siblings

Having a little creativity block...
which means I find myself at Pinterest looking at others' ideas and creativity. I get lost in the "pretties" - from clever crafty ideas to beautiful places around the world. Anyway, I already posted on Pinterest, so I won't go down that rabbit trail ;)
Sooo...
School's been in for a solid week now. I think we've transitioned into the new routine and have found our "groove" for the mornings and afternoons. Mr. H is still able to take Lynn to school (thanks to his work allowing him to shift his hours) and I handle the homework "un-happy" hours after school ;)
I really did have a good summer with both kids at home. I felt like the time was terrific with each of them - Lynn and I bonded over reading together. Each night we curled up on the couch together and read our own books next to each other. As a bookworm myself, it has been a-m-a-z-i-n-g to see that love of reading take off this summer! Last year, it was like twisting her arm to convince her to try something longer than a children's storybook. This summer, she's now gotten hooked on The Boxcar Children series as well as the American Girl series' and (an easier read) the Rainbow Magic series' which feature fairies (the only hang-over from the days of Disney princesses: Tinkerbell & "fairies"). I enjoy hearing about the plots and getting to discuss the characters and little details that excite her about the story.
Zane has not stopped growing, learning or talking. It surprises me each day what he words and concepts he is repeating and just independently talking about. Maybe it's just more of that younger sibling stuff, but he seems to be making leaps and bounds faster than I remember with Lynn. He is one smart little dude. Or very observant anyways ;)

I'm not sure if any of you moms that have a significant gap between your children would agree, but for us Zane has just been this breath of fresh air. Lynn is such a serious kid and has always just been prone to challenging us, negotiating everything, and has a definite opinion on how something should be done. Maybe that's just a lot of typical stuff for first-borns (especially as the child of two first-borns as parents!), but in comparison Zane is sooo laid back and funny. He will make funny faces and expressions that he knows makes us chuckle and then giggle along with us. I know a lot of what we find so irresistibly adorable is probably just having a toddler around, when it's been six years since Lynn was there, but underneath it all, he has a totally different personality that I am so excited to see how will develop and be used by God. Zane is a tangible reminder that God remembers us and is so gracious to give us what we don't deserve. To allow us to have Zane after losing Nathan was pure grace. And we are so grateful. I am thankful for both of my children. Their differences (and their similarities) make them excellent siblings and such amazing blessings to us.