The Lancaster's Latest: Playing Catch Up

While it's not logical or feasible to totally catch up on 17 months of life, I did want to at least give a brief update on each of the kids.

Tripp- Well, as hard as it is for us to believe, he is now in 5th grade. I feel like he was JUST starting out his elementary school career, and now he is in his last year. He has continued to do well, and fourth grade went off without a hitch. He began in the gifted program in 4th grade, and he has loved being in it. He's continuing to do well in sports. He really kind of blows me away, and he is so much fun to watch. Baseball is still his main sport, and we began playing travel ball. His main position is short stop, but he also pitches some too. Our travel time started out really rough, but we've seen these boys make SO MUCH growth over the last 18 months. I'm anxious for spring ball when we move up to 11U to see how they do. He also runs cross country, and the boy is FAST. He's won first place in all the rec dept meets he has run with the exception of 1. He's averaging a mile in under 7 minutes. Tripp is most definitely our "easiest" kid right now. He's just very self sufficient and he's pretty laid back. He doesn't like to buck the system, and he hates getting in trouble or having someone disappointed in him. So, he's still our rule follower. If we could just get him to eat more and put on a little weight, we'd be doing good!

Makinley has now joined Tripp and me at MCES. She's a third grader, and she is in the classroom right next door to me. I LOVE having her here and getting to see her several times throughout the day. She has adjusted so well, and her grades are awesome. She continues to be our social butterfly. She is happiest when she is with her friends. She has also started taking tumbling again, and she is doing really, really well. I know she is going to do even better as the months progress. I'm starting to notice a new level of maturity. Things that used to send her over the edge don't have as big of an impact any more. She's not as whiny. She still has her hang ups. She scares easily, and she doesn't like to go any where in our house by herself. She gets frustrated with Addie Grey easily, and she doesn't like her baby sister to touch her stuff. Now that I'm with her at school, and I get to see her in a different environment, I realize what a leader she is. Yet, she does it with such grace and not with bossiness. She recently expressed readiness to be baptized, so we are looking forward to that. Overall, she is just growing every day into the beautiful girl God has created her to be.

Addie Grey- when you take 17 months off from blogging, and your baby is only 4, it means you didn't blog for almost half her life. Needless to say, she has grown and changed so much in such a "short" amount of time. She continues to very much be a mama's girl. The amount of personality she is blows us away. We NEVER know what she is going to say (or when she is going to "dab") She keeps us on our toes. She is VERY particular about what she will/will not wear. Getting her dressed each day is one of my biggest problems with her. It really makes me crazy. She wears the most insane combinations of clothing. But, whatever. She's covered. She started attending Madison Presbyterian last year, and she goes 5 days a week. She absolutely loves it. She thrives being around people. She is a people person. Most days, she is a great eater, but we do have our moments. She is sleeping better; however, she still joins us in our bed every night. She and Makinley can go head to head, and Tripp watches over and protects her.