Three Dogs and Easter

Starting on the 19th of March, we had Arkhon's brother here for a week. I was a bit worried about what it was going to be like having three dogs in the house, but it went much better than expected. The first day, Allopex was outside watching them play. He said that when Loki (Arkhon's brother) started to get rough with Siff, Arkhon would get between them. There was nothing aggressive about it, but he would just quietly tell his brother to back off.

 He sure is a good boy.

However, by the end of the first day, they were getting along really well. Loki enjoyed his time here, I think, though he did have a couple of accidents. The ironic thing is that he had more accidents than the puppy did. She seems to be completely house-trained. We've trained her to bark when she needs to go outside, and in the last week, she hasn't had a single accident. Instead she barks at the door and waits for us to open it.

Even though they were all really good, having three of them around did stress me out a little bit more than normal, so I was a bit relieved when Loki left after a week. It was nice to only have two dogs again. 

 We had a great Easter weekend. Somehow, the holiday came up on me unexpectedly. I wasn't nearly as prepared for it this year as much as I would have liked to have been. We're trying to start a tradition where we focus on Christ every day of Easter week and what happened that day during his final week. However, this year we weren't prepared, so we just did minimal celebrating. We tried to maintain a good focus on Christ nonetheless.

On Saturday, we did the local Bunny Chase (where they release some rabbits and the kids that catch them get to take them home) and Easter egg hunt. Kevin didn't catch a rabbit, which we were pretty grateful about since we're leaving on vacation soon and didn't want another brand new pet.

He was a little bit sad, but we weren't too upset. I tried again as well, but my feet have been injured recently, so I couldn't run as fast. 

Siff is doing so well! She gets along great with everyone and is so adorable that we attract a lot of attention when we take her out. It's a lot of fun!

Her main issue at the moment is, now that we've taught her to speak, we're teaching her to stop speaking when we ask her to. That's harder for her to learn. 

It was fun to have Loki for company, but I don't think we're ever going to have more than two dogs. +

He can come and stay anytime though. 

Family Home Evening Hilarity

Last night we were having Family Home Evening, and we were talking about Easter. We watched a short video about Palm Sunday and the last Supper. Then, I tried to tell Kevin about how Heavenly Father and Jesus loved us.

I said, "Heavenly Father and Jesus created the earth. They sent Kevin to earth..."

Kevin promptly interrupted me. "I'm not on earth," he told me adamantly.

"You're not?" I asked with amusement.

"No," he said, "earth has too much water. I don't want to walk on the earth. It's too blue! It's too watery! It's too...it's too...it's too water on the earth."

Grig and I started laughing, and he became a bit angry, "Don't laugh!" he told us.

"Sorry," I apologized. "So, Heavenly Father and Jesus sent Kevin to the ground..."

"No!" Kevin protested again. "I don't walk on the earth. To the grass. I walk in the grass."

At this, Grig and I tried to contain our mirth again, but he was just too cute!

So, evidently Heavenly Father and Jesus sent Kevin to the grass because the earth has too much water.

He recognizes pictures of the earth, but I don't think he quite understands that we're on it yet.

So this morning, I took him on a tour of google earth and showed him our home from the street view. Then we went to earth view and zoomed out until he could see the entire globe. Afterward, he said, "I DO live on the earth!"

I love our son. He's really at a fun (if sometimes frustrating) age right now.

Sometimes he's so sweet and helpful, and other times it's like he's progressed to being a teenager. He can be really moody and get angry in an instant. However, we're really beginning to learn what an incredible person Kevin is, and for that, I am very grateful. I wouldn't trade him for anything.

Not even more sleep.

Introducting Siff: The Norwegian Elhound Pup

A video I meant to upload on Saturday. Pictures of Siff are pretty cute, but they don't really compare to the real thing.

Kisses Are Gross

Sometimes when Kevin and I watch movies, and the people on the screen kiss, I'll say something like, "Ew, gross!" It's actually something I've done for years. Who knows why?

So, Kevin started mimicking that. I thought it was pretty funny, especially when sometimes Grig and I would kiss and he would say, "Gross!"

However, this started to worry Grig. A couple of nights ago, he tried to give Kevin a kiss, but Kevin told him it was gross. In sadness, Grig said, "I guess that's it. No more kissing my son."

So, I then explained to Kevin that when Mommy and Daddy kiss is it okay, and it is okay for parents to kiss their children because it shows they love them.

It took about twenty minutes after we had that little talk, and then Kevin said, "I want to give you a kiss." He gave me a kiss on the cheek, and then he wanted to give his daddy a kiss on the cheek. Then, because Havelock was there, he wanted to give Havelock a kiss on the cheek too.

He's a really sweet boy. That made Grig feel a lot better.

Kevin is quite intelligent. He understands some pretty complex things. That's why I also have to be careful what I say. Obviously, we don't want him going around kissing everyone, but we also don't want him to really think that kissing is gross.

After all, sometimes I like to kiss my son (and husband) too.

Daylight Savings and Primary

For my entire life, I've loved Daylight Savings in the fall, but hated it in the spring. In the fall, it meant we got to sleep in an extra hour, but in the spring it meant I had to wake up earlier.

Weirdly, for the first time ever, I'm enjoying it today.

Kevin usually wakes up about 7:00 a.m. or earlier. That means that if I don't get right to work, I don't have any time to write or blog. However, 7:00 is now 8:00. That means that if he gets up at the regular time today, I will have a whole extra hour to get things done.

Happiness!

That doesn't mean that I like getting up an hour earlier, but I am excited for the extra hour it gives me.

In the same way, I had a hard time in fall because even though I was supposed to get an extra hour of sleep, it didn't happen because my son kept getting up at the same time anyway.

This time the transition hasn't been so bad.

Yesterday, church was kind of exciting. Currently, I am the primary chorister, which means I teach the kids music. We have a junior primary (for kids ages 3-7) and a senior primary (for ages 8-11). Yesterday, the junior primary was pretty...crazy.

Usually, I don't have hard time engaging them, and it's pretty easy to teach them music. However, yesterday, it took nearly the whole time to get them singing, and if I was talking, I didn't get any attention at all. I was very grateful for the activity that I was inspired to plan.

I drew a thermometer on the board and told them that every time they sang better, we would go up a degree, and if they sang really well, we'd blow the top off of our thermometer. I had to teach them the song first though, and that was when they were not really listening. However, after we ran through it and started singing, they really began to do their best. Even my little sunbeams (the three-year-olds) were singing their hearts out.

My son is in that group, and I'm never sure what to do. I don't know what kind of parent-teacher I am yet. I don't know if I focus on him the most, or if I ignore him, or if I treat him like every other kid. It's a hard balance to find. I don't want to ignore him, but I don't want to give him special treatment either. So, I try and call on him occasionally.

I really love my son.

Oh! The other exciting event that happened at church was during senior primary. We were learning the song, and some of the kids started shouting, "Spider! Spider!" I looked, and a small spider was descending from the ceiling toward one of the teacher's hair. I quickly moved over, grabbed the web at a higher point, and took the dangling spider over by the trash can. I tried to calm down the excited children by telling them that it was a "good spider" and they didn't need to worry about it. They did calm down pretty quickly, and soon they were singing again.

I love primary.

The puppy is doing okay with daylight savings too. She doesn't know the difference really. Things are going well with her. She's super smart and is picking things up pretty quickly. She can already sit and she's learning to speak. Once she can bark on command, I'm going to teach her how to bark when she wants to go outside. Then, hopefully, potty training will go faster. She doesn't have very many accidents, but they do happen occasionally.

The thing we're struggling with now, is trying to help her bond to us more than she bonds to Arkhon. To that end, we've been trying to have time with the puppy when Arkhon is removed from the situation. It's kind of crazy how much better she listens when he's not around. However, we want her to listen when he is around too, so I'm going to be trying some new things this week. We'll see how they go.

I love my dogs.

Kevin really likes having two dogs. Friday, when he and I were out walking, he turned to me and said, "We have two dogs, Mom!" He was pretty excited about it.

I am too.

Arkhon the Big Brother

It's hard to believe Arkhon is only a year and a half old. It seems like we've had him so much longer.

Arkhon is a really well trained dog. He comes when he's called, he stays for long periods of time, he barks at strangers but quiets down when told, he's calm in the house, and he doesn't escape from the yard. Really, he has very few foibles.

He still gets excited when people ring our doorbell, but other than that, I have few complaints.

That's been one of the great things about having him as a role-model for the puppy. It's interesting to watch Siff and Arkhon together. Arkhon will do something, and Siff will cock her little head at him. You can see the gears in her mind working. He'll sniff something, so she'll sniff it. He'll bark at something, and she'll look really confused, as if she's thinking, "What's he up to now?"

Siff loves her new stuffed animal.

He's so gentle with her, usually. Sometimes he gets a little excited when they're outside and he jumps at her from the deck. He doesn't land on her, he just likes pouncing from the sky. However, when they're playing, he will roll on his back and let her chew on him. It's helped get out all of her puppy biting energy so that she's been really gentle with Kevin and the rest of us.

He also helped teach her to go up and down stairs. When she first came, she had trouble going down the deck to the backyard. He would encourage her by showing her over and over how to do it. After only a couple days she was going down on her own, and the next day she was coming back up. He was really excited for her, and accidentally knocked her back down a step in his enthusiasm. It didn't deter her though. She now climbs stairs like a pro.

Arkhon is, like a typical older brother, a little bit of a tease sometimes. He loves to grab her by her collar and pull her around or push her onto her back. She gets really mad about it, and with indignant puppy barks tries to get him back. He's practically laughing as he runs away.

It's been really fun to watch how happy the puppy has made him, and the rest of us. She's doted upon, but we still are giving Arkhon a lot of attention.

However, dynamics are still changing. Both Kevin and Arkhon seem to feel that they're not getting enough attention anymore. Even though I'm trying to give them plenty, Kevin and Arkhon have really been in my face the last few days. Even if Arkhon is being petted by someone else, if the puppy is getting attention, he wants to leave the person petting him and get in between the puppy and whomever she is playing with. We usually push him gently back or call him back to show him that this isn't okay. It's all right to take turns.

Kevin loves to pick Siff up. He loves to play with her and he loves it when she chases him around the house. However, he's been feeling neglected too, evidently. Sometimes, over the last few days, he's been unusually disobedient and spastic. He accidentally kicked the puppy in the jaw one time, and yesterday he jumped on my back when I was laying on the floor. That hurt.

He LOVES his new puppy.

My mother told me that every time you bring a new baby home, that the older siblings have to adjust to that, and it can take a while. Even though she isn't a human baby, we're having a similar experience.

Kevin and Arkhon love Siff, as does everyone else. She's sleeping from 10-5 a.m., which is usually when we're sleeping, so it's been working really well. I've been surprised that she isn't waking up more during the night. The trade-off is that she isn't really tired at 5 a.m., so she gets mad when we won't let her get up yet. However, she will eventually go back to sleep.

They love to play!

It's been a little stressful to have a new puppy, but it's been really great too. One of the hard things about having a new puppy, that I think a lot of people don't realize, is that for the first few months, you cannot take your mind off the puppy while she's out of the crate. That's why crate training is so nice. It's supposed to be a pleasant place for the puppy; a place where she can feel safe. Our puppy eats and sleeps in her kennel and she has things to chew on while she's in there. She very rarely whines (unless she needs to urinate or defecate) and she will walk in there on her own. When she is getting tired, but the other two want her to keep playing, I'll remove her and let her go sleep in her kennel. Arkhon and Kevin are learning to leave her alone when she is in there.

However, when she's free in the house, I have to be paying attention all the time. Our house is pretty puppy proof, and she's learning our boundaries, but she is also exploring the world. All it takes is one second and she's chewing on a power cord, or having an accident on the carpet. It is nice to have a backyard so she can go play with Arkhon without me being out there all the time. It's a really nice break where she can get out a lot of energy too.

The potty-training is going pretty well, though we average about one accident a day. That's alright, we were expecting that.

I wouldn't recommend getting a second dog if your first dog has behavior issues. Get the issues fixed first, and then get a second one. Don't expect the second dog to fix the problems.

When I was younger, we had a lab mix who liked to run away. She grew up on a farm, and so when she came to live with us, she just wanted to wander, and she was REALLY good at escaping. One of the reasons my parents let us get Dakota was because they thought it would help Meg to have a companion. In some ways it did, and Dakota was wonderful. However, Meg also taught her how to escape and run away.

Even when Dakota was 15 years old and could barely walk, she  would break out of our yard and stumble her way around to the front door. We would hear the sound of her panting through the front window. She also destroyed our wire fold-up crate the one time we put her in there (which is why we got another plastic crate for the puppy). I'm grateful that Arkhon didn't learn those bad habits.

Right now, the habits that Arkhon is teaching her are wonderful. When we whistle for him to come inside, he immediately comes running. So, Siff is also learning to come when we whistle. She is also learning to sit, and doing very well at it. She's an intelligent little pup.

It's been really fun to have a new creature in our lives. I think she likes being here too. She seems awfully happy.

Three Blessings

Yesterday might have been a really difficult day for me.

I once again found out that I wasn't pregnant, and the familiar pain began to descend upon me. However, I've been trying harder to accept God's will, and I had asked him that if I wasn't pregnant, that he would send me peace. He sent me more than that.

Some of my favorite pictures I've taken of Siff

The first blessing that we received is our new puppy on Saturday. It is so nice to have a baby around. Siff still sleeps most of the day, and is super cuddly when she's tired. She so adorable and soft. She's a lot of fun to play with. Everyone loves her and she's doing really well with potty training.

She's so cute!

Look at that widdle face!

The second blessing took a huge worry off my shoulders.

We've been planning a trip to visit Grig's parents, and our previous plans for who was going to watch our dogs fell through (through no fault of their own). I had been thinking and praying a lot about what we should do while we are gone. I had felt that things were going to work out, but I just didn't know how. Then, yesterday, my sister called and offered to take them. She lives in Idaho, so normally that wouldn't work out, except that my parents happen to be coming to visit the day before we leave. My mom agreed to take the dogs home with her so my sister could watch them.

It's nice to know they'll be in good hands. 

Best friends

This is a nice shot of Arkhon

That was a such a miracle for me, and I'm really grateful to my family for how wonderful they are.

The third blessing was a friend who called to ask me to watch her kids. It was nice to have so many things to take my mind off of my disappointment.

Between babysitting, Siff, Kevin, and Arkhon, I had plenty to keep me busy. It turned out to be a pretty nice, if not very productive, day.

Kevin LOVES to pick up his puppy. 

Arkhon was feeling neglected because he had to share attention. So he came and planted his head on top of mine. It was pretty funny.

I'm grateful that I received such great blessings yesterday. Heavenly Father is very kind to me and my family. I'm grateful for our new pup, and such wonderful friends and family.

Brand New Puppy!

Friday night, we drove down to Idaho and stayed with my parents.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to the puppy breeder and picked up our puppy!

My parents came with us, to see the puppy and take some pictures. As we walked into the house, she was sitting on the couch with a red bandanna around her neck. She looked absolutely adorable, and as Kevin entered, she became very excited.

We were the last family to pick up our puppy, and the other puppies had all been gone for a week. The breeders asked us if we had changed our mind, because they had gotten kind of attached to her, and informed us that, in their opinion, she was the very best of the female puppies.

That made us pretty happy, and we assured them that we hadn't changed our minds. The woman was especially sad to see her go, I think. She showed no shyness at all, and greeted Kevin with exuberant kisses. He immediately loved her.

She's a Norwegian elkhound. Grig's first dog was part Norwegian elkhound, and they later had a purebred one. We've been looking for one for a while, and are so grateful that we were able to find one. We really liked the breeders too. They seemed very responsible to us.

 My dad was kind and took the first three pictures (since in my excitement to rush in to see the puppy I had neglected to remove my camera from the car). We got the pup's vaccination record and some of its current brand of puppy food, and after visiting for a few minutes, left with our newest family member in tow.

She's adorable. She just turned eight weeks old.

Here's all of us!

Grig rode in the back with Kevin and the new puppy to help her stay in the box. We were worried she would be like Arkhon and get sick or nervous on the way home. She panted a bit, but after a few minutes, she laid down and went right to sleep. She slept most of the way home, and we only had to stop once to let her out for a restroom break. 

 We named her Siff. We'd been looking into Norwegian mythology, which naturally led us to Vikings and their gods. After looking through Norse female names, we found a couple we liked, but the name Sif (the wife of Thor) really stood out to us. We added an extra 'f' for personal reasons. I think it's super cute, and its seems to fit her. Allopex (Grig's brother) calls her our "Asgardian princess." It's nice to finally have another girl in the house again. We're still outnumbered, but at least I'm not alone anymore.

After a bit of a drive, we got home and I took her into the backyard to relieve herself. Then, we brought Arkhon out, who was a little bit overly energetic because he hadn't seen us in two days. Despite this, he and Siff got along great! Almost immediately, after she stopped being overwhelmed by his torpedo-like speed, they became the best of friends.

 Siff was a little stinky, so after we all played outside for a minute, we took her into the bathroom and gave her a bath. She wasn't a big fan, but she relaxed fairly quickly. She shivered after we took her out and we got her dry as quickly as possible.

 Arkhon is ecstatic. He loves having a new playmate. The stairs down from our deck were a little hard for her at first (expect some video of that), but Arkhon tried really hard to show her how. By the end of her second day, she was making it down the deck just fine. She still has trouble coming back up, but he's trying to help her with that too.

 This expression happened after I made my elephant imitation. She didn't run away, just cocked her head back and forth, trying to figure out what the noise was. She's not jumpy at all. She can be cautious, but she isn't frightened. She becomes curious instead. We really like that about her.

 She loves Arkhon. They play and play and play. Arkhon is super gentle with her. as long as he is aware she's around. He's occasionally knocked her over on accident, but she recovers quickly.

This is Kevin's favorite thing to do. He loves to pick her up. We have to limit it actually, because we want her to be able to walk around to. I think he loves feeling strong. She's very gentle with Kevin and very rarely bites him. I've always owned border collie crosses, and so it's nice to have a less-nippy puppy. She still explores with her mouth, but she doesn't want to bite his heels when she's chasing him. It fun to have a different set of instincts to work with.

So far, she's had a couple of accidents, but she's doing really well! Her crate training is going awesome, and last night, she only got up a couple of times.

We're pretty happy with her. She seems to be perfect for our family. We're trying to enjoy every moment her her puppy-hood, because with any luck, we won't have another puppy for the next 12-15+ years. We decided at the beginning of our marriage that two dogs was as many as we'd ever have. So, we're hoping Arkhon and Siff stay around for a long, long time.

Heeding My Father's Counsel

When I was in high school, it suddenly became very important to me to find my own identity. As one of ten children and two older siblings, I wanted to be different, and to be distinguished by my own actions.

I didn't go crazy rebellious or anything, I just ended up applying and being accepted into a different college.

However, before I attended, my father asked me to consider a BYU Travel Study program to Nauvoo, Illinois. The only problem was...my sister had gone the previous year. Mainly for that reason, I balked at the idea. I didn't want to follow in my sister's footsteps and it was very hard for me to want to go.

However, my dad pulled out his killer phrase. "Why don't you pray about it?" he asked. Oh, how I didn't want to do that!

Usually, when my dad would say that, I would already know what the answer was. However, if I prayed and asked, I would actually have to do the answer, and in my stubborn state, I wanted to refuse. However, for some reason, I never could say no when my father asked me to do that.

I prayed, and I ended up going to BYU-Nauvoo. It was among the best four months of my life. I had often been very lonely in high school. I had many friends, but I felt that I had no close ones. It was probably my own fault; the few really close friends I'd had from my childhood had moved away, and I felt that when you really let people in, they would leave. I really wanted the kind of friend that I could tell anything to and who always wanted to spend time with me (and who wouldn't leave).

I'm sure every child hungers for that kind of relationship. When I spoke to my mother about it, she told me the comforting words: "You may not get that kind of relationship until you're married."

It actually wasn't very comforting.

However, at BYU-Nauvoo, I found a group of friends who accepted all of me, even the strange, random bits, and loved them! I have never laughed so much in my life, and I don't think I had ever been as happy. It was my first college experience, and I loved it!

I was so grateful that I had heeded my father's counsel. I don't know if I ever told him that, but if not...

Thank you, Dad.

My dad's a pretty great guy. 

Then, a few years later, I was trying to make a major life decision. I was trying to decide whether I should take a full-time job offer and change to night school, or if I should keep working on my two part-time jobs and continue going to school full-time. I was nearly finished with my bachelor's degree, and I wasn't sure what to do.

As I spoke to my father about it, he again counseled me. "Why don't you pray about going on a mission?" he asked.

I was turning 21 in the next few months, and so I said, "Sure, why not? I'll throw that in there too."

As usual, it was my father's counsel that turned out to be the correct choice. I left school, with only a year left before I would have become a Veterinary Assistant, I went on a mission to San Antonio, Texas.

Again, it was one of the best decisions of my life. I made some very close friends, and I am so grateful for the things that I learned. While on the mission, I decided to switch majors to Elementary Education, and I was told to switch colleges by my Heavenly Father. I did so, and not only my life, but some of my close friends were affected positively by that decision.

I met Grig and was able to marry him for time and all eternity.

I don't know why I felt like I should share this today, except that I am so grateful for a righteous father who's counsel has been inspired. I think sometimes, that we forget that parents have our best interests in mind, and we fight tooth and nail to choose our own path.

However, when we heed the counsel of our earthly and Heavenly Father, we are truly blessed. I am still very close with the friends I made in Nauvoo and on the mission. I have often received counsel from my Heavenly Father that has been at odds with what I wanted to do, but as I bend my will and listen to Him, I am always happier and I experience blessings that I never would have thought possible.

Some people have to wait until they're married to find a best friend. I am so blessed that I have had several, and I am still close to them. We don't live next door, but no matter how much time passes, the relationship feels the same when I see them again.

I am now married to my very best friend, and I am so grateful for Grig. I am also learning to heed the counsel of my children's father, and he is very wise. We are picking up a new puppy in a couple of days, and a lot of that is due to inspiration that my husband received. I am so grateful that I was told to listen and to heed his inspiration as well. It's not always easy, but it is so worth it!

Kevin Update

I realized that I haven't given an update on Kevin recently.

He is now three years old. He speaks quite fluently, and sometimes amazes me with his vocabulary.

He is a baby bear that he calls "Baby." Baby is a very helpful bear. When Kevin doesn't want to go to sleep at night, we pretend to be Baby.

Baby will say, "Daddy, Daddy!"

Kevin will respond, "Yes, Baby?"

The bear (through us) will then say, "I'm tired Daddy. Please come put me to bed."

No matter how angry Kevin was or how much he didn't want to go to bed, he just can't say no to his little bear. Sometimes, he'll pause for a minute, and then he'll say, "Okay, Baby."

He'll climb into his bed and snuggle with his little bear. It's adorable.

Baby, the manipulator. :)

I just love this picture (though it is a little grainy because it was taken from a video)

The other day, Grig told him that Baby had originally been his. Grig had called it Frances, after the little Frances the badger books. When Grig told Kevin that, Kevin became concerned.

"Baby is yours?"

Quickly, Grig said, "He used to be mine, but I gave him to you."

Kevin thought about that for a moment, and then said, "Daddy, I love you."

He is the sweetest kid.

Yesterday, while we were cleaning out Oryx's (our snake's) cage, Grig and Kevin were talking, Grig was telling Kevin how snakes eat mice. Kevin then said, "WE eat mice!"

"No," Grig told him. "Snakes eat mice. Are you a snake?"

"No," Kevin said, "I'm a goose!"

He is a goose. Who knew?

The last couple of days, Kevin, Arkhon, and I have started walking again. The weather's warmed up quite a bit, and we've been enjoying ourselves. As we were walking yesterday, we ran into a pasture with a couple of horses in it. They came right up to the fence and let us feed them some of the new grass that was growing on our side.

At first, Kevin was a little nervous, but he soon wanted to try. As we came closer, Kevin said, "Horses are big!" Compared to our dog, they were huge. The larger, dark brown horse took the grass from his fingers, and Kevin became very excited. "He licked my fingers!" he exclaimed.

Arkhon wanted to come see the horses to. I carefully brought him up to the fence, and the horse was pretty cool about it. I think Arkhon was thinking the same thing Kevin was though. As the horse and our dog nearly touched noses to sniff each other, Arkhon lost his nerve and backed off a little. He didn't run away, but he wasn't sure he wanted his head so close to the huge creature's mouth. Later, as Arkhon was looking toward some distant, barking dogs, the horse tried to smell his back. The horse nearly touched him before Arkhon realized what it was doing, and then he moved away again.

Really, it went pretty well. Arkhon didn't bark at them, he was just a little nervous. The horses weren't scared of him, just curious. We're going to go by again. It's good for Arkhon to be around lots of different situations.

Kevin runs pretty fast. He still loves wearing his Superman clothes, but he will occasionally wear different things. Yesterday, his Superman shirt got wet (which he can't stand), and so he went to his room and put on a dinosaur shirt his grandma had recently given him. He was so proud when he came out to show me what he was  wearing, and that he had put it on himself. I guess I reacted well, because a few minutes later, he came out wearing shorts he had put on too.

We just love him.

Some days, he's grumpy, and if he doesn't get what he wants, he will throw fits. Usually, he'll run into his room and calm down, and then come back out.

He plays pretty well with other kids, and he loves it when friends come over. They occasionally fight over sharing, but that's pretty normal.

I've recently made him a job chart using Superman and animals. There are no words, only pictures, but he knows what each picture stands for. He can tell me which job is next, and he LOVES it. Once he completes a job, he gets to put a sticker on his chart. Sometimes I think he wishes there were more jobs.

The other day, he told me, "Superman always helps Mommy," as he helped me pick up toys in the living room.

Yesterday, when he didn't want to help me do something, I reminded him of what he'd said. Immediately, he stopped dallying around and helped me.

He loves having his uncles here, and loves it when they play with him. His Uncle Allopex is teaching him sword fighting, and his Uncle Havelock plays (gentle) punching games with him. Both of them help use up some of his awesome energy. He is always excited when they come home, and loves it when they have days off to spend with him.

He is completely potty-trained and hasn't had an accident in months. We no longer have to buy diapers, which is weird.

Kevin wants a little sibling, and he often prays for one. He is a great example to me of faith and acceptance though. He loves every moment of life, and he helps me be a much better person.

We are so grateful for our son. Our lives would be so empty without him.

He makes the best facial expressions too.