To ..... Ta-Da and Yes Sir & 3 -

I'm up by myself tonight eating a cold corn dog.
I have way too many pictures waiting to be pasted in here.
I'm in the heart of memory lane tonight.
I've traveled back in time.
And I'm all sappy.

Look at them.
Jack & Benny at 3 years old.

Hello little brother.

Chad Calvin turned 3.

- - -

We celebrated him on his birthday late after everyone was home again.
He lives the life of the 6th kid well.
He had tractors to unwrap & a cupcake to eat.

And we sang.
And he smiled.

He calls candles 'blowies'.
Which might be the darling-est thing ever.
He was pretty serious about his blowies & doing it all by himself.

- - -

Regan says when he is 4 he'll grow up to swing on the swings.
Big dreams :)

I love this kid.
He's sandwiched in between 2 babies that aren't here.
Yet he's the baby.

Living, breathing, very much alive kid number 6.
I'm so grateful for him.
That 6 kids in we aren't out to prove we have anything figured out.

That he can just be loved for who he is.
That we know ounces more that it's over so quickly.
That we're working ourselves out of a day job at a really fast pace.

That I'm not hurrying to rush to the next anything with him.
Still sleeping in a crib.
Check :)

He's got this darling way of saying "Ta-Da" over just about anything.
He learned from Ben to say "Yes Sir" when asked to do something - even, or mostly in response to me.
He says "Um hum" or "Yeah" at the end of most of his sentences & thoughts.
Like he's agreeing with himself.

I'm in love with his misuse of pronouns.
Him for he. She for her. We for us.
'him have him hat on, mom. um hum.'
'i see we car! yeah'
'why her crying'

I cannot bring myself to correct it.
#lifewithwe
Right :)

He loves tractors & match box cars.
Wrestling with his brothers.
Yogurt.
Hats, guns & baseball.
The corner of his blanket.
When his dad comes home.
Going to Grandmas.
He hooks his stick horse up to his dresser knobs.
He calls his high chair his car seat.

We asked him how old he was & it took quite a bit of concentration to work his little fingers the right way.
But he got it.
And the crowd in front of him made it well worth his effort.
He beamed.

- - -

Him & his little red bike are going a lot of places lately.
It was his idea that it be in the pictures.

- - -

Take a deep breath.
I couldn't pick between any of these.
Every one has a different expression of his.

Breathe again :)

- - -

He's kinda expressing his opinion on ditching the hat & field for the vest & orchard.
Enter little red bike & all is good again.

But he couldn't have blossoms on his tires.

- - -

- - -

I've moved on to dessert :)
And even went back & loved on him when he surprisingly started crying.
I would have sat & held him ... 'cause this far down the line I've learned how sweet it is, but he yawned, stopped crying & went back to bed.

Happy Birthday Chady.
Jesus love you.
More than you'll every know.