Crawford is FIVE

Weight- 39 lbs. 8 oz.

Height- 42.5 inches

Five. FIVE! Impossible. You, our sweet sweet Crawford boy are five years old. I feel like you have grown up SO much this past year. You are the best biggest brother and the protector of Lawson and Eve. I've been telling you that I'm not going to let you turn five, and you get so mad because you're SO excited about growing up. You are such a good boy, and we are SO PROUD OF YOU.

Here are a few things I want to remember about you at this age:

• You are SMART. Academically, you're way ahead for sure. Sure takes the pressure off me for the next year ;) 
• You still love all things construction. Like, LOVE. Diggers, cranes, cement mixers, backhoes, trackhoes, excavators, grabber excavators, etc. You know all of them and what they do and how they work. 
• You love your sister, but aren't super concerned with her. You mostly could take her or leave her. 
• I really believe you have the spiritual gift of encouragement. You are so quick to tell other people they are doing a great job - even if it is something simple.
• You like to make up songs. Like, super random songs about whatever you see or are thinking about. Usually diggers are involved. 
• You let Lawson sleep in your bed with you every night. Though, tonight (on your last night being four), you told me "when I'm five I might get longer so Lawson might need to sleep in his own bed". For the past month or so you guys say you are sleeping in the same bed so you can protect each other. 
• You are a little book worm! You love books, and I cannot wait for you to be able to read because I think it is going to blow your mind. Whenever we go to the "toy library" (which is quickly becoming our favorite place), you spend the rest of the day entranced in your books. And we gave you boys each a little book light so you can read in your bed until you fall asleep. 
• You have a tender heart, and you are always quick to pray for anyone who has a need.
• You have a sharp little attitude. I've started giving you a squirt of apple cider vinegar for back talk, etc. - and shock of ALL shocks - you think it tastes good!
• You are a joy to all of your teachers. I always love picking you up from BSF and Tuesday School because your teachers just think you are the sweetest thing ever (and you are). 
• You are excited about kindergarten! You've had it in your mind that you will start WHEN you turn five, so we'll have to figure out something to do and call school here pretty soon. We are going to be homeschooling, and you totally get that and are excited you'll get to be home with me! You have a few "school books" we have been working on, and you do such a good job. Your handwriting is getting very good.
• You love to paint and draw, especially diggers (duh). You've recently really been into doing art work (and being an "artist") and it is super fun. We've created a gallery wall of your creations in your room and I love to see your pride in your work!
• You have finally started to muster up some courage to try new foods. Peanut butter sandwiches and "daddy's cereal" are two of your new favs, and you eat them all of the time. You also ask "did I have this before and I liked it?" about what we're having for dinner a lot, and I can usually convince you that you have ;).
• You still nap! Even if you don't fall asleep, you lay down when Lawson does and "take a rest" for a good hour and a half. Thanks for that! And then you do a great job playing quietly by yourself or sometimes we do school during that time. When you do sleep bed time is definitely trickier unless we really wear you out, so I know real "nap time" is coming to an end. When you don't sleep you get mean from about dinner time to bed time and then you crash. 
• still say "meed" instead of "need" and I refuse to correct you.

Some quotes and stories I want to remember:

• "Dear God, thank you for making Chester better and then he died."
• When you saw a car on a lift at a repair garage- "Look mom! A car on a stick!"
• When an old lady walked by at the mall- "Hey! That's a rollator!" 
• Me: "what kind of day are we going to have today??"
  C: "a Wednesday"
• To random people at the pool at Sanibel in May "Hey guys! Look how big my feet are!"
• You realized the pocket in your underwear was a great place to store your toys.
• To a girl at Burger King who was going to see Finding Dory (which was to be Crawford's reward for learning how to go underwater) "Did you learn how to go underwater too?!"
• "I'm going to be a daddy when I grow up. Then I'm going to be a super hero! Then I'm going to be a stranger!"
• C: "Mommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Me: "your mommy!" C: "How 'bout a princess??"
• At the beach at Thanksgiving you prayed for the waves to not knock down your sand castles (overnight). The next day, "Mommy, remember how we prayed for God to send rain? God can do anything, so he can send wind to blow the waves away and not knock down my castles."
• To Ashley while moving: I'm going to go inside and see if they need my muscles. You watch Babu and make sure he doesn't pack the dog.
• Crawford: I know who should live in that castle house! The person who is in charge of our country.
  Me: The person in charge of our country in called the president.
  C: His name is Donald Trump!
  Me & David: How did you know that?!?
  C: I remembered!
• "Mom! 4 and 1 is sixteen!"
• One night (recently) you prayed "God, make daddy strong to dig big holes and mommy strong to hold big pans."

Whew. I love you, buddy. The Lord has given you such a sweet disposition and I know he has giant plans for your life. I feel so honored that He chose me to be your mom, and even more that I get to spend every day alongside you as you grow and develop. You are a treasure! 

Eve is {11 months}

Weight- 16 lbs. 10oz.

I actually know your weight this month because we've been to the doctor several times lately. Girlfriend, you have had an ear infection (well, two) that you just can't seem to kick! I'm hopeful that you're on the mend now. You are a tough little cookie though! There were a few terrible nights of lots of tears, but during the day I could just tell you weren't comfortable. 

At 11 months old, you...

• love music! You just bop along to the beat anytime you hear music play.
• drop your paci in your crib after nap time.
• have about 3.5 teeth, and they are all on the bottom!
• love bubbles! I was in your BSF class one week and you just looooved when we blew bubbles.
• say mama and are starting to say some other consonant sounds. We've heard a dada here and there.
• play so contentedly in the boys room and the play room, and in life in general. You are just so easy going and easy to please. Downstairs you love to get into the dog bowls and the bathrooms, but you can usually be distracted by food.
• pretty much love to eat anything. I have to be very thoughtful and intentional though or you end up just snacking on veggie straws and Cheerios. oops. But you love veggies!
• wear your hair in a tiny little pony tail sprout sometimes, and I cannot get enough of it! I know it's pretty silly, but I just adore every bit of girlie-ness in you! We are going to have so much fun together, baby girl!
• take a solid morning nap when we are home (usually around 10 for 1.5hours), and if we are out you'll fall asleep in your car seat for a short bit and be fine until the afternoon. Seriously, you're a trooper. I aim for 2 for your afternoon nap and 7:15ish for bedtime.
• still nurse quite a bit, and I'm so glad. I'm no where near done, so I hope you're game for a bit longer. 
• learned how to "blow kisses" and you just smack on your tongue. It is stinking CUTE. 

I cannot even believe the next update will be when you turn ONE. Daddy keeps telling people you are "almost one" and I don't think I'm going to allow you to have a birthday ever. It is literally impossible to imagine our lives before you, our girl! 

Eve is {10 months}

Weight- 16? lbs. 

At ten months old, you...

• are growing a lovely mullet.
• have gone from being nearly silent to having LOTS to say. And loudly. You really don't use consonants at all, but we get lots of shrieks and hollering.
• are crawling all over the place! It happened overnight and now you cannot be contained! It is positively adorable (and exhausting).
• have such a little personality! It is SO FUN to see your little self developing, and this month really seemed to be a big transition to a little person. 
• love to be outside and love when we sing to you.
• had a double ear infection, boo. You were so sad and miserable. 
• love all people. Really, you go to anyone and don't seem to mind. 
• seriously love your brothers. Lawson is still the best with you, and he adores you. Crawford could take you or leave you pretty much. You tolerate even their roughness with you because you just love for them to pay attention to you. 
• love to play peek a boo. We can get you howling! It's so fun.
• wave like a champ, and are sorta getting the hang of clapping.
• are still a tiny little thing. When we went to the dr for your ear infections you were 15.5 pounds. 
• celebrated your first Christmas. You learned to crawl just in time to get into the one present we had under our tree and figured out how to open it! You loved having Babu, Gamma, Ashy, Uncle Bull and GG at our house to play with you.
• are the happiest, smiliest, easiest little girl ever ever ever and we ADORE YOU, Beeve!

Eve is {9 months}

Weight- ? lbs. 

At nine months old, you...

• have two tiny teeth! The first one cut through literally the day you turned eight months and the second one has been slowly making it's appearance since then. You are proving to be like the boys in the teething department in that it is sloooow going. Weeks and weeks before the evidence of a tooth turns into an actually little tooth. You're adorable though.
• have had a stinking cold for several weeks now.
• like to wake up once at night to nurse. Whatev. It's my fault for letting you, and I'm not in a rush to make it stop.
• ate a ton of sand at the beach and loved it! You especially loved all of the attention you got from your cousins. They adored you, and the feeling was mutual. 
• wear some 6mo, some 6-9mo and some 9mo clothes. Ha. We're all over the place. I'm anxious to see what you weigh when we go to the doctor next week!
• have decided you want to be mobile, but you can't quite figure out how to yet. You lean forward from sitting and reach stuff, but you don't know how to start the whole crawling thing yet. I'm fine with that ;) but it's really frustrating you sometimes. So we pretty much can still just sit you in one place surrounded by toys and you're mostly content. 
• moved! It's still surreal to me that you'll never know our Lawson Street house, but our Raccoon Mountain house is the bomb. And you were a fabulous little mover. You're generally just very portable and flexible. Thanks for that!
• really know me and Daddy. It's awesome to see how you light up when you see us. Especially when Daddy comes home from work you kind of freak out.
• really to like eat, but I forget to feed you real food a lot. Oops. I'll work on that. 
• love to play in water! You love the bath - especially with your brothers - and you had a ball in the pool when we were at the beach!

We can't get enough of you, sweet girl! You are our delight!

Eve is {8 months}

Weight- 1? lbs. 

At eight months old, you...

• still just sit there. It's awesome. You don't roll or even think about crawling. I know you will one day, so I'm enjoying the immobility.
• have had a bit of a regression on your night time sleep, but it's totally my fault. If I hear you during the night I just hop up and see if you need your paci, and then I end up nursing you usually once. I'm looking forward to having your room across the hall from ours instead of upstairs!
• pitched a fit when I took something away that you wanted to chew on (pizza crust).
• are typically so quiet! It takes a lot to get a peep out of you.
• don't know a stranger. You seriously go to everyone and don't mind one bit.
• take a morning nap and just after lunch (ish) you take a long afternoon nap (often like 3 hours). Then you go to bed generally about 7:30.
• think your brothers are the bees knees. And they think you are pretty great too. Crawford often says "I love having a baby sister!" You get so excited whenever they play with you. 
• get all jumpy when I'm holding you and you're excited. 
• are still on the small side, so you're pretty much wearing 6 month clothes.
• give "five" when someone sticks their hand out, and using the same motion you sorta kinda wave sometimes. 
• grab my face/hair and give me the BEST kisses. Slobber everywhere. 

This is your last monthly update in our current house! It's so crazy that you won't grow up here since we have lived here our entire marriage. We are SO excited about the new house, and I think it will be such a special place for you and your brothers to grow up.

Eve Geyer (Beeve, Beevie, Beaverton, Beevie Lou, Evie, Evie Lou)- YOU ARE THE BEST. We all say it constantly, and we truly believe a baby just doesn't get any better than YOU. I could just weep over the gift God has given us in your sweet little life. 

Eve is {7 months}

Height- 25 1/4 inches

Weight- 14 lbs. 

At seven months old, you...

• are still the BEST. You just keep getting sweeter and more laid back and joyful! 
• have found your tongue and it is so hilarious. You stick it out and smile if ANYONE looks at you, and you are so so proud. About 90% of the pictures of you this month have your sweet little tongue sticking out.
• sit up confidently! Dr. Good was super impressed and said you are an "advanced sitter" ;). He said maybe you'll be a gymnast with your good balance.
• made your first trip to Ohio to visit the Geyer side of the fam! You slept for a solid three hours on the ride up, which was glorious. And while we were there you were absolutely perfect. You loved your cousins, and they were pretty taken with you. All of the adults just oogled over you, and it was really special to get to spend time together! You did hate Uncle Jayme at first, but you got over it.
• really could use two 2ish hour naps a day, but that rarely happens. You mostly take a cat nap in the car in the morning, and then another cat nap mid-day. Then you nap in the afternoon while the boys do (hallelujah). 
• have just enough hair for clip in bows, and I really love them.
• grab everything you can reach. Handful of hummus? Don't mind if you do.
• haven't eaten much, but that's our fault not yours. I've given you steamed carrots, steamed broccoli and avocado. Each one time. Oops.

It's so different writing these updates for you than it was for your brothers. Most everything that was true last month is still true now. You adore your brothers, don't have any teeth, refuse to roll to your belly and are really quiet.  We are all totally obsessed with you, little girl. I just pray non stop that I can be the mom the Lord has called me to be. 

Lawson is THREE years old

OH, Lawson. You are the best. With most birthdays I feel like "I can't believe you are fillintheblank years old." But this is different. I feel like you have been three for so long. You are so big and mature (hahaha that sounds ridiculous) for your "age". Having a big brother really has made you seem much more advanced than a two year old.

Lawson, at three years old you:

• LOVE basketball. Though, since football season has started you've sort of switched to loving it as much or more. Your favorite activity is to play football in the front yard. Daddy hikes the ball and you make us chase you to take it away. It's so much fun! 
• also love to run. You are adamant about wearing "running shoes" and multiple times a day you insist on "going for a run" up and down the driveway. Since the Olympics, you always start your run crouched on the ground like a sprinter. 
• are simultaneously so rough and tumble and sweet and sensitive. You truly have a tender heart (which is hard to remember when you're destroying everything in sight). 
• are shockingly smart. I say shockingly because with Crawford we actively taught him so much, and you have just picked things up. You know almost all of your letters (you sometimes confuse R/P, O/Q, L/I), know what sound a lot of letters make, can count to 20, can write L.
• consistently say that Margaret Anne is your favorite friend. And HayHay. 
• tell me you dream about frogs after every single nap time.
• have the funniest little voice. We aren't sure if it's just a normal speech impediment that you'll grow out of or something more, but man it's adorable. Your vocabulary is huge, but you pretty much always need a translator. I have a speech evaluation scheduled for a couple months from now. 
• think your name is spelled LawsoRn. Today you told me that when you turn 3 then you'll have an R in your name (since I've been telling you it doesn't actually have one).
• say "it's too fit" if something is either too big OR too small.
• are still my snuggler. You love to cuddle up, and you want me to lay with you in your bed every night. I almost never say no, and it's my favorite time of day.
• stopped calling Crawford "Bubba" about the time that you started calling Eve "Beeve". It sort of crushed me for that nickname to go away.
• still sleep with a paci (insert eye covering emoji here). You know it has to go away when you turn 3, so we'll see how this next week goes. I'm terrified. I'm just certain you'll stop napping... Tonight (on the eve of your birthday), you told me (as you have for months now because of our prompting) "when I'm 3 I won't have a binkie... I don't want to turn 3!"
• are so destructive. SO.DESTRUCTIVE. You just break things and mess up what other people (Crawford) are playing with non.stop. It makes us all crazy.
• hate to be disciplined. The threat of a spanking sends you into a tailspin (but doesn't prevent you from disobeying...). You quickly want to apologize every time you disobey (which is a zillion times an hour. literally feels constant).
• are 100% potty trained. You rocked it. You've had one accident in public (at the Mission Preschool), but other than that you've just done amazing. You even nap in undies.
• are very independent. So much more than Crawford. You can brush your teeth by yourself and do all bathroom things (other than wiping) and get dressed. It really is so fun to watch you figure out how to do things!
• are big. I'm anxious to see your stats at the dr, but all I know is that you are "big for your age."
• prefer to wear "running clothes", but have finally come around to wear what I pick out most of the time. I've given up caring too much about it so we're at a good place.
• are obsessed with Eve. You seriously love her so much. But you also do ridiculous things like stick your nose in her mouth.
• are a total class clown. If you can get people laughing, you just about won't stop. 
• potty talk is your favorite. Spoiler alert: it isn't mine.
• are a total klutz. You get hurt ALL. the. time. Seriously, if you have a day without blood it is unusual. You fall down constantly. You also had an ER visit recently for a concussion. You fell off a chair in the dining room and hit your head on the floor then started throwing up in the middle of the night. It was not fun.
• copy Crawford's every move. You wouldn't admit it, but he is your best best friend. You hate to be apart.
• say phome (phone), mineS, baybe (maybe), big pile (of milk or any drink), "I have too much hands" (when your hands are full)

Basically, you are such a total handful and a joy at the same time. We love you more than you'll ever know, our little Lawsy Loo!

31 pounds 2 ounces, 38.5 inches tall