2 1/2 Years Old!

2 1/2 years old!

2 years old

18 months old

1 year old

11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

 8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Josiah,

You are 2 1/2 years old! I think you have grown 2 inches this summer, and you are such a big boy!

Things that you love right now:

- Riding your Strider bike
- Garbage trucks, concrete mixers, motorcycles, and helicopters
- Playing with colored rice and little trucks
- Playing with sand, shovels, rocks, gravel, and dirt
- Playgrounds and picnics
- Playing baseball


Favorite foods:

- Pizza
- Applesauce
- PB&J
- Ice cream, chocolate, M&Ms, etc
- Pretzels
- Dum-Dums
- Popsicles


Common activities:

- Playing trucks and trains
- Running and bouncing
- Finding rocks and sticks
- Riding your bike
- Driving your Cozy Coupe and tricycle

You love to move and stretch and dance. You are my bouncing bunny, always moving, full of funny questions and ideas.

When you come and see me in the morning, you'll blow me kisses and wave and say, "Bye, Momma." When you need something, I'll hear you call, "Hey, Momma?" Often, you will check with me or Daddy if it is okay to do something with cute, quick little questions. "Can I go down the slide?" "Can I eat this grape?" "Can I have your hair band?" I love to hear that voice.

You love to show how big and fast you are. Many times I tell you, "Remember, you use your big muscles to be gentle and kind, to help and to protect the ones who are littler." I pray that you will continue to grow strong and heroic in spirit.

You are very observant of road signs and lyrics to music and little bugs and words. You can belt out your ABCs, and you are doing school time along with big brother Victor and doing a great job. Often you will work on a puzzle, play with dry beans, color in your notebook, count glass gems, or do a matching game while I do a workbook with Victor. You do a great job answering questions about our Bible lesson, and I pray that the stories that are growing more and more familiar will take root in your heart and give you growing love for Jesus.

When your strong little spirit bursts out in unkindness or disobedience, you seem to understand that the trouble begins with sin in your heart, and the One who can help is Jesus, who died to cover over our sins. How we pray that your hope will be founded on Him!

You and Victor are sharing a room now, and these recent weeks you have been doing a great job going to bed! You curl up with your (four) blankets, puppy, and bear, and go peacefully to sleep nearly every night. You are in a great nap season as well, and it helps your spirits so much when you get good rest!

I pray that these words may be true of you, like King Josiah in the Bible:

Before him there was no [one] like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might... nor did any like him arise after him.

I pray that your heart will be tender to God's call, and that even if it is unpopular or difficult you will follow Jesus with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. May God set your course to earnestly pursue Him above anything else.

We love you and are so glad that you belong to our family!


Momma and Daddy

5 Months Old!

5 months old!

 4 months

3 months

2 months

 1 month

 2 weeks old

Dear Elliot,

Happy 5 months, big boy! You are at such a delightful stage right now.

In recent news:

- You are just as mellow and cheerful and pleasant a baby as can be. As long as you can see what's going on (particularly if it involves two very active big brothers), you generally kick and coo and bounce very contentedly!

- We have fallen into a lovely rhythm of days. You get up between 7-8am, and we snuggled for a while, get a new diaper, say hi to the brothers and Daddy, and maybe do some tummy time. Around 8:30am, all of us (except Dad) normally head out for a walk/bike ride around the park. We head home around 9:15am and I feed you and put you down for a long morning snooze. The big boys play for a while, do some household chores, and do school. Then I normally put together a picnic lunch, and we are all ready to head out when you wake up (or I wake you up) around 11:30am. We romp at a park or something, eat lunch, and then head home to get down for snoozes around 1:30pm. Everybody (normally) sleeps until 3:45 or 4pm, and then we have some playtime, get supper ready, and wait for Daddy to get home. Then 7:15pm you have a long evening meal and pop into bed for the night. One or two middle-of-the-night feedings wraps things up until the new morning comes. I feel like the Lord has given us such a nice season right now, and I'm savoring it.

- You kick your feet down on your pack-and-play very forcefully when you wake up or stir in your sleep. It can be rather startling for anyone hanging around who isn't used to you.

- When you wake up in the morning, you normally coo and croon and give great big beaming smiles to anyone who comes in to see you. I love that.

- You are loving the exersaucer right now! Your big brothers normally keep you faithfully supplied with rattles or rings or other toys, and you bounce and swing around very happily (unless you're tired, in which case you need Momma to come and snuggle you in order to be content).

- You are the best snuggle bug. I just love picking you up from your crib and having you curl into my shoulder and grab fistfuls of my hair or wrap your little fingers around one of my fingers. And your cheeks are wonderfully kissable.

- You're creeping toward 20 lbs, so I get a good workout. I still normally carry you in my arms for our morning walks, and I like to take you in the K'Tan for longer walks to Galaxie and back or at church. You are decently content in the stroller, but normally prefer to be carried. But it's a beast to haul you in your carseat unless we are going only a very short distance.

- You now enjoy bathtime (it's a challenge though cleaning all of the deep crevices in your neck and legs).

- Your brothers delight in you, and you delight in them! I love to watch their energetic entertainment of you, and they are normally quite careful not to be too rough (at least one of them is).

- You love Daddy! When he walks in the door, you just beam with delight!

You are our precious Chunker Monker, and we love you to pieces and pray that God's Spirit will fill you and shape your joyful spirit to delight in the things of Christ and hold fast to him all the days of your life.

We love you, little pickle!

Momma

18 pounds 13 ounces

... of sweet handsome baby chubs! (As of Monday...)

Mr. Chunker Monker.

Celebrating

Me, being spoiled rotten:

 

At Cheesecake Factory

Side-by-side with my sweetheart, just the right way to end the day!