Days to Remember…

Halloween

Favorite memories…

Watching Josh run at lightning speed from door to door with Luke-- listening to him yell “thank you” at the top of his lungs thereby diminishing the politeness of the effort--seeing sweet MC in her first Halloween gear (and I say “gear” because she had several costumes/outfits lovingly shared with and given to us by family and friends)

Thanksgiving

Favorite memories…

Josh and I sharing the excitement of “Sir Top’em Turkey” coming down from the attic and out to the front lawn (another thing shared with us from a kind neighbor from the old neighborhood)--celebrating with family--holding MC in our arms on her first Thanksgiving with us

 

Joshua’s 4th Birthday

Seriously?!?  How did this little one turn FOUR on December 6th?  We cannot believe he is already so big.  He is as energetic as ever and it is fun to be his parents.  We love and treasure all that God has put within him; it is a JOY to see him grow and develop.  We thank God for his little life every day and we cherish this precious time with him. 

Favorite memories…

The look on his face when he saw the bounce house in the living room--the polar bear swim party adventures shared with wonderful family and friends--Joshua saying “Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for putting up signs and banners to celebrate my birthday.  That was very nice of you.”

          

            

Ordinary days…

Yesterday Joshua and I went on a little mommy/son date (one of the delights of being an educator are these periodic days off to be at home) and on the way to the bakery for breakfast this was the conversation …

Me: “Joshua, was Jesus rich or poor?”  (This was a question in response to lots of thinking about how we celebrate a poor teenage mom giving birth to our Savior in a manager by going ridiculously overboard buying tons of stuff…I was wondering if Josh was thinking of our powerful and awesome Jesus as more of a “now-you’ve-seen-my-crib-it’s-time-to-get-out” big-money ball-a kind of character…but, I digress…)

Joshua: “Poor.”

Me: “How do you know?”

Joshua: “Because he died on the cross.”

Me: “True.  How else do you know?”

Joshua: “Mommy, you know what?  Jesus is special.”

Me: “Yep-why?”

Joshua: “Because he is a solid AND a gas.  He’s a solid because you can touch him and gas because he floats around in the sky like a balloon.”

Me: Speechless, except for laughter.

I love being a mom to this goofy boy.

MC is 8 months old…

Sweet Mary Claire is just as lovely as always.  She is crawling all over the place, pulling up, and belly laughs at Joshua’s entertaining antics.  She calls him “ba-ba” and he is her delight.  We hit up the 9-month appointment early so we could benefit from hitting my deductible this year, and she is between the 50-75 percentile for height and weight and 80 percentile for her head.  She also has two ear infections, buy you’d never know it.  She just keeps on smiling and hooting along.  We love her laid back disposition. 

  

Santa’s Wonderland

For the second year in a row, we’ve journeyed up to College Station with the Penberthy Clan to take in the wonders of a zillion lights and Cafe Eccell for dinner.  This year the Lee’s joined us, and it was a blast.  The lines were MUCH long and the wait was made more manageable by a hefty supply of fruit snacks and gummy bears, but the company was superb.  We are thankful for wonderful friends who make our life richer.

Favorite memories…

Listening to Josh and Luke’s HILARIOUS commentary on the lights (seriously, these two carry on a pretty sophisticated and bizarre conversation for toddlers)—the look on Mary Claire’s face watching the lights—the random carol singing on the bus shuttle across Highway 6—all the kids playing hide and seek in the side room at the restaurant

Thanking the Lord for so many special moments, days, and memories…

iPhone Pics…

I am thankful for my iPhone.  It is the little camera I always have with me for those random moments I want to make sure I don’t forget…

I walked into Joshua’s room one day during naptime to find him sleeping like this…

I’ve never seen a boy quite so excited about Halloween.  He loves ghosts and anything “spooky” this year.  Halloween has never been so much fun…

Joshua is becoming a great helper with feeding Mary Claire.  He makes a huge mess, but she loves it when he feeds her so I don’t mind the extra clean-up.  Joshua is so proud of himself when he is helping to take care of his “MC”.

Mary Claire is sitting up really well now on her own.

Brian had a conference to attend the other weekend, so we all went with him and had fun playing in the hotel.

Josh sported his new high-tops which he likes to call “big tops”.

We spent most of the night riding the three-story escalator.  Joshua loved it so much, and Mary Claire was in the Baby Bjorn literally along for the ride.

We love our life.  :)