Babysitting the Porters

I have been watching these kiddos for a couple of months now, but realized that I have not really mentioned them in the blog. Since they have become a big part of our lives lately I figured that I should remedy that.

Braiden and Maggie come to our house 4 days a week while Renee is in school. They are with us for most of the day when they are here sometimes leaving a little early in the afternoons, but mostly just hanging out with us all day. Renee and I have always swapped babysitting so Braiden and Trevor have never really known a time when they haven't gotten to play with each other at least once a week if not more. But having them this much time has taken the relationship of these kids to a new level.

We have always joked that Braiden and Trevor act more like brothers than cousins. Mostly because they love to play with each other, but end up fighting with one another as well. While that is still the case, the fighting has become a less pronounced part of their relationship. They have started to have some really good make believe together. My favorite as of late has been when one will play the Grinch while the other is Max. They take turns back and forth so that one of them isn't always ordering the other around.

Maggie and Levi are much a different pair than their brothers. Levi is smitten with Maggie and they play very well together. At least as well as 1 year olds can, which means they only fight when they both want the same toy, and that actually doesn't happen very often. Levi is always very concerned that Maggie has her things, her Binky, her sippie, and will make a very dedicated effort to give them to her. That means that often you will find her shoving Maggie's Binky in her face. This doesn't usually make Maggie cry, she will just try to help him find the right part of her face while still protecting the rest of her.

Ellen fits well with both groups of kids. She is often the ring leader of the make believe when she gets home from school. She also has become a big helper with the babies. It helps immensely that Maggie is so tiny, but Ella really can pack her just about anywhere and does a good job entertaining the two little ones. She likes the fact that she can babysit them when Mommy is in the house.

With all of this fun I have to admit has come some stress as well. As I'm sure many of you Mom's out there can imagine I have increased the number of kids I have each day almost by two. It makes going places interesting. We have to start loading up about 10 minutes early to take Ellen to school and then pick her up again....I spend a lot of time tromping around the back of the van trying to get everyone buckled in. The mess has also increased. About every 1 1/2 hours I have to go through the whole house and pick up the toys and return them to the bedrooms to their positions. If I don't do this the toys just continue to scatter throughout the house and it takes longer at the end of the day to put them away. (Not to mention that my house is tiny and there is nowhere for these toys to get spread to except my front room and kitchen where we continue to walk on them all day.) I have not built up the courage to go to the store with all five of them except in the occasional emergency so that means that my time without the Porter children is usually spent running errands. But despite all of that, I am still glad that they are here.

I am glad that my kids have such a strong bond with their cousins and get so excited every morning when they arrive. I love that they ask where they are all weekend long. I pray that these bonds will hold strong for their entire lives so that no matter what life brings us they may always know that they have a friend.

We love you Maggie and Braiden!