The things I thought I'd never have to say....

Our kids are each so completely different. I knew that would be the case, and I've been prepared to see their differences play out. Still amazes me sometimes though. Eli, as our first, is very independent, very stubborn, and fairly ornery. But his little sister is a whole different story. Kamdyn keeps us on our toes. She is always mirroring what big brother does, therefore, she's learned/picked up a lot of things that Eli didn't start doing until he was 2 or older. But other than that, Kamdyn is sneaky. SO sneaky. She's one of those kids you can't trust to be by herself for long or she's getting into some kind of mischief. She's one of those kids that if she's quiet for too long, you know she's getting into something she probably shouldn't. This isn't something we've really had to deal with with Eli yet (and there may be no hope for Parker as the 3rd:)) Kamdyn is just a quiet little thing; she's so cute and sweet you just don't think she's going to get into trouble. So not true! It's her quietness and cuteness that make her so sneaky. She can get away with stuff because we don't normally suspect her of wrong-doing (this is quickly changing because we've seen all kinds of ornery come out of this little pixie). If you leave her alone in a room, she's likely to find the one thing she's not supposed to get, and she will be cute about misbehaving (I'm thinking the teenage years are going to be a nightmare!!!)

Anyways, that brings me to the point of this post. Our ornery little middle child......she loves to color....on ANYTHING. And I do mean anything. I can't tell you how many times i've walked into a room and seen her with something to color. It's not like we even leave pens and markers lying around. She just has the amazing ability to find the single pen or crayon in the room and use it for her "artwork" She's colored on walls, tables, floors, and even her baby brother. Seriously. The kids and I were up at Encore (the dance studio I work at) last week. Between me and Jodi (the owner), we have 6 kids, 6 and under up there. I get to watch them.....thankfully they all play well together. It's like having other siblings, only better because they aren't around to bug each other all the time:) But our kids have grown up together and love each other. Anyways, Parker and their youngest, Barron are just 11 weeks apart. Barron was upset and Parker was content, so I put him in the back room with the big kids while I went up front with Barron to help some people out. I was gone only about 5 or 10 minutes. I can hear the kids from the front. No one was upset. So they just stayed and played. Walked back into the room to find our baby a piece of art....
I was a little shocked. Not what I expected to see when I walked through the door to check on the kids:) Go figure, Kamdyn got the ONE marker that wasn't a special color wonder marker (ones that only show color on a special paper) and used it to color all over her unsuspecting baby brother. It was hilarious. One of those moments where you have to try to have a teachable moment without laughing. I mean seriously......it's not okay to just go around coloring on people. Well, anything except for paper ( a point we apparently have failed to teach to our daughter). But this was so funny. And Parker was just as happy and could be. I walked in and he was all smiles for me. He apparently didn't care that he was used as an art canvas. And Kamdyn....man she was so proud of herself it was almost cute. I walked in and she immediately said, "mommy, pretty!!" HA! Yes he's pretty, but that's not cool. So I took the marker away and put it on the front counter where hopefully it is drying out so it is no longer usable:) Thankfully it was washable. It came right off in the bath and Parker was no worse for the wear. Like I said, he seemed to like his little artwork on his body. And it got lots of smiles from anyone who saw him.
Here's are handsome little piece of art before he got cleaned up in the bath. So handsome, even with pink/purple marker on him!

So some things I didn't necessarily think I'd ever have to say before I became a parent......

don't eat your boogers!! (seriously, this was never a problem with Eli. I had to tell Kamdyn more than once in a single day. Gross!)

don't color on your brother!

Never a dull moment in the life of a parent:)