a smile on his face and he always shares that smile with others...especially older people.  Its almost like Easton scans a room and chooses the oldest person in the room and then makes it his mission to make those people love him!  I have had plenty of older people at church come up to me..and we have not usually spoke before..and tell me how "happy that little blond kid is"!!  I have also learned that while I thought we chose totally normal names for our kids...the name Easton throws the older crowd.  They are never quite sure what to say so he is often "the blond boy"

This sweet boy is still making our ECI caseworkers earn their money!  Every time I think were going to have a visit where they say he rocks and we can be done...they notice something that I have not notice as abnormal and they want someone else to come evaluate him.  The awesome thing..this kid is not aware of most of his physical limitations or imperfections.(unless we are at a park..kiddo stands out as the one kid shaking as he plays on a playground..apparently the parks with see-through-steps freak him out)

 ECI noticed he falls more then a kid should and I just attributed to the fact he has not been walking long.  The thing is..he can fall all day..which he does not..and he smiles and pops right back up.  I am not lying when I say he smiles ALL day!  He is almost 26 months old and I dare to say I still have not met the terrible twos yet.  I am fully aware they will still come, but they started with Charlie at 15 months..and it was terrible.  Other then beating on his brother this kids worst crime is an occasion scream when you tell him we have to leave somewhere.  Mind you, when he does scream..it just may rupture an eardrum, but its so infrequent that he acts up.  When he does...I look like a total idiot.  Since he almost never acts up, I'm not really sure just what to do when he does..parent.of.the.year.

Since Easton was born Daddy has had a lot on his plate and that means more time with mama..which served me well!  I have a mamas boy finally!!  Charlie has always been a Daddy's boy and Easton has always been a mamas boy..works well as long as Harper is happy to split her time equally with daddy and me:)  Now that Daddy has been able to be home more I find I'm having to fight to be favorite..so may I never complain at how tired I have been the past 2 1/2 years..I got a cuddly, snugly boy out of it!

Easton is my sensitive child.  He has been know to cry when Charlie is getting in trouble.  Just raising my voice at Charlie upsets Easton..maybe that's why disciplining him is easier then Charlie..I can still get away with "giving a look".  Charlie goes to school on Wed & Fri and on those two days Easton can sometimes wear me out with his whining and constant "hold me" and "lu-lie?" and "school?"  He misses Charlie terribly when he is gone.  Yesterday Charlie had school and then went to a friends house and did not get home till about 5:30.  From the time Easton woke up from his nap at 3:30 until Charlie walked in the door..I had to hold him.  Anytime during that 2 hours if I tried to somehow get my hands free he cried..and cried..and cried.  The minute Charlie walked in the door Easton perked up and didn't cry again.  I told Charlie how much Easton missed him and Charlie was so sweet to run to give Easton a hug.  Only Easton decided to smack him instead of hug him????:)

This kid is smart...like really smart.  I remember his speech therapist telling me one day "Amie, he is smart..really smart". Since he had always been behind I remember feeling unbelievable relief that a super educated person was telling me he was smart..not just that he wasn't going to be behind..but that he is smart.  Once I began to work with them to understand my child better..I realized how smart he is!  Easton leaves off the first part of most words while most kids leave off the last part of the word.  It makes him hard to understand what he says if your not in the moment with him to know what he is talking about.  He has a "100 pictures" picture book and he knows every picture and can tell you them all..but if your not looking at the book to see what he is pointing to..interpretation can be, um tricky!

Since its my blog and I can brag if I want to.. I will!  Easton knows all the letters of the alphabet.  Not in order..you can point to any letter and he can tell you what it is.  Super impressive part..he was self taught!  We have never figured out where he learned it, but I think it was from his car toy..a leap frog laptop.  You push the letters and it repeats it back to you. 

I had put Easton in bed with me one morning to cuddle and he looked up at the letters over my bed and says "B'.."A".  I kinda wide eyed stared that he knew them and then tested him out at breakfast and learned he knew all but F, K, and V.  I called my husband and both our moms and no one had taught him this??  This was about a month or two ago..he still wasn't putting two words together, but he knew the whole alphabet??  Just the other day while we were in the car I hear "F..E..D..E..X"..I looked back and we were sitting beside a FedEx truck:)

I mentioned this to the speech therapist and she started drawing out a few things like the Target logo and asked me if we shop there...um, do crackheads like crack..WE LOVE TARGET!  Right on cue, Easton says "Target" he also recognized Walmart and Chick-Fila.  She called it "pre-reading something"..I call him rainman....and crumb snatcher!

One more brag..the other day he grabbed the magnetic W letter on the fridge and said "W" and then flipped it upside down and said "M" and kept flipping and naming correctly..um, genius:)

Okay, I do sometimes call Easton crumb snatcher.  I cannot appropriately detail and describe the amount of food this child consumes daily.  He out eats me most every day. I still have my concerns over this being normal or not.  I often wonder if his early problems with MilkSoyProtienIntolerance didn't cause long lasting issues.  When he was a baby and before he was diagnosed Easton ate a large amount of formula for a baby of his age..and then an hour later he was screaming to eat again.  Once we learned that everything he ate went straight through him without being absorbed or was vomited back up, I understood why he was always hungry.  I just wonder if he has not kept that mentality of  "gotta eat and get full because you don't want to be miserably hungry" or if he just consumes so much food cause he is a big kid.....either way, he takes down a lot of fruits and veggies each day. 

 There are only a handful of things Easton wont eat..kiwi, celery, asparagus & cucumbers are all I can think of.  He is unofficially still milk protein intolerant so he avoids cheese and yogurt and drinks Almond milk instead of milk.  We will head back to the GI specialist this summer to get an official diagnosis and to make sure there is not something I need to be doing or not doing!

  I swore off Dr's for Easton for a few months...for about the first 20 months of his life there was always something that had us at some Dr's office...allergist, pedi dermatologist, regular pedi, ENT specialist..etc.  He needed a break and so did mama!!  Since we cleared up his severe yeast rash that took 2 months and 3 Dr's to fix..he has been pretty healthy!!  KNOCK ON WOOD!!

Easton Andrew Way, you are my favorite 2 yr old and I love how soft you make me.  I love how you cuddle me, love me and need me.  Being your mama makes me happier then Ill ever be able be able to put into words.  God made you perfect and the perfect fit for our family.  I love you and cannot wait to see who you grow into!