To my boys...all four of you

Dominic,
What a funny little man you've become! The last few months, you and your little brothers have really begun to bond. You can make both Patrick and Jackson giggle ceaselessly with the silly, three-year-old things you do. You are still very protective of both of them, even going to the extreme of hitting the aggravator of a fight between the two of them. When either of them throw a fit, you are quick to ask them "What happened? Do you want your boo-boo and blankie?" You are very good at sharing with them.
You've also become quite the talker. You come up with new, hilarious things every day that never stop making me laugh! Your goofy grin can make me smile, no matter my mood. You love dancing and singing and rocking out of your guitar and you are starting to know and love Jesus, too. A few days ago at the pool, I commented on what a beautiful day it was to play outside and you said "Thank you, Jesus, for letting us play at the pool," which made me tear up! You always remember to say prayers before meals, even when your dad and I don't. We love watching you growing up. What a great treasure it is for me to be able to spend so much time with you as a now stay-at-home mom.

Love,
Mommy

Patrick,
Oh, funny, funny little boy. Your personality has only gotten bigger and bigger, but you have begun to mellow out a bit. You are walking all over, following your big brother around endlessly! You two have quite a love/hate relationship, fighting and beating on each other one minute and giggling and being silly the next. Your vocabulary has grown a lot recently. Your "Help, Please" and "Up, please" and "Thank you" melt my heart! You can also say "Jackson," "Mom," "Dad" and quite a few other words.
You have become a very happy little man. The littlest things make your face light up with a big smile. You love going outside and playing in the sprinkler or with water guns. You are such a joy to your dad and I!

We love you,
Mommy

Jackson,
You are the momma's boy of the bunch. I love that! You still like snuggling with me and your dad. You are also a bit more timid than your brothers, and maybe a bit more stubborn. As a 17 month old, you are still obstinately sticking to the crawling, rather than walking. I'm not sure what this says about your little personality, but I like to think that you just don't care what everyone else is doing--you are going to do your own thing! You walk when you want to, but usually, you don't want to. You are getting to know many of your animal sounds-cow, sheep, dog and skunk (pinching your nose) and know quite a few of your body parts. Your little smile when you are praised is just adorable. You clap for yourself. You are very mellow. When we went to the parade last weekend, you sat on your dad's lap for over an hour just taking it all in! Your temper tantrums are pretty funny, too (am I allowed to laugh when you are throwing a fit?) You dramatically throw yourself to the floor with your face buried until someone picks you up. Maybe you'll be our little actor of the family!  Thanks for all the happiness you bring to this little family!

Love,
Mommy

Baby Boy Four,

Baby Boy Four (upside down) at 10 weeks.

You are a great blessing to this little family. Mommy is getting her barbershop quartet! We've decided that you'll have to sing bass :) We found out on March 16th that you'd be joining this family. I'd say you are more onery than your brothers--this has been my most difficult pregnancy, but I really don't have much to complain about! At our 10 week ultrasound, we found out that you are alone inside me (insert huge sigh of relief) and at our 18 week ultrasound, we found out that you are a little boy, and 7 ounces-right on track for a mid-November delivery. We are very excited to meet you and welcome you into the chaos of this family. Don't get too used to the quiet inside there, little one, because you probably won't experience too much of that for the next, oh, 18 years :) Dominic thinks we should name you "Jesus," or, more recently "Mr. Potato Head" We might just have to go with one of those names, as we are starting to run out of boy names! :)

We love you so much already!

Mommy

Three!

After two birthday parties, we still had the actual day of Dominic's Birthday.

The morning consisted of French Toast with a candle and more singing.

Also, doing puzzles with Uncle Jake.

I asked Dominic what he wanted to do on his birthday and he said "Open presents," naturally! By this time he had opened all of the presents we bought for him. When I told him we could get one more present he said he wanted a hot dog! So, I took him to Cody Park and we went to their concession stand, fed the ducks and geese and played on the stage in the shelter. It was a great end piece to the two weeks of celebrations.

Birthday Bash

Summer has been a blast so far. We've spent lots and lots of time outside, playing the sandbox, going to the pool and playing at the park. So, I'm about 2 months behind in blogging. But here's the fun that was Dominic's Pirate Party!

Emily, Beth and Jake all joined us to help prepare for the big celebration. Emily made personalized pirate map bags with each of the guests names on them!

They also helped with the other goodies the kiddos got: Pirate hats, eye patches, pirate earings, compasses and spy glasses.

Emily and Beth are pretty much part of the family. It just wouldn't be a Deaver boy birthday party without them!

Emily also put a pirate map on the picnic table.

Candles in dirt cups with buried treasure for the big three year old.

Did I mention how much our family LOVES these two?

My darling pirates.

(Jackson's not thrilled about the idea...)

Lucky little Dominic got three birthday parties! Happy Birthday, baby and a big thanks to all our family and friends who helped us celebrate this precious life!

Starting them early...

As Tom and Luke were building a sandbox, while putting down a few cold ones, Dominic said, "I want my Bud Light".  After repeating this a few times to a laughing grandpa and dad, Luke took Dominic inside to get him his own can of beer to hold. Once inside, Dominic pointed to his new pajamas with Buzz Lightyear on them and said "I want my Bud Light"