3 Things

I love recording here all the things about our family and the kids. Some of our daily life, trip memories, holidays, and all the little things so I don't forget. We are at a really fun phase where all of the kids seem "big" but not TOO big, ya know? A quick little 3 things post about what we are up to. 

Jacoby

1. He still loves and wants to play every sport, but soccer is his very favorite right now. He has switched favorites from football to basketball to hockey and now to soccer.

2. He is a big reader. He loves books SO much! He reads all kinds--from graphic novels, Narnia, sports stats, to books of maps! I love this about him 💓

3. He's almost 9, which is halfway to 18. Say WHAT? He's definitely feeling like a big kid in a lot of ways. He is independent and sometimes I have to remind myself to let that grow! I love the conversations we have as he gets older....full of questions, debates, and learning about some "big ideas" in life & the world. 

Maddox

1. You couldn't find a kid who loves dogs more than Maddox. He pets every one he sees, talks about what kind and how many dogs he wants when he grows up, and plays with Benny every day. 

2. He loves all trading cards! I find piles of Pokemon cards & sports cards all over the place. Organizing them isn't easy but we are working on it. He reads about them, trades them, and takes them EVERYWHERE. 

3. He absolutely loves his teacher. He says she's really funny and I think she's just the perfect match for him! Also, she has a guinea pig in her class and Maddox couldn't love that more 😊

Kendry

1. He is thriving in Kindergarten. He's worn out but he has made friends, enjoys learning, and feels like a big kid going in with his brothers. 

2. When I go in to wake him up every morning, I rub his back and say "good morning" and he slowly smiles back at me and it quickly turns to laughter. It's the sweetest thing! I surely don't wake up with a smile on my face but I love that he does!

3. Kendry is my baking buddy! He told me he misses baking with me because he's at school all day. So I promised him some baking time. When he saw me starting to get things together for cookies, he said "Can I bake with you mom?" and it made my day. He pulled up a chair and helped me the whole time. I love being in the kitchen and I REALLY love having him in there with me. He says he wants to be a baker when he grows up. I asked him if he would bake for me and he said "well yeah...but I'll have lots of other people to bake for too. So just some" HAHAHAH. 

xox,

Naomi

3 Things

 When I look back at some of my favorite posts, I really love the "3 things" posts because it reminds me of what they were like at that time. It's been a minute since I've done it, so here we go!

Jacoby

1. This boy is all about sports. All day, every day. He debated between wanting to play in the NBA or NFL when he gets older, but now has settled on being an NHL hockey goalie. I love his big, ambitious goals :) 

2. He is still a big book lover. He reads chapter books & carries them just about anywhere we have to "wait' and often reads in the car. 

3. He got braces! Shortly after Thanksgiving he got them. He has done a great job with them. They instantly made him look like a big kid!

Maddox

1. Cards. He loves all trading cards. Basketball, football, pokemon, etc...he wants it all, looks at them all, and organizes them all in his binders! 

2. He loves to watch all sports like Jacoby but mainly has interest in playing soccer, basketball & football. He loves to play hockey in the driveway with his brothers though! 

3. He loves Benny....a lot. He's obsessed with dogs and wants another one. He is constantly playing with Benny, cuddling him, carrying him around, etc. He convinces Benny every night to snuggle with him for a few minutes before he falls asleep. Benny unfortunately won't sleep with him all night, but I'm hoping we can work up to that. It would Maddox's YEAR. He looks like Nate, but his love of all animals & dogs in particular he gets from me :) 

Kendry

1. Kendry loves to bake with me. Anytime I'm in the kitchen whipping something up, he asks to help, pulls up a chair & gets to work. I love having a buddy in the kitchen with me. 

2. He is having a great time in preschool. He's made his own little friends, is learning a lot, and is SO excited to go to Kindergarten next year with his brothers. He does a great job keeping up with them in many ways, and I have no doubt that him being at the same school will make him feel "big" like them. Even though he's promised to always be my baby. 

3. He's my buddy everywhere we go. I am truly soaking in these days where he's home with me. I can NOT believe that this fall he'll be in Kindergarten and I'll have no littles at home with me during the day. We are trying to do all the fun things from the mall, parks, the library & Chick fil A lunch dates! This time with him is really special to me. 

xox,

Naomi

3 Things

 I had a moment the other day... I realized how quickly my babies are growing. I can't believe our BABY will be 3 in May! It's wild. So I can look back & remember the special things about the boys at certain ages, I like to do a 3 things post every once in awhile... so today is that :) 

Jacoby

1. He is obsessed with dinosaurs. It's what he wants to read about, learn about, watch shows about...he asks his brothers to play dinosaurs where they all walk around stomping & making dino noises hahha...and almost all of his schoolwork ends up having some kind of dinosaur on it. I love that he is so passionate about it and I love that he knows dinos well enough that he can correct me on punctuation 😉

2. Basketball is his jam. He LOVES to play soccer, but his favorite sport to watch is basketball. He wakes up in the morning and while he eats breakfast, he watches highlight reels of previous Bulls games! It's so cute because it's something him & Nate can just really connect on. He loves talking basketball with his daddy. 

3. He's doing so well at school. I never had a doubt but even with all the weirdness of this year, he's flourished. I've seen him grow so much both academically and socially, and it's so fun to hear about his day & his friendships. It really makes him feel like a big boy. 

Maddox

1. Maddox is my cuddly boy. He often comes up to me and says "I just want to give you a hug mama". He also tells me almost every day "You're my sweetest mommy". Physical touch is his love language and it makes so much sense to me why his whole first year of life, he needed to nurse every 3 hours- and a bottle was not acceptable haha! He just loves to be close to people. If we are eating dinner in a booth at a restaurant, he will be as close as possible to you...and while sometimes I might just want my space while I eat...I also love it because he does it so unintentionally. It's like his body just does it naturally. It's who he is and I love that about him. 

2. He has learned so well to play with both Jacoby & Kendry. In the fall when Jacoby went off to kindergarten every day, Maddox had to learn how to play without Jacoby and just with Kendry. It's been so beautiful to watch M & K's friendship and see how they bond. They can fight like no other but they also love each other deeply and seeing the friendship past just brotherhood is so sweet. They're little scooter buddies riding around the driveway for hours!  I'm just so proud of Maddox...being the middle child isn't always easy :) 

3. He lovesssss superheroes. He thinks they're awesome and he loves to talk about all of their super powers...and often questions me about it and I have no idea hahah! I can't wait until he's old enough to watch all the fun superhero movies!

Kendry

1. My baby is getting so big. I can NOT believe he'll be 3 in May. He's truly the baby of the family, he gets spoiled & loved on, but also gets beat up on by his 2 older brothers. This kid though...he knows how to fight back :) He's sweet as pie until his brothers mess with him and then he takes what he's learned from his older brothers & fights back TOUGH. I honestly think the other 2 boys are scared of him just a little bit! 

2. He loves being outside. Almost every time we come home from anywhere, he asks if he can play outside or ride his scooter. Fresh air always does us good.. and I'll never tire of watching him on his scooter! He's SO good and he never gets tired of riding it! 

3. He is my best errand buddy. We have Mommy & Kendry days when the big 2 are in school and we usually run a lot of errands and he's SO easy to do it with! He happily talks to me and plays with whatever random toy he chooses to bring from home. He never complains and makes me laugh constantly. He generally makes the whole store laugh bc he cannot comprehend an inside voice hahaha but I just love having him as my errand buddy. 

xox,

Naomi

3 Things

In attempt to remember the little things about my boys...here I am with another 3 things post! 

Jacoby

1. Y'all..the hitting phase is HARD.  He continually challenges me in this and I've tried everything. Everything.  I know some day I'll look back and laugh that this is what the struggle was. I'm sure there will be bigger fish to fry.  But right now, it's our biggest challenge and I'm working so hard on helping him get past it.  I try to keep things light in these 3 things posts...but big challenges must be noted :) 

2. He embodies everything that is fun.  He is wild, silly, witty, and charming.  There is not a day that goes by that we don't have fun...because he knows how to have fun with everything he does. 

3. He loves to talk and he has this stutter that just makes everyone laugh because it's beyond cute.  You can tell he wants to say SO much and his brain is just going so much faster than his tongue can speak. He doesn't stutter all the time...but when he gets really excited or has a lot of story to say, then he does!  I never want to forget the way he made me laugh. This video is one of my favorites ever. 

Maddox

1. This sweet boy figured out how to sleep through the night all on his own.  We got back from vacation and I think he was just so excited that he ended up sleeping through the night one night.  I think it just "clicked" for him.  It's like he realized how much better it feels to sleep all night :) I couldn't be happier.  It was a long year, but we are finally sleeping!!!

2. He still isn't walking but will cruise furniture like no other and stands all by himself for a good 10 seconds.  Some day soon he'll walk :) 

3.  Maddox definitely is my more laid back and content baby...but the other day we were out to dinner and there was music on and he just started dancing.  Then he would laugh at himself, and then dance again.  It was the cutest thing and one of my favorite moments with him.  I love watching his personality develop and see his sense of humor erupt.

Happy Thursday friends!

xox,

Naomi

3 Things

Heyyyy Hump Day!!! 

This week is flying, anyone else??? Maybe it's the sunshine, the fact that I got some super cute new clothes, or the fact that both my boys are currently napping...or all of the above...but I'm diggin' today. 

Jacoby has been KILLING me lately with the things he says/does, so I decided another 3 Things series was due :)

Jacoby

1. His cousin Gio is his very best friend.  He adores him, talks about him every day, and Gio is the reason we successfully got Jacoby to go on the potty ;) We've been working on saying his name and he  normally says "Ja Toby"...which is adorable.  The other day I asked him what his name was and he said "Gio's best friend". The kid's got humor, right???

2. He continually amazes me with the way his language improves DAILY.  He speaks in full sentences and although lots of people don't understand him...I totally do. It's nice to have a full conversation throughout the day ;) One of my favorites that he says is "Goooooood MORNING Bubba! Mommy- put him down right HERE so I play with him".

3. He told me this morning while I was doing his hair "Mommy, hug me please!".  Heart.Melted. I tell ya...sour patch kid 100%.  He can be so strong-willed but the sweet and loving side of his is abundant. 

Maddox

1. He army crawls like it's his job.  He goes FAST...but still won't use his knees and crawl like a "normal" baby. But he gets to where he wants to go.  Unconventional? Yes. Effective? Yup :)

2. I'm weaning him (down to a nursing session at 7amish and then a feeding after his nap, around 4:30/5pm). He's not thrilled- hates taking breastmilk/formula from a bottle or sippy cup.  But we're getting there.

3. The closer he gets to 1 year old (about a month away), the quicker I see my baby leaving and a toddler growing...he claps, gives hi fives and kisses, and is all over the place. He totally smiles at me when I say no to something too.  If that's not signs of a toddler, what is--right??? 

Just had to drop in quickly and write these down, because mommy brain is real and I will never remember. These are the days and this is my covey. 

xox,

Naomi

3 Things

I am always trying to find a way to capture all the special parts of each stage my kids go through.  Some people are good at writing down the little things such as exactly when they started rolling over, when they said their first word, etc.  I'm horrible at these things, even though I do a monthly blog post for their entire first year.  

This blog is my way of just keeping up with our every day life (...I realized that sounds so Kardashian-like and we are SO.NOT...)

Sweet Andrea does a "3 Things" post every now and then and I think it's the perfect way to just document life at a certain time.  I want to remember the silly things they love, say, or do and if I can just capture 3 things every now and then, I think I'll have a good collection over the years.  It's a good way to capture the every day...yes? 

So here's 3 things...

Jacoby

1. You are super into trucks. You don't go anywhere without your hands full of trucks, my bag has a few for whenever there's an emergency, and there's a couple in the basket in our car.  The obsession is real.  When we drive, you just look out your window and tell me about every single truck you drive by.  You tell me if it's big/small, fast/slow, what color, and then you always ask where it's going.  My go-to response to this is "It's going to make a delivery..." because that works for MOST trucks (and trains).

2. You love books. Always have and I pray you always will.  I love reading to you, and find you often just looking at a book all by yourself. 

3. You'll forever be my sourpatch kid, and I mean that in the most loving way!  Here's my best example from the other day.  

You were putting up a fight when I was putting your shoes on.  You hid your shoe behind your back and when I calmly tried to get it, you grabbed it and then tried to push me away.  I was frustrated because you had just fought me to change your diaper too.  I asked you to please let me put your shoes on so we could go play trains at Barnes & Noble (which is a favorite thing of yours to do).  You yelled NO at me, and threw the shoe.  I put you in time out and loaded Maddox in the car while you screamed.  Then I put you in the car, asked you to please calm down because we were going to do something fun for you, and then got in my seat and buckled my seat belt. I looked back at you and you gave me the sweetest smile and said "I'm sorry for that mommy"......I said it's ok Jacoby, I love you.  See? You have such a sweet heart, you apologized without me even asking because you knew I was hurt and frustrated.  It's those glimpses of sweetness that remind me that you're getting it.  You're learning.  You have lots of sweet, tender moments and lots of love to give, but you love to test your limits too.  You're determined and strong-willed, and that combined with your sweetness is why I know you're going to do well in this life.

Maddox

1. You love mommy.  It's kind of an obsession and I'm okay with that because I'm obsessed with you too. 

2. Baths are your jam.  If you're fussy in the evenings, we put you in the bath and your spirits are lifted! If only baths could make everyone so happy :) 

3. People tell me often "he seems more laid back than Jacoby" often...and they also tell me "I thought Jacoby looked like Nate and then Maddox came along and it's like yea...he REALLY looks like Nate". :) So you're 2 for 2 in being like your daddy.

xox,

Naomi