A Night To Remember

One week ago, Friday, June 6, I had the opportunity to go to Boston and see the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. But this wasn't just any night at the Pops (which would be amazing!). John Williams was the conductor and the evening was named Film Night. Oh my.

We returned from our trip to see family the Monday before. I spent the week unpacking, taking care of things around the house, and helping our kids adjust back to life with just mom for entertainment. The kids and I had a special plan for Friday though. We were going to north Boston with a friend and her daughter for the day. It was an adventure and we love adventures! We picked our friends up at 9:45am and had a great day.

As I was pulling into our neighborhood right around 5:00pm I received a text message from a friend. It said she had a free extra ticket to the Pops and all Dave or I had to do was meet her in Boston to claim it. I pulled in the driveway and Dave said I had to go. I was unsure. It had literally just driven home from Boston. I was tired from a day with the kids. Then he dropped the John Williams Film Night bomb on me and I knew there was no way I could say no. I quickly changed, refilled my water bottle, and was one the road by 5:15pm.

It turns out our friend, who is an elementary school music teacher, was taking her 6th graders on a field trip. (I didn't even find this out until I got there. I just knew to be at the doors at 7:30pm!) One mom and her son from church were part of the group. While I would have most loved to share the moment with Dave, I was thankful to have known a few other people.

Here is the program for the evening.

He ended the night with THREE encores. I believe the first may have been from E.T., the second was the Darth Vader March, and the third was the NBC theme song.

The NBC theme song and Call of the Champions are my all time favorite Williams pieces. Other favorites he shared during the evening were the theme from Jurassic Park, Flight to Neverland from Hook, and Harry's Wondrous World from Harry Potter. There were excellent videos that accompanied several of the pieces. A really special one went along with a piece from Saving Private Ryan and he spent a moment commemorating D-Day, as it was the 70th anniversary that very evening.

He also said "may the force be with you"- an epic moment!

It was truly an adventure- a night to remember.

Happy 2 years, Josiah!

Two years! It has been two years since our precious little man entered this world. As I put Sarah to bed last night we thanked God for giving Josiah to our family during our prayer, then had a special time where we reminisced together (even though she doesn't remember life before Josiah) that two years ago on this very night she was the only baby we had to hold. She was our one year old. Now her one year old little brother is turning two. It seems as if he has always been part of our family. A friend asked yesterday if I was sad to see my littlest one turn two. I said mostly not, because he is so healthy and able that he doesn't seem like my baby anymore and because we know that it only gets more fun from here. We are so thankful for the past two years. The laughs and tears and successes, great and small. But we are also thankful for today, and tomorrow if the Lord gives us tomorrow. There is much joy to come!

Weight: 31 lbs 8 oz (86%)
Height: 37 in (98%)
Head: 20 in
Diaper: cloth and size 5 (he is still a little afraid of the potty, but agrees to sit on the potty in the summer- we don't think he knows that summer is a time that will actually come!)
Clothing: 2T/3T, shoe- size 8

Likes: trash cans, singing, counting, building, watering cans/spray bottles, the sandbox, flags (especially American), Baby Damon (the doll), play dough, being tickled, "hoping" into the car (getting into his seat by himself- I love it too!), helping mom cook (aka standing on a chair and playing), balloons, peek-a-boo

Dislikes: having his hair rinsed, sitting at the table when he wants to play, big scares

Schedule/Sleep: He is sleeping well, and for that we always give thanks. He naps at 1pm and sleeps two or three hours. Bedtime is at 7pm. We work hard to keep these two times as consistent as possible.

Eating: Josiah is our more adventurous eater at present. When he isn't distracted he puts away a lot of food. Favorites are clementines, grapes, cheese, yogurt, a peanut butter/nutella sandwich (always Sarah's request, but he certainly doesn't complain), pancakes, and popcorn. If there is a "treat" in sight, he is never afraid to ask, but takes "no" well. Notice there aren't any vegetables on his favorites list. He eats them regularly, you have my word, but I definitely wouldn't call any vegetable a favorite. They are just a means to an end!

Communication: We love communication. And he does so much of it these days. It is rare that we have no idea what he is saying or wants. "Where's Sarah?", "What Sarah doin'?", and "I do it" are phrases we hear quite a lot. He started saying "silly goose" in context, but also kind of randomly, which gives us a good chuckle. Favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells, Holy Holy, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Skidamarink, Wheels On the Bus, and Hosanna (from Palm Sunday). Melts my heart when Sarah and Josiah sing together. He also surprised us by counting to ten out of the blue. He hears it from Sarah and we count thirteen flags in a favorite book, but when we said one, he said two, so we said three, and he said four, and so on to ten. It was a fun dinnertime surprise. :)

Random:
- His go to book at bedtime is Put Me In the Zoo and he has a sweet comment for every page (flag, hugging, clapping, etc). Favorite bedtime songs are Twinkle Twinkle (tinkle tinkle), Jingle Bells (bingle bells), and Good Night Josiah.
- He is more attached to blue dog than ever.
- He is capable of creating his own fun these days. I always get curious when he goes hunting for the stool. That means he has a plan!
- When he gets playfully excited he does a fun bug eye thing. We haven't even tried to capture it on camera, but oh does it make for a sweet moment!
- He and Sarah can wear the same size shoe (though she is moving up now).

Today's appointment: I would love to see this child become a doctor. The hardest part of this appointment was taking Josiah's clothes off in the beginning. He kept catching his breath like he was going to cry and asking for his pants. But the blood pressure cuff, finger prick, and shot? He was simply fascinated. And with each thing they did to him he just got more calm and interested. I don't know if it will ever happen like that again, but boy was it great!

Next appointment: November 10 at 10:40am

Tucking "Charlotte" in for a drive. He takes good care of her :)

First time riding in the front with Sarah

Getting a little love from one of Sarah's friends at a Frozen sing-a-long party

Pockets!

There is always a doctor on call around here

I love this.
Josiah calls guitars "picks" because Dave lets him hold a pick when he (Dave) plays at home.

My boy's last night being one. I might have gotten a little emotional as I was putting him to bed and needed to document the moment :)

Easter 2014

Our Easter through pictures! 

One of our favorite Easter activities this year was opening an egg each day starting the Monday before Easter. Each egg had one verse of the resurrection story from Matthew. 

 [66] So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

[1] Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. [2] And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. [3] His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. [4] And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. [5] But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. [6] He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

(Matthew 27:66-28:6 ESV)

This was a really sweet time with Sarah and by far one of my favorite parts of celebrating Easter. When we read on Sunday "He is not here, for He has risen" we all had a deeper appreciation for the impact of those words and that truth.

Josiah got a tie to go with his outfit.

Sarah got shoes.

Sarah woke up a little early. Since I was ready to go I let her come on downstairs.

Everybody loves a shaky egg :)

Please excuse Josiah's beauty mark in all of these pictures. He chewed on an old CD (which we were ok with initially) and the ink was impossible to get off.

"Op, it's empty!" "Josiah, you are already ate those jelly beans/goldfish."
If I had a nickel for every time we had that exchange! His excitement was sweet :)

He wasn't super into the peep, but Sarah took care of it for him :)

I attempted to get a few pictures of the kids before heading to church.

Sarah was chilly and ready to get in the van. Josiah was loving the camera and insisted on standing in front of the tree for more pictures. Funny boy!

We tried twice at church to get a family pic and, while comedic, neither was worthy of being preserved for posterity. But Monday everyone was ready to smile for the camera when we made the big trip to Target and had mom's favorite, the cafe Pizza Hut meal, and the kids' favorite, individual dreamsicle (orange cream) yogurts. 

Our Resurrection Sunday ended with a joy-filled dinner among friends and fellow believers. It was a delight to experience the details of the Easter story with Sarah and the fun of celebration with Josiah. We look forward to more discovery in the years ahead. 

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

Three Questions Answered

1. When are you due?

Our due date is August 25. We had an early ultrasound on February 3 at 11 weeks to confirm date and all three measurements gave a due date of August 26, so we are definitely in the right ball park. The doctor elected to stick with the original August 25 for the official estimated date of delivery.

Our little gummy bear's first photo!

2. How have you been feeling?

Pretty yucky on the whole, but I can tell I am starting to feel better. I am thankful that I didn't remember how much morning sickness takes over life before this! It has been harder than it was with Josiah and pretty similar to my pregnancy with Sarah. While I am still vomiting occasionally, I am mostly back to normal functions at this point as opposed to the bare necessities. A new symptom for me was the fatigue. There were several weeks where I had to take a nap during nap time every day and go to bed early. Productivity was way down!

3. Are you going to find out gender?

We hope so! In the next few weeks we should be able to schedule an anatomy ultrasound and will hopefully have a kind technician who will be as excited to find out gender as we are. We truly have no preference as to a girl or boy. Sarah is convinced we having a boy and a girl and is not to be persuaded otherwise, even if she will admit that there is only one baby in mommy's tummy. Dave says he imagines a girl, but has no real inkling. I, on the other hand, am convinced we are having a girl! The heartbeat is high and the throwing up was frequent, just like Sarah and not like Josiah. We'll soon see!


Our prayer? That this child would be born full term and healthy. That he/she would be filled with wisdom and faith. That God would give us wisdom as parents and overcome our limitations. We love you and thank you for loving on us!

And then there were . . . FIVE!

Can you believe it?!

As you might imagine, we are super excited. While not as shocking as our first, or even out second, pregnancy, it still feels like a miracle- a how-in-the-world-is-this-possible-God-is-unbelievable moment for sure. Again, our experience is teaching us that each pregnancy is so unique. While there are lots of similarities, just as in the children these pregnancies bring into the world, there are many differences. This particular child has already done a lot of teaching. Or perhaps I should more accurately say the Lord has done a lot of teaching to our hearts over the last several months.

So how did we find out?

Sunday, December 15, was the magic day. To be extra sure, we said we would wait until Monday to take a test. Dave's parents were in town and we were celebrating "Pappy and GiGi Christmas"- it would be the perfect day. I was hopeful, took the test. Negative.

Dave reassured me that not all hope was lost yet, so we decided to take one more before his parents left town Tuesday morning. So I took another test. Still nothing. But then kind of something. I called Dave in to take a look. He encouraged me to take the last "expensive" test. That test also showed a very faint line after the prescribed waiting period. We didn't feel like we could say anything. We needed to wait and see what happened.

With one test remaining, we decided to wait until Monday, December 23, to try again. So before we went to get the kids out of bed we took the very last test, a "cheap" one. Honestly, it wasn't cut and dry. At the three minute mark there was a mediumish line. But after four or five minutes, we were pretty confident. We were expecting our third child!

We got the kids up and headed out to a nice breakfast at the Daniel Webster Inn. Being the day before Christmas Eve, we had almost the dining room to ourselves. The kids did great. On the way there Dave and I talked about how to roll out the operation to tell family and friends. We decided to tell Sarah and ask her to keep it a surprise, but not to fret if she told people. We also decided to not make a big deal about it with her until we did want to her talk about it.

Josiah was nonplused :)

Josiah wore his new shirt on Christmas day to share the news with family.

Happy 3.5 years, Sarah!

To be fair, Sarah hit 3.5 years back on January 16. The real problem is that mid-February came so fast! We have enjoyed watching her grow up through the fall and winter months and are thankful for the joy we have in her.

Weight: ? lbs
Height: ? ins
Clothes: 3T, 4T; shoe, size 8

Likes: projects, coloring pictures for people, pretending, being silly, visiting people, playing with Josiah

Dislikes: not getting what she wants, change, anticipation

Schedule: We start our day around 7am and Sarah is good at staying in bed until we come upstairs to get her or until she asks. She still goes down for a nap at 1pm and sleeps only a couple of days a week. When she doesn't sleep, she lays down for a bit, then reads in bed, and then reads or plays out of bed. The day ends around 7pm- she loves to watch her glow-in-the-dark stars!

Eating: At least for the present, she is eating everything and lots of it. I suppose she might be having a growth spurt. She has stopped liking to ride in the "car" buggy at the grocery store and instead likes to "pick out Mommy's favorite groceries" as she walks beside the cart. I think this interaction has made her much more excited about the fruits and veggies we bring home. (Though she has never really needed much encouragement!) Favorites are orange peppers, apples, peanut butter, milk, and yogurt.

Talking: She speaks delightfully fluently and continues to increase in understanding. We can ask her "why" she did something now and she knows what we mean and how we want her to respond. I love listening to her talk to Josiah and sing in the car to a Veggie Tales Worship CD.

Random, but fun:
* She remembers so much. Today she was telling me about the time that we watched our friend Kate, that Daddy wasn't home at first, but then he came home. She was in the baby swing and there were leaves, not snow, on the ground. Such amazing detail to remember about a random day last fall!
* Her heart is sensitive to needs and she has started praying occasionally. Most often she starts and I finish.
* Sarah likes to orchestrate play. With big kids and little kids she can be a little controlling. With kids her own age she follows the crowd.
* She loves to dance.
* Crafts are a big deal these days. And I'm not into coming up with things or shopping for random supplies, so we do a lot of play dough and coloring.

Next appointment: Monday, July 21, 2014 at 9:30am

Watching cousin Will catch a fish in Papa's pond.

She loves to doctor our little guy.

Silly girl :)

Daddy's shoes!

Apple picking with friends was big fun.

Head stand- aka the move of the season.

Sarah and I had a Panera date.

Were we supposed to touch that?

Halloween

Sarah was very excited about the new set of clothes Charlotte was given for Christmas.

Girl loves snow!

Sarah is excited to be Ms. Laura Kathryn's flower girl!

Sarah sang with the children's choir at a local nursing home.

She and Gigi designed a whole gingerbread village.

The children's choir on Sunday morning.
Gigi got to see Sarah sing in the dress she made her.

Just before Christmas Sarah wanted to write her friend Baby Hope's name on a picture. What surprised us was that she remembered how to spell it! We used that to our advantage with a few Christmas cards. 

We have been reading a Proverb at breakfast each morning. Sarah is catching on to the idea of wisdom.

Happy 21 months, Josiah!

Dave and I were noting recently that time seems to have stood still since Josiah learned to walk, but instead more than 6 months have passed. He is an intense little guy that loves a challenge and at the same time loves to let go and laugh. His giggles are amazing! He is just beginning to enter the repeating phase where he will say any word we ask or that he hears and thinks is interesting. It is really fun to listen to music with him. He likes to pick out one word and sing it over and over. For the next song he picks out a new word. Precious boy :)

Weight: ? lbs
Height: ? in
Head: ?
Diaper: cloth and size 5
Clothing: 18, 24 month and 2T, shoe- size 7, 8

Likes: doing whatever Sarah is doing, building towers, knocking towers down, play dough, eating, playing in the church nursery, coloring, wearing shoes, balloons, being tickled, wrestling with Daddy

Dislikes: sharing when it isn't on his terms, keeping gloves/mittens on, feeling like he is being short changed, waiting his turn

Schedule/Sleep: Just after the turn of the year we officially dropped his first nap. It was really hard when we were home in the early weeks, but we went out often and sometimes I put the kids down early for their nap. But now he is just fine waiting until 1pm when they both go down for their nap. He has, thus far, always fallen right to sleep since dropping the first nap and then sleeps 2-3 hours. Bedtime is at 7pm.

Eating: As Josiah has gotten more teeth he has become a much better vegetable eater. He usually eats pretty much the same thing as Sarah. He also enjoys peppers, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, meat (they do a little "meat" dance), and lots of milk and water. Josiah knows to ask for treats much sooner than Sarah did and during the holidays he enjoyed his fair share.

Communication: As I noted above, he is really into repeating key words and phrases. I think most outsiders wouldn't always know what he is saying, but we usually do. He is very emphatic when he wants to be understood. Favorite word of the week is "hallelujah!" He has started calling Sarah by name! It sounds something like "Yara" and he loves to call for her.

Teething: A couple of weeks ago Josiah had to sit with me during church because he was up throughout the night before, had a runny nose, and yucky diapers. I suspected teething since he didn't seem to have other signs of a cold. And I was right! I'm pretty sure he has 6 (!) teeth coming in and other than that rough 24 hours, he has been a champ. The better to eat with, I think he would say!

Random:
- The kids love to hug when they say they're sorry.
- When I had him in church a couple of weeks ago he said "uh oh" really loudly during an opportune moment in the sermon and it was reference throughout the rest of the sermon. His first worship interaction . . .
- He learned that he can get out of bed when he wakes up to get books and hops right back in bed. So far it means that Dave and I get more sleep in the morning!
- When he sees something he thinks looks good on his plate, he always says "ooo, cupcake," even if it is something like green beans.
- Though we have tried to teach him to say pants, he always calls his bottoms "too tight." I promise that he has pants that fit. Since he doesn't want to say pants, we have been teaching him to say "just right" and have had some success.

Next appointment: Monday, May 5, 2013 at 10:20am

Christmas snuggles with Ms. Lisa!

He took the liberty of decorating a little one night before bed.

Doctoring Sarah

Our little puppy. He calls all mittens "paws" now :)

They love it. It only ends in tears about half the time.

The boy loves a tea party.

Eating fresh snow is clearly the best way to play in it.

Handsome fella in his sweater made by Gigi.

Sweet hugs!

One evening Sarah and I stayed outside and played in the snow for another 5 mins after Josiah was ready to go inside. When we got in I found him like this. He had set up his own fun :)

We love hanging out with our friends!