August Already!

So much has happened since I last updated this blog so this will be super long!   We moved into a new little condo by the beach, we catered a wedding in NC, Josiah turned 2, I found out my job is falling victim to budget cuts and will be no more after Aug 15th, a lady backed into us in a parking lot and totaled our van, Mike had ear surgery, I spent another Saturday with good friends doing Once A Month Cooking, and in my "free" time, I have been shopping for a new van and a new job.  Thankfully we found and bought a van today, but I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do for work.  No wonder my brain is dead and I have a hard time writing a blog post anymore. 

So besides all of that craziness, Josiah continues to keep us smiling.  He is such a fun kid, but he sure knows how to push the limits.  Boy is he ever my kid.  Independent, stubborn, creative-thinker (ie: when Mommy says no, he immediately turns and says "Dad, can I do that?").  I see my little sister in him when he puts on the charm when he's asking to do something I'll probably say no to (Raises his eyebrows, cocks his head to the side, smiles and says "I want to watch the Trucks movie again. Umm.. Okay!").  And he's still talking our ears off like his Uncle Brett.  He's got his Daddy's cautious approach to new situations, and his friendliness - Josiah loves just about everyone he's ever met and will gladly talk to them, share with them, and wants them to join in whatever he's doing.  (whenever there's a new kid at the park, he gets right up to their face, and asks them to come play with him "hey girl, you wanna come up here with me?  come on.  let's go!") 

He's carrying on complete conversations these days, and it's so cute to hear him think about something and say "ummm" when we give him a choice.  (Josiah, do you want to go to the store with me?  "Ummm... sure!"  or lately when the answer is yes, it's "Oh yeah!")  And he's quite the encourager... to others and to himself.  When he's trying something hard, I will hear him giving himself a little pep talk under his breath "one more.  You're doing a great job." 

And then there's the complete randomness.  Like when he was jumping from his little soft chair onto a pile of pillows, and he just blurted out: "I want to say 'TRAVEL!" and then he said "TRAVEL" and jumped.  Then got up again and said:  "I want to say 'BLADES'! (helicopter blades) and did it again.  Mike and I just look at each other like "Where does he come up with this stuff?!" 

He's learning how to spell a few words, which is just crazy.  Tonight in the bathtub, he recognized "Josiah, Mommy, Car, Go & Hot"  He can tell you how to spell "Josiah," "Hot," and "Mommy".   He LOVES to read the Bible each night before bed, and every single night asks to read about the burning bush, Adam & Eve and Noah's Ark.   If I stop and ask him, he can fill in the blanks with the burning bush story, Noah's Ark and the Battle of Jericho.   It's amazing to me how much he's actually comprehending.  He is an extremely passionate pray-er.  I have got to capture it on video.  It's priceless.  He gets so into it at the dinner table, that he's actually bonked his head on the table before because he closes his eyes and shakes his head as he prays.  No clue where that came from other than his own passion.

I could go on and on, but suddenly I'm realizing that it's getting super late and I can hardly hold my eyes open.  I have a ton of pictures I should share, although most of them are on Facebook, so maybe next time.  ;)  Thanks for reading!   If you made it this far, you're the best!  

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Take our picture Mommy

 Usually getting Josiah to smile for a picture (and not make a crazy silly face) is pretty challenging.... but the other day, he wanted me to take pictures of him with his cars and airplanes, so I took advantage :) 

Confession Time

I found this post that I had started writing back in November:

I am a HOARDER.  It's true.  I have such a hard time letting go of things.  I think I'll surely need them again one day, or I hate to get rid of it and then wish I hadn't... especially if I can't afford to buy a new one later.  So I have a TON of stuff... and everywhere I turn, there is chaos!  I think I'm about to hit a breaking point.  So I'm getting ready to start purging.  Clothes, toys, decor, papers, random random random stuff.  I'm not sure where to begin... maybe with the clothes that are 2-3 sizes too small.  As much as I'd like to think one day they'll fit again... let's be honest...

Well, it's 6 months later, but I finally did hit that breaking point, and now I'm loving the freedom to let go of so much stuff.  Over the weekend, I've passed along some outgrown toys, donated 3 huge bags of clothes, a few boxes of miscellaneous junk,  sold two things on craigslist, and we took our 150+ DVDs out of the boxes, put them in a CD binder, and threw the massive pile of boxes in the recycle bin!  It's addicting... I'm anxious to do more! And there's more to it than just going on a cleaning-binge... but that post is still to come. 

Any other hoarders out there? ;)

Moving on...

I've been really slack about this blog lately.  It seems I post so often on Facebook and sometimes I just run out of things to write about here.  It's not that we've had a lack of things going on, just the opposite, but I guess we all just get in a writing rut.   Our biggest news is that we're finally ending our "4 months max" (which turned into 11 months) of living with my parents.  We're extremely grateful that they've put up with us (and our stuff, and our dog!) this long.  I know if it weren't for the fact that they love seeing their favorite grandson all the time, they'd have kicked us out a long time ago!  (Don't even try to deny it Mom, you know it's true! haha!)  It's been a stretching, humbling experience, and though I know we'll all be glad to be back to normal, it really has been a good year and I know we'll all look back and be glad we had this opportunity. 

We're moving just a few blocks from the oceanfront which will make for a fun summer.  Too bad Josiah and I are such fair-skinned whities... we'll just have to invest in lots of sunscreen! :)  God has provided a place for us that we are really grateful for.  It's a tiny little condo, and there will be some challenges with being there, but it's what He has for us in this next season and we're excited.  So we are in the process of doing some major down-sizing and really, I could write a whole post about how freeing that is. Actually... I think I will.

Josiah's 2nd birthday is only about 7 weeks away, and while I have some ideas as far as his party is concerned, I really need to get on the ball and just get it going.  I asked him tonight how old he was, and he held up two fingers and said "2" and even though it was really cute, I couldn't help myself from correcting him and telling him he is ALMOST 2, but not until his birthday.  I'm just not ready to rush away then next two months of having a 1 year old.  He's growing up so fast!

21 Months Now I know my ABCs

This video is about 7 minutes long... so for most, I'm sure it's way too long, but I couldn't help but keep videoing as Josiah put together this whole alphabet puzzle, and I realized he knows so many of the letters already... I know he can recognize A,B,D,F,H,I,J,L,M,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z, although he doesn't do them all here. He loves this puzzle and the LeapFrog alphabet magnets we have on the fridge. He will stand there and listen to it read each letter and teach the phonics until he's got it down. :)

Chatterbox

Well, we've definitely moved past just new vocabulary to lots of phrases and sentences.  I love hearing what Josiah comes up with.  It's definitely nice to know what he wants, and I know that's a big reason why he hardly ever has temper tantrums, since he is able to communicate so well with us.  On the other hand, it also means he's quite opinionated on everything, and we have to remind him that just because he can say it, doesn't mean he gets it. :)  Here's a sampling of what we hear a lot:

"I love you THISSSSSSSS Much"
"I love you a hunch a bunch" (what I used to say at his age)
"Come on Mommy! Let's go!" 
"Come on Daddy!  This way!"
"Ok, now Mommy's turn.  Now Daddy's turn.  Now Josiah's turn!" (He loves taking turns with us, and getting us to do what he's doing)
"What's it's name?" (He knows everything by name: people he just met, trains, types of vehicles, cartoon characters, whatever, it's crazy how much he can distinguish. Speaking of which, does anyone know the names for the characters on Yo Gabba Gabba - because he keeps asking me and I have no idea!)

"What's that?"
"That's for girls.  Not Josiah"
"Hey ______, share!" (He knows that other kids are supposed to share with him, whether he does or not)
"Want some lunch."
"Baby's crying.  Ok baby?"  (He hears a baby cry even if they are 6 rows away in a store)
"Do it later?  Maybe tomorrow?" (Whenever the answer is no)
"One more time.  Okay, last one" (When he's been told that's enough)
"How about knees."  (When told to sit down, and he negotiates that it's okay to be on his knees)
"Want some bread? Okay. Over there.  Josiah's piece.  Put in toaster.  Put butter on it."  (He understands -and narrates - the whole process)   If it was eggs, he says "Eggs.  Crack it.  Stir it up.  Dump it.  It's cooking." 
"There's a big yellow bulldozer!  There's a red truck!  There's a white one!  School bus!  Another one!  There's a green car.  They're racing.  Dump truck.  Black jeep. Come on dump truck, let's go!"   (Driving down the road, he narrates EVERYTHING!)
"That's Mommy's chair, and that's Daddy's?  That's Grammy's.  That's Gramps' chair.  This Josiah's chair."  (pointing to where we all usually sit at dinner). 

I could go on and on...I never thought my 20 month old son would be talking my ear off!  It's like having a teenage girl (only less drama!)!