Who They Are Now

It's 4:46 AM and Brinkley just woke me up to let me know that the bathroom light was off! They sleep with it on and some how we accidentally turned it off after they fell asleep--probably due to lack of sleep, from moments like this! Oh, the joys! I'm so in love with these 3 little people who absolutely consume my life! Here's a little peep into a day in each of their lives!

Brinkley Jada--3 years, 5 Months



We always knew she loved to dress up, but now it's to the extreme! Every morning she wakes me up and brings handfuls of clothing into our room that's she's dug out of her dresser! No rhyme or reason! None of it she'll even wear because when it comes down to getting dressed, she wants to wear a dress! I've finally come to terms with it and through relentless negotiations she now knows she has to wear a pair of leggings and a tank under every dress...BECAUSE within 30 minutes that dress is off and she's now playing dress up with her princess dresses OR she's decided a dress isn't a good option for playing in the dirt or jumping on the trampoline! Yet, every morning it's a dress she's so passionate about! She begs for oatmeal every morning and gets excited to see what flavor each day brings! We were out for a few days and I promised her I would buy some when I could. When we had it back in stock, I was making her a bowl and she put both hands up to her heart and said, "Mom, you got some for me, ahhhh thank you!" Then she signed "I love you" from across the kitchen! So sweet! And it's moments like that, that make the moments (far more common) of screaming and demanding, a little more bearable! She loves to sing and dance and will get everyone's attention so all eyes are on her before a performance! She makes up most of her songs and every once in a while you'll catch a familiar line to a church song! Her favorite song is "I Love to See the Temple!" And (especially when she's dressed in a princess dress and heels) she'll ask Braxton if he wants to go to the temple to give her a ring! (Because that's where mommy got hers!) She loves drawing with markers, playing with her babies and dirt! Her independence has not diminished, but I do believe she's getting better at understanding her boundaries and consequences to her actions! At night she loves putting on lotion after bath and knows exactly which pair of PJs she wants to wear. She loves praying (there's usually a fight with Brax over who gets to say our family prayer!) When the lights are out she loves to hear bible stories or stories about when she was in my tummy, she has a major fascination with my tummy during my pregnancy with her! She makes it hard to walk away from her at night, because she wants just one more kiss, but she's getting better and is always the first one asleep, she needs it too, because she leads one full day!

Braxton Reese--3 years, 5 months





Waking Braxton up in the morning is like waking a bear from hibernation--he's just not interested! He's still so tired from the hour of talking and re-positioning he did in his bed the night before after everyone else was asleep! He doesn't love going to sleep! But once he's up, he's by far the easiest to get ready in the morning and has really no opinion on what clothes or underwear I've chosen for him! THANK GOODNESS! on our way to breakfast he's usually side-tracked by a toy that catches his eye! So he's the toughest to get seated for breakfast! But once he's there, he's committed! He loves cold cereal and strawberries and is passionate about everyone sitting in their assigned seats, if Brinkley tries to sit in his seat--Armageddon breaks out! He loves to pray, but can't seem to be very quiet during anyone's prayer and LOVES to offer suggestions to the prayee of more things to add to their prayer! For example, if you try to pray that our family is happy and no one fights! Braxton will interrupt your prayer with, "...and no hitting or biting and we don't say bad words!" And he'll say it louder and louder until you repeat him!

Throughout the day Braxton spends his time riding his bikes, looking for lizards, shooting guns (he makes everything a gun!), and tormenting Brady! As sweet and loving as Braxton is, he just has a firm belief that everything Brady has is his! But on the same hand, those two are hilarious when they have their dress up clothes on (Braxton in a Spiderman outfit and Brady in a motocross outfit aka "his spiderman outfit") and they are running around the house together pretending to shoot webs from their wrists! TOO CUTE!

At school Braxton is Mr. Popularity! All the kids in the parking lot are saying hello to him as we walk in--he totally has a fan club! His teachers usually have good reports for me, but some days they say he was a handful! And don't I know it!

He gives the most push-back when we announce it's time for bath, because he knows that leads to bed! He begs for one more show, he loves Diego, The Backyardigans, and Busytown Mysteries! But once in the bath he loves it and is the last to get out! Putting him to bed is a cinch and he loves hearing bible stories and wants one more hug so he can squeeze you until you pop! It's just the falling asleep he's got the issues with!

Brady Cameron--23 Months





He usually wakes up just after Brinkley, but everyone once in a while I'll hear his sweet voice say something at like 6:30 AM and I'll just ignore it until it's a more descent hour! He's always so happy when I go in his room and without fail he'll hand me a blanket before he'll let me pick him up! He loves blankets! He's always eager to see the twins and the moment the three meet up, there's no escaping the chaos! He doesn't give too much care to getting dressed in the morning, if I can catch him! He's usually running around looking for something to play with and can't be bothered to get dressed! He loves to sit on the potty and will usually use it if prompted! He'd rather flush the toilet or splash in the water! GROSS! When the twins were his age, we just shut the bathroom doors so they couldn't get in there, but the twins use them now, so they are open for Brady's amusement! For breakfast he'll eat anything, totally not picky, in fact that's accurate for all meals, except for broccoli, he thinks it's no bueno!


He loves to spend his day playing and dodging Braxton and Brinkley! The poor kid has to defend himself a lot, he's learned to fight back, so the other kids don't get away with taking his toys as much, but they still try! He mostly loves basketball! He has two hoops in the backyard and he has "converted" his Highchair into a hoop as well! He plays forever and is pretty good! He loves applause when he makes shots! He has a pretty impressive throwing arm too! And he loves to throw anything ball he can get his hands on! He can throw it pretty straight and I've been popped in the face many times with a ball Brady's thrown--when there's a ball in his hand you have to be very aware!
He such a tough kid! He keeps up with the twins and I'm amazed at his fearlessness! He'll climb or jump or do whatever he has to when it's presented in his path!
He hates TV! He won't even be bothered to glance at it! I'm NOT saying we want him to be a couch potato, but a 20 minute TV break on an educational PBS show sure would be nice every once in a while!
He talks a ton and in full sentences! It's crazy how fast it all happened! We were wondering if he'd ever talk and then one day he said, "Mama, I want strawberries!" I was so proud! He still has some issues making a few sounds like "s" and "k," but we are so impressed to see the little communicator he's become! He's growing and thinning out, I miss his cubbyhole baby face, but I love the little Brady Guy he's becoming! We laugh because we're not sure his feet got the message to grow with the rest of him, he has the cutest little feet!
When his day is over he loves bathing! And he's quite the daredevil in the bathtub! He loves to lay down in the tub and put his head almost completely underwater, just so his nose and mouth are barely sticking out! Crazy guy! He's the easiest to get to bed! He hugs and loves on everyone and then sweetly says, "nigh-night!" We put him in his bed and he rarely makes a peep! He covers himself in blankets and snuggles down for the night--he's got a big, full day to rest up for!