Our Kids

I thought that perhaps a more detailed introduction to our children would be good for those of you who don't know them very well. Let me start by saying that each one of our children firmly believes that they were meant to be an only child. Ask any of them that can talk and they have a plan for how we can sell the other kids so that they will be the only one. And then we could use that money for Disneyland. The first time I remember hearing one of them say we could get rid of some of the others was Hailey before Jonathan was born. Her exact words were “We don’t need Adam anymore, Mommy.” Me: “What will we do with him?” Hailey: “We can give him to someone else who needs a boy.” Me: “But won’t we miss him?” Hailey: (with an obvious air of exasperation) “Well we can call him, Mommy – we’ll get the people’s phone number.” Yeah, she was 4 and she had the whole thing planned out. She had obviously spent some time thinking about it. I think that someday they will appreciate having brothers and sisters. I hope so anyway…

Anna Marie Joyner is 8 years old and is very smart. She just finished reading the Harry Potter series - all 7 books all by herself - and she has already jumped into another book. She usually has two or three going at a time, and she also writes wonderful stories. She is also pretty quick witted. We went to the mall the other day and I was looking for a shirt for myself. I asked her which colors I should try on, and she listed some. Me: "Not this yellow one?" Anna: "Mm, no." Me: (trying to be funny) "You know Anna, some people say I look good in yellow." Anna: "Well, I'm not one of those people am I?" Oh yeah, she is definetly my daughter. She also has a very goofy sense of humor that she gets from her dad.

Hailey Elizabeth Ila Joyner is very logical as you can see from the conversation about getting rid of Adam. She is also very blunt. Jon always says she is a 90 year-old woman in the body of a five year-old. She makes me laugh with the things that come out of her mouth that you don't expect. We were driving one day and I had forgotten something, which I voiced with something like "Dang it, I forgot..." and from the middle seat I hear her say "Oh, snap!" Hailey is her own special brand of child.

Adam Crandon Joyner is crazy. That is really the only word you can use to describe him. He is three years-old and he looks nothing like the girls, but he looks just like a King (my side of the family.) However, his personality and sense of humor is all Joyner. Do I really need to say anymore about that? He also thinks he is hilarious and just the most important thing in the world (and yes, that comes from his dad as well.) Adam is going to be the bane of my existence, because he knows which buttons to push to make me laugh. There are so many times when I am trying to discipline him and he will just pull one of his stunts and I can't help but laugh. It is a challenge I am trying to overcome.

Jonathan Neil Joyner is the baby of the family, but he is huge. He is just over a year old but he is the size of an 18-month-old. Not a big surprise when you consider the fact that he was just about 11 pounds when he was born. Yeah. He is the darkest child we have, but actually looks a lot like Adam despite their obvious tone differences. He drags his fuzzy blanket around with him all the time, and as long as it is stuffed in his mouth he is happy. We had to get extras because they have to be washed all the time or they start to smell. Jonathan gets into more trouble than any of the other kids ever did, and he keeps me on my toes. He will eat and eat and eat -I have honestly only seen him refuse food maybe twice. I have to cut him off because he will eat until he is sick. But he isn't a fat baby, since he is so tall - he is just solid. He is going to be the kid that everyone thinks is mentally slow because he will always look so much older than he is, and I am going to have to constantly be saying, "Oh, no, he's only ... years old."

So those are our children. They are each their own kind of special, in good ways and bad. But aren't we all?