Moses: 4 1/2 Years Old

 Dear Moses,

You're still head-over-heels in love with and obsessed with doggy. He is sooooooo disgusting. It's shameful that I even let you touch him to your face all day because his white fur has literally turned black. There a black streak across the top of his head where you like to rub your face. You cry and scream and beg when we tell you that we're going to wash him. A few months ago, we stuck him out of your grasp at night after you'd fallen asleep. We washed him, dried him, and put him back in your arms. We went to bed. A few hours later, around 2:00 a.m., we heard a blood-curdling "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I jumped out of bed and ran up to your room to see what was wrong. You had somehow sensed in your sleep that doggy smelled clean and it had literally woken you up. You were crying and yelling at me for washing him. You kept saying, "Now he smells GOOD!!!!" like it was the worst thing in the world. You haven't forgiven me for it and I haven't dared to wash doggy since then. 

I've been a little bit worried about how few letters you know. I don't know if you're just developmentally not ready to be learning them yet or what, but they're just not sticking in that little brain of yours! You're in your second year of preschool and you've also been doing Waterford Upstart every single day for the past 4 months and you still only know a handful of letters. I actually got a call from Upstart the other day saying that based on your test scores, you need extra help. They're moving you from the normal program into one called "Camp Consonant" where all you do is focus on learning the alphabet. Fingers crossed that it will help and that you can make some more progress soon!

One of the cutest things you've been saying lately is, "Mom! I've got a great idea!" about pretty much everything you want to do. I have to admit, all of your ideas are pretty great. Anytime we compliment you, you clamp your eyes shut and meow. I don't understand it. It's like you can't be serious about anything. Maybe it makes you uncomfortable? You do the same thing when strangers talk to you out in public. If they ask you your name or your favorite color or something like that, you won't answer their questions. You just meow. I don't understand it! I always have to answer for you and you come across pretty rude. I usually just explain to people that you're "shy," although I don't think that's actually the case. You just don't care enough to answer their questions.

You still won't play at other people's houses, even your close friends like Claire and Park. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind hosing your friends all the time, but sometimes the friends get tired of coming to our house and then you miss out on a playdate. You can't grasp the concept that your friends don't want to come here every. single. time. You'll whine and cry all day when I tell you that they don't want to come here but you can go to their house. It drives me nuts!

One funny little quirk about you is that you are obsessed with tape. You put tape all over the walls, carpet, counters, your bed, your clothes, your stuffed animals, the car, etc. There doesn't really seem to be a rhyme or reason to it. You just love to tape things! No matter how many times I tell you to not waste it, you do anyway. You're a strange little thing!

Even though you're totally capable, you refuse to say the family prayer. I think we've only gotten one out of you ever. I'm trying to not make a big deal out of it and just wait until you're ready. You used to not like going to primary either, but since your dad got called to be a primary teacher a few weeks ago, you haven't complained. Even though he's not your teacher, I think you like having him in the room with you.

I love watching you learn and grow and explore. You're such a doll and we have such a sweet little relationship. I am cherishing every single day with you!!!

Lots of Love,

Mama

Isaac: 7 Years Old

Dear Isaac, 

You are 7 years old today!!! You are the cutest little guy to have ever existed on planet earth. I'm sure of it. Everything you say and do kills me. You are always smiling and laughing and being silly. You live every single day to the fullest. I love watching it so much! Dad and I always talk about how earnest you are. You give 110% to everything you do. You play hard, laugh hard, and work hard. 

Your favorite things these days are art, soccer, legos, stuffed animals, swimming, and Minecraft. Whenever you're home, we can find you in your fuzzy blue bathrobe, even if it's 100° out. You sleep in your bathrobe in between two fuzzy blankets while snuggling a soft stuffed animal or two. It makes me claustrophobic just thinking about it! You love art of all kinds and love to hang all of your creations in your room on the walls around your bunkbed. Last time you counted, you had 55 pieces of art on your walls. It is so adorable! I don't know how we're ever going to switch you to a different bunk bed or different room because of all that art! It would take all day to move it all.

You love to laugh and will shriek hysterically when you really gets going. I love it, but the unfortunate thing is that your most hyper time of day is usually at bedtime. Instead of getting crabby when you're tired, you get louder and more hyper. When you're cackling like a crazy person, we know we've let you stay up too late! The only thing that will finally calm you down is to lie next to you in bed and tickle your back slowly until you fall asleep. Snuggle time at bedtime is so important to you. You won't fall asleep without it. And I love doing it. It's such a special time of day for us.

Sometimes it's hard to find time to spend with you because you're so busy. You never sit still. A lot of the time I don't even know where you are because you're off doing some project. You love to play with your friends and still have an awesome imagination. You're not too cool to play with stuffed animals or play imaginary games, thankfully. I love seeing some of the things you come up with.

Out of all of my kids, you're the one who loves to earn money the most. You're always asking me to make you a list of chores and then you'll focus and whip through them as fast as you can. You take after your mama and would much rather save your money than spend it. When you see something you want to buy, you'll take a few weeks to decide whether you REALLY want it. You almost always ultimately decide you'd rather save your money. You love watching the money in your account grow. I love this about you! It's such a good quality to have.

You're super athletic and are always moving. You've been taking ninja classes at a gymnastics studio and have been loving them. Not to brag, but you're clearly the best one in your class. You're super strong and coordinated. I hope you end up excelling at sports in your lifetime. I want to sign you up for all of them so that you can see which one is the best fit for you.

You're a good friend to everyone and can easily play with kids years older than you. You join right in when your brothers have friends over. It's not an issue for you at all. You're going on your 3rd year of being best friends with Harrison Lauder. You two play almost every single day! You say that you're not just friends but that you're brothers. It's adorable. You're such good friends to each other; always cheering each other on and rooting for the other. There's never any jealousy or fighting between you two.

You are adorable. One of my favorite things about you is that your hair and freckles match each other perfectly! 😍 Just like your big brothers, you've been slow at losing your teeth. I think you've only lost two of them. You don't seem to mind too much! I love how thick and strong your little body is. You can climb the rope in the garage all the way to the ceiling like it's the easiest thing in the world. It's amazing!

Isaac, you are a ray of sunshine in our family and it's a privilege to be your mom. I can't wait to witness all of the incredible things you'll do with your life! Keep being awesome!

Love,

Mom

7 Year Old Stats:

Weight: 58 lbs (80th percentile)

Height: 50 inches (80th percentile)

BMI: 70th percentile
 

Eli: 11 Years Old

Dear Eli,

I finally convinced you to let me give you a haircut so I could take your 11 yr old portrait. Oh boy, you've never needed a haircut so bad in your life. The past few months, you've only let me cut around your ears and in the back so that you could grow out the top. But then you'd never do it side-swept with gel like I asked, so it would just hang down onto your forehead. I'm so glad you're looking a little more groomed now!

You've seemed so mature to me lately and are starting to look like a teenager. It's freaking me out! I bet you only have a few more years before you pass me up in height. You're getting so tall and handsome. You've been acting more mature lately too, not just looking mature. You're fairly helpful when I ask you to do something and seem to understand adult humor more. You love being in the middle of conversations that I'm having with dad and always want to know exactly what we're talking about. If you don't understand something, you're sure to have us explain it to you. I like that you want to be in on the action.

You love Minecraft, science, legos, and drawing comics, but above all else, your true love is screen time. You would be on screens from sun up to sun down if I'd allow it. Screen time is the #1 source of contention in our house, particularly with you. You literally never turn it off when I ask, you sneak it when you think I'm not watching, and you're always begging for more, no matter how much I've already given you. In fact, you had a screaming fit a few nights ago about screens and ended up telling me you hated me, saying you wanted to kill yourself, and slamming your door when I sent you to your room. It's always drama, I tell you. I'm going to have to be really careful about how much screen time I give you as you get older because you seem to have an all-consuming obsession with them. You're already begging for a smart phone and I'm worried it's going to get even worse when you go to middle school in a few years.

You've started mentioning lately that you might want to be an engineer when you grow up. I think that would be an awesome career for you because you're so good at math. It seems to really click with you. I'm so excited to see what you end up doing and where you end up going to college. Right now you're saying that you want to go to BYU. You cheer for BYU, which makes my heart so happy. You don't like to watch sports but tell people you're a BYU fan when they ask. Dad has taken you and your brothers to a few Utah football games and Jazz games and you act bored out of your mind while you're there. You've played basketball the past few seasons but aren't very aggressive. Sometimes you step aside for the players on the other team to let them pass by you to get to their basket. It's pretty funny.

You love to laugh and love watching funny memes and videos on YouTube with dad. You have a routine with him where he crawls into your bed every night and you guys watch a few minutes of funny videos. It's so cute to hear you laugh together. You've been reading a ton lately and have been plowing through the Wings of Fire series. I think you've read 13 books in the series at this point.

You're really sensitive to what people think of you and get sooooooo embarrassed if I have any personality in front of your friends. I like messing with you sometimes by singing and dancing a little when they're around. You should see the daggers you can shoot out of your eyes at me when I do it. 🔪 I always tease you that I'm going to come to school and do something super embarrassing in front of your whole class. You part laugh and part beg me to not do it. You say, "Mom, you're not really going to do that, are you?!? Mom, promise me you won't do that!" Ha ha. I love it so much.

You love having your own room and have been hanging out in there more and more lately. Even though you're a big 11 year old, you can't go to sleep without snuggling with me and getting his back scratched and his arms tickled. You love snuggles! You're getting really excited to get out of primary and move up into Young Men's soon. You also can't wait to get the priesthood. You're very quiet about girls and even though I know you've had a crush or two, I can't get you to say a word about it. You're very private. Hopefully I'll be able to get you to open up a little more before too long.

You have such a good heart and are such a special kid. I am trying to soak up all the time I have left with you before you go off to college and on your mission. I love you so much!!!

Love forever and always,

Mom

11 Year Old Stats:

Height:58.2 in (75th percentile)

Weight:82 lbs (55th percentile)

Moses: 4 Years Old

 

Dear Moses,

 

You are 4 years old today! Wow, where has the time gone?! I can't believe that my baby is already four. That seems so old to me! You're definitely not a toddler anymore but are a full-fledged little boy! I am sad but I love watching you learn and grow. You're getting so smart. Your art skills are developing and I've noticed a big difference in your art the past few weeks. You're able to mostly stay within the lines when you're coloring and you've started drawing recognizable figures instead of just scribbles. We think you might be left-handed because you almost always use that hand to draw but maybe it's too early to tell. We'll see....

You are a creature of habit. You never deviate from your routines. Every day when your brothers go to school, you crawl into my bed and snuggle under a warm, heavy blanket and watch your favorite show, "Grizzly and the Lemmings." You ask me to bring you a snack plate with three separate items and a sippy cup of juice, even if you've just eaten breakfast. After your show, you take a leisurely bath in my bathtub while I get ready for the day. You have to have lots of toys in the water with you, of course. You watch a show again in the afternoon right when you get home from preschool until your brothers get home, usually only for about 10 minutes or so. You're so spoiled! I have a hard time not giving you everything you want because you're my baby!

I love having you around and spending my days with you, even though you ask questions nonstop. I'm so exhausted from your talking by the end of the day that I always tell your dad that it's his turn to answer you when he gets home from work. You have a curious little mind and think about the most random things. Yesterday, out of the blue, you asked me if spiders have ears. My google search history is always full of such funny searches, thanks to you.

You love to color, which I'm happy about, but you insist on coloring the same few coloring pages over and over. There are two different trains and one house that you like. This has been going on for 6 months. Whenever you tell me you want me to print you a coloring page, you ask for the same ones. No matter how hard I try to get you to color a dog, helicopter, dragon, etc, you won't do it. It drives me nuts! I wish you'd branch out a little. You do the same thing with TV shows. We have a plethora of shows for you to watch but you always insist on the same ones (Grizzly and the Lemmings, Booba, or trains going down the track on YouTube).

You love being tickled more than anything. Whenever your dad walks in the door from work, that's the first thing you ask him to do. He'll throw you on the floor of the family room and tickle away. You squeal with delight. Isaac almost always joins in the fun but sadly, Eli and Oliver are too cool for tickles now. I am going to be so sad when there's no one in the house who wants to be tickled anymore.

You refuse to go over to friend's houses. When they invite you, you cry and say no and insist they come here. Even friends that you know really well like Claire and Park. I want so badly for you to go sometimes so that I can have a break but you won't do it. The only time I can convince you is when I have a photo shoot during the day and I you realize that I can't leave you home alone.

You've been calling me "chubby mommy" and "chubby daddy" for months now. Lovely, right? I think this is your attempt to be funny. But just the other day, you changed it to "my angel mommy" and after you say it, you always give me a kiss right on my lips. It's my favorite thing ever. Definitely an improvement from "chubby mommy."

Moses, I love you so much! You are such a special boy. Spending my days is so much fun. I'm going to be so sad when you start preschool in the fall because I won't get as much time with you. But I'm also going to enjoy having a little alone time too. Ha ha!

 

Lots of love,

Mom

 

4 Year Old Stats:

Height: 41 in (70th percentile)

Weight: 37.8 lbs (55th percentile)

Oliver: 9 Years Old

 

Dear Oliver,

We've been going through a rough patch with you. 

You are such a joy to have in our home. You're confident, witty, sincere, quick to apologize, and funny. You are such a good brother and always include your little brothers in your play. You don't complain when they want to play with you and your friends.

You read nonstop. If we don't know where you are, we can always find you reading somewhere. You read in the morning before school, you read the second you walk in the door, you read while you're pooping, you read on the couch all weekend, and you read in bed before you fall asleep. I love it! For the past few years, you've refused to read anything but graphic novels but  the past few months, you've started reading chapter books. You've gotten really into the Wings of Fire series and are blowing through it at record-breaking speed.

You love to tell me the plots of your books and video games in great detail and will follow me around the house talking while I work. I'm talking for like 30-45 minutes. It is mind-numbingly boring. Ha ha. I try my hardest to focus on what you're saying but I find my mind wandering while you're talking. The problem is that when it's time for me to respond to what you're saying, I don't know if I should say, "Cool!" or "No way!" or "That's so funny?" If I say the wrong thing, you're like, "Mom, that's not funny! That's bad!" Oops. I'll keep trying my hardest, bud. I swear.

You are athletic and loved playing flag football in the fall. You got really into your games and always tried so hard even though you weren't the star of the team. You would always get really upset if your team lost and would take it personally. You also played basketball this year and had a lot of fun with that. You're not very aggressive and will usually let the players holding the ball pass right by you without trying to stop them. I've thought about putting you in private basketball lessons to help you get better, but they're really expensive. I'm just going to have your dad work with you more.

You have a great singing voice and aren't afraid to share it. You're my only kid who will sing in front of people. You were in the school play "Annie" in the spring and had so much fun. I'm hoping that you'll audition for a bigger role this coming spring. You always tell me that you want to do it again. You seem to really connect to music. Since we got a google home mini, you'll tell it to play songs and you'll sing along at the top of your lungs. I love it so much.

You do this funny thing where you like to "air your grievances" as your dad and I like to call it. If you get in a bad mood, you'll not only complain about the issue at hand but then you'll go off and start complaining about things that literally happened years ago. Someone hurting your feelings or things you felt were unfair are common complaints. You'll talk in great detail about why you're still mad about it. It's pretty funny. We're trying to help you focus on the positive and let go of things that don't matter.

You can be pretty violent with your brothers. You frequently smack them, kick them, pinch them, or pull their hair if they do something you don't like. I'm really trying to work on it with you. Physical violence is completely unacceptable and we always give you big consequences for it. But so far, you're still really struggling with controlling yourself in the moment when you're mad.

You feel the spirit often and are always quick to give insightful comments during our discussions about the gospel. A few months ago, you decided that you wanted to bear your testimony in sacrament meeting for the first time. When you got up to the front, you completely froze when you saw the congregation. You said, "I'd like to bear my testimony...............I know the church is true...................In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Your face fell and your shoulders slumped as you walked down the long aisle back to your sear. You burst into tears of embarrassment as soon as you sat down. You felt so stupid for not being able to think of anything else to say. I held you and told you over and over that I knew how you felt because I always feel the same way when I get up there. I tried so hard to reassure you that you'd done a great job and that I was proud of you. I really didn't want it to be a bad experience for you and for you to never want you to do it again. Thankfully, after the meeting, lots of people came up to you to thank you for your testimony. One sweet lady in the ward even made you cookies and brought you a note telling you that knowing the church is true is the purest form of a testimony. Thankfully, you got up again a few months later and had more to say. I'm so proud of you for pushing though your fear and doing it again anyway.

You get good grades without seemingly putting in much effort. Lucky kid! You've been saying for months that you want to be a lawyer when you grow up. You often talk about what a good vocabulary you have and what a great reader and writer you are. You say that these skills will help you be a good lawyer someday. I'm not sure if you'll change your mind as you get older, but I would love it if you really did become choose that for a career, just like your dad!

Oliver, I adore you. You are truly special. I can't believe my time with you in our home is half over! Just the thought of that makes my heart hurt and makes me feel sick and anxious. Don't grow up and leave me!!! SOB! You are one amazing little boy and I'm so lucky to be your mom!

Love forever,

Mom

9 Year Stats:

Height: 54.7 in (80th percentile)
Weight: 71 lbs (75th percentile)
BMI: 60%