My girls

There are some days I wonder what I would do without my daughters. Gabriella wants to do everything she can to help around here these days. Naptime...or at least the time leading up to it anyway...is probably when I seem to need her the most. You see, each of the kids have their special routines I have always walked them through leading up to their naps and being that they all rest at the same time in the afternoon...they all need mommy's help getting ready at the same time. Now that we've added a new baby into the mix, mommy's hands seem to be even less free for the other kids...especially when that little baby is needing to eat. So anyway, one afternoon last week we were running quite late getting up to bed and I just about felt like my head was going to fall off it was spinning in so many directions. After taking a moment to get myself back into mommy mode, I headed upstairs to find that Gabriella had not only already gotten Brody and Cassidy to the potty and into their beds, she was reading to them and tucking them in safe and snug for a nice afternoon's rest. Since that day, Gabriella has now become an extra mommy helping that naptime routine go just a little more smoothly.

It seems as though Gabriella doesn't want to just help herding her siblings off to bed these days though. This afternoon she was holding little Joseph on the couch while I was beside her folding some laundry. She began to rustle around and as I looked over at her I noticed her shirt pulled up and Joseph pressed against her chest. I said to her, "Gabriella, what on earth are you doing?" and she promptly replied, "Well Mommy, I am just trying to feed him!"

Cassidy, as well, has grown such a tender heart for her baby brother these past weeks. Out of all the members of our household, Cassidy has had this way of settling Joseph when the rest of us have seemingly failed. I swear, I can just put that little boy in her arms and he will calm and go to sleep quicker than one might even imagine. And oh how peaceful he looks beside her. They truly are developing a special bond. Just over a week ago, Brody got a little carried away with some of his toys and sent a plastic Little People figurine across the room. It ended up hitting Joseph on the side of the head while he was lying in Cassidy's arms and oh my goodness did Cassidy ever just start sobbing...and do I ever mean sobbing...to the point where I think I had to spend more time consoling her than I did poor little Joseph! All I could really make out in between her cries at the time was, "...oh my baby brother, my baby brother!"