Basket Head

I've been really slacking when it comes to taking pictures lately.   I can't remember the last time I picked up the camera!  I do snap a few with my phone, but they never turn out all that great.  So... this week, I'm going to grab that camera and update this blog!  Meanwhile, here is a silly video for your viewing pleasure.  We're having so much fun with Josiah.  I know I'm bragging on him a bit... but this boy is such the little sponge!  He understands and remembers so much... we are amazed at him every day!  He's such a little sweetie too.  He loves to give everyone hugs & kisses.  If you ask for one, he'll give it to you and then insist on giving you the other too.  And of course, it just melts me when he says "I lub you Mommy"  :) :) :)

Video Update

Here's just a recent video of randomness.... it's a couple minutes long, but it's pretty cute.

Still Here

So I guess I haven't blogged in almost a month.  That's probably a record for me.  Ooops!  I'll have to write a better catch-up post soon, but for now, I'll just leave you with my reading list for the beginning of this year.  That's right, I have a reading list.  I'm ashamed to admit how long it's been since I've read an entire book from start to finish, but I really do love to read, and there are so many books that I am interested in right now.  In the amount of time that I spend/waste online, I could easily read so many great books! So I'm just committing to close the computer more often, and actually read them!

Current:
Crazy Love by Francis Chan (life-changing)












Living Free by Beth Moore

Next on my list (in no particular order):

Radical by David Platt

Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp

Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson












What about you?  Any books you're hoping to read this year or ones you'd recommend??

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. :)