Joesph

Andrew’s school puts on a nativity program at Christmas time every year.  Since November I have been asking him questions about it, all he told me is that they are singing Away in a Manger and clapping their hands. I would ask if her was going to be a wise man, he would say maybe a wise man or Joseph. I would then tell him that being a wise man would be really fun (I didn’t think he would be Joseph because in his previous stage performances he covered his face with his hands or stood there not moving a inch.)

On the day of the performance Andrew was so excited to get to school, he was looking forward to the book exchange, the performance and the cookies and lemonade that followed the performance.  I had prepped Andrew, by looking at last years pictures and video of the Christmas program and talking about how fun it would be to smile on stage and sing the words to the songs. Andrew was so excited, my favorite quotes from him that morning were “Mom, don’t run up to the stage while I am preforming, wait until the whole show is done.” “ Mom, you can cheer for me Go, Andrew, Go!” “Mom, I want water for my drink at lunch so I can have lemonade at the party.” “Mom, my performance is right after lunch so make sure you drive the fast way to school.”

I drop Andrew off at school and his teacher told me that Andrew is going to be Joseph in the play! Yes, he had been trying to tell me that all month and I kept telling him, that I think he will be a wise man!

 Joseph smiled when I would wave at him.

 Mary and Joseph. This is the look Andrew had most of the performance.

 Doing a hand motion to a song. Most of the time, he did not sing or do hand motions.

 Andrew guarded baby Jesus well he did not let go of the manger. He stood there and endured the performance.

 Partying it up after the big show. It was so much fun and Andrew had so much fun too. I have so much fun watching Andrew’s personality on stage and I love being the mom on my hands and knees crawling to the front of the stage with my camera and phone to capture my kids performance.

GRADUATION!!!!!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!! After 4.5 years of hard work Bobby has graduated with a Masters of Science in Family Nurse Practitioner!!!! I am so proud of him, he has 3 kids, worked full time, lead a life group all while going to graduate school, plus many other things. It was a long road and the past year has been so busy and stressful. We knew the last year and a half would be the hardest, and it was… I am so thankful it is over. The Lord was with our family every step of the way and He was faithful to take care of us. The Lord guided us on how to handle our finances, there is no school debt to pay off and the Lord provided for Bobby to take 12 weeks off from work to finish school. Even the little details were taken care of, Bobby was able to take educational leave at work so we were able to keep his benefits during his leave, which saved us money and Bobby was able to return to his job when he was done logging his clinical hours. Bobby graduated with honors and we skipped the formal ceremony and had a feast day at our house. It was laid back and fun.

The boys marinating the steaks, we had new york strip steaks that were 2 inches thick. Bobby’s steaks are better than any restaurants. We also had vegetable kabobs, jalapeño poppers, chips and salsa and guacamole.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures at our party, we had a fun day with Ashely, David and their family and Bobby’s mom, they all came over and partied at our house all day. The kids had so much fun running around and playing.

The kids made a train to chug around the house (Ava is about the same size as Lily, she is on her knees in the picture)

I french braided Lily’s hair for the first time.

 The hair artwork.

 Will and Ben hanging out.

It is hard to believe that when Bobby started graduate school Andrew was 9 months old, the same age that Will is now. Bobby will be studying for his nurse practitioner boards test, he is hoping to take it sometime in February and start working at a family practice office in the spring.

Way to go Bobby!!!!!

Iced In!!!

Earlier in the month we had a big ice storm hit. 

The first morning the kids were so excited to bundle up and get out and play in the snow/ice. This was the first year that Andrew played outside in the snow longer than it took to get him bundled up and then cleaned up.

The trucks got straight to work cleaning the ice and snow.

Lily helped Daddy carry wood to the back door.  We had a fire going for several days straight, it was so fun.

 The first 2 days were fun, after that we were ready to get out. This was also Bobby’s first week back to work at the hospital. When the weather is like this it makes us thankful for the 4 wheel drive on his truck.

 This is Lily’s favorite way to enjoy a fire.

 Super cool track that Andrew put together all by himself.

 Q-tip painting, while snowed we crafted more than usual.

 Andrew and Lily painted marks on their face like football players, Andrew’s were black and Lily used pink (which is currently her favorite color).

 My sweet baby!!!

After 5 days of ice and slow paced life at home, the ice finally melted and life went back to normal.

I love this photo of Will, it is tough to get a smiling picture of this guy and I got one here.

Deck the Halls

At the beginning of December we pulled out all of the Christmas boxes and put the tree up. We had 3 little helpers this year. The kids excitement made the decorating so fun and all the decorations went up pretty fast. Every year I take a picture of the kids with the Christmas lights, I always love capturing the excitement of decorating for Christmas.

Andrew loved hanging ornaments and wanted to know that story behind each ornament and I bet he will remember it all, he is good a noticing and remembering little details.

Lily loved helping too, Andrew got the step stool out for Lily to get her ornament up high so Will can’t reach them.

I was not looking forward to putting the Christmas tree up, because I thought Will would be pulling up on the tree all the time and destroying ornaments. It has not been so bad, at first Will was very interested in it but most days he doesn’t mess with it much and Andrew and Lily have made sure none of the ornaments are within Will’s reach.

After we got the house decorating we got a little crazy and started running around the house to Christmas music wearing a drum on our heads.

Will’s first time to discover the tree.

Andrew pretending to nap under the Christmas tree.

Will rocking his Christmas pi’s and climbing the mountain of toys!

Lily dressed up as Jake the pirate and her face covered in stickers. I love how creative and fun Lily is.

9 months old

I can’t believe my baby is 9 months old! He is a active little boy, he loves to crawl and pull up on everything! He weighs 19 pounds (45%) and is 26.5 inches long (16%).

 Will is wearing 12 month clothes, a size 3 shoe and is about to move up into a size 4 diaper soon. Will loves to take a bath and will play happily in the tub for a long time. Will’s top front teeth are coming in.

 I have found Will splashing in the toilet (he is the first in our family to do that). Will kept pulling up on a floor lamp in the living room and falling backwards with it crashing down on him. So that lamp is now in the garage. My plants have taken refuge at my parent's house because Will kept attacking them to knock them over and trying to eat the leaves.  Will is cruising around the house like crazy on anything that will support his weight and I have caught him standing without holding on to anything. The other day Andrew was sitting in a kitchen chair and Will was able to push that chair and move it. Will’a favorite way to pull up is by grabbing onto your pant leg. The more mobile he is becoming the happier he is.

Will has discovered his love for food these past 2 weeks. He is now happily eating baby food, and chewing on table food. So far the only things he doesn’t like are avocados and the jar of chicken noodle soup baby food, however he loved the chicken and rice soup I made. Will loves puffs, broccoli raw or cooked, cucumbers, apple slices, mango slices and sweet potatoes. He is now eating 3 meals a day.

Will has been sleeping better, for the past week he has been waking up at midnight and sleeping until 6:00 am, so he is averaging 6 hours of sleep before waking up! His naps are also improving, some days he will take a 1.5 - 2 hour nap. Morning naps are usually on the go and don’t last long, but Will is usually happy as long as he is held on those long mornings. He is still sleeping in his woombie swaddles blanket but can crawl, sit up and pull up to standing while in the swaddle, he can also get out of it if he want to.

Will says Mama, Dada, and baba. He loves peek a boo, he can spot a iPhone a mile away and will race to chew on it.  He knows the difference between the real TV remotes and the old remotes we have turned into toys. He is such a sweet cuddly baby. He loves to laugh and smile, he just doesn’t smile much for the camera. The nine month mark is always bittersweet for me, I am always a little sad to think that Will has now spent more of his life outside the womb than he did in it. I love you Will happy 9 months!

Will's Dedication

This past Sunday was Will's baby dedication.

All dressed up ready to go to church.

At the dedication our children's minister read the scripture and blessing we picked out for Will. It was special to be able to share our heart for Will with the whole church.

I love this picture! That smile on Will is so good.  He does not smile for the camera much, I think he is giggling in this picture.

 Hanging out with Mimi before the service started.

 Andrew got to stay in the service to see Will get dedicated and to see some older kids get baptized. The camera caught him funny, trust me he was not asleep or tired, he never is :) It was such a special service to see young children getting baptized and to see young babies getting dedicated.

 After church we went to Dickeys bbq to celebrate Will.

 On Sundays kids eat free and they have free soft serve ice cream for everyone. The kids loved it and will probably be begging to go every Sunday :) Lily really enjoyed her first ice cream cone ( I normally get her a cup of ice cream).

 Will trying to chew on the high chair and also trying to get out. FYI: they say high chairs are one of the dirtiest things at a restaurant besides the menus. I tell myself I am strengthening his immune system :)

Ben and Will hanging out. Their age gap seems so big right now, hard to believe in a year or less they will be great buddies.

 Dr. Pepper in a cup you get to take home, dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, waffle fries and a ice cream cone, Andrew had a grand time celebrating.

 Uncle Kirks extra tall ice cream cone.

Bobby holding baby Ben.

Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

I bless you William to KNOW that God is with you and not against you. He loves you more than your parents could fathom and sees you as his reward. May the Lord open your eyes and ears to know the ways that He cares for you and give you the manliest of hearts to respond to his great love for you. 

That is the blessing Bobby wrote for Will and the verse he picked for him.

Will, we love you so much, you bring so much joy and fun to our family. I am excited to see what special plans the Lord has for your life. I pray that you will hear His voice at a young age and learn to listen and obey it always. When I was pregnant with you, the word the Lord had for you was that Will is going to be a warrior for the Lord's kingdom. God is going to use your life to impact others in a mighty way that will bring glory to God! I love you always and forever!