Jack @ age 3

my sweet big boy,

you are now 3 years old. i can hardly believe it. this may sound crazy but in all my days before motherhood, i would daydream about what it would be like to have my own little ones. and whenever i would think on that time, i would always think about how i wanted a 3 year old. sounds weird, but its true. i knew that was the age that a child could really carry on conversations & understand so many neat things. and now, you are 3. and you are far better than any child i dreamed up in my head.

you are SO busy. and i think you talk 99.9% of the day. you are only quiet when you sleep. but to be honest, i don't mind it at all. in fact, i love it. i love that you want to talk to me, you want to share things with me, you want me to be excited about the things you love. it is such a sweet time and we make so many fun memories each day.

you can now say any word you want. or at least give it a good college try. you speak in full, run on sentences. and you repeat everything. all of our friends and family love that about you. you say "momma" about 300 times per day. you call Jovie, "Jodie or sissy". some funny words that you mispronounce are snowman and angel. you call them "snonan and angum" it comes out so country and we love it. most times when you talk, i must translate for everyone else, except dada. you speak so fast and sometimes confuse a few of your consonants. but overall, you are doing fantastic when it comes to speech. your favorite phrase is "its taking a break" you say that about everything. it started when we would make you put up Woody and Buzz for awhile. (mostly for our own sanity!) and we would tell you that we needed to put up Woody so he could take a break. and now, you say that about everything. in all situations. its hysterical. you actually say "drake instead of break" you confuse the d and b sounds a lot. but we are so proud of you.

you are a pretty picky eater these days. Dr Bubba tells me that its pretty common and that you will grow out of it. and i hear from Mamie that dada was pretty picky too. you just don't want to try very many new things at all. you would eat the same things over and over and over if we let you. you love: chicken, french fries, pizza, apples, peanut butter, oranges, grapes, strawberries, bread, waffles, bacon, eggs, cereal bars, baby carrots, popcorn, cheese and turkey. most other things we have to force you try and a lot of times you will like it. sometimes, you won't. we are trying to be patient and encourage you to at least try things. but, you eat like a little bird. oh well, i'm actually praying you turn a corner on that soon!

you have a great imagination. you play so well by yourself and with others. we hardly ever feel the need to entertain you. there are some days that i can tell you are stir crazy and need some interaction or an outing to the park or target. but most of the time, you entertain yourself and Jovie really well. you are really creative and so smart. you catch on to things so quickly and we can even tell that you devise little plans to get things that you want or to try and make something happen.

the most trying thing about your age is discipline. since you can talk so well and are so independent, you want to argue or tell us no about things. that is probably our biggest struggle. you are really kind to Jovie (most of the time) but learning to share and to obey the first time you are told is a daily battle. but, we know these things are normal and part of growing up. we pray each day, mostly all day, that you will have a tender heart towards us and discipline. that you will respond with an obedient heart and sweet spirit. that you will set a good example for Jovie and most importantly that you will learn to obey because it is pleasing to the Lord. we really try to teach you the biblical aspects of why we discipline you. and sometimes i feel like you get it and sometimes it seems like you don't. i can tell that you are sensitive to us. you usually break down pretty quickly. we are always trying to learn when to spank you and when to correct you verbally or both. we are trying to have a healthy balance of mercy and grace with you. because that is how Jesus is with us. but, we are also trying to be consistent in our approach to you. i pray that you know that we do these things out of love and that we always approach you with patience. but that can be hard sometimes. we are not perfect parents! i can honestly say that this time of learning how to properly discipline you has been really good for me. it is hard but i haven learned so much about how the Lord loves us, and disciplines us. and how is he is always long suffering and quick to forgive. i am so thankful for you because you teach me so much. it has been a sweet time.

i love watching you with Jovie. it makes me SO SO SO thankful that you two are so close in age. it has been such a blessing. you are best friends. you do fight and argue. and there are days i feel like you may kill each other, but when you are apart, you search for each other. and you are always giving hugs and kisses to each other. you look out for Jovie and you share in her excitement for things. i'm praying you are always the big brother that she needs, always pointing her to Jesus. you have been so perfect for her and she is perfect for you.

we talk to you a lot about baby Jude. you always say he is in momma's tummy. and you talk about your little brother a lot. we can not wait for you to meet him. you are just gonna love it. we are so excited for you to have a little brother to grow up with, it will be so fun.

you absolutely LOVE our church family. and that blesses my heart. you are so comfortable with most of them because you are around them all the time. you know them by name and you get excited when we tell you we are going to see them. we are so thankful for Reid or baby Reid as you call him. he is the only little one in our church besides you and Jovie. he loves you and Jovie so much and y'all love to be around him. i'm so thankful for you to have another kid to be around. its been really good for all of us. i am praying that in this next year, we have several more babies born and/or children to join our church. i want your best friends to come from our church family.

well, this has been a long update on you. but i haven't done one in a LONG time!

happy 3rd birthday. you are a blessing to us. i get emotional just thinking about you. and i am learning more and more what it means to really pray intentionally. you are so much fun and you bring so much joy to our home. we are praying that in the next few years that you understand your sin and that Jesus wants to redeem you. we pray that you serve him and his church all of your days. we love you sweet little boy!!

p.s. you have been potty training for a couple months and you are doing really well. in January we are going to drop the diapers and try big boy underwear. hopefully it will encourage you to do more than just tee tee in the potty!!