Shhh, it's a surprise

This is what we got Jeremiah for his birthday!

A Day Out With Thomas

We won't get to actually go until April so he will have to be a little bit patient, but I think it will be fun!

Life

Despite a challenging few days dealing with colds, teething (will those teeth ever break through?), and lack of sleep our life is good and full of fun moments and memories. Here are a few.

Bed time reading. So cozy.

Jeremiah has 2 funny faces.

He likes to play with his digital camera. "Make a silly face mama!"

When I ask Jeremiah to make a funny face he comes up with one of these two. But what he lacks in creativity he makes up for in enthusiasm. Silly boy!

Last night Nathaniel decided that he wanted to hold the spoon. He literally grabbed it from Aaron every time it approached his mouth.

Rolling!

Watch out world! Nathaniel figured out how to roll over last night and seems to enjoy his new found skill. He really loves the rolling part but does get abit frustrated after being on his tummy for more than a few minutes. He still hasn't figured out how to roll back. From my experience with Jeremiah this new accomplishment means that greater mobility is not far behind. Now we have to be more careful where we put him down.

I figured out that I need to flip the hip over. Now I will rest for a minute.

Oh boy! I got onto my stomach, but that darn arm is stuck.

I pulled the arm out, but what do I do with it now?

Look at that! I can put the arm in front of me and push up!

Look at me! Now that I have figured it out I like this rolling over thing.

(I know that I am his mother but I love love love this picture. Don't you just want to eat him up!? I can never give enough kisses!)

the Magnificat

I have a really hard time being performance oriented. I tend to base how I feel about myself around what I can accomplish and how I think others perceive my actions. So today I am struggling because nothing has really been accomplished since last week Thursday. Nathaniel has been fussy because of his shots, and then just when that was going away he got a horrible cold which means he can barely sleep. And doesn't want to be put down.

So this morning I am sitting bleary eyed in front of the computer trying not to let the disheveled state of my house and appearance get me down. I am trying not to dwell on all the ways I have failed as a wife and mother (and sister and friend and employee) in the past few days.

I feel distant from God. Disconnected from His presence.

As I was nursing Nathaniel and trying to pray this morning I was reminded of the verses Travis preached on this past Sunday. Most people simply read Mary's magnificat around Christmas time as simply a beautiful song in which Mary praises God for choosing her to bear Christ. But I saw it differently this morning. The words of the magnificat brought me face to face with my own selfishness and self involvement. I get so overwhelmed and depressed because I fail to take the time to remember the truths that Mary so eloquently sang about thousands of years ago. I forget about the things that God has done. I forget about God's mercy and provision. I forget that my life is not about the way my house looks, the way I look, or the things I have but about magnifying my Savior. Mary's magnificat reminds me today to step back and fix my eyes on God's glory.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away/

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and his offspring forever.

- Luke 1:46-55

Making Friends Part 2

My friend Wendy also has a son Elijah who is 3 years old. He and Jeremiah have been learning to play together at the "play group" I host every other Friday morning. Being the age they are "learning" is the operative word. They seem to have a good time together. This past Friday they took out every single toy that Jeremiah owned. His room was a blissful mess of trains, dinosaurs, musical instruments, puzzle pieces, legos, tools and stuffed animals. I guess I now know why it was so quiet back there for almost an hour! :-)

I am thankful for a friend who is in the same stage of life that I am. We enjoy spending time in adult conversation as well as watching our children get to know each other.

Making Friends

Eva is the daughter of my friend Wendy. She is 3 days older than Nathaniel. Below is the progression of their discovery of each other earlier this morning.

Step 1: Laying next to each other, touching hands.

Step 2: Eva reaches for Nathaniel. "Who is this?"

Step 3: Nathaniel laughs because he feels someone touching him.

Step 4: Nathaniel reaches for Eva. "Who is this?"

Step 5: Both face each other and laugh. "There you are!"

A good nights sleep

God answers prayer. Again.
Last night we all enjoyed a restful night of refreshing sleep.
Nathaniel did not seem bothered by his teething or shots and slept from 10pm to 5:30am. He is back asleep now.
I am thankful for a Heavenly Father who shows His love and care for our family in such real and kind ways every day!

This may be silly...

I would just like to ask anyone who feels lead to pray for Nathaniel. Last time he had vaccines he had this wierd 2 hour long crying for no reason thing which was abit scary. It happened again this afternoon. He cried for about 1 1/2 hours until I finally gave him some Tylenol because I figured something must be hurting him.

He never cries normally.

So, in some ways I feel silly for asking for prayer, but on the other hand I know that God cares about us and will provide for even the smallest request.

Please join me in praying that the vaccines will do the good they are supposed to do and will not harm Nathaniel in any way. Pray that he will not be in too much discomfort but that he will be able to rest and be his normal happy self. Pray that I (and Aaron) will be wise and discerning as well as patient despite lack of sleep. Pray that God will give me peace in the knowledge that He loves my children and will care for them.

5 Month Stats

Better late than never.

I waited to take Nathaniel for his well-child check and next round of immunizations until I could see Robbin, the same nurse practitioner that we saw last time.

Anyway.

All of Nathaniel's measurements are smack-dab in the 50th percentile. He is perfectly proportioned.

Height: 25 and 3/4 inches

Weight: 16lb 13 oz.

That is an almost 2 inch and 3 pound gain in 2 months.

I am afraid of the next few nights sleep. He has really been fussy at night waiting for 2 bottom teeth to pop through, and last time the shots made him fussy. My prayer is that he will get good rest in the next few days.

Nathaniel continues to be an easy going and good natured baby. He rarely cries or even fusses. He always seems to be smiling and laughing. He is a real charmer and seems to have grins and giggles for anyone who makes the effort to entertain him. He loves to chill in his exersaucer, practicing his standing skills and watching the world go by. He has started to reach for toys and other things that grab his interest (most notably Jeremiah's hand or face). He turns his head toward voices he recognizes (me, Aaron & Jeremiah). And last night he turned over from his back to tummy! He only did it once, but at least we know he can. :-)

Hero Worship

Nathaniel loves to watch Jeremiah. His eyes seem to follow his big brother all day long and he almost always gives a huge smile when he hears Jeremiah's voice. Almost every evening we have a rowdy time of dancing, wrestling and general hilarity after dinner and before bath time. In this video Jeremiah was running in circles around the living room. Nathaniel was laughing and smiling whenever Jeremiah's route brought him back into Nathaniel's line of vision. It is so much fun to watch these 2 boys learning to interact together. Everyday brings new moments of laughter, sweetness, and also sometimes tears when play gets too rough. Having 2 boys is an adventure already!

Fun Times

Our little friend Eli had his 1st birthday party this weekend. Jeremiah helped pick out a small gift for him and was taught an important lesson in giving to others.

Jeremiah watches Eli eat his cupcake. Yum!

Nathaniel chills out with Katie.

Jeremiah and Levi play ball in the kitchen.

Aaron took Jeremiah to see the new Veggie Tales movie in the theater. It seems like he had a good time and is talking a lot this morning about seeing the veggies on a big screen.

A Bath in the Sink

Nathaniel is at that in between age where bathing is getting abit tricky. He is too big for the little baby seat that fits in the sink but too small yet to be in the big tub (especially with such an exuberant older brother). So for now he sits in the sink while I try to hold his slippery, wiggly little body and get him clean at the same time. Jeremiah has entered a real "helping" phase and so feels the need to be a part of the evening ritual as well.

Nathaniel adores his big brother.

I love how this picture shows the expression on his face whenever his brother is around. He constantly watches Jeremiah and usually always smiles when he hears Jeremiah's voice.

Jeremiah helps wash Nathaniel.

The look on Nathaniel's face translated: "This is fun right?"

Trying so hard

Nathaniel has finally decided that it is time to try and start rolling over. This acrobatic feat involves him sticking his legs directly up in the air, throwing them to one side, and then letting his body roll in the direction of his feet. The action stops there as this little laid back guy then seems perfectly content to lay on his side and see what he can see. One thing I am learning about Nathaniel, he is not really in a hurry for anything and will do what he wants to do in his own time.

Exersaucer

Finally

About 7 years ago our church started building a new sanctuary. Our church leadership was committed to not going into debt to build our new building and so for the past 7 years we have been adding to the new building one step at a time as money was available. Yesterday we celebrated God's goodness and faithfulness as we worshipped in our new sanctuary for the first time!

There will be some things to get used to. I am used to being in a smaller building which tends to lead to more of a feeling of closeness. You were forced to sit next to people (because of the limited number of seats) and it was almost impossible to avoid visiting after church because everyone had to exit through the same small foyer. Yesterday I realized that building and continuing relationships is going to take a concerted effort in the new building. Now that there are so many seats available people naturally tended to spread apart. I also realized that due to the size of the building I didn't really stop to make conversation on my way out the door.

It felt abit weird to be attending a Highlands worship service in such a nice, clean new building. Part of me missed the old overhead projector. And it was kinda strange to see Travis walking around with one of those head microphones. And I am not sure how long Travis will be able to keep people from bringing their coffee into the sanctuary, some habits are just too hard to break. But I loved being able to go feed Nathaniel in the "cry room" at the back of the sanctuary where I could actually sit on a chair, watch the service through the one-way window, and hear the service on the speaker.

But having a larger sactuary and using our old sanctuary for Awana's and fellowship events will help us reach out to the community more. So my hope is that as we enjoy this new building our congregation will retain its distinct family feel that is what drew me to this church in the first place.

Celebrating January Birthdays

Jeremiah enjoys being with Uncle Chad & Aunt Cherise again.

Caleb & Moni

Moni poses with Nathaniel

The birthday ones

Another family picture

Jeremiah plays cool. Aunt Cherise teaches Jeremiah hand motions to add to the coolness.

Yum Yum Yum. Chocolate cake!

Lullaby

I have stumbled upon a naptime routine that helps Nathaniel go to sleep quickly and deeply. Since I have never been able to let my babies cry themselves to sleep Nathaniel needs me to nurse him abit then hold him before transferring him sound asleep to his crib. He is such a good baby that this process doesn't take much more than 10 to 20 minutes but sometimes I resent the extra time it takes to do this. Usually the resentment occurs when other things (or another child) are calling for my attention or when I am longing for quiet in the house so I can get a few minutes to myself.

But in the past couple of days I have started using those few quiet moments to pray for Nathaniel and just enjoy those few fleeting moments with him. I have also been playing a CD in the background, Sleep Sound in Jesus by Michael Card. The lullabies are quiet, soothing, and contain loving, Biblical lyrics. Yesterday the lyrics of one song struck me in the honest expression of how I feel about my children.

Wordless Ones

In Your loving arms we lay

This wordless one so new

The incarnation of our love

We dedicate to You

-

Hopeless, yet so full of love

We make our solemn vow

Not knowing when the time will come

Not even knowing how

And though it seems we try to make

A promise that is true

We really only claim for them

The Promise that is You

-

The holy sleep which falls so deep

A blessing from above

Will now embrace our little one

In simple trusting love

We offer You this child

Who's only ours for just awhile

How could we keep it back from You

When you gave your only child?

-

In Your loving arms we lay

This wordless one so new

The incarnation of our love

We dedicate to You

Small Accomplishments

Yesterday was a day of small accomplishments that left me feeling more positive and like life can have some sort of order again.

I know these pictures can't be seen as difinitive proof so you will just have to take my word for it that when I took these both boys were napping at the same time!

We took out the play-doh and Jeremiah had a blast. Together we wrote his name. The first thing he asked for this morning was his play-doh.

I was also able to balance the check book, pay the bills, vacuum the floor, and do some work for MCC. I was even awake enough last evening to stay up and watch some of the New Hampshire primary results. And for the 3rd night in a row Nathaniel slept for 11 hours straight!

Everyday Life

Some quick pictures and notes from our daily lives, now that we are trying to regain some level of normalcy. :-)

Nathaniel is determined to watch tv. It almost doesn't seem to matter what we do. If the tv is on he finds a way to watch it. This morning I thought I had him in a position where there was no way he could see the tv while Jeremiah was watching Sesame Street. I was doing some work at the computer and turned to see that Nathaniel had indeed figured out how to position his head so he could watch Elmo as well. I fear for the development of his brain. :-)

On a positive note we had another night of uninteruppted sleep from 8:30pm until 5:00am! Yippee!!!!

I have been reading chat room discussions lately about how playpens are horrible and act as jails for babies. Well. All I have to say is that we love having some playpen time in this house. It gives Nathaniel plenty of room to practice his kicking and almost rolling skills while at the same time keeping him out of the reach of a well intentioned but sometimes overzealous older brother. Plus, where else would I pile all of Nathaniel's toys at night when I try and clean up the living room a little bit?

Sunday was Aunt Moni's birthday! We gave her a call to give her our birthday greetings and Jeremiah wanted to talk to her too. He really is quite the conversationalist when it comes to phone calls. Or maybe I should put it this way, he does all the physical parts of a phone call like holding the phone, nodding his head, walking around the house (that is what I do) but he will only talk by saying "Yes" to questions posed to him. :-)

But, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Moni! Moni is a great sister-in-law. I always appreciate her communication and interest in our lives. Her quick emails have encouraged me many times and I am thankful for our relationship not only as sisters but as sisters in Christ.