We are in the midst...

.... of the greatest stage we've experienced thus far as parents. Scott and I are so in love with these sweet, silly, smart, funny girls that God has entrusted us with that we just can't believe any two people could be so blessed! Over the last few weeks we've been amazed on hundreds of occasions by their new skills, new awareness, and the new relationships that they seem to be forming with each other and the world.

It feels like Ella has just grown up in an instant. She is now a full fledged pre-schooler and no longer a toddler. She has begun making attempts at writing words. Yesterday she had paper and pen and wrote POP without asking how to spell anything or write any letters. Today she wrote both POP and ELLA before asking how to write an M for Mom. I haven't tried to teach her how to write any letters yet because I wasn't quite sure she actually knew all the letters. That brings me to another Ella topic. She uses words like actually and initially and many others that are equally funny to hear coming out of a 3 year old's mouth all the time properly and in context. Recently the doctor asked her if I was the one who painted her toe nails, and she replied, "No, actually my Mimi did them. Aren't they cute?". We joked about how often she used the word actually for a few days.... if she said it once, she said it one million times , until I realized that I was actually the reason for her excessive use of the word actually. Thankfully, since I've tried to stop saying it quite so often, she has too! Our biggest challenge these days where Ella is concerned is in finding creative ways to utilize her "help". She loves to help with the babies, the cooking, (not so much with the cleaning, but she does do her chores), and anything else that is going on around the house. It is so nice to be able to harness some of her energy for good use, but I still find that we have to be sneaky creative about it most of the time.

Kate, our little fashion queen, is a fire ball. She is very laid back and still plays well by herself, but in an instant when things aren't going her way, boy do we hear about it! She can pull out the drama and tears... right out of nowhere. Just like my sister Kari always was, Kate is a water fountain on demand if it suits her. She has a serious shoe fetish and already loves to accessorize.... give her a necklace or bracelet and she is happy to wear it for hours. She loves to go in Ella's closet and come out wearing a pair of the "clipity clop" shoes. Even though she is completely capable of drama (in her time), for the most part, she is very happy and content. Sometimes I worry that I'm not giving her the full measure of my attention that the others are enjoying because she just doesn't demand as much as they all do. For that reason, I try to be especially mindful of giving her special time on her own with me.

A little known fact about Scott and I: the year before Ella was conceived we did lots of rock climbing. We took a class at a local college and spent many a weekend rock climbing all over the great outdoors. It was wonderful exercise and very challenging. Now, we spend all our energy trying to keep up with Maggie the Monkey. This child is really an amazing climber. She is apparently channeling her daddy's climbing skills these days. I've pulled her down from the book shelves, the walls, and just this afternoon literally the windows. She had one foot pressed against each edge and was using pressure to scoot up higher! Climbing furniture is like child's play to her now. On her more sensitive side, she loves to play baby. She brings blankets out to anyone who will spread them out for her so that she can wrap herself up and pretend to be a baby. She also likes to play with her baby dolls best of all the girls. She is happy if she has a baby in her arms to sing to, rock, and take care of.... bet she'll be a great mom one day.

Sarah has been our official "boo-boo" kisser for the last week or so. On Sunday at Nanny and Pop's I stubbed my toe when I was walking out to the car, and from the other side of the vehicle she came running at me bent over saying "kiss, kiss, mama, toe, kiss, kiss". She has tripped all over herself on several occasions just to be the first one on the scene with a kiss once someone has hurt themselves. She adores hugging and kissing her sisters... most of the time. However, on her flip side, she is the most aggressive child I've ever seen! Everything she does she does completely Gung-HO! That causes quite a few problems around here. She is a fit throwing, hand slapping, biting, raving spinning out of control child at times. Fortunately the fits are still more than balanced by the super sweet, caring side of her. She also loves to eat all things sweet.... hum, could be the sugar causing her rages?!? (Note to self to pay attention to that!)

I'm sure there are tons of other things that I'll remember when I hit the publish button, but I'll save them up for another day.