Tate's 1st Painting

It is my challenge every night to keep Tate occupied while I prepare dinner. Usually the older kids help out with this, but they happened to be downstairs visiting grandma. I had been painting earlier and Tate keep asking me if he could paint too. Trying to quickly finish what I was doing I didn't take the time to let him paint as well. So as I was getting dinner on I let him paint. The stuff was still out and he needed to be distracted. He enjoyed himself very much. You could just see the pride on his face, he felt like such a big boy!

Girls!!!

When I was expecting Emma, I hoped for a little girl. I wanted Noelle to have a sister, something I never had and I wanted to dress them alike. I know for some of you this is a sickening thought, but I have had so much fun doing it, not to mention so super easy too. The era is coming to an end as Noelle is wanting her individuality and as much as I accept that I am sad to let it go. I took this picture on Sunday as this is probably going to be one of the last few times that it will happen, with these two anyways. She doesn't mind sometimes and doesn't notice others, but I can feel it ending. Emma doesn't mind at all, for now. Thank goodness I am having another little girl!

Too Few And Far Between

Bergen is a boy! Increasingly so everyday. The hugs and kisses and tender moments are fading away, as is natural, and being replaced with wrestling moves and surprise attacks. So when Darren and I saw a very brief moment of compassion expressed to his little brother, of course the first thing we did was run for the camera, trying not to let him know that we saw what he was doing, as any sense of being watched would have ended the display faster that it began. It is nice for a parent to know that somewhere under all that emerging testosterone there is still the ability to be caring towards others, as long as nobody is watching of course!