Slap my Wrists...

Alrighty, so I've been lame. Haven't written for some time. Neglected to update the blog as to what life is like around here. Slap my wrists and accept my apology please - I'll attempt to use the now very worn out excuse, "I'm growing a baby, give me a break!"

Here's what life has been like:

Maddie is now 14. And she's thrilled.

She is counting down the days until she turns 15 and can acquire her driver's permit. She's got 360ish to go...but she's got gusto, I'll give her that.

She is singing with the youth praise band at church and enjoying that involvement very much. They do a good job for a group of young people who haven't spent time playing live with others or in front of others. They would covet your prayers as they remember their goal of worshipping the One who gave them their talents to begin with...good group of young folks, have I mentioned that already?

She's also gotten involved with the drama group at church. Can't imagine since the girl experiences virtually no drama in her life. Yep, that's a joke, after all she is still junior high. But soon to be a freshman....unless I can figure out a way to hold her back a grade! At Christmas time, we gave her the option to decide if she wants to attend public school for her high school years. No brainer according to her, her social life at home stinks and she's dying for interaction outside of relatives! Although I think her separation from her family will be a bit tougher than she anticipates. One thing we Hamblett's do well is stick together. She's a bright, young cookie and anxious to begin living "her" life. This momma ain't ready for it....

Sam.

Yes, his name alone is worthy of punctuation. Sometimes with an !

Since he's taller than I am, I have learned when I discipline the young man, I have him sit in a chair while I pace and lecture or whatever I do when I discipline....seems effective when I am calm and unruffled by any 12 year old boy behavior that may eeeek from his being. To be expected I suppose. The actual effectiveness is probably more evident by his later snickering. Where did he get his sarcasm? Grandma, for sure! : )

He's a good kid. Every Sunday morning he helps to greet the people as they enter church, and he LOVES it. He also has a self-started and self-maintained ministry of seeing to the ladies' classes at church to ensure they have their coffee and cookies. They have grown fond of his attentiveness each week...

Grades have been good. He recently finished his basketball season and enjoyed every stinking minute of it. And believe me, he was stinky after practice and games! Now that basketball if finished, he too has gotten involved with drama.

Here you see the brothers getting along famously well...Sam smirking on the left and Ben being bossy about something I'm sure on the right.

Moving on to Ben...

He too just finished basketball. It is sure something to cheer the name of your kid when he's the one to lay up the last two points on the score board. Ben's reaction is to grin from ear to ear and shoot a punch straight up in the air. Sam's sly reaction is to ignore the mom in the stand hollering his name! How different they are...

Ben's grades are good too....good effort this past quarter. Anxious to see what the last quarter of his fifth grade year holds. Amazing how quickly these three have grown up. Although there are days that I wonder why the time isn't flying by quicker.

Ben too is involved in the drama ministry. He's good at it and he enjoys it. He has kept his sense of humor intact no matter what is going on (unless it is Math....).

Jeremiah is flying through his infancy. He now toddles for a good six or seven steps. He had his first big boy hair cut. The curls were getting gnarly....now they are captured in a trusted time-capsule called Zip lock! He also crawls on the couch. He knows when he's getting scolded and has the innocent act down....future in the drama ministry. Probably. He gives snuggles and even is giving kisses - open mouth and slobbery. Although he is very particular about doling out his lovin. Unless it is toward Pooh Bear. He truly loves his Pooh Bear. So much so he'll bite his nose when he gets super frustrated. He winks using both eyes and his whole entire face scrunches up with it....man oh man this kid is a keeper along with the others! His vocabulary has expanded to included the infamous "uh-oh", "up", "thank you", "bite", "daddy", "sissy" and his very favorite......point and grunt. With sissy and Bubby Sam and Bubby Ben around, he is rarely forced to walk anywhere, and never is he forced to talk. But don't think the boy is silent. He is very verbal. Usually with a big grin. Trying to get others to agree that Jeremiah having a bit of independence before baby is born is an uphill battle that frankly, I'm losing. If he wasn't so stinking cute....

Baby #5 - well, can a child be diagnosed with ADHD before birth? If so, I think we have a qualifier...this baby is all over the place, all the time! Can you picture a hamster on a hamster wheel? That's what this baby is doing, hamster wheeling. Oh, I hope he doesn't ask for a dirt bike and become a thrill seeker....or I hope she doesn't ask for a rag top mustang and become a thrill seeker....We didn't officially find out the gender of this baby, although the ultrasound lends itself to have us non-radiology-educated-folks obsessing and guessing over the gender of the baby. But we're thinking if the thingy sticking up between the legs is any indication, we better be settled with the name Nathaniel! Since we think we have this baby's gender pegged, we're also quite prepared for God's sense of humor to deliver us a girl.

Come April 15, I'll hit 32 weeks....with our actual due date being June 10. We'll all know soon enough if we have a Nathaniel Hamblett or a Lottie Hamblett. Either way, we're good.

Jack and Mandy....sleepless in Washburn. Yep, Jeremiah still wakes several times a night. Making sleep hard to come by. Although we get tired, we enjoy the perils and treasures that parenthood has given to us. A blessing each of these growing babies has been!