Our Guinea Pig is Four!

Sweet, sweet Penn...I don't want to believe he's four.  I distinctly remember telling Pack when we had just brought our baby home from the hospital that I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a four-year-old.  He seemed so still, good, quiet, and perfect, and I loved him so much more that I ever imagined I could.

Now that he's...I hate to say it...FOUR, I love him exponentially more than I did then, but I've learned that he is RARELY still, HARDLY EVER quiet, NOT-QUITE perfect, and sometimes...he's just the OPPOSITE of good...you know, like a regular human being (but, shhhhhh, don't tell anyone) ;-)  But I can't imagine him any other way.

So, this is what "four" looks like at our house:

 Yep, those sweet blue eyes that have won me over since day one.  We think they look like little teardrops when he smiles really big.  And he's got the cutest little eye dimples on the outside corners of each eye that also make an appearance when he flashes a genuine grin.  And that cute little nose!  Oh, and check out those sweet rosy cheeks...if you can kiss the skin off someone's face, his are well on their way to being worn out.  Man, I love that face!!!!

The kid is learning so much!  I know some of it is from the TV shows that we probably let him watch too much of, but he is forever naming dinosaurs that I never knew existed, telling us what pulleys are and finding them all over the place, explaining the difference between a chrysalis and and a coccoon (making his mom--the teacher--feel like an idiot), and learning millions of other new things each day.  Basically, he knows "a-wot" about stuff...

He loves his brother, Baba Jude.  I love when I come into the room unnoticed and see my big boy helping his brother.  Of course, he's not always helping him do something constructive (and I'm thinking of how he taught Jude to jump off the coffee table onto the couch).  He prays every night for God to help him "be thoughtful to his wittaw brover.  I don't always think he know what thoughtful means...like when he tries to coax Jude to sneak downstairs during naptime to see him get in trouble), but I know they are best friends...most of the time;-)

Oh man...he is such a GAMER!  Obviously, a trait he got from his dad and not his "I'm good at trivia" mom.  Penn could have named all the elements of the Periodic Table and his daddy would not have been prouder than the first time he typed in the web address for PBS Kids all by himself.  And not only is he good at computer games, but he's also better than me at all the games on my phone (that don't require reading), he's taken over my pink Nintendo DS as his own, and has mastered all the games on his Mobigo.  Just look at that face...he cheats, right?

He loves making friends, whether it's the 10 year-old kids in our neighborhood, the kids his age from church, or just the shoppers at at our garage sale.  He never meets a stranger.  And if someone refuses to wave back at him, he takes it as a personal insult.

Although he names his brother and cousins (ALL of them) as being his best friends, he also talks regularly about...GET THIS...his future WIFE (Sweet Samantha).  Yep...apparently the two of them have this all planned out.  They are going to get married, at which time, Penn says he will wear "a fancy shirt, a fancy jacket, and tap shoes (????)," and his betrothed will be clad in a beautiful princess dress.  After that, they will both be firefighters.  Sounds completely logical to me!

One of my favorite things about Penn is how much he loves his mommy and daddy.  We often wonder at what point he'll figure out that we don't really know what we're doing...we're kind of playing it all by ear.  Maybe he's humoring us, I don't know.  On thing I do know is that I simply melt when I walk out the bathroom with a robe on and a towel on my head and immediately hear, "Mommy, you're beautiful AND pretty.  And you smell good."  And I'm sure it doesn't hurt Pack's ego a bit when Penn says, "Daddy, YOU'RE COOL!"  It's so easy to love that boy (even though nothing else about parenting is easy).  I can't imagine what the Love of God must feel like!

 
So, whether I'm ready or not...he's four.  And although he barely fits in my lap anymore, he's my first baby and I'll always make room for him.  I hope he'll always know that we couldn't give him everything he ever wanted (and we wouldn't if we could...a boy's gotta have dreams, right?), but that we have prayed our hearts out for him!!!

 

Happy Birthday to our (not-so) Little Penn!

Lipstick Kisses

When I was young, my sister Karen and I used to wake up early in the morning before our mom went to work.  She'd make us breakfast and we'd fall back asleep until it was time to get ready for school.  While we were asleep, mom would sneak off to go to work, but not before planting a freshly lipsticked kiss on each of our faces.  We were, of course, careful to remove the lip stains off our faces before going to school, but it always made me feel good to know my mom didn't want us to think she had forgotten to tell us goodbye.

Now that I'm a parent, I realize that I will never be able to kiss my babies enough. I think, on the conservative side, I probably give them around 1000 kisses a day, each.  They never seem to mind, but they don't usually ask for it either (as if I'd give them a chance...).  And I'm noticing that I'm starting to have to fight for some of those kisses as they get older.

Lately, Penn  has not wanted to go to bed without "a snuggle."  Our deal is that if he and Jude lay down quietly for a few minutes without playing, knocking on the door, or turning the lights on, I'll come back in for a kiss and a snuggle.  Usually, they are both asleep by the time I get back in there.  So, reminded of my sweet mom, I started going back in and planting a set of fresh, pink lips on their foreheads or cheeks so I have proof that I actually kept my word.

I promised them candy if they sat still for me to take this picture:)  It almost worked.

I know that one day, lipstick kisses (from mom) won't seem so cool, but for now, I'll take 'em however I can get 'em!

A Gibson Girl!

Well, really she's a "Coker" girl.  Carmon Avery Coker.  But she's the first girl born in the Gibson family in...UMMMM...a long time.  And she's my niece:)

If you're a friend of ours on FB, you've probably seen this pic a ton already, but it's all I've got!

There is so much I love about living here in Virginia.  Our life here is generally slow-paced and quiet.  We never thought we would ever be living out of South Carolina, but we are, and we love it.  But today, I was reminded why our goal is to someday make it back to our family.  My twin sister Karen, gave birth to sweet Carmon (I haven't met her...I'm just ASSUMING she's sweet...She has good genes) at around 2:30 pm.  She was 8 lbs, 1 oz and 20 inches of pure girl with super cute arm rolls and a couple of sweet chins (sidenote:  I wish someone would describe me like that).  I wanted to be there so badly so I could do a great post of the labor lay by play just like Karen did for me when I had Jude.  (Okay, so I know it wasn't ALL about me, but I hadn't started blogging at that point, so it was all I had)  And she made me look like a pro. 

Anyway, I can't change that I wasn't there for her and she's probably glad I wasn't so she didn't have to make it get "all awkward" by having the nurses remove me from the delivery room because I want to see a live birth SO BADLY!  I'm pretty into pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding if you haven't noticed.  Oh yeah, and babies.  I'm perpetually baby crazy.

I digress.

So from what I hear, Karen had a smooth and thankfully uneventful labor and delivery.  This was a sharp contrast to her labor and delivery with Jac, which had lots of crazy twists and turns and involved magnesium, an uncomfortable "balloon," and a vaccuum...

Carmon came into the world just as a lady should...peaceful and uncomplicated.  And as my big sister Amy said, "We all needed some sugar and spice."

We really did.

Now Penn and Jude are baby crazy (yes, it was my two wild men who were fighting over  who got to "feed" the baby dolls at the coffee shop today) and it's only a matter of time before it rubs off on me (HA!).  I seriously can't wait to get home and hold, smell, and play dress-up with my new little niece.  She's a keeper, I can tell;)

Things I Dig

In response to my grump list...here are some "things I dig."

• Lists (obviously...)
• Babies (my twin sis is having one RIGHT NOW...there will be another post on this)
• Camping
• Window shopping
• My boys
• Having a husband who tours VA wineries when he travels on his off time.
• White Merlot (see above)
• Dessert
• Bubbles
• Reading 
• Trying new foods
• Seeing moms breastfeed in public (go ahead and roll your eyes, I'm cool with that)
• Ice (preferably from Jumpin' J's in Florence)
• Making my husband a meal that he requests to eat again (chicken spaghetti, baked eggrolls, Ramen casserole???)
• Making my kids a healthy meal that they will actually eat 
• Sappy, romantic, cheesy stuff
• Perfume, blush, and lip gloss (on a deserted island, this is what I'd miss)
• My parents, siblings, and in-laws
• Having a friend nearby to do free date night exchanges with
• The "rainbow" selection at the car wash
• Coffee someone else makes 
• Having a husband who is "not a natural," but gives it all he's got ;)
• Facebook
• Learning to make my own "stuff"
• Peace (the groovy, hippie kind) 
• Peace (that passes understanding)
• Having a Savior.  Enough said.