the Tillotsons

The Tillotsons (aka TNT) are currently a family of 6 but are expanding to 7 this spring.
Our oldest is Helaman, a 6 year old in first grade. He is a great big brother and has developed the patience of a saint with his younger sisters. Of course, being with so many littler ones he sometimes forgets to act his own very mature age. Helaman loves figuring out the mechanics of things. Case in point: we had a pool in the backyard at our previous house and he spent most of his pool time thoroughly cleaning the pool filter and checking it's function. Helaman likes to be in the middle of things and directing the action.
Olivia is 5 years old and missed the school cut-off for kindergarden by a few days; I have really enjoyed having her home this year. She keeps asking when school starts. Olivia is also a great sister. She is into hamming it up, going for the laughs and often using movie lines for her delivery. Olivia is interested in all things Helaman and they are very close. 'Liv is not one for too much exertion, either with exercise or housework; I suspect she feels she relates to Cinderella. Olivia shares a room with her sister Meredith, which creates its own kind of relationship tension. They share a lot and Olivia especially wants to define herself in terms of their differences; the days of matching outfits and toys are OVER.
Meredith is 4 years old and is a great sister. She loves tagging along with the older two and shows a lot of selflessness to her baby sister. Meredith seems easygoing and resilient, although she's no pushover. When the others get themselves worked into a tizzy she usually just sucks her thumb, shrugs, and goes on her merry way. Meredith enjoys helping Mom a lot, especially when I'm baking. She likes playing with others but also plays by herself very well.
Sophia is a fabulous 22 month old. She is a lot of personality in a small package. She is our most rough and tumble child, and most of the time when bumps happen she jumps right back into the fray. Right now she seems busy trying to express to Meredith that she is her own boss - and maybe Mer's boss, too. But nobody better take her place on Momma's lap or they are cruisin' for a bruisin' (yeah, we're working on that). She's tough and headstrong but still loves to cuddle up regularly. Sophia has recently made it known that it's potty-training time - she won't stay in a wet diaper for more than a couple of minutes, and you can just forget about the dirty ones! She is keeping Mom on her toes; most nights I wander the house looking for any discarded pull-ups I missed earlier in the day.
I'm about half-way through my 5th pregnancy (it doesn't seem possible that it's number 5) and hanging in there. The emotional upheaval that usually hits me in the first trimester seems to have been on hold for the second trimester; and I thought I was going to get away without it this time! Hey, as long as the baby doesn't get comfy on my sciatic nerve, I'll survive!
Josh is involved in a big 6 month project at work as VP of IT up north in Zelienople, but it's nice to have him home every night since for most of our married life he was on the road 2-3 weeks/month. He's a great dad; the kids try to put their feet down every now and then and ask him to be "serious dad" for a change. He works hard at keeping us all from taking ourselves too seriously.