Things I love about my boys...

There's a million things I love about my boys - too many to count, list or remember, but this morning I'm thinking of some and I want to reflect. This is one of those moments where I'm thinking about their upcoming birthdays, wondering where the time has gone since each of them were born, thinking about the people they're becoming, about how quickly these days will be gone and how I need to soak it up now, how to remember it all, and that I'd better write some things down before I forget.

I love when they wake up in the morning and are so sweet, still dazed, and love to snuggle. Even when their breath is horrid, I love it. I love that two or three days ago Immanuel woke up in our bed, my back was turned to him, he leaned over me and gave me one open-mouth kiss after another until I'd gotten about 7 or 10, also in the morning grogginess, an almost delirious-like happiness he gets when he's not even fully awake and yet so adorable! This state also happens at night when he's really tired. I love when Isaac's tired how he rubs the front of his hair, which he calls "his curl." Or now that Isaiah's getting so big he now tells me when he's tired and had enough and is heading to bed. He was recently so proud that during his trip to Colorado with granny and grandpa he "almost slept around the clock! 11 hours and 50 minutes. And Isaac slept 5 minutes shy of that." And keeping it to the minute is SO Isaiah.

I love when they say hiarious things that make us laugh and wonder where in the world that came from - like when Isaac recently was so proud that he'd wiped his butt better, or when he dances like a clown, when Immanuel does this little smiling gring with crinkled nose and makes this breathing/snorting in and out noise with his air, or when Isaiah, yesterday in the car, says to me, "hey mom, a liar says what" super fast so that when I said, "what?" (knowing what he was trying to do) he giggles with excitement that he "got me" and then explained the "joke" to me - I then told me we used to do the same thing when I was his age. What fun it is to see them learning and doing the same things like this that we used to do - the hand clapping game, the so and so says what joke, and so on. I love how they clown about different things - although gross and inappropriate, in the privacy of our home it's funny - like Sunday as I was getting ready for church, ironing, I farted, then Isaiah came in to talk to me and wanted to know what was that horrible smell. I couldn't stop laughing and told him what had happened. Then I tried to kep talking to him to which he said, "if you want to talk can we at least come out here where it doesn't smell so horrible?!" LOL! I especially love when they laugh so hard that they can't control it - it's absolutely contagious - this happened just a couple days ago in the van - I don't know why they laughter started but it did with Isaiah and Isaac, they were beside themselves, which made me burst into laughter with them. I love that.

I love when they are so excited about new things, like last night when Isaiah's first ever tackle football practice was in jeapordy of being cancelled due to rain - you've never seen a 7-year-old checking the weather out the window more, or saying to his mom anymore times, "It looks like we'll be having practice now, the storms seem to be moving the other way." Or how Isaac and Immanuel are especially into music - Isaac loves to dance, sing, be-box, sway, tap, whatever, to any song, beat, commerical he hears with a tune.....and Immanuel seems to be similar, he's now moving his arms and jumping a bit when he hears music.

I love watching the excitment and pride in their faces when they're doing new things - again, Isaiah just beamed last night at football practice, his eyes twinkling, even when he fell or was tired from running so hard, you could just see the joy oozing from his soul - this is something he's wanted to do forever and now it's finally here and that was written all over his face, his body language, everything.

I love watching them sleep. Seeing the baby (Immanuel) with his arms folded over his face as he sleeps - how he kicks the blanket (every blanket) off him in his sleep, how he smiles in his sleep when the dreams are good or he sees angels dancing, how cute they are when they're sleeping together (sometimes Isaiah & Immanuel, sometimes Isaaac & Immanuel, sometimes Isaiah & Isaac, rarely all three) or on daddy, how peaceful all three of them are when asleep, to see their little faces, big beautiful lips so pouty and full, their chests going up and down, slight nasal sounds as they breath so deeply, almost snoring and sometimes actually snoring, bodies so limp and peaceful, to see them snuggled in the fetal postion in feety jammies, or snuggled up with their cherished blankets, pillows or lovies, to rub their foreheads, stroke their hair, give them silent kisses, smell their hair and necks as I kiss them, breathing them in as I stand over their beds and wonder how they've gotten so big and think to myself to capture this moment in my brain beause before long they'll all be grown and gone and I'll long for those crazy days when my boys were little and loved being with their mommy, loved giving me kisses and hugs, loved playing skip-bo with me or being rocked by me, or hearing stories I told of my childhood or memories of them being born and growing. I even love it when I wake them up to go potty and Isaiah jumps us in a robotic sleep and does what's asked without even realizing he's up and goes right back to sleep, how Isaac is impossible to get up and is so out of it you have to do everything for him or he'd pee on the wall with pants on and not know the difference, (as he once did over the railing to the landing below), how when poor Isaac has an accident and is upset by it sometimes he'll change his own clothes and get a towel for his bed and goes right back to sleep, others he's upset by his accident and I can hear him crying in his room. I hate for him to cry and yet I love that I hear his lonely cry and went to help my baby, kindly hugging him, telling him it's okay, dressing him in dry clothes and changing his bed for him, making him feel better and then tucking him in and kissing him as he drifts back to sleep, now dry and comfortable. I even love how Immanuel will sleep so long in on me or touching me but if I move he's up pretty quickly. It's nice that he's learning to sleep in his crib now but I'll also always cherish this first year of having him sleep with us and feeling his touch next to me, of waking to his smiling, drunk with sleep face in the morning, and even of seeing him asleep, eyes closed, but baby bird mouth searching for his "breast friend." How when they do wake up they sometimes have sweaty heads, especially the baby, clothes indentions on their faces, and the wildest bed-heads - Immanuel & Isaac's all over the place and Isaiah's smashed flat on one side and not the other. I also love how when they do have accidents (more when they were a little younger than now) they swear (especially Isaiah) that he's just sweaty. Or how Immanuel moves all over the place while asleep, rolling, sitting up, moving arms, head going side to side, looking to nurse, kicking blankets off, smiling, frowning, making little noises, you name it, he does it.

I love how excited they all get to see each other - especially days like yesterday when we were at the store and the two older boys had gone to the restroom, while Immanuel and I stood and waited. As they came out and were running down the aisle toward us Immanuel was so full of excitement he nearly jumped out of my arms, kicking his feet, flailing his arms, grinning from ear to ear, squeeling with joy as his big brothers approached and then diving out of my arms into Isaiah's to be with them. Then to see the three of them standing in front of all the TV's at the store watching Toy Story as I was printing pictures - just so happy together. You can tell that even at almost 1, he wants so badly to be big enough to go and play with them. Although they already do that alot - he loves for them to have him on the floor with them, tackling and rolling all over the place, this ball of three little energetic boys, that made granny nervous last week when we were on vacation at Table Rock. You'd swear the baby is going to be hurt (which he might be accidentally) or is being tortured, but then you see his face as the ball rolls in such a position to show him and he's loving it, smiling and laughing right along with his brothers. Boys will be boys. :) Maybe I'm a bad mom for letting them do some of that rough housing but I have to admit - they love it, and I love watching them love it and LIVE their life actively, not in a protective bubble. Yes, I'm safe, I'm proactive, and I will always take a stand for my boys (some they'll like and some they'll hate) in their best interests, but I want there to be a balance of safety, caution and carefulness, with fun, spontanaiety, and carefree moments of bliss!

I love how they help & encourage each other - yesterday Isaiah and Isaac worked so nicely together sharing their Taco Bell toys, and their food, and how they worked cooperatively to pass out birthday invitations at each how we drove to. How they love to help Immanuel with new things and how they take such delight in his new accomplishments and firsts - they've loved seeing him stand along, taking first steps, and they're sure he's said Isaiah and Isaac a few times. While he's not really, there have been two times when the noises and babbling he makes sure did sound just like Isaiah once and just like Isaac once. I also love how they can irritate and annoy each other and yet when one is awake and the other isn't they want to wake the sleeping one up to play because they're bored alone.

I love how they use their imaginations. About a week ago when we were getting ready to leave for vacation Isaiah and Isaac were playing with their remote control cars but without the remotes. They were pretending to be police men on patrol together. They drove here and there, pulling over offenders and taking them to jail, and then they'd get gas and on their lunch breaks went to two drive-ins, one was Bionic Burger, and orders burgers, fries, ice cream, etc., and I listen to them as I'm studying - Isaac says, "Isaiah, let's go to Bionic Burger!" Isaiah says, "Okay, you go and order for me, I'm going to the bathroom," "Okay, we'll have 2 burgers, two french fries, and two blueberry banana shakes," "Isaiah, do you want a shake?" "yeah, let's get two" "okay, make it two blueber banana shakes for both of us." Then they drove somewhere to eat and then went to another place to order another lunch!

I love how the baby loves getting in the dog's box. How he crawls over the wired entry with knees held strangely off the ground as he gets over it almost without touching. How he's now learned to open the door to the dog's box to get to the toys he's dropped in there. How he gets scared when the dog barks and crawls to me at super-fast speeds for safety. How he plays with everything he's not supposed to and has an uncanny ability to find the smallest thing on the floor to put in his mouth. How he adores his brothers and get so excited when he sees his daddy. How he "acknowledges" everyone with his arm up, hand turned out with palm up toward each person. How he loves ducks, balloons, and music and really digs swimming - kicking his feet like crazy in the water. How he loves drinking from real cups or our water bottles but wants nothing to do with sippy cups or bottles - much like his attitude toward real food vs. baby food and breastmilk vs. formula. How he's recently started kicking his feet and flailing his arms like crazy in the carseat, laughing and showing off for himself in his mirror and for his brothers if they're watching. How he sits in the high chair at the table and kicks the table getting super crunk, smacking the table and laughing. How you go crazy now when you see yogert sticks or ice cream - watch out! Somebody better have one for you!! I love how he's a baby monkey, hanging on me all the time. How he gives open-mouth kisses but doesn't hesitate to smack you in the face when he's over you and doesn't like what you're doing. I even love how he can have such a nasty, bratty attitude sometimes. Little stinker!

I love how Isaiah and Isaac love each other so, even when they don't realize it. They play together all the time - playstation or wii, imaginary games of soccer in the living room, police with their cars, games on my cell phone, coloring, watching movies, playing outside, etc., They're even now starting to tease each other about girls - Addie Wasson in particular. How Isaiah has gotten old enough now that he wouldn't dance with Lauren & Libby at Tyler's wedding 7/10/10 but Isaac loved cuttin a rug with his mama and granny and eventually danced a little with the girls. Isaiah barely danced at all but did with his mama a little - how sweet. I whispered in their ears about how one day this will be us dancing at their wedding and how that day is going to come too quickly for their mommy and how I'll always cherish these moments when they only want to dance with me. How they didn't want to spin under my arm but wanted to spin me under theirs. How they get on each others nerves but miss one another when they're apart. How Isaiah plays so beautifully with his legos independently. How Isaac says "dude!" all the time and Isaiah always says "eachudder" for each other.

Ahhhhh, I could go on and on and on. I love these three boys more than I could ever explain for more reasons than I could ever count. I just have to stop myself here because they're all awake, playing, and I need to go be with them, not just writing about them. In fact, as I've been typing this they were having "soccer try-outs," which I videotaped, during which time, the baby walked the most steps I've seen yet and I caught in on tape!!! After turning the camera off he walked 8 steps!!! I love my Isaiah Ibrahim! I love my Isaac Thomas! I love my Immanuel Kendrick! I love my boys!!!! This love is so unreal. Thank you God!