My Funny Valentine

Three...and a HALF.

Valentine's Day is a sweet day around here and 

a halfway point for a certain little boy. 

Dear Jackson,
In the past six months there has been a lot going on for you. Shortly after you turned three we sent you to preschool for the first time. You have loved every single day. You leap out of the car each morning, excitedly grab the hand of the teacher who greets you, and practically drag her to the building to get your day started. You have learned many things in these first six months of school. And you have taught us many things in return.

One of the biggest lessons we have learned since sending you to school is how your brain works. We always knew you were "quick", but apparently you are "exceptionally intelligent". {Translation: Our fears were confirmed. You're smarter than both of your parents.} This intelligence, however, has a "catch". We have learned that you have sensory processing issues. At first this scared us not knowing how to help you navigate your little world. Your voracious ability to learn can also overwhelm you. But our fears have been conquered because we love a God who is bigger than any of our inadequacies and He has placed you in exactly the right school, in exactly the right classroom and equipped each of those teachers with the gifts to teach you and help you. They have given us endless resources to read and use with you at home. I have been reminded many times regarding this new understanding of you:

~Genesis 50.19-20 ~

Do not be afraid...You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...

And for His good it will be. And not just for you, Jackson, but for your Mama. You are a living opportunity for my sanctification. I am grateful for you in so many ways. But the my deepest gratitude reflects my daily surrender to not rely upon my own understanding. I want to glorify God in my parenting of you. And with His help I will. {Isaiah 42.16}

Some things in the last six months have remained the same.

You are still a great eater. Between your third birthday and November you had a growth spurt and grew 2.5in. In those weeks before the growth spurt I got a glimpse of how you'll be as a teenager eating me out of house and home.

You still love everything about firetrucks and firefighters. You "play fireman" every day. Every. Day. And if I would let you, you would watch "Lots & Lots of Firetrucks" several times a day.

You love to play outside. This rainy winter has driven you {& your Mama} crazy. You have begged me several times on a rainy day to let you go out. I'm looking forward to the warmer - and dryer - days ahead.

Finally, Jackson you are learning to be a great big brother. Thank you for loving Henry and "teaching" him all the fun things to do. He is so blessed to have you as his big brother.

I love you sweet boy.
Mama

Family Picture

Today was a special day in our family as we celebrated the boys' dedication at church. Following the dedication our dear friend, Jeremy Harwell, took a family photo to celebrate this special day in the lives of our boys.

Note: The outfit that Henry is wearing was once worn by Trip.

Henry {8 months}

Oh Henry...

Eight months! You are at such a fun age. No longer just a lump, you're reacting and responding to the world around you. Your personality is shining through more and more each day.

 

You continue to eat well. Finger foods are a new adventure and you are quite insistent on feeding yourself. You're not so sure about the high chair. You usually look as though you're trying to conquer it rather than use it to achieve the solution to hunger. We may move you to the booster seat much sooner than we did with your big brother.

Speaking of your brother, you LOVE to play alongside him. You look at him and his toys with such great interest. Every now and again he even takes the time to explain how a few things work. I think he likes "teaching" you and enjoys your interaction.

 

 

This winter has been a wonky one. One day it's 70 the next 30. But as much as possible we take you outdoors to see the sun and play. You like your swing and you enjoy going for walks as we wear out your brother. {Your turn is coming mister!}

Crawling is coming soon. You have all the mechanics, you're just trying to figure out how to go forward. While I'm excited for you to figure it out, I'm savoring the days that I'm only chasing after your brother. I know that very soon I'll be chasing you BOTH.

~ Happy 8 Months, Henry. We love you! ~

2012 Recap

Last year I did a fun recap post of 2011. So, I thought I would make it a tradition and do it again for 2012.

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before? 
Became the Mama to TWO boys.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Last year I said that my resolution was to give birth to Henry because 

otherwise the Lord and I were going to have a serious conversation 

if I was still pregnant today. I'm happy to say I kept that resolution..ha!

3. Did anyone close to you die?

Well, while I never got to meet Carter, I felt close to he and his family as we passionately prayed for the Lord to heal him. We even led Jackson nightly in prayers for that precious family. However, that was not God's plan for him. In August he went to be with Jesus. Tears still well up in my eyes as I think about him not being with his family here on earth. Cancer, particularly childhood cancer, sucks.

4. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Balance. 
Figuring out how to juggle each of my roles and to do each one graciously.

5. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 16 
- the date of the ultrasound that confirmed that our second baby was a BOY

March 13 
- watching Trip get wheeled back to the OR to have his neck surgery

June 2 
- giving birth to Henry

August 16 
- Jack's first day of preschool

6. Compared to this time last year, are you:
    ~Happier or sadder?
Happier! While this season is crazy busy in our family, we have such joy in Henry's added presence and Trip's healing.

   ~Thinner or fatter?
My weight loss date of 06/02/12 worked well for me in that area.
{See photo below.}

7. What song will always remind you of 2012?
Matt Redman's "Never Once". 
The lyrics: "Standing on this mountaintop, looking just how far we've come, knowing that for every step you were with us" will forever be a testimony to our family of ALL that the Lord did on our behalf in 2012.

8. What were your favorite books of the year?

I did two bible studies in 2012 that rocked my world. James, by Beth Moore and Nehemiah by Kelly Minter.

9. What was your favorite TV show?

Parenthood is still my absolute favorite show, but a new one that I picked up in the fall was Elementary. It's a modern spin on Sherlock Holmes. It's fantastic.

10. What is a valuable lesson you learned in 2012?

It's hard to pick one lesson that the Lord revealed to me since every day He was teaching me so much in what our family experienced. But, one lesson that I will never forget is to be generous in whatever ways you can to others. I was blown away by the generosity of friends who came alongside our family and gave time, energy, money, food, etc to us following Trip's recovery and then the birth of Henry. There were days I would just weep in gratitude. That season of incredible need has passed on our family and I am continually asking the Lord to show me where I can be generous in His name. I cannot imagine being the recipient of so many blessings and not earnestly seeking to respond similarly to others.

If only all our weight loss projects could be so cute...

~ Happy 2013 Everyone! ~

Friday Funnies

For anyone who has met Jackson, you know he is an active little boy. The boy is ALWAYS on the move. We play outside every day. Unless it is pouring, we are outside. We have a great backyard for boys. We have fort, sandbox, soccer goal, etc. But what we lack is yardage. I have spent many an afternoon "racing" Jack fence to fence just so that kid can burn some energy.

Lately, with the weather being so weepy, playing outside for hours has been limited. Even if it's not raining, the ground is too soaked to play. So, I have had to get creative so that Jackson will burn off that energy and go to sleep at night.

I had thought while pregnant that I would be able to push both of my guys in a stroller, but Jackson is just too tall for any stroller. His legs were dangling off the front and in danger of getting caught in the front wheel or dragging the ground. {And to be honest, it just looks weird to push a kid whose 41.5in tall.} But what I have discovered is that Jackson would much prefer to run alongside me while I push Henry in the stroller.

We got him some sweet kicks and we run. A lot.

We have several parks nearby that have great trails for running. So, we go and that kid just runs wild and free and then sleeps HARD that night.

The funny for today is Jackson's conversation with a sweet elderly couple yesterday.

One trail that we run regularly has 1/10mi markers. Since his greatest joy is to be faster than me, I let him run ahead to each marker and then stop and wait for me. While waiting for me to catch up the elderly couple stopped to talk to him. I wasn't but a few feet from him but this is what I heard:

Couple: Well, hello young man!
Jackson: Hi!
Couple: Have you been running this entire trail?
Jackson: Yes. I love running. I'm really fast. But my Mama likes to take me here, because it wears me out.

BUSTED.

As I approached them, I lowered my sunglasses and said: "Guilty as charged." They just couldn't stop laughing. "Keep on Mama, Keep on."

Henry {7 months}

Today Henry celebrated turning 7 months by hearing our favorite pediatrician say: "Both ears are clear!" Thank goodness. The past two weeks of ear infections and a sneaky cold have been sad for Henry. Saaad.

This past month allowed Henry to celebrate his first Christmas and learn to sit all by himself. He is quite excited about this new way of sitting. However, while sitting upright is fun, it has not stopped his efforts to learn to crawl. He has gotten up on his knees many times while playing and just rocked back and forth. I can just hear his brain, "Alright...now what?! There just has to be more!"

I love the back of his head.

 

I love his big eyes. I think they are going to stay brown. {Yay!}

 

This is how I find Henry most mornings. Do not ask me how he does it, but if the sleeper has snaps, he will find a way to get his leg{s} out of it by morning. We keep the boys rooms cool since it promotes great sleep. But apparently it's not cool enough for this little boy.

Farmer Henry! 

A special new toy for Henry. However, big brother 

thinks he should have plenty of playtime with it too!

Baby Mum Mums!! Henry is a big fan.

Seeing Dr. Silverman today and getting the good news about his ears.

And this is Henry's new way of telling me that 

the monthly photo sessions are over.

"Yes, dear."

Henry, you are such a joy to our family. We were so excited to celebrate your first Christmas in our family. What we pray each day is that they Savior whose birth we celebrated would become the central part of your life even as a little boy. You are loved, sweet boy. Happy 7 months!

{Mama Recommends}

In the wake of all that has happened in the last few days, I needed to focus on something simple and good. As a Mama, one of the sweetest times in my day is when Jackson and I are reading books together. There is sweetness about sitting together and reading book after book and watching him react to the narrative and illustrations. I'm pretty sure there are some families who would give anything to toss aside the laundry today and read to their babies.

Over the past year we have read some of the greatest children's books. I cannot take credit for these literary treasures. Trip is the one who goes and searches the shelves for great books. When he had exhausted that search method he started using the internet to search out even more. I am so grateful for his joy at finding these books.

We have been blessed that our library has a great children's section. If your library doesn't carry one of the books below, REQUEST it! You'll be delighted to add it their collection.

So, without further adieu...

Click, Clack MOO: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin

Knuffle Bunny Series & The Pigeon Series by Mo Willems
~actually ANY book by Mo Willems is a "must read"

The Bear Series by Karma Wilson

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Loren Long has a collection of books that he has authored as well as others that he has simply illustrated. If he is ANYWHERE on the cover of the book, CHECK IT OUT. Among our favorites are the Otis series, Drummer Boy, Toy Boat and Windflyers.

Brian Lies has a clever "Bat" series.

Lasso Lou & Cowboy McCoy by Barbara Larmon Failing

J. Klassen has two "Hat" books that are hysterical.

The Snowman Series by Caralyn Buehner

Here Comes the Train by Charlotte Voake

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead

...and finally, our favorite book from this year ~
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce

I could have listed 100 more books, but these were among our favorites. If you have one that you consider a "must read", please let me know.

Happy Reading!