Kid updates!

I've been meaning to do updates on the kids considering Sophie just turned 6, Nora just turned 4, and Miles is now an 18 month old. So here they are! I finally got out the other day and took their pictures - with a bribe to head to the Children's Museum afterward - and thanks to Brian they had someone there to make 'em laugh!
Here is the one shot of the kids with them all looking at me and acting normal!

Right now Sophie is having a bit of a hard time adjusting to First grade. It started out well but starting last week every morning has been a battle. Yesterday she was having such a fit in front of the school Brian sent her back home with our neighbor while he continued on to school. And I really thing the problem is her sleep. She has always had a hard time going to bed (I remember rocking her to sleep as a baby with both of us crying, and when she was a bit older holding her hand outside her crib until she was asleep, then sneaking across the floor on my belly - only to have the floor creak and start all over again.... oh, the things we do as first time parents!) Now she is good at going to bed but has such trouble falling asleep. Sunday night she was in bed at 8pm and didn't fall asleep until 11:15. Which was the cause of the meltdown in front of the school. It is very frustrating because I don't know what to do to help her. We have a bedtime routine/schedule that has been the same for years, she doesn't watch tv before bed, and we start to wind down at 7:30. When she is well rested she is truly a sweetheart. But when she is over-tired it affects everything else. Poor girl. She is such a joy in our family and is a wonderful big sister. She is a natural little mother and loves all the babies in our neighborhood. She is constantly trying to convince us to let her get her ears pierced - and she just may win.
We love this girl!

Nora is having a great time right now being at home with me and Miles. We do pre-school lessons 3 times a week and she is very good at making sure they get done by reminding me every five minutes until we sit down and do it. She is so fun to have constantly at my side. She is pretty easygoing but when something goes wrong she can be pretty darn feisty! She is not excited for kindergarten next year because that means she has to get shots (I haven't told her yet that she is actually getting the shots for kindergarten next month...)
Oh, and she thinks her full name is Nora Gracie Girl Phillips!
We sure love her, too.

Miles is at such a fun fun age! He is so cute and funny - even if he is a little rascal. He loves cars, balls, giraffe's, tools, looking at books, riding in the stroller, sitting on his bike, being with his dad and pestering his sisters! He is becoming a less picky eater which is great and starting to talk more. Some of the words we hear often are: ball, da-ee (daddy), bike, no, uh-huh, yeah, mo-ee (mommy), and rarr (is that a word?). That's all I remember, but he is at the stage that he'll attempt to say anything you tell him to and it is so cute.

He throws some pretty impressive fits by throwing himself on the ground and banging his head around. He also has a super cute pouty lip. He has been randomly sleeping in a toddler bed up stairs in the girls' room because I want him in there before Christmas. He thinks it's pretty great to be in a big boy bed! We sure love him. He is the main source of entertainment around here.

I love this picture because this is how he folds his arms when we say prayers! Love it!

And my favorite picture of the day:

I told you Brian was making them laugh! I think at this point he was dancing a jig with a chair on his head... I had to tell him to tone it down.