Update on my boys

It has been far too long since I've done a general update on how the boys are doing...
Jameson has passed the 2.5 year mark and is (too) quickly moving toward the three year milestone. Not super thrilled about it, but I love this age and although trying times, we are enjoying him so much. In fact we enjoy him so much that we wish we could start over with Carson and Landon with knowledge and experience we currently have. We'd definitely have stressed less and enjoyed them even more.
Jameson is talking like mad...all my boys have spoken early and well. For this I am grateful. When other moms brag about their toddler doing sign language I always think 'Well, why? Just teach them to talk.' I forget that not every child is quite so verbal at a young age. Such a bratty thought on my part, but I never verbalize it.
He LOVES sports, especially basketball. He turns anything he can into a hoop, and if he can't find anything, he has me or John make a hoop with our arms. I think third times the charm in that John will finally have a kid to coach in sports.
Jameson also has so much attitude it actually makes me nervous. Much of it is just his natural personality (he is so stubborn like his mom) but he's also picked up so much from his older brothers. That's the one problem with the baby of the family, they just grow up too fast! When he gets out of bed he loves to say "I woke up d'day" and when I come home hugs me over and over saying "I missed you, I'm so happy to see you!" I am helping with girls camp this year and I regret saying I would for a variety of reasons #1 being I don't want to leave J for a week. He won't understand where I've gone and will miss me so much, and I'll miss all my boys. J is so funny and has so much personality. He's goofy and always says "look at me!" He thrives on attention and always has us laughing over something he's doing.

Landon has hit the same stage in third grade that Carson hit. Funny how much they change this year. He is funny, annoying, a little mouthy, but such a good kid. If he didn't feel our goodbye hug in the morning was sufficient, he'll leave his friends and run home so neither of us are sad about our goodbye. He hesitates to every leave me home alone since he's sure I cry every minute they are gone. He still has such a soft heart and gets upset easily. In fact John and I realize we need to argue more in front of him. We have disagreements, but only argue a couple times a year and when we do he sits in his room crying, absolutely sure we're getting divorced. Poor kid.
School is still easy for him, teacher says he's top in the class...BUT, I think it's too easy. He talks too much and gets bored too easily. Not sure yet how I'll solve it, but I'm just relieved school is going well. Third grade is where Carson really started to struggle and I remember sitting with him every afternoon working on homework, where Landon comes home and breezes right through it.
Landon says he's going to be a surgeon one day, but he doesn't like school and doesn't care much for reading so we'll see.
He's the class clown and has a lot of friends who validate how popular he is...where does this come from??? I never cared about popularity. Landon seems to be a bit full of himself at times. John says it's self-confidence, but there's a fine line between self confidence and cockiness. I just glad he's happy and has made so many friends.

Carson is loving junior high. I thought this would be a rough year and I was prepared for the worst. Much to my surprise Carson loves school so much more. He has a horrible teacher that I've called and complained about, but overall he is doing great. For the first two report cards he's pulled all A's and B's...sooo much better than I thought he'd do. A couple months ago we talked to his doctor about the problem he's had focusing all through school. We decided to try something new and it has literally (in his words) "changed his life". Instead of getting emails about his lack of focus I'm getting emails telling me how wonderful he's doing...such a change. He's paying attention and rarely brings home homework. For the first time in years he's understanding math and really staying on top of things. If his grades are not where he wants them, he has no fear of asking his teacher how he can improve. He really is trying his best and I am so proud of him.
While I love spending time with him and he's so much fun when it's just the two of us, when his brothers are around he's beyond obnoxious. He teases and makes rude comments constantly...pretty much what siblings do, I just hoped it wouldn't happen to mine. My boys still get along much better than I ever did with mine so I can't complain too much.
He's really gotten involved at school. He ran x-country in the fall and plans to do track this Spring. He joined Minecraft club, and even played chess ONCE so he could get his picture in the yearbook. He has a goal of having his picture in there as many times as possible , it totally cracks me up. He's also starting having an interest in basketball, much to John's delight. He is improving and if there's a hoop, he'll be the first to grab a ball and start playing.

Life for us has gone pretty smoothly the past few years. The few years before were rough so we have noticed and appreciated the calmness in life at the moment. I feel that he next few years as Carson becomes a teenager will be rough so I'm enjoying my boys and who they are while trying to brace for the future. They are such good boys and we are enjoying them. I cannot believe how quickly they are growing up. If I could pause life at this moment and live in this wonderful calmness for a few years I would. One day I won't be everything to them and while that's the way it should it, I'll admit that it makes me just a little sad.