Getting so big!

     It's the end of summer already! This time next year, I'll be getting my sweet Sophia ready for her first day of school. I can't believe how fast this is all going- it feels like I just brought her home from the hospital. B and I were just talking last night about how it's so neat to be able to have real conversations with her now- how she gives her input and actually makes sense with what she's saying. Noah is getting bigger and easier to understand now too, though you do need to be slightly fluent in "Noah" to get what he's saying most of the time. He's got his own ideas and tries to share them often with us (after a few moments of trying to decipher what he's saying). And my sweet Bennett... he's getting closer and closer to crawling and is turning into a very vocal little boy. He squeals and talks constantly (mostly when he is eating, much like his brother) and gets on his hands and knees and rocks now. I wish I could just freeze them where they are now and keep them this way forever, but I'm also curious and excited about who they will become! No one told me it would be this hard to be a parent- to watch my babies grow and have no control over how quickly it goes! I'm glad that Bennett will always be my baby, but I will really miss the "newborn" stage, where they're so tiny and totally rely on you for everything. I love every stage my kids are in right now; I just don't want it all to end.

Noah and Sophia watching the planes

  On a lighter note, the restrictions have been lifted at the tower, so we can go visit B at work again! They restricted visitors the last year because an ATC in NY (I think) let his 6-year-old talk over the radio (granted, the ATC was controlling the traffic and told his son EXACTLY what to say, but still...). Apparently, they didn't want that happening again, hence the restrictions. Needless to say, the kids were ecstatic about being able to bring Daddy lunch and see the "airpanes!" Noah was super-excited and kept jumping around trying to look at all of the UND planes and the "heckticopters" take off and land. I think it's great

Bennett's first time in the Tower

that B has a job that he loves and that my kids can take interest in as well. How fun for them to be able to go see what Daddy does! This was also Bennett's first time out to the tower, so he was looking around with wide eyes trying to take it all in. I'm sure at least one of my kids will have some sort of interest in aviation (there goes my retirement fund!), since B has been hammering it into their brains since they were babies! Any time we are outside and Noah or Sophia hear an airplane, they drop everything and look into the sky to try and find it. I'm sure Bennett will be the same way when he gets bigger.
     Anyway, I'm just getting a little nostalgic lately, watching my babies grow before my eyes. I bought all of the stuff for Noah's 3rd (!) birthday party not too long ago. The two of us went back and forth for days trying to determine if it would be a Cars 2 birthday or a "Thomas" birthday. He decided on Cars (finally!) only to tell me after everything got here than he wanted a "twain birfday." Nope, sorry buddy- now we're sticking with the Cars theme! I think I get more excited about the parties than my kiddos do! That's all the craziness in my life so far- we're in for a whole ton more craziness soon- so stay tuned!