ABC's

The "ABC's" according to Josiah:

Josiah: A, B, C, D
(Mommy says: "E, F, G")

Josiah: H, I, J

(Mommy says: "K, L, M, N, O")

Josiah: P, "Now"
(Mommy says "not yet")

Josiah: Q
Mommy says: "R, S"

Josiah: T, U, V, W, "Now"
Mommy says: "not yet, X, Y, Z"

"Now!"
Mommy says: "NOW I said my ABC's, Next time won't you sing with me!"

Our "Christmas Letter"

Well 2010 was quite the year for us.  Amidst all of the transition and challenges, when I look back on the year, all I can think of is what fun we have had watching Josiah grow from a baby into a little boy!  He is such a huge source of joy in our family and it's amazing what a difference a year can make!  He is full of personality ~ quite hilarious!  He is so silly and crazy and keeps us busy for sure.  He's "that kid" that likes to walk around with a bowl on his head and run into stuff.  He's also our little genius-child...we can't get over how much he talks.  We stopped counting his words when he reached over 100.  He pretty much says everything we do and now he's talking in some short sentences too... it's crazy!

We celebrated his first birthday in July and then a few weeks later, we packed up everything we own and moved it into a big storage unit, rented out our condo and moved in with my parents mid-August.  It's gone really well (other than the challenge of 3 dogs) and I think it's been especially fun for Grammy & Gramps to get to spend so much time with Josiah.  Working two jobs and spending a little time with us too hasn't left Mike much time for job-searching but he does it every chance he gets and we're trusting that God will provide what we need at just the right time.  We're going to wait just another month or two to see how things go before we commit to signing a lease on a house here in Hampton Roads...but hopefully we won't have to.

This Fall was definitely a difficult season for us this year.  We had hoped to be a family of 4 (or 5) by next May. We were pregnant and lost the first baby on October 5th and then much to our surprise, found out I was still pregnant with another baby, which we then lost around the 28th.  It's still hard to comprehend.  Even so, God is good and we are just trusting and waiting on Him.  We know that He has a perfect plan for our family and that He holds our tiny twins in the palm of His hands. 

Now we are just enjoying the Season and trying to push aside the distractions and keep our focus on the true celebration:  the amazing fact that God sent His Son to be born as a baby that He might live and die to offer us forgiveness and give us true life!  It's hard not to get wrapped up in all of the busyness of parties and family gatherings and decorations and shopping and "Santa" but we want our focus to be, and we want Josiah to learn that Jesus is what Christmas is all about.

We hope that you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and we'd love to hear from you too!

~Mike, Melissa & Josiah (& Shelby too)

Winter Photo Shoot

You definitely get a glimpse of his silly side in these pictures, don't you?  He's got a super sweet side too... but Josiah is definitely such a little ham!  He sure likes to make people laugh... and he's good at it!

So sad to see you go...

It happened last week and there was no stopping it.  That second nap of the day finally had to leave us... and I'm still quite sad.  I knew it was inevitable, but I was happy to hang on to it as long as we could.  But the time he was staying up between naps kept getting longer, and bedtime kept getting later, and I knew it was time.  So now Josiah's typical day is waking up around 6:45am, nap from 11:30-1:30 and bedtime at 7:30pm.   It's a stretch to keep him up until 11:30 every morning, but we've managed.  And after naptime, he starts getting pretty sleepy around 5:30 and that's been a bit tough too, but I'm sure he'll adjust soon.   He says "nap, sleepy, paci, blankie" and really wants to sleep! 

Now I just have to figure out how to work MY schedule around this!  I used to wait until his morning nap to get myself dressed for the day, but now I have to hop up as soon as I hear him start to wake in the morning and get myself showered and dressed super-quick before I get him up.  It does give us some longer stretches to be out and about though, so maybe that will be the positive side. :)

Long-Awaited Trip

I have always wanted to go to New York City at Christmas-time.  I've visited several times before, but never when it was all decked out in lights and Christmas cheer.  So for the last 3 years, I've told Mike that what I wanted for my 30th birthday was to go to NYC after Thanksgiving.  So that's what we did!  Our good friends, the Childress family, had recently moved up that way, so we got to enjoy visiting with them too!  We were gone for 4 days ~ leaving Josiah wasn't easy, but we knew he wouldn't appreciate the trip like we would!  I was amazed at all of the strollers I saw in the city ~ little babies being toted through the streets in the freezing cold... and everytime, I would think "I'm soooo glad we didn't bring Josiah!" 

Anyway, Mike and I had a much-needed time with just the two of us, and our trip was great from start to finish.  We stayed one night at the Broadway Hotel/Hostel on 101st Street on the Upper West Side... and that was such a GREAT location!  We ate delicious food, shopped on 5th Avenue, shopped in SoHo, explored Greenwich Village, Times Square, World Trade Center site, Washington Square, Hell's Kitchen, Chinatown & Little Italy and of course... all the Christmas decorations at Rockefeller Center.  We walked lots, rode the subway a bunch and just had a great time!  Here's a bunch of our pictures...