Want to know a little somethin' 'bout my kids?

I thought I would give you a glimpse into the precious treasures whom I refer to collectively as my chitlins:

 John Paul - 4 yrs 8 months - John Paul keeps my life together from playing quietly while I "rest" to letting my know when Jacob is running into the street to dressing himself. He is most definitely a words of affirmation kid (very much like Mommy). He is a good storyteller, he likes when life brings what is expected, and he enjoys meeting new friends (unless he's upset about something, then he doesn't like anything or anyone... very much like Mommy). His drama seems to be increasing with age, but he does a great job of "practicing"
 those behaviors that will make his life easier (i.e. taking a deep breath when he needs to calm down or asking politely for things). His blonde hair and blue eyes are still there. He does NOT like ANY injustice done to ANYONE, and will cry over said injustices if he feels someone needs to be helped. He will enter kindergarten in the fall taught by yours truly. Pray for him. He recently learned how to jump rope, to swing himself, and when he lays down with me, he suggests praying with me (and he leads). He is the one who will tell me things to put me on cloud 9, like at the end of the day when he says, "Mom, I'm so glad to be your son," followed by, "And you're glad to be my mom (bc I tell him that a bunch) and I'm awesome." Love this kid. He learned to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on his little keyboard by ear. I lose count of how many times a day he says, "Mom, I just love you."

 Therese Marie- 3 yrs 1 month- Where to start. Therese is the life of the party. She walks around the house singing her own songs, she like to make her barbies wrestle, she potty trained at age two (while we also potty trained JP), and she loves to read books multiple times in a row ("Mama, can we wead dith muh mor time?"). Quality time and physical touch speak the most to her, so God sends her to me when I need to slow down with my nesting and cleaning to be present to her and to the others. She is a snuggle queen, and will quickly escalate into hi-pitched, nearly inaudible requests if we don't temper it... you know I mean. She likes to predict what people will say in certain situations, for example, before arriving at my parent's house, she may say, "Mama, when we get to Gwanny and PawPawth (she is the only one who calls him this, as everyone else calls him Grandpa) heeth gonna thay, 'Hi Chereth, my little flower,' and I'm gonna scrath Gwannieth back and it-th gonna be tho nithe." She, too, will run to me from across a room to tell me that she loves me. For any other references as to her personality, please read the Story of a Soul - the autobiography of her namesake, St. Therese. She quotes Charlie Brown- so frequently will say, "Hey... wait a minute... that's it!" and "I can't believe it, I just can't believe it!" I am so in love with this precious little girl. And if you're worried about her being surrounded by all boys, don't worry about her. She is most certainly able to hold her own. I cannot wait to watch her with Micah. Her predictions about Micah's arrival is this: " I'm gonna thay, 'Hey Micah, come out' and heeths gonna thay, 'Ok, I'm coming, Chereth.'!" She leaves me all the cookies, brownies, and cakes I want and prefers candy candy candy!
She very much enjoys pushing her older brother's "go crazy" button, mostly by taking something a running away. Lastly, she refers to the movie credits as "crickets." We affectionately refer to "Beautiful" by Mercy Me as "The Therese Song...." which she frequently requests. She is very forgiving... after some time, of course. I pray she keeps her curls and her lisp as long as possible. But, as David says, if she could keep her nose-picking habit through high school, that would save us a lot of trouble in the dating scene.

Jacob Joseph- 17 month and some change- The name of the game is PASSION... and COMPASSION with Jacob. There is no guessing with him. If he's angry, he will throw something... anything... whatever is closest (one time the only available object was 1 little elbow macaroni noodle he found under the cabinet). He will hit if he's mad at you... and then will immediately kiss you in an apologetic manner. He loves to give you kisses and hugs, especially when he recognizes that you are sad or that some injustice was done to you. When the other two are sent to their room, he quickly runs after them to console them. He's only now becoming a little chatter box (probably because we stopped letting him have the pacifier constantly in his mouth because he used to scream like a pterodactyl), and says please (which actually comes out as "fooh"... not kidding) and a few other things from time to time. It's enough to get his needs across, but the head shake gives us all the information we need most of the time. If you want a snuggle man who will make you feel like the most fantastic person in the room, just find Jacob. He also sings Old McDonald, and likes you to give him lotion to eat while you change his diaper... because otherwise he turns on the pterodactyl scream and hits you... then quickly apologizes). He is such a fantastic asset to our family.

Micah Philip- T - 6 weeks- He enjoys kickball, soccer, spinning class, kickboxing, and yoga. [Your predictions here]

(And as for Agnes and Andrew, our two angels in Heaven , they are absolutely perfect in every way!)