We're Family

The other day after getting off the phone with my mom Josiah made the claim, "I'm Grandma's boy."

I smiled, but responded, "You're not my boy?"

"Oh yes! And Daddy's boy, and Elizabeth's boy, and Isaac's boy, and Diego's boy. We're family!"

This simple phrase has been coming out of his mouth several times most days. He's also finally starting to understand a little bit about his story and how he joined our family. Tonight, as he was settling into bed, we talked about it again. We talked about how he was born in Ethiopia, how he has two families, and how we came to Ethiopia to meet him. At one point, he stated, "Mommy, you not lost. I stay with you. We're family."

He brought me to tears...for so many reasons. I am so thankful to have this child in our family. I rejoice that he loves us as his family and knows he is here to stay. I'm also torn up by the losses he has. I wish I knew what memories he holds. I love that there is no way to tell our story without talking about our Heavenly Father.

Yes, my sweet boy. We're Family.

Diego the Con Artist

Just had to share a laugh :-)

After Diego had been out in the yard for a while, David let him back in the house. He ran around for a few minutes and then Diego walked over to his bed. He stopped and stared at the wall behind it. (Maybe he was getting in character.) He began to take one step forward, didn't even get his paw on the bed, and made a quick high-pitched yelp. Then he quickly limped over to the couch and started to climb up. We told him no, as he is not allowed on the couch. He gave a disgusted look and walked away completely normally.

A few pics that make me smile

Taste of Playing in the snow

Here is a small taste of our adventure in the snow.

First Look at December 2009 Snow

Here is some shots from our snow fall last night.... will post more later, when there is more snow...

Photo Shoot

So I'm realizing that one of the difficult things about having three kids is trying to get a good picture...of all three kids...at the same time. We've been having "photo shoots" at home to get a picture for Christmas cards.

This was from a couple days ago. I love Elizabeth and Josiah in this one, but Isaac is looking somewhere else.

Good one of Elizabeth and pretty good of Isaac, but Josiah is cheesing.

True confession: I was totally going to photoshop the pictures together like this:

But I felt like it was dishonest. AND I don't actually have Photoshop. AND my talent and time are limited, so it wasn't looking quite right. We did get a few good pictures out of the evening, though.

A cute one of Elizabeth and Josiah

David took this one of Elizabeth!

We ended up trying another time tonight and ended up with a fun shot of the three kids. I'll post it later, though, so it can be a surprise in Christmas cards. I've already sent it to the printer, so we may be walking down to get photos in a foot of snow tomorrow. hehehe. Guess that means I actually need to send the cards out this year, huh?

Some Sounds of the Season

We have been very blessed that our children have really not had many cases of the "Give-mes". They will sometimes see things in a store and ask if they can have them, but they really don't dwell on things they want. When people have asked what they want for Christmas, they don't even know what to say. Elizabeth finally said she wants a violin, but does not have anything else on her list.

However, last week we went into a store and I immediately heard, "We NEEEEEED That!" Josiah learned a new phrase...and applied it to almost everything we saw. If it were groceries or something, I would just tell him we already had it or we don't use it. If it was a toy, I would say, "You want that, you don't need it." He kept at it for a few days of errands.

Then, the other day I heard a new phrase. "Oh Mommy, I Loooove That." Guess he's trying a new tactic ;-) At least he doesn't just apply it to himself. We bought something for a friend, and he immediately said, "Oh she'll love that!"

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This morning Josiah was creating his own Christmas Smash-up song.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O-O with a moo moo moo and a moo moo moo
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Old MacDonald had a farm in a one horse open sleigh.

Love it!

Cat in the Hat

Elizabeth brought home The Cat in the Hat as her library book last week (Though I know we have it in the house somewhere.) But she has been so excited discovering she can read it pretty much on her own! Most of the words are her sight words, reinforcing the importance of learning them...yay! And the other words she can figure out if she focuses on the letters and chunks.

It was funny when she first started the book and read that the mother was not home. She was adamant that the children would NOT be home on their own. There must be another explanation. She decided that the mother left a big sister in charge, and the big sister was in the shower. She started reading the book a little bit at a time and took a few days off. So, almost a week after beginning the book, she finished today. Even though she hadn't mentioned it during the week, she brought up the big sister again. HA! I love her reasoning and imagination :-)

Six weeks

Isaac was six weeks old on Friday! Everyone keeps saying that he is bigger each time they see him. Some of his 0-3 month clothing is too small already. Much of it will be very soon. He's beginning to do lots new things, too.

He's finally discovering how to pacify himself with his thumb. It is a noisy prospect at first (slurp!), but then he gets it. The only problem is, weirdly enough, he is using his first finger and his thumb--just like Elizabeth did. We've seen the results of this and will be trying to curb it. I really don't mind him using his thumb by itself.

Yesterday, I got my first real smile from my sweet boy! So cute! It was a big open mouth smile. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it since. So I'm on a mission to get that smile out again...and to get a picture :-D

The night before last, while lying flat on our bed, Isaac rolled from his stomach to his back! Twice! It may just be that he was placed down with his arm in just the right position, but David and I are impressed anyway.

I keep telling this one he needs to slow down! He's growing too quickly!

SNOW!!!

It was an exciting day! Snow that stuck! And before Christmas!

The kids waited in eagerly to go out and play outside. We had to wait a bit as Daddy had some work to do. We probably waited a bit too long. The snow, though still falling, had started melting on the ground. But the kids still had fun!

Isaac had to go out in his first snow! He was definitely bundled up, and totally covered and toasty warm in his stroller.


Snowballs!

Love how you can only see his eyes :-)

Diego loves the snow! One of the downfalls of not having a real yard is we can't just send him out to play. We didn't want to let him off the leash and have to run down to SPCA to pick him up again.

My snow angels

I love these four!

Yes, I did take Isaac out of his stroller cocoon for the sake of a picture, sacrificing his nap and his warm little cheeks. He was only out for about three minutes. Yes, he did let us know he was less than thrilled about the disturbance...the whole way home. He was fine after coming inside, being de-mummified, and getting some warm milk in his belly. The rest of us were fine after curling up with some hot chocolate and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.