Hand-Picked Friends

Kristin and I have been talking about this new season with Cate and Luke in preschool now. Our routines have changed; it's strange not having them with us, but we know it's part of growing up. One thing that is neat is that our kids are choosing their own friends for the first time. All the friends they have up until now are our friends' kids. That works out pretty perfectly.

Now Luke comes home talking about friends at school and it's weird to me to not know their moms or anything about them. So we've got some playdates to work on that.

On the subject of friends, Luke and Norah got attached to a couple of my sister's friend's kids at Audrey's first birthday party. They still talk about these friends they played with at the party, Jordan and Jaylin. So this weekend when we were up at my mom's we got the kids together to play. I guess I'm amazed that they remember these friends and were so anxious to see them again. They played and were sad to have to part again.

Quirky Kids

I know I won't remember these little things if I don't write them down or scrapbook them or tell my friends so we can laugh about them in the years to come. Here are the latest antics from our house.

Norah has taken to wearing her pink Dora rubber gloves quite often. She got these from her Grandma Stacy last spring. They are gardening gloves. She ignored them for months and now wears them to bed and around the house. I think she is associating them with the purple gloves Willy Wonka wears on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The best part is, she wears them when we go potty sometimes and I don't have to wash her hands:)

Luke has been cracking me up lately when he uses a deep voice to speak for his toys, but especially when his toys talk to me. I will hear Luke call me Jaclyn and before I can say something about it I realize his toy is talking to me. I talk to all kinds of toys throughout the day - Batman, Optimus Prime, Iron Man. My favorite though was War Machine the other day. He accidentally took a swim in the toilet so I asked Luke to put him in the kitchen sink for me to clean. When I gave War Machine back to Luke, War Machine (in a deep voice) said, "Thank you Jaclyn for cleaning my circuits."

More antics to come...:)

What My Kids Teach Me

I haven't blogged in a long time, obviously. Yet my mind has been on overdrive. One thing I thought about quite some time ago was what my kids have taught me. After having trouble having Lluke, I wasn't sure we would have anymore. So I did the best I could to not have any regrets. Luke definitely taught me that it's ok to get dirty. Messes clean up. He loves to jump in puddles, adopt bugs as pets, dig in dirt, and play in mud. (Yet he freaks out if his hands are sticky after a popsicle:))

Now, Norah and I had a rough start. It wasn't entirely her fault. Circumstances at home were difficult, she didn't sleep very well at all, and I was a hormonal mess. Eventually, everything worked itself out. She is such a delight to me. God gave her to me to teach me to dance. I secretly would love to dance. To swing dance actually. But I have lived 32 years as inhibited and that is too hard to change apparently. But in the privacy of my home with my Pandora set on Abba, we dance away. She dances to ringtones, commercials, movies, and actually to nothing at all. She has a bounce in her normal everyday step.

It's natural for me to wonder what Caroline will teach us. I wonder what she will be like, knowing she will be herself and different from her brother and sister. No matter what, I know she will have much to teach me.

Good News

Bryan and I were excited about the ultrasound appointment on Tuesday. We'd decided originally that we'd be surprised like we were with Luke. That wasn't really that hard and it was so exciting. On the way home from our Omaha trip though, I told Bryan I was really on the fence about finding out and he said he was too:) So we decided that if the baby cooperated, we'd find out.

Everything looked good. The spine, the legs, the arms, the heart, etc. Then the technician started putting her computer arrows around another part and I said, "It's a girl?," being pretty sure about what I'd seen. She confirmed and we were so surprised. My gut feeling was that we were having a boy and apparently I'd convinced myself of that. Bryan too. We were so glad we found out! So, you're looking at Caroline Mae Tompkins. Her profile looks just like her brother and sister's did:)

I Remember...

Something Beth Moore said struck me as I was working on my bible study of Esther. She said that sometimes we need to actively remember the hard things we've been through, not just tuck them away under the "Already Taken Care Of" file. "Remember what God has done for you! Rehearse the story again." It made me think of this:

I remember...
nearly five years ago I found out I was pregnant.
I got my first speeding ticket driving to Nashville where Bryan was taking a class for work.
we spent the weekend at Mom and Dad's, excited about the news.
things started going wrong.
Dad came in to talk to me as I sat on the side of my bed heartbroken and crying.
I laid with my feet up at home and hoped things would turn out ok.
bloodwork showed bad news.
we spent the weekend in Paducah to get away.
the clinic called and said I needed an ultrasound.
the ultrasound showed the pregnancy was in a tube.
Dr. Hjerpe told me I needed surgery the next morning, despite the fact that Bryan was out of town.
I called Mom and her and dad drove to Murray that evening even though they had just been here for the weekend. And Nic and her friend followed shortly.
Dr. Green prayed with me before I went into surgery with Dr. Hjerpe.
Dad holding my hand and telling me what happened while Mom was picking up my pain medicine.
the dr. thought I would still be able to have a baby.

And here I am nearly five years later, sixteen weeks pregnant with baby #3. Unbelievable to me. No charts, taking temperatures, tests, timing of our own. Just a true surprise. Just a gift from the One who held my hand, dried my tears, listened to my sobs, and delighted in the story He was weaving in our family and our faith.

Birthday Girl

It's my birthmonth. Besides Christmas, my favorite time of the year. Spring is around the corner. It's almost flip flop season. Sweaters are put away and t-shirts I forgot I liked come out of storage. Daffodils pop up in the yard. All this makes me smile.

This year I was spoiled rotten by my friends and family. My calendar was filled with dinner dates (because I'm pregnant?). Don't know. Don't care:) I am just thankful that people thought of me! People making time to spend with me is a big part of my love language. I feel loved when people want to hang out with me. So when Nic, who is already coming twice for other spring events in Murray, came for my birthday weekend, I felt really loved. And when Aaron made time to stop packing before his big move to take us to dinner, I felt loved. And when Mom made my favorite foods for our visit, I felt loved. And when Kristin and Greg gave up a Sunday to let me beat them in Settlers twice:), I felt loved. And when Kim took me to lunch and for a pedicure on her Saturday morning, I felt loved. I know times are tight for people, and that makes it even more meaningful.

So today when the dr. asked me if birthdays were getting harder for me, I happily said "No." I am too spoiled to complain about being another year older:)

My Boy

Many things Luke does can be labeled as Jaclyn-esque or Bryan-esque. He hates change, needs to be made aware of our daily plans, and likes to know what's going on - those are Jaclyn-esque things. He pees outside, likes to play, seems fearless, loves to get dirty - those are Bryan-esque things.

He's started dressing himself, and yesterday put his shirt on backwards. I told him it needed to be turned around, and he informed me that "that's the way Murray State guys wear it." I'm guessing he noticed this at the basketball game we went to a few weeks ago. So I let him keep it that way. Why not?

Doing things backwards is a very Jaclyn-esque thing:)