He is four.

I don't know how it happened, but this morning Casen woke up as a four year old. It's not that I don't think he's big enough to be four. It's actually quite the contrary. He truly is his brother's shadow, and we treat him as so. I feel like he should be turning six. He has his three/four year old moments, but for the most part, we put him on the same level as Jacob. I guess there are pros and cons to that.
Anyway, here are a few significant things about my four year old baby boy. :)

He has the sweetest, most loving spirit.
He wants to marry me someday.
He loves his brother and sister like no other.
He's a talker.
He wants to stay with me forever.
He's shy around strangers.
He's loud.
He can add and subtract one-digit numbers.
He can write most letters of the alphabet with ease.
He can spell his name, along with Jacob and Mya.
He plays soccer.
He's about to start t-ball.
He loves school. I try to bribe him to stay home sometimes with no success.
He still has adorably, chubby hands.
He has "I can get anything I want with these" big, brown eyes.
He's everything a boy entails.
He has my heart.

Happy birthday, sweet boy. Momma loves.

Another one bites the dust.

Our collection of nebulizer masks. We now have one for each child. I'd really rather my children share some other trait besides the difficulty to breathe.

Kisses.

This better be the only boy she kisses for a long time! Well, besides her brothers. :)

Nine months.

i'm in awe of how much older she looks here than last month.

here are her nine-month stats:

• 17.7 pounds.
• 28 inches.
• blondie.
• still baby blue.
• what's that?? teeth? yes! two of them! had 'em for about a week now.
• naps? ha!
• last month she was babbling "m" sounds. that came to a screeching halt and was replaced with "d" sounds. grrr...
• is a master sitter. can even turn in circles now.
• still prefers rolling. the latest maneuver is to turn in a circle on her belly until she's pointing the right direction and then roll to her desired location.
• loves her toys. until christmas, she really didn't have any.
• is, without a doubt, the loudest child i have ever heard. she yells/screams when she's happy OR sad. not much differentiation. there are times when i'm afraid she's going to bust my ear drum...seriously.
• has quite the temper. when she doesn't get her way, she clinches her fists, grits her two teeth and shakes. it's a little scary.
• is no longer interested in wearing headbands. tragic. (this one came off as soon as i left her hands alone.)
• has never been and is still not interested in wearing shoes. tragic. (i put these shoes on multiple times during the two minutes i was taking her pictures.)
• still loves me. especially when she's sad.
• stops everything as soon as she hears her daddy's voice when he comes home from work.
• absolutely LOVES to be outside. if she sees outside through the door or window and doesn't get to go, she throws a fit. luckily it's been a little warmer this past week.

totally in love with this over-the-top smile!

happy nine months, baby girl. momma loves.

here are a few more pictures for entertainment.

this looks like attitude already. you better check that!

the shoes! she only wanted to eat them the whole time.

the next three pictures were taken back to back. my how she can turn fast.

 again with the over-the-top smile. love.

i guess we're done. :) oh, see those teeth?!

outside time.

we really have to watch the boys' toys. everything goes to her mouth these days.

how'd this cutie get in here??

and this one??