Months 3, 4, and almost 5!

FAIL! That is what blogging has been lately. I used to write when, 1) I was in the mood, 2) I had time, and 3) I had something to write about that I didn't want to forget. Well, these days the chances that all three of these happen at the same time (mainly #'s 1 and 2)  are not great! Plus, I feel like so much has happened that I haven't written about and am so far behind it's just hard to catch up. Plus, when I do start a post, which I have now a couple of times, I don't have time to finish it, and it gets ridiculously long. Anyway, I think doing lists would work better, like maybe a top ten, or something like that.

So, here is my Top 10 favorite things Hope and our family have been doing these last two months
(in no particular order)

1. Sister is finding her voice! She really hasn't talked at all, but lately we are hearing more words. Currently her favs seem to be "bye, daddy, mom, shoes, and dog." She says "bye" all the time, to people, cars, rooms we walk out of, toys she is done playing with, you get the idea. She loves to wave to Eli and Micah and Aaron when they leave for school and work, and she totally has the beauty pageant wave down.

2.She is pretty fearless, and gets around so well. When she first came home she had no idea how to do stairs, or really climb at all. But now, she gets around EVERYWHERE. There have been numerous times we have been upstairs getting dressed or ready for bed, and I walk into the boys room to find her on Micah's top bunk, having climbed his ladder to get there. She also loves parks, climbing to the top of the playgrounds and going down all the slides, no matter how tall.

3. She greets me with a smile in the morning. Such a sweet way to start the day, seeing her face light up and those dimples doing their job! :)

4. She loves to read books, and has just started pointing at things when you ask her where they are.

5. Isaac has finally accepted having a sister. :) I'm sort of kidding about that, but it really took 3 months for him to find his smile again, and actually seem to enjoy life. Such a major blessing when I see or hear the two of them playing and laughing together. Not that it's always happy and rosy, but I have seen a big change in his heart.

6. Sleeping has really improved. I'm probably jinxing it, but she has slept the last three nights all night! She takes a while to fall asleep at night, she jabbers and sings in her bed for an hour sometimes, which means she sleeps in longer than the boys. And she still doesn't like to rock. :(

7. Hope's laugh. I have been hearing this more and more lately! She usually gets the hiccups when she starts laughing, and if she laughs really hard it's this silent laugh which is so cute and hilarious. And her laugh is deeper than her normal voice.

8. Blowing kisses. This is seriously the cutest thing. She puts her hand over her mouth and kisses it over and over and over, but never moves it to blow them away. So you just see her putting her hand over her mouth and hear smooching sounds. :)

9. Eli and Micah just finished soccer, and their last day of school is tomorrow! Talk about an incredibly fast year, I cannot believe they are done with kindergarten. They have grown up a lot this year, Micah is talking about wanting more responsibility, and Eli has really grown as the peace maker in our family.

10. Isaac turns 4 tomorrow! So excited to celebrate him, and excited to see him so excited! :)

So much more to say, but mainly just feeling thankful for the many blessings in our lives. There is hardly a day that goes by that I am not struck by His work in bringing our family to this point. Together, and growing, all of us!