Five Years Old!!

Dear Jordan,

You have been five for almost two weeks now and it looks good on you!!  We had a blast celebrating your birthday and let me tell you...you are a very loved little boy.  We had to have TWO parties to celebrate you and even then we didn't get everyone who wanted to come.  You love your friends and your friends love you!  On top of just being with people, you were excited to get some great presents.  The vast majority of your gifts are art supplies...it's perfect!  You are actually creating something right now as I type this.  I'm trying to monitor your glue use and so far you are doing well.  You're making little faces and gluing the eyes on.

I love watching you create!  Your brain just goes a million miles an hour and the things that you come up with are very impressive.  I say this as a non-creative person.  You also got some legos and are starting in on that new world of fun...so much creating to come!

You are such a blast to parent...sometimes it's hard, but we're getting the hang of this!  I provide structure and you are mostly predictable.  Sometimes you change something up to keep me on my toes, but we have many more peaceful days than we used to.  You have grown to respond and obey more quickly...even though I still have to teach you had to stop yourself when you are doing something.  You do it most of the time: 1. Freeze and become a statue.  2. Count to five.  3. Tell me what you are going to stop doing.  4. Stop doing it.  It's things like this that you respond to and you remember how to do it and most of the time will actually do it!

I think one of the most amazing things about you is how well you love your friends.  You are always thinking about them and wanting to draw them pictures.  When I told you we were going to Bayne's house to take them a meal (they just had a baby!), you immediately went and made him a card.  It blesses me to see your heart.

I'm proud of you!  Keep learning and growing and you'll be able to do anything you want to!!

Love,

Mom

Growing In So Many Ways

Dear Jordan,

Here we are, coming up on your fifth birthday.  Your FIFTH birthday!?!?  It's hard to believe that much time has passed.  You are thriving and growing.  I feel like every day you stand next to me and you've grown a little more.  And now you are learning letters and trying to read.  You ask questions all day and want to know more about everything.  I try my best to answer every question, but you've always got one that surprises me.

One of my favorite "Jordan stories" that perfectly describes your passionate desire to take the lead and make things happen is the one of the day that we found a "Lost Cat" poster on our door.  I showed it to you and read the details and you made it your personal mission to find Justice the Cat.  You taped the flier on the door so you could look out and watch for him.  You begged your dad to take you on a bike ride so you could search.  He said that you wanted to ask every person you passed and even go door to door.  You are committed to the things you care about!

Another thing I am really enjoying is watching your love for gymnastics.  I knew it would be a good fit but it is perfect for you!  You do it with so much joy and gusto.  I love to watch you attack everything they give you to do.  There have been so many times that I looked up to see you to a new kind of flip into the foam pit or jump of a spring board as hard as you can and grab the bar.  It's good for your sensory needs, but it makes you smile and gives you joy too!  I love watching you grow in your interests.

Another way I love to watch you grow is in creativity.  You will get an idea and make it happen.  Your Grammy bought you a "doodle book" with a bunch of starts to pictures and you finish them.  But you never finish them in a way that is normal.  There was one with a guy on a post and surrounded by water.  The suggestion is that you rescue him and it's implied that you draw a bridge.  Nope, you had to draw a helicopter!  I love seeing that little light bulb come on in your head.

Just a few more weeks and you won't be four.  It makes me want to weep and celebrate at the same time.  I love you so much and am so proud of you!

Love,

Mom

It's a Ninja Turtle World

Dear Jordan,

You are currently obsessed with the Ninja Turtles.  You know everything about them...what weapons they use, their favorite phrases (Get a Grip!), etc. etc.  It's non-stop.  You call me Donnatello or Donnie.  You are "Leo-a-nardo".  It's really cute and once I figured out that it's a Ninja Turtle world, I started to understand a lot o what you say and do!!  So funny!

It's been 4 months since I wrote you.  It's because we're living in a tornado and every night, I lay on the couch and pass out, which leaves very little time for things like this.  Life is fun, busy, stressful, and crazy!  We are currently waiting for another adoption, buying a house and your dad is starting a new job as a teacher.  A lot of changes!  But we are excited to get into our house.  It's a little smaller than this one, which is great.  I'm tired of having to chase you down. :)  I hope you love it...it will be your childhood home unless God calls us somewhere else!

You have started skipping naps which has taken some getting used to for me!  This mean no quiet time for me.  You do a "quiet time" in your room, but it mostly consists of you yelling "How much longer?" and banging on things.  Every once in a while you fall asleep, but it's rare and usually takes some bribery from me!

You are a very sweet and funny kid.  You are always making comments that make us laugh.  Your memory is incredible.  I can't believe some of the things that come out of your mouth!  You are about to start Pre-K which is an exciting change.  So we are trying to enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

We love you and are so proud of you!!

Love, Mom

 

Four Years Old!!

Dear Jordan,

Hey you big four year old!  I'm going to stop apologizing for not writing as much...you and Marcus are keeping me busy!  It is busy in a great way too.  Every day is full of fun and adventures...all because of you!  I'm a home-body and I think Marcus doesn't care either way, but you...well, you are a go-getter.  My social butterfly.  You love to (and have to) get out of this house.  So every day we go to the gym.  On Mondays, we go on the play date with our friends from church.  On Tuesdays, we have Bible Study.  On Wednesdays, we usually spend a couple of hours at home because that's when I go to Eden Clinic and we spend all evening at church.  Thursdays we go to the Toothakers and Fridays we usually do something fun and exciting with Dad.

The funny thing about all of this busy-ness is how you like to know exactly what we are doing.  Every night at bedtime:  "Mom, where are we going when we wake up?  What about after nap?  What about after that?  What about tomorrow?"  You would ask as long as I keep answering!  And if I answer, I'd better be prepared to do what I said, because you will hold me to it!  You have a great memory and I've learned to deliver when I promise because otherwise, it will not go over so well!!

We had your birthday party last month.  I was excited to celebrate you and how you are growing into such a fun little boy.  When you turned three, I was a little weepy.  But this birthday party, you chose what kind of party we had and who you invited.  You had a hard time just inviting four friends...you love a lot of people!!  We decided on a Snoopy party at Chuck-E-Cheese.  We had to ration your tokens because you were having a blast and ran from game to game as fast as you could.  You got a lot of fun gifts and between your birthday and Christmas, I can't think of anything else you could possibly use!!

It's been a joy getting to watch you grow.  Knowing how you are feeling helps me be able to relate better you.  You can say "Mom, I am mad" and can sit with me and calm down instead of throwing the huge tantrums you used to throw.  I'll admit...sometimes I still get frustrated with you, but parenting you has challenged me and all of the ways I thought I would be a mother.  I just assumed that my kids would just do what I said, but you don't.  But that's okay!  Because God is teaching me patience and how sinful my heart is.  I love control and you can't be controlled.  It's requiring me to get down with you and take the time to love on you and teach you the right way to respond.  I don't get as many "to-do's" checked off of my list, but the time with you is worth it.  I love seeing you learn what we work on and use it.  And our relationship as mother and son is wonderful.  It's an investment in you and it's paying off big time!!

I hope you know how loved you are.  I'm sure there will be times when you wonder about our love for you and about God's love for you.  But I pray that you will always know His Word in your heart and can see what your Dad and I do for you and know that you are an amazing little guy with big things in your future.

I love you,

Mom

 

It's Christmastime Again

Dear Jordan,

We've gone all the way through Halloween, Gotcha Day, and Thanksgiving since I last wrote!  I guess there's only two people I can blame it on...you and Marcus.  You guys are keeping me busy!  I love it though.  Every second.  I feel like you are getting to be so grown-up and all I do is want to find a way to stop time.  But, at the same time I love seeing you grow and learn!

You love Christmas and everything about it!  The other night, I put a strand of lights in your room and let you sleep with the lights on.  I peeked in on you and you were just laying in your bed, looking at the lights, and smiling.  Every day you ask if it is Christmas yet.  When we decorated the tree, you were actually helpful and put the ornaments I gave you up.  And when we let you watch "Home Alone", you loved it.  You are really starting to understand story-lines and the emotions that go on within a movie.  You kept saying, "Mom, that little boy is sad." And you were happy when his family came home.

You have such a sensitive spirit.  You are very aware of emotions and things that happen.  There were some terror attacks in Paris a couple of weeks ago and we had to be careful not to talk about it because even though you didn't watch any of the news, you still knew something wasn't right.  They flashed a picture of the terrorist who planned the attacks one morning and as I changed the channel, you asked me "Mom, who is that man?"  I said, "Buddy, that is a man who hurt some people."  You said, "Mom, can we pray for the people who were hurt?  And can we pray for that man?"  I was blown away and of course, we prayed for him.  We prayed that he would be saved by Jesus.  I was struck that this man had a little boy (who he would probably harm if he had the chance) praying for his salvation.  Sadly, a couple of days later he died in a firefight and as far as I know, he didn't choose Jesus.  But I am thankful for the lesson you gave me of praying for our enemies.

Our Thanksgiving was a blast!  You were excited that "your" dog Larry was coming to visit you and you loved playing with him.  Besides Larry, we had Grammy, Pappa, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Katie, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Abby all here at our house!  And for a couple of hours, Granny and Papa Bill were here too!  It was a special time of watching the parade, eating yummy food, and just enjoying our company.

I'm so excited for the rest of the Christmas season.  I enjoy every day with you and am so thankful to be your Mom!

I love you!

Mom

 

Not A-Morrow...

Dear Jordan,

When we're busy, time flies...and you like to stay busy!!  Every time you go to bed (nap & night) and just about every hour you ask, "Mom, where are we going next?"  And you don't just want to know the next thing, but the next three things!  The bad thing is you hold me to it, so I have to be careful on what I tell you we are going to do!  The funniest thing you do right now is when I say that we're going to do something tomorrow, you adamantly argue "Not a-morrow! Today".  For a while, I argued with you, but it's easier just to avoid it or to tell you that after your next sleep, we will do something.  I love that you still have some words that you mis-pronounce, because you are really getting to be such a good talker!

It is full-on fall now!  The weather is cooler and the leaves are starting to change.  Today you are a little sick so you and I stayed home from church.  You felt pretty good this morning, so we went on a little walk and found some pretty leaves.  Then you painted a picture with them.  You are really enjoying this season.  Every time we go for a walk, you point out every pumpkin and scarecrow.  And now we have two pumpkins and a scarecrow on our porch and you love it!

Last Sunday, you and I went on an adventure to the Dinosaur Museum (the natural history museum).  It was so fun to go and just hang out together.  You wanted to touch and see everything.  At one point, we were in a little cave and we heard a growling sound.  I was afraid you would be scared so I playfully said, "Uh-oh, it's a dinosaur!".  You said, "It's okay, Mom.  It's just a dinosaur's tummy growling."  After the museum, we got ice cream.

I was struck while we were at the museum with something.  We've been working on your Bible verses for Cubbies and last week was Genesis 1:1.  We had been practicing it all week.  At the museum, they go to great lengths to try to teach evolution.  I'm thankful you can't read because it protects you from getting confused.  But I didn't really think about it until we were playing at this puppet theater and I encouraged you to say your voice.  At the top of your lungs, you said, "God created the heavens and the earth!"  At such a young age, you are learning and believing Truth and I am so thankful that you can be a light!

I love you, buddy!

Mom

 

End of Summer Adventures

Dear Jordan,

You have had a very exciting couple of weeks!  You continue to grow every day in the things you can say and the thins you know.  We are on our fourth week of "school" and you love it.  The other day, you didn't want to stop.  You kept thinking of things we could do.  We have a daily calendar on the wall and one of your favorite parts of it is to check the weather.  You run and look out.  And yesterday, even though it was Sunday, you saw that it was raining and changed the weather.  You also love picking out the "How I feel..." part.  Every day you are either "silly" or "happy".  I am really enjoying the time we spend and I love seeing you learn.  I look forward to years of home-schooling and learning together!

Last week you got to go fishing with Pappa.  He picked you up on Tuesday morning and you went to Okmulgee with him.  He said you caught about 15 fish and really had fun playing.  He told me that you were very good, although I don't think he enjoyed sharing a bed with you!  He brought you home on Wednesday morning and Marcus and I were so happy to have you home.  We don't know what to do without you. :)

Since fall is here, it is the start of football season and volleyball season.  Every time we watch football, you have to find your football and play.  That usually turns into a good wrestling match.  And the other day, we went to watch an OU volleyball match and you enjoyed it.  You spent the first 15 minutes trying to figure out what they were doing and then once you saw the "Boomer" horse mascot, you spent the rest of the time watching (and laughing at!) him.  You would just start laughing and I would look over an the horse would be dancing or high-fiving someone.  It was the first time we went to a sporting event that you were really well-behaved.  It was fun!

Another thing we got to do is go to the county fair.  A couple of days before it started, we saw the ferris wheel all ready to go and you decided you wanted to ride.  I was skeptical but you kept talking about it.  So you rode with Pappa.  Sure enough, you hopped on and loved every second of it.  I was so proud of how brave you are!

You are continuing to really behave well.  You are getting along with friends and it is such a blessing for us to pick you up from your classes and hear how well you are doing.  We are so proud of you!

I love you, Buddy.

Love, Mom