overdue update!!!

The boys are doing great! Taylor loves first grade and is becoming such a good reader. Last week he wrote a book about Casper for Halloween and it is really cute. There are two girls in his class that "like" him but he likes Megan the best. She gave him her phone number which he was confused about at first but when I explained to him why people exchange phone numbers, he was very excited and he called her as soon as he got home from school. His end of the conversation went like this:

"Hi, is this Megan's mom?
Can I talk to Megan?
Hi, Megan, this is Taylor Haws.
Next centers if we have 'buddy read', want to read with me?
What is your favorite food?
Now, let me ask you this; Why did the cow cross the road?
To get to the MOOOVIES.
Okay, I'll see you today again.
Okay, bye."

The next day they were holding hands after school and Taylor walked her to her car. Or at least he tried...I made him say goodbye and come with me before they got all the way there. As Jeremy would say, "Taylor has mad game." The best part is that it is really so innocent. Taylor is really confused why kids keep saying that he and Megan are "in love." He just likes having a good friend and still claims that he is going to marry Sarah,
the neighbor girl, when he grows up.

Russell wants to marry Annalisa, Sarah's little sister. Annalisa is a good foot taller than Russ. Hahaha! Maybe Russell will have a growth spurt one day, but for now he is loving gymnastics. He is in the Boys Only Advanced Tumbling class twice a week and sometimes he cries when it is NOT a gymnastics day. He also cries if he doesn't have "super-hero-basketball-clothes" to put on in the morning. For years Russell struggled with problems with his digestive system and we did all kinds of testing for food allergies and all sorts of stuff. At one point we discovered he had Giardia and did the treatments for that. He was still sick for a moth or two after that but he seems to be better now! He feels a lot better and has also been growing so we are really happy about that. Hopefully he has grown out of the problem or gotten over it once and for all, whatever it was.

Benjamin is doing so good. He is a rollie-pollie and very squeaky. He loves his mush and he loves it when his brothers clap for him. Ben is a good sleeper and is usually a happy baby. He cries when he is hungry, tiered, messy or lonely so it is usually easy to figure out what is wrong and how to cheer him up. He has been a really great baby and we love having him around!