Birthday Fun

Yesterday we headed out for the morning to help Eli celebrate his 2nd birthday. The boys had a ball playing with toys that they didn't recognize. It was so nice for me to have some adult conversation with a good friend. Cupcakes were enjoyed by all!

Nathaniel's new words

I am not doing so good at keeping up with Nathaniel's growing vocabulary....
He is at that stage where he is mimicking so much of what we say - even if it is unintelligible in general. But he does have some sounds that he uses that are consistent.

dah = down or done, it's a toss up (this is said halfway through a meal so that we can get him down from his highchair and he will then proceed to walk around the table getting bites of food from everyone in order to finish off the meal)
ba = paci, he asks for it constantly, I have no idea how we are every going to wean him off of the thing
kah-kahk = cracker
tee-tee = eat
bah-bah = brother or Jeremiah, the reason I know this is because he runs down the hallway calling this when I ask him to wake Jeremiah up from his nap. He then body slams Jeremiah in his bed. Too cute.
chak = chalk (so he can use the easel too)

Yesterday Jeremiah wanted to play tag so he was running around the house saying "tag! you're it!" Nathaniel started running too saying at the top of his lungs, "Gah! it!"

and drum roll please......
finally a consistent "mama"! Yeah!

Savior King

This song by Hillsong United has been inspiring me lately. The words are simple and profound and the music leads me to worship - even at my kitchen sink, elbow deep in dirty water. I hope it can do the same for you.

Saviour King - Hillsong
And now the weak say I have strength
By the spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead
And now the poor stand and confess
That my portion is Him and I'm more than blessed

Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for your Son's holy name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our king

We love you Lord, we worship you
You are our God, you alone are good
You asked your Son to carry this
The heavy cross our weight of sin

Let now your church shine as the bride
That you saw in your heart as you offered up your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed those adopted as your own

I love you Lord, I worship you
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honor this
The love of Christ, the savior king

Not What I Imagined

Last week was ending well and we were having a good start to the new year. With Aaron home we had been able to do a lot of cleaning and organizing around the house that had been put off for awhile. I felt like I was going to be able to really hit the ground running when he returned to work. I had great plans for a new tracking and organization system for our finances, better menu planning and shopping habits, a cleaning schedule at home, and some scheduled daily "school time" for Jeremiah. I felt good, in control, organized, accomplished.
When will I ever learn?
Saturday I woke up exhausted and spent most of the day in bed. Sunday was worse and I again spent the day in bed while Aaron took the boys to church and to his parents. Monday was no better and I felt tears of exhaustion and despair as I watched Aaron head out the door to work. Just caring for the basic needs of the boys drained me of all my energy, not to mention the extra attention that Jeremiah needs when papa heads back to work and the fun of vacation is over. Tuesday I finally headed to the doctor and was told I have bronchitis.
Last night as Aaron fixed dinner and took care of the boys bed and bath time I looked around the house and despaired. Everything that had been done over the vacation had been undone in just a few short days. The kitchen was a mess, laundry had piled up, toys and books were strewn everywhere. We had already blown our carefully made budget on take out food because I was just too tired to cook. Jeremiah's behavior was spiraling out of control after 2 days of being home with a mama who could barely make it off the couch.
This morning I feel a bit better physically but am still struggling with the sense of disappointment that I have not done what I wanted to do this week. I am struggling again to remember that my worth does not come from how good my house looks, how organized I am, or even how well my kids behave. There is beauty and comfort in knowing that as I attempt to go about my tasks today (exhausted and coughing constantly) that God will give the exact amount of strength I need. This is not the way I imagined the new year starting, but God knew exactly what was coming. I started this year in self-reliance and with a desire to "do it right." God has shown me that I need Him for everything and that doing things "right" is not as important as loving Him and leaning on Him completely.

Friends

It is still sometimes hard to believe that these 3 guys are now fathers! :-)
Aaron has been friends with Josh and Matt since he was in middle school and on the puppet team with them. It was fun to spend an afternoon with them, their wives, and kids.

New Year?

Celebrating New Year in America has always been hard for me. It never feels as good as celebrating New Year in Holland, so I tend to avoid the whole thing. So yesterday passed in a normal routine of house cleaning, child caring, and working at Sonic. I got home at 11:00pm, stayed up to watch the ball drop, kissed my husband and was in bed by 12:15. I know. Exciting stuff.
The year 2008 for me seems to have just gone by really fast. I always felt a step behind and a tad unorganized. In 2008 I never really felt like I was able to get my act together.
There were a few significant milestones as well as just the normal triumphs of every day life:
I resigned as the director of Mercy's Chosen Children in the spring and began my glamorous career of part time evenings as Sonic Drive-In. :-)
Aaron graduated with his Masters of Education in May and finished up his final class for his teaching certification in December.
Jeremiah was completely potty trained in about 3 days in February. He also continued to progress in learning to read and write. (I'm going to brag here and say that he is really good at writing and is quickly learning to sound out words that are longer than 3 letters!). He enjoyed his first VBS experience. The past year has shown real growth in intellectual, emotional, and social maturity.
Nathaniel has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year. He learned to crawl then walk in the span of 2 months and since then has been unstoppable. We celebrated his first birthday in August. He was weaned. The past year he has moved from baby to little boy.
2008 brought my brother Ben and his wife Ramona to America where they are now settling. It also brought a fall visit from my parents. We have visited the Philly/NJ area 3 times since July! We followed the historic election from the early primaries to the final vote.
--
I am looking forward to 2009. The past year had some pretty significant stressors for us (financial, emotional, scheduling) and I am hoping that 2009 will be a little less stressed. With Aaron's schooling behind him we are now free to starting thinking more about our housing situation (move? where?) and Aaron's long term career plans. I am looking forward to continuing to watch my sons mature and develop. I am looking forward to having more time to be more involved in ministry in some way.
As I look back on 2008 I am amazed by God's grace and goodness to us. He always provided abundantly more than what we could ask or imagine. As I think ahead to 2009 this refrain keeps running through my mind:
"Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love as you have loved me
Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I have for your kingdom's cause
As I go from nothing to eternity."
- Hosanna, Hillsong Lyrics
I am excited to see what God will do in our lives in 2009!

Hair cut = baby gone

Yesterday I did what I have been putting off for many weeks now. I gave Nathaniel a hair cut. I still get pangs in my heart when I look at his little face and see the grown up boy without his soft baby curls. It is true that once those first baby curls are gone there is no going back.

The Before Pictures:

The After Pictures:

Fun Uncles & Aunts

Gingerbread Fun

Family Pictures

The generation's on Steve's side of the family.

The generations on Brenda's side of the family.

The Rapier gang.

Two cute boys!

Christmas Presents

Christmas Eve

We enjoyed Christmas Eve day quietly together with just the 4 of us. We had a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls and eggs and then opened a few gifts. Nothing fancy or elaborate. We mostly get the boys books, puzzles, and craft things. They each got one toy. It was a rainy, overcast day but we felt so cozy and warm inside. After lunch (chicken enchiladas, yum!) we read the Christmas story, sang some carols and took naps. In the evening we went to the Christmas Eve service and then to Steve & Brenda's to spend 2 days there for the "Rapier Christmas." (Pics of that to come later.)

There is a duck under the tree helping to hand out presents. :-)

Oh, not a duck. A little boy in a duck towel (which he loves!).

You will notice that Jeremiah is in the stage where he makes one certain face when asked to smile for the camera.

Stockings are fun!
Jeremiah's stocking contained lots of "school stuff" for us to start in the new year.

All it takes to make this boy happy is a gigantic Thomas sticker book.

Nathaniel ponders the bath submarine.
He wasn't sure what it was, but that night spent almost an hour in the tub!

Jeremiah plays with Cranky the Crane, the newest addition to the Thomas collection.
Jeremiah is really excited about his new Batman pj's. They even have a little cape on the back. He likes to run around the house and make the cape fly out behind him.

Nathaniel is certain there have to be more presents to open somewhere. He really really liked opening presents. It was hilarious to watch.

Somewhere in the day we got to Skype with Oma and Opa. They asked Jeremiah why he got presents and he promptly replied, "Because papa and mama love me!"
Today we are home and recovering from a fun but hectic week. It feels good to be putting away the Christmas stuff and getting back into a normal routine. Aaron has this week off still so we will enjoy having him at home. Jeremiah misses doing our Advent readings (mostly because of the chocolate I think) so we have been doing short Bible readings every night in bed. He loves singing the Christmas carols he learned this year and will often break out into a loud "gloria in excelcis deo!" It was fun to experience this Chrismas through the wonder and awe of a child's eyes.

Mary Did You Know?

Every Christmas since I have been a mother I find myself reflecting on what Mary must have gone through as she bore her first son, the Son of God, into the world. Something about those reflections help me to realize the reality of Christ's incarnation. Last year my dad played a song in one of his Christmas sermons that I found very powerful. I share it with you hoping that in these final moments of busy preparation you will have a chance to let the reality of Christ's arrival on earth sink into your soul and encourage your spirit.

Story of a picture

The intention this year was to get a friend to do some great family photography for us this fall that we could use for Christmas pictures. For various reasons it never really worked out. So at the last minute we were kind of scrambling for a picture to use for our Christmas cards. It is really hard to get a picture of all 4 of us looking good at the same time! Next year we will try harder to get the professional shots done. I thought this collage of the many attempts at a good family picture was cute and now that I have made it I wish I had printed and sent it as our Christmas picture. (Hey, an idea for next year!)
We ended up choosing the center one as the "official" Christmas picture. Sure, the boys faces are a little funny, but their expressions reflect their personalities. I guess the lesson this year is that this is who we are. Sure, a professional posed picture with us all in matching outfits and perfect smiles would be nice, but these show the reality of who we really are. We are not always perfect, we don't always match, and we don't always smile. But we sure do have a lot of fun!

Cookies

A few nights ago we made and decorated Christmas cookies for the neighbors. It was fun to do with Jeremiah.

Unfortunately the cookies never made it to the neighbors. We went over there about 3 different times over a few days and they were never home. So the cookies got eaten at our house. I am still debating whether to make more or to make a pie. While the decorating was lots of fun, it was also lots of work and mess. :-)
I finally took Jeremiah to the doctor today. He has been coughing a lot at night for the past week or so, but didn't have a fever or wheezing or anything like that. She is not worried but did put him on an antibiotic just because Christmas is around the corner and since the cough hasn't resolved itself she thought we should help it along. Jeremiah always surprises me. At home his behavior over the past few weeks has been challenging. He can be very stubborn, disobedient, and disrespectful. But in the doctors office he was an angel! He was obedient, polite and engaging. He charmed the doctors socks off. :-) It gave me hope that the discipline I (try) to instill at home is in fact bearing fruit. It reminded me to keep the big picture in mind and not let individual trying days dishearten me too much.