Two Years!

We arrived home with our first son two years ago last week!  In honor of the day, Josiah received a Go, Diego, Go! digital camera (I'll share some of his pictures later :-)) and chose to go to Sakura for dinner.



He looks so grown up in this picture!

 What a blessing it has been to watch him learn and grow!  Josiah is 38 1/4 inches tall and 29 pounds in weight.  While that is definitely small for his age, he is finally on the growth charts!  :-)  He has grown 8 inches since coming home, 5 in the past year!  He's gained about 9 lbs., 4 of that in the last year. 

Josiah continues to progress with his development.  He can say the letters of the alphabet.  He can verbally spell his name, and recognizes those letters in written form.  He is working on recognizing the rest of the alphabet.  He counts to twelve on his own and can count to twenty with a little bit of support.  He knows the names of colors. 

Physically, Josiah is developing well.  He has abundant energy and uses it to run, tumble, jump, and continually move. His coordination is improving.   He is learning to ride a bicycle.  He has been learning about throwing and catching a ball.  It took us a while to find a left-handed glove in his size, but he is really enjoying playing catch with Daddy!

 Josiah is a great helper.  He is growing more and more to see Isaac as a friend.  He loves playing with Elizabeth, and is still a bit lost without her right now.  Josiah does get into his fair share of trouble.  We are really working on listening skills and thinking before acting.  He is more open about disagreeing with us and saying "no."  But while these acts can be frustrating, I really feel that it means he is comfortable with us and trusts us to love him no matter what. 

In one of his favorite places...Grandma's Mustang!

We celebrate Josiah being a part of our family; we are so blessed to have him!  We celebrate the bonding and growth over the past two years.  We celebrate that our family is forevermore part Ethiopian.  We also remember Josiah's Ethiopian family.  We remember that it is only through loss that Josiah is here.  We look forward to growing and learning together.

Mine

Usually hearing the kids say the words "That's mine!" or "Give me my...." drives me nuts.  Do we really not have enough toys, books, etc. for you each to choose something different?  This morning, I heard those familiar sounds coming from downstairs.  I started to sigh, then heard something a little different.

"Elizabeth, he is MY baby!  He sleeps in my room!  I'm playing with Isaac."

I just had to smile.  Josiah has claimed Isaac when it comes to people outside of our family saying they want him.  "That's our baby."  But it's never been about him.  I guess Isaac is slowly working his way into his big brother's heart. 

A few other things about my two boys that have made me smile:

Yesterday, Josiah held the gate open for Isaac to go upstairs with him.  I didn't realize it until I heard Isaac crawling around on the floor above me.  After the inital panic passed (we don't have a baby gate at the top of the stairs because we haven't spent much time letting Isaac crawl up there), I listened to Josiah tell me that he let Isaac come up because Isaac wanted to be with him.  We did talk about not letting the baby go upstairs without someone with him, though ;-)

Today, Josiah was including Isaac in his imaginative play.  He used the porta-crib mattress as a car, and was happy to have Isaac sit up next to him.  He asked Isaac where they were going, and when Isaac stood up, Josiah said he was filling the gas tank for them.

These are all the more sweet because Isaac just has a special affection for Josiah.  He loves Elizabeth, and she clearly dotes on him and plays with him a lot more.  But he loves Josiah just a bit differently...maybe he just knows he has to work a bit harder to win this one over. :-) 

I'm excited to see how they are going to change in the next year as Elizabeth is at school and Isaac becomes more of a playmate.

The First Day in the First Grade....

(to the tune of Billy Joe McGuffrey)

Now Elizabeth Grace Baber was a really pretty kid

On the first day of First Grade, I'll tell you what she did

She woke early a time or two before the alarm
Took some pictures with her bros and showed us all her charm.

First day in the first grade
First day in the first grade
First day in the first grade
She wore clothes, chosen at Kohl's, for which Great Grandma paid.

Now Elizabeth Grace Baber was a really eager kid
On the first day of first grade, I'll tell you what she did

She rode the bus for the first time, bounding up the stairs.

She went off for her first day with really cute hair.

First day in the first grade

First day in the first grade

First day in the first grade

Glad we had some extra time to put her hair in braids

Now Elizabeth Grace Baber was a really friendly kid

On the first day of first grade, I'll tell you what she did

She met a friend with her same name, just in the reverse (Grace Elizabeth)

Then she came home, jumped off the bus as if she had rehearsed

She had a great day in the first grade
A great day on her first day
It was a great day in the first grade
She will have some fun and learn with the new friends she made.

Ten Months Old

Isaac is ten months old today!  Our littlest man is growing and changing so fast!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

At his 9 month appointment last week (OOPS!), he was 20 lbs. 6 oz., and the nurse measured him at 28.5 inch.*  But I think he'as actually over 29 inches.  It's hard to get a good measurement on a small table with a wiggly baby. :-) 

Isaac is a mover!  He will attempt to crawl through or over anything in his way--leading Daddy to employ the nickname "Tank" for him.  (Thanks for the idea, Auntie Max :-))  Isaac easily walks with a hand just skimming over furniture or holding someone's hand.  He lets go while standing, and can crouch down and stand back up.  So far, he will try one step, but then goes down to crawl.

Helping Daddy put his new dresser together

He is becoming more independent, so we're starting to see a bit of a stubborn streak in him.  He wants to hold his own food and take bites rather than having his food cut up into small pieces.  He insisted on holding an ice cream cone upside down the other night.  But he ate the whole thing!

Some of his favorite things to do:

Eat

Drink anyone else's drink

Take toys out of the toy box

Take trash out of the trashcan

Take silverware out of the dishwasher

Dump the dog's water bowl
Follow his siblings
Laugh at his siblings
Clap
People watch
Give open mouth kisses

Snuggle (the last two are my favorites, too!)

We're so blessed to have Isaac in our family! 

*It was a bit of a strange feeling realizing that Isaac, at ten months, weighs more and is probably within an inch of the size Josiah was when he came home at 28 months.  Looking at Isaac and Josiah now, it doesn't seem possible that Josiah could have only been that size! :-)

Mustard Seeds

David and I are blessed to be able to teach children's church for Elizabeth's class one Sunday a month.  This past Sunday, our lesson was on the parable of the mustard seeds.  Of course, the plans suggested showing the kids actual seeds, and I heartily agreed.  So, at 10 p.m. Saturday night I headed to the grocery store in search of the seeds...and a few other groceries.  (Yes I'm a huge procrastinator.  I could use the busy week before as an excuse, but it really just comes down to procrastination.)

I got into the grocery store, found all the great deals I wanted, and then remembered the seeds.  I headed over to the aisle and found the spices.  Woohoo, there was a section for mustard seeds...even in a little jar, like I wanted.  I didn't want to waste money on a big jar.  What else am I going to use them for?  Awww, crud!  The bin for whole mustard seeds was empty.  I searched around the area to see if perhaps some were placed in the wrong bin.  I prayed.  "God, I really want to find these seeds.  I want to have them for the kids.  Please let them be here!"  I searched some more.  I prayed some more.  There were no mustard seeds to be found.  "Okay, God, you must have something else planned for the lesson.  Please let me know what it is."

I checked out and headed home.  I reached up to the spice cabinet to put something away.  As  I looked up, in the very front, I saw a clear jar with small round yellowish balls.  It couldn't be, could it?  I pulled down the jar and read the top.  "Mustard Seeds"  I just laughed and thanked God.  Here in my spice cabinet was an unopened jar of mustard seeds.  It should have been buried in the back of the cabinet, since I never use it.  The jar was part of a set of spices we received for our wedding almost seven years ago.  I have been telling myself I need to go through the spices and get rid of some of the old ones.  I guess procrastination does pay off once in a while.  ;-)

Thank you, Father, that you provide what I need and not always what I ask.

In His Hands

While we were driving home the other day, Josiah all of the sudden asked, "Why does God have the world  in His hands?"  We talked about how God made the world, and we're alive because He made us and give us life.  We said that God could actually have the world in His hands, but that we usually mean that He takes care of us.

Elizabeth started talking about someone we know who used to follow Christ, but has decided to go another way.  Josiah asked why someone would not like like God.  We discussed possible reasons such as thinking God's rules were too controlling.  But we realize that God's rules are to help protect us.  After a moment, Josiah said, "I guess he decided to get out."  I asked, "Out of what?"  "Out of God's hands."

I was overwhelmed.  No, not with thoughts of all the different ways this statement could be viewed theologically.  But with the fact that my sweet four-year-old boy, who just mentioned God for the first time a few months ago, is now pondering these questions on his own. 

Thank you, Jesus, that these seeds are being planted and are taking root!

(Oh yeah, seeds...that reminds me of another post. ;-))

Cousin AJ, VBS, and a day at the beach

We had a fun, busy week around here last week!  Our nephew down so he could come to Vacation Bible School and spend some time with the kids.  It's always interesting to watch how the dynamics of playtime with the addition of a new child.  A.J. is 11 months older than Elizabeth, so we had a male oldest child for the week.  The change was very obvious while listening to the kids' imaginative play :-) 

V.B.S. was from 6-8pm Sunday to Thursday.  All the kids enjoyed it!  They made some new friends and did a great job learning memory verses each day ;-)  Isaac was spoiled  loved on constantly by nursery helpers.  David and I "lead" the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  Though I think some nights we were just running to keep up!  Thursday evening closed V.B.S. with a carnival including a moon bounce, super slide, popcorn, cotton candy, and lots of fun! 

The kids and I mostly stayed home during the day, though we did venture out to Wal-mart and Sam's for lunch and some shopping on Tuesday.  Thursday I decided to brave the beach with the four kids.  We have a great lake near us where one of the swimming areas is pretty shallow.  As in the lifeguard SITS in the water at the deepest part.  Oh yeah, and knowing there would be a lifeguard boosted my confidence.  One other fun thing about this beach is that it's directly under the landing path for our small airport.  So, my airplane loving boy can watch all the planes he wants!  I'm glad we went.  The kids had a lot of fun.  We had to rush home to take showers, and all the kids fell asleep on the way to V.B.S., but it was worth it.

I've been doing a terrible job taking pictures lately, but I did remember to get some at the beach!  Enjoy!

Sounds Fair to Me

Elizabeth:  Wouldn't it be funny if women have the babies and men have the milk?
Mommy:  That sounds fair!
Elizabeth:  Or maybe, men should have the babies and women have the milk.
Mommy:  That could work, too.
Elizabeth:  'Cause it's not fair if women get to do both or if men get to do both!

:-) hehehe

Tumbling

Sunday, the kids had some fun trying tumbling and handstands in the family room.  David thought they might be trying to pretend they were in Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's house since we've been using her books for some reading time. ;-)

A fun series of Josiah:

 

 Some shots of Elizabeth:  

(She had a lot more success once we showed her how to practice using a wall.  She's been doing that several times a day now.)

Isaac thought they were both hilarious and had to get in on the action himself:

Well, now that the ice rink has closed, I guess it's time we actually get them both into some tumbling classes :-)

July 4th

We are thankful to live in a great country.  We are even more thankful to live for a greater God! 

Father, shower your blessings down on our nation so we may use them for You. 

Bring us back to the place where we are "one nation under God".