Energy... his not mine!

Just a snapshot of my energetic little guy... he wears me out, but I sure love him!

I Finally Caved In

I never understood "those moms" who said they couldn't bear to cut their little boys' curls off.  "He's supposed to look like a BOY", I thought.... until I became one of them!  Josiah has the most beautiful golden blonde hair that curls up in the back and is so soft.  I think he looked adorable with that little long-haired surfer look, and was never mistaken for a girl, so I had no intentions of cutting his hair anytime soon.  Then I realized that it was so long it was covering his eyes, and if I was going to have only the front trimmed, he'd be left with a bit of a mullet.... so I did the unspeakable.  I took him to this cute little kid's salon, cringed and said, "okay... trim up the back too."  I do think his new do is super-cute, but I can't help but hope that as it grows out, some of the curl will come back. 

BEFORE: 

DURING/AFTER:

Trouble Trouble Trouble

Josiah is well on his way to being a little heartbreaker.  He is quite the little charmer and will flash his pearly whites in a big cheesy grin for just about anyone!  We can't go anywhere without him getting ooohs & aaahs and he seems to have no problem soaking it all in!  He "pretends" to be a little shy, and yet once someone is telling him how adorable he is, he warms right up and smiles like crazy and waves "hi" or "bye" over and over. 

I am AMAZED at how much he is talking now too.  He seems to have several new words everyday!  Here's some of what he's been saying:

hi, bye, night-night, dog, "wing" (swing), up, open door, "peas" (please), more please, no more, no-no, more dat, "tank ooh" (thank you), silly, happy, hello, baby, mine, mommy, daddy, egg,  cheese, "cack-er" (cracker), "wah-er" (water) orange juice, light, boat, tree, duck, quack quack, knock-knock, rock-rock, "shit" (sit), shoes, ball, "yeh-oh" (yellow).... and probably more I just can't think of! 

That's my boy...

The beach in September is the way to go!  

Forget all the heat and crowds, but on a beautiful warm evening, it's amazing! 

Love him so much!

I just love my little guy.  He is such a joy.  It makes me smile so much to see all the things that he is learning and taking in.  He understands soooo much, it's amazing.   Here are just a few recent things:

• Grammy says: "Josiah, go get me some books and I'll read to you." So Josiah walks across the room, goes straight to the drawer with his books and pulls out two and takes them back to Grammy.
• This morning, she handed him two of his sippy cups to play with and he immediately walked right over to the refrigerator and held them up to the water dispenser.  We've never really shown him that, but he knew what was supposed to go in those cups!
• He was walking around a kids store today and had grabbed a teddy bear off the shelf, and when Daddy told him to go put it back on the shelf, he did exactly what he was told.
• Then later, he picked up some trash off the ground at church and Daddy said "go put it in the trash can" and sure enough, he knew exactly what to do and did it.

It may sound simple... but it's amazing to us to see how much he picks up and how much he understands!   And then some of it just plain adorable, like: 

• I love how most of the time he likes the independence of walking around and exploring... but when he's somewhere new and I put him down to walk, he looks up at me and puts his hand up to hold my hand so I'll go with him.  ;)  So cute.
• And when we say "Let's pray" before we eat, he reaches out one hand to me and one hand to daddy so we can all hold hands while we pray.  :)
• Josiah's room at Grammy & Gramps' house is in the pool table room with all the old records and 70's memorabilia.  A few days ago, when I went in to get him out of his crib after he woke up from a nap, he was pointing like crazy at something across the room.  So I picked him up and carried him around to see if I could figure it out.  I quickly realized that he had discovered the figurine set of The Beatles that sits on the media cabinet.  It's these like 9 inch tall replicas of the band.  And ever since, as soon as he wakes up after every nap, he wants to go over and say "good morning" to John, Paul, George and Ringo!  hahahaha!  Maybe he'll be a Beatles fan! 

The list could go on and on, but I just wanted to write out these few things on here so I won't forget.  It's like my online baby book.  :)

What's new?

What's new?  Besides the fact that we've moved out of our condo, moved in with my parents, Josiah is now walking/running, he has at least two new teeth, a busted lip and Mike's work just got super-busy... you know, nothing much.  :)  So far so good.

Although I have to watch him even closer now (ie: busted lip from walking with sippy cup is just the beginning) I have to admit that my back is appreciating that Josiah's new skills mean he gets carried much less.  He's definitely got an independent streak.  Hmmmm... I wonder where that could have come from?! 

He wants to walk everywhere.  And he is loving how much he gets to go outside now that we're at Grammy & Granddaddy's house.  Swinging, saying good morning to the ducks, wagon rides and walks to the dock are our new daily rituals.

We're all doing well :)  I'm hesitant to feel too "settled" though because that's surely when it'll be time to move again!   Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks:

Thoughts on Change

When I turned 25, I kinda freaked out that I was still living with my parents, so I vowed not to turn 26 while living with them, and within 5 months, I had bought a house.  Now, I'm about to turn 30, and I'm moving back in.  Go figure.  LOL.  Only this time, I have a husband, a son, a dog and renters in my house.  I think God definitely has a sense of humor.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about how God led the Israelites for 40 years through the desert before they reached the promised land.  It's clear that He is more focused on the JOURNEY than the DESTINATION.  At times, Mike and I think how we can't wait to get to wherever it is we are going, to settle in and to put down roots.  But yet that's not necessarily what God has for us.  He wants our roots to be planted firmly in His Word, so that we can withstand the wind and the storms of life, but I actually believe He doesn't want us to be so firmly planted in our circumstances or in our life here on earth.  The more attached we are to "our life" and "the way we like things," the less open we are to going where He might lead us.  {Remind me of this when I unpack because I have a ton of stuff I need to let go of!!}

Whether our next move takes us somewhere for a few months or for decades, we want to spend our energy and passions on building a family that is firmly rooted in Christ, regardless of how much life may change and move us.  It's exciting.