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. 

I Jinxed it

I KNEW better!!!  I wrote that post about Josiah being this amazing sleeper, and then he woke up at 5:20 the last two mornings!   Little stinker.

Thankful for Friends :)

After Josiah was born, we quickly found that it was really tough to make it to our care group.  Care group was at 7pm, and that definitely wasn't his best time.  We loved our friends and hated to get disconnected from them, so for several months, we just didn't go.  Then we realized we really needed more frequent connection and encouragement from other Christian families, so we decided we should try a new group that met at a better time for our family.  

We've really enjoyed getting to know most of the young families at church through this new group, and it's been a blessing to be around other families with young kids.  Even though we are the same age as everyone in the group, we often feel like the youngest because we are one of the only families with just one kid.  Most have 3, or at least have a 3rd on the way.  So it's chaotic, but it's nice to know you're not the only ones who can't do everything and who don't get to go out every weekend, or who are just in that season of life where it's definitely not about you.   It's fun, and it's neat to see Josiah interact with other children.  Now our group is bursting at the seams and we're praying about how to manage it.  With over 20 children under age 6, the adults are outnumbered and it's definitely a struggle to have uninterrupted time to allow for Bible study, prayer and open sharing, so we will surely split soon.  Mike and I would love to step in and lead a group, but at the same time, we are in such a state of transition and we're not sure how long we'll even be here.  But we are here now, so we'll see... we're praying about it. 

Anyway, it's a blessing.  The friendships we have made definitely push us closer to Christ and challenge us to want to know Him more and to work at loving each other better.

Dare I Jinx It?

For the last couple of months, Josiah has been sleeping like a champ!  His typical day is this:

• Wake-up @ 7:00.
• Nap @ 9:00 for 2 hours.
• Nap @ 2:30 for 2 hours.
• Go to bed at 7:30.

He's averaging around 15 hours of sleep a day!  I think he's making up for the first few months of his life, and believe me, I am NOT complaining!   It still shocks me every time he naps more than 2 hours because it seemed like he was a 40-minute napper for sooooo long!  I'm sure our move might throw him off for a few days, but I sure hope he keeps this schedule for as long as possible!   He may sleep a lot, but he is active enough when he's awake that he makes up for it! :) 

Home Sweet Home

Well, we move out in 18 days... but who's counting?   Although we have had the possibility of moving in our heads for 3 years now, I think I am finally ready.  Anytime we've had people come look at our house, it's been kinda hard for me to imagine not living here.  This house does hold a lot of sentimental significance for me over the last 4 1/2 years:

• it was the first real place of my own
• it is the first house I ever bought
• it was where my sister and I were roommates for about a year (and we painted, renovated, redecorated every inch of it with the help of great friends that first year)
• it was where I spent thousands of hours talking on the phone with Mike when we "dated" long-distance
• it was where he first kissed me
• it was where he proposed
• it was our first home together as a married couple
• it is the only home Josiah has ever known

So it's not just a house... it's our home.  And it's FULL of great memories.  But that being said, as Josiah has grown from a baby to a toddler and he bonks his head on the pretty laminate floors and I cringe as he comes toddling around the glass top tables, and every time we put a leash on Shelby to take her out to go potty for the hundredth time, and our yard isn't really "our" yard so we can't have a swingset or fun outdoor toys for Josiah, or I ride through a neighborhood with kids playing outside and wish we had that... it helps me let go.  It's not that I haven't loved our condo, but we're ready for something more family-friendly.  It's definitely harder to get excited when we can only see what we're letting go of, and we don't yet know what is next, but we are trusting that God is leading us and we know that the best is yet to come.