The Pacifier.

Philip has learned to comfort himself.  :-)

Dear Sarah,

Noelle and Philip

Get out the tissues.

Noelle and Natalie are thrilled with their baby brother, and are very protective and gentle with him.  They ask to hold him at every opportunity, and sink into despair when they cannot.  I can count on them to rock him or sing to him anytime he's fussy or when I need an extra pair of hands, and he knows their voices.  He will quiet down in the car when they sing to him.

Here is Noelle cuddling a sleepy Philip.

Last week, while we were cleaning the twins' bedrom, I found this piece of paper.  Needless to say, I have scanned it, laminated it, and will be keeping it for posterity.




Waaaahhhhh.

What A Nice Way To Wake Up

After my shower this morning, this is what was waiting for me downstairs.

Fresh coffee, flowers (for no special reason), and a love note.

My son, Brian, reminded me (unnecessarily) that I really do have the best husband.  Ever.  Period.

Awwwwww.

My cell phone camera stinks.  And of course I woke him up with the stupid shutter sound that I should have deactivated.  But aw, shucks, anyway!

Happy Father's Day, Hon.

Thank you, Lord, for the steady, hard-working husband and father with which we've been blessed.

Picture Parade: Never Too Old

Picture Parade: Big Brothers Are The Bomb

Picture Parade: Feeling Mighty Blessed

This was the scene I left behind as I crept out of bed this morning.  The baby has taken up permanent residence; the twins were early morning visitors.  

Although this can make for some mighty poor sleeping, this morning as I gaze upon them I am feeling very thankful.

Sweet.

Noelle is sweet.  There's no other word to describe her.

When I ask, "Who's going to help me clean __________ up?"  she is on her feet and helping before I finish talking.

Whenever she sees me looking her way, especially with a camera, she stops what she's doing and gives me a sweet smile, compared to some of the other hams in the family who stick out their tongues or make a crazy face.

Noelle - smiling.  Natalie - sticking tongue out. 

They all saw me taking a picture.  Guess who's the only one that smiled?

She's always the one to give in to Natalie whenever Natalie pitches a fit over who gets the red cup, who gets to sit next to mom, who gets to pick the story, etc.

The other morning, the three youngest were all in our bed after their nightly migration.   And for some reason, they weren't content to rest quietly - they all had to thrash and flop until they were mashed up against each other.  Natalie's head was hanging off the edge of the bed.  Regina was close to putting her fingers in Noelle's nose.  None of them were sleeping soundly, but every time I tried to separate them, they would, in their sleep, coalesce again into a fitful conglomeration.

L-R:  Regina, Noelle, Natalie.

Regina was especially fitful.  She kept scooching and throwing  her head around with a mighty flop.  Eventually the inevitable happened:  she scooched next to Noelle and brought her head down - smack! - right in the middle of Noelle's face.  Noelle instantly woke up crying, but the next thing she said melted my heart.

WAAAIIIIL - WAAAHHHH - and through her sobs:  "Regina! Are you okay?"

Bless her little heart.

And The Blogging Mama Made a Mad Dash For the Computer

Two twins, age 4 and 3/4, sit side by side, having a snack at the dining table.

The first one turns to the second twin and asks, "Are we still best friends?"

The second twin says, with a reassuring grin, "Of COURSE we are!"

Apples and peanut butter.  MmmMmmM.