Oh, George!

I love Ayden's imagination. He's always been a talker and is great at playing pretend. Yesterday, we were enjoying a little time together while Landon and Camden napped (yes, at the same time - crazy I know!). We were watching PBS and Curious George came on. Naturally, Ayden thought he needed to go and get his George so they could watch together. George is Ayden's buddy and a must-have at bedtime.

Here they are together.

As Ayden rounded the corner into his bedroom, he said, "Oh, George! Mama, just come here and look at this!" This is what we saw:
Needless to say, Ayden was appalled at what George had done to his room!! Who did this monkey think he was, messing up a clean bedroom like that?! I guess its a good thing Ayden is so forgiving. :)

Time to Wash The Sheets

Let me tell you about nap time today. Really, its very similar to this most days. Sometimes its easier to handle than other days, but still usually the same.

So I lay Camden and Landon down for naps. (they share a room)

I have to fight Camden a few times to stay in his crib, but he falls asleep.

20 minutes pass.

Landon, who has not gone to sleep, begins crying because he doesn't want to take a nap.

This wakes Camden.

I try to be a nice mommy. I try rocking them back to sleep.

Bad idea. Nobody wants to be rocked, everyone wants down, and nobody wants anyone else to touch them, resulting in whines and pushes and subtle kicks at the offending party's feet.

I make a decision. Its Wednesday, church day, and the two little ones need naps.

I put them both back in their beds.

The process starts over.

This time, Landon falls asleep.

Camden stays in his bed (thankfully) but doesn't go back to sleep.

As I fold clothes in the living room and can hear Camden talking (from his crib), I decide this is better than nothing.

Eventually (after over an hour), its becomes clear that Camden had his 20 min. power nap and IS NOT going back to sleep.

I make another decision....its time to let Camden up so at least Landon can have a good nap before church.

I quietly sneak into their room on the off chance Camden has fallen asleep in the last 30 seconds.

Nope. Wide awake. And...

...butt naked.

What?!

He took his diaper off.

Then peed on his sheets and blanket.

I guess he showed me...

Happy 5th Birthday, Ayden

Dear Ayden,
I cannot believe that you are five years old!! It seems like it was only a few days ago that we were bringing you home from the hospital. You are such a special little boy and I love you so very much! I hope that you have the most awesome day ever today!! You get to do something you've never done before - have a party at school!! You are so excited about your birthday. Since last year, you've learned the date of your birthday and we've been counting down. Some other things you have learned this year are how to write your name, your phone number and address, and how to count past 10 to 30. You played t-ball for the first time this year, too. You really liked it...as long as you were able to catch the ball every now and then. You looked so cute out in the field with your little helmet, bat, and uniform. You are also still a wonderful big brother to Landon and Camden. I think you get better at it every year. You are so protective and proud of them. If anyone ever stops to smile at any of you while we're out in public, you launch right into a 10 minute discussion! "....These are my brovers. This is Landon Ryan Ball, and this is Camden Isaiah Ball. They are good boys and I love them very much! And my name is Ayden Parker Ball! Its almost my birthday and I'll be 5! I used to live in Missouri, but now I live in Jacksonville, FL...." I think those passerby are always a little sorry they got you started. :) You love to cuddle and your love language is most definitely physical touch. Sometimes you will cuddle up on my lap and rub my cheek with your little hand. Other times, usually when we are driving down the road, you ask for me to hold your hand. You are so incredibly loving and affectionate. The other night we were at Luke's house and you were off playing with him and your other buddies while I visited with the ladies at the table. You came running up to the table out of nowhere and said, "I love you, mama." And then you went back to playing. You do that a lot with me and daddy and your brothers. You are soo smart, too! Your memory is still amazing and you can quote a movie after you've only watched it once. In school, you are learning all about the sounds letters make and you are very intrigued by those sounds and by asking me to spell words for you. You still love to play with small toys the best. Right now you like playing with the Incredibles toys you got for Christmas, cars, planes, trains, superhero action figures, and army men. But, you also use your imagination, too. You got big sticks of beef jerky for Christmas and the other day you had two of them and were using it like a bow and arrow. You like to sing in preschool choir at church, although I don't think you would admit it. You also love to go to your class at church and you can always tell me which teacher you'll have for each service: Ms. Jennae and Ms. Ticia for Sunday School, Mr. David and Ms. Kathy on Sunday nights, and Ms. Beth and Mr. Jim on Wed. nights. You are very good at remembering the Bible stories you learn in class or that we read in your Bible. You love for me to read the story of David and Goliath and anything about Jesus. You are intrigued by Jesus dying on the cross for us. I pray that very soon you will make your most important decision in life and ask Jesus to come and live in your heart and make you clean and white. I know right now you don't understand about living in heaven one day and you get a little scared by it. But one day soon, you will understand. When you were just a newborn and we had your dedication service, Pastor Chadd prayed that you would be a giant for Jesus. That is still my prayer. I want you to stay my little boy forever, but since I know you have to grow up, I can't wait to see who you will be or what you will do for the Lord. I pray that He would do exceedingly, abundantly more than I can ask or even imagine (Gal. 3:20) in your life and in the lives of your brothers. Now, as we start the journey towards birthday number six, remember that mama and daddy love you soooo much, but God loves you even more!!
I love you buddy,
Mama

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:27-28

Christmas Recap

We got to go back to Missouri for Christmas again this year. We were there for 10 glorious days, and we all enjoyed every second of it. We arrived the day my brother, Michael, graduated from college. We missed his graduation ceremony, but we made it in time for his party, which was our goal. We actually made really good time, making it in only 17 1/2 hours.

While in MO, we were able to see many of our family and friends that we miss so much. We visited my in laws' new lake house and I got to go wedding dress shopping with my baby sister, mom, sister, and the other bridesmaids. Ayden got to see his best friend in the whole wide world, one Mr. Levi, and their reunion cracked me up. They didn't run and hug like I did when seeing everyone the first time. They simply told each other hi and got busy playing. Their little friendship is so sweet and precious.

I enjoyed seeing the hills and bluffs of SWMO, the school where I taught and my teacher-friends who are so dear to me. It was nice to be able to call my soft drink of choice "pop" and not be teased and to be with people who don't think I have an accent or pronounce words funny. It felt good to be crowded into my grandparents' houses surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was nice to know that if I wanted to go to town with my mom, there were still other people to babysit for me. It was wonderful to live life for 10 days at a slower, more relaxed place...even though health scares and worries were on all of our minds. In a nutshell, it was so wonderfully fantastic to be...home.

Jacksonville is a special place to me. It even feels a lot more like home than it did last year. We are blessed to minister to students we love and have been given friends like we've never had before. We are thankful for the relationships we have here. We have no doubt that God called us to this city. We are excited about what the new year holds for the student ministry and our family. And this is our new, second home.

But it was good to go home...