It is a b-e-a-utiful day! The sun in shining, sure it is still chilly, but that sun does wonders for the soul. I am in between morning shifts right now--my older kids, Morgan and Erryn, are off to Seminary by 5:30am...Jake is off to his bus by 6:30am...but Abby's bus doesn't come until 9am...and of course, Nick is too young for school, so he hangs with me. Anyway, so I am in the middle of my last morning shift--Abby doesn't want to get up this morning, but 3rd grade comes around only once in a lifetime, you know.
Nick's birthday is today--4 years old! I can't believe it. Oh, I understand the concept that they grow up sooooo fast...what I can't believe is that he is my baby, my youngest. Whoa. He is a character, let me tell you--one of his favorite phrases is "Are you kidding me?" Guess where he got that little gem of a quote...he is extremely tall for his age, as are all my children, go figure, and loves to joke and play. He recently discovered that jumbo lego blocks are for babies, and he found his older brothers' 'big kid' legos--he is in heaven. He loves hot wheels--he lines them up to count them, proud of the size of his collection, then shapes the cars into letters. Little does he know that he is actually doing homework. Yikes. It is strange with this child--I had my oldest 4 children very close together (Jason, my oldest child, was only 4 1/2 when Jake was born...that was 4 children in almost 4 years for all you math whizzes out there) so there was always a "group" of children at my feet, then at my knees, then at my waist, then at my shoulders, and now that group towers over me. Then I have Abby (5 years younger than Jake) and Nick (5 years younger than Abby)--alone in their respective age groups. I will freely admit that there are pros and cons to both ways of having children. I am fortunate to be able to experience both--as we are a VERY fertile couple of lovebirds--and as far as childbearing and rearing go, the good always outweighs the bad (said with a smile and the glimmer of a tear in my eye).