James is 6 months

James is now six months old. This month he has changed sooo much! I can't leave the room if he's on the floor because he rolls around and shimmies his way to where he wants to go. He is such a sweet boy, smiling all the time and very tolerant for his surroundings (being squeezed, kissed, patted almost continually by his brother and sister). He is just so laid back, I'm not sure if it's by nature or by necessity... I think both because in the hospital he was already so calm, we didn't understand how it was possible he was ours!

Here he has on his, "Samuel's baby brother" onesie that my friend, Brooke, made for Landon, I love that he can wear it too. I wish our little Samuel was here to love on him. I wish James could know his biggest brother. Although I know that the Lord has a plan and even though my heart aches to have our entire family together, I'm reminded that this world is not our home. One day, all things will be made new and the longing of our hearts will be fulfilled, to be with our Savior forever and leave all heartache behind. I can't wait to meet our little Samuel one day. 

Here is James's reaction to his first taste of food (avocado). He didn't look like he liked it based on his facial expressions, but he kept eating it. He really likes bananas and the other day, his cousin Layla (6) fed him an entire jar and the start of a second of banana-strawberry-apple baby food. Landon and Olivia never really liked baby food, but with James anytime we're eating, he gets mad if I don't feed him something. Just as I thought I was starting to figure out this three kid thing, it's changing (who am I kidding, I haven't figured anything out!). He's eating real food and the mobile stage is pretty much here - he's only going to get better at crawling and getting into things. The house is already a disaster most of the time. How am I going to keep this boy away from Landon's legos and small paper crafts, and Olivia's little pink trinkets she takes to every room she's in??

I'm praying for protection for this sweet boy and strength for me. I'm thankful that in our weaknesses, the Lord is proved strong. I'm continually asking the Lord to remind me to keep my eyes fixed on Him and the purpose He has for me, which is not to have a perfectly clean house all the time. His purpose for me is to raise these children in His ways and to model a close relationship with Him. To snuggle them and show them I love them, and that they are more important than a clean house. Not to neglect my house and training these kiddos to help take care of it, but to realize the MOST important things and not get caught up in the temporary. I'm realizing more and more how fleeting the moments are with these sweet ones and I truly want to enjoy them even through the difficult times.

Life is crazy right now (hence the lack of posts)... But it is wonderful and I feel so blessed to have the job of raising these sweet kiddos.

James is 2 months old

Our sweet little James is already 2 months old, and he's changing everyday! I'm not sure how much he weighs or how long he is, but he's definitely a lot bigger than he was last month. I went to pick him up in his bassinet tonight and he had rolled over! I can't leave him on a bed anymore to nap because he wiggles his way around so well. 

He's smiling a lot now and is starting to squeal and coo a little bit. I just love seeing his sweet personality start to shine through. He sleeps pretty well, still wakes up once or twice, but he goes right back to sleep so it's really not bad. He loves to snuggle, which I love and wish I could sit and do more of with him, but I treasure the moments that I can. He's so alert and bright eyed and just seems to be taking everything in.

                             

Landon and Olivia just love their baby brother. He's going to have no concept of personal space! He seems to really love them as well :)

Love how Landon always asks to snuggle with James.

Landon and James doing their grumpy faces

From newborn to baby...

I knew this would happen, but had forgotten just how quickly it would... that one day this little one would go to bed a newborn and wake up a baby. Well, that happened yesterday. I looked at him and realized that he's much more alert, his wrinkly skin is smoothing out, and he was even concentrating and attempted a couple smiles! Every stage is so sweet and flies by, now more than ever with my attention being divided three ways. Here's a movie of him sleeping at two weeks old... yes, I he really is sleeping despite his eyes being opened!

Last night, James went to his first TU game!

And here he is today at three weeks old, his face is always so grumpy!

Here he is with his crazy big sister who always wants to be around him

...and with big brother who loves him so much

He still looks a little bit like a newborn when he's sleeping, but the newborn look is very quickly fading...

I am so thankful for the past three weeks with this sweet boy.

The weeks, months and years seem to be flying by faster as life moves forward and I am reminded of the brevity of life and have been asking the Lord to help me to redeem the time. 

Here are ways the Bible describes our life: 

Like water spilt on the ground

Like a shadow, it will not stay 

Like a swift messenger, a swift ship, or a swooping eagle

Like a mist or vapor from a pot

 Like grass, leaving no memory 

Few days, like a flower 

Like a wind

Like a sigh

Psalm 90:12

"So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Summer

This summer has flown by and I can't believe we will be meeting our sweet little baby in just a few days! I have totally neglected this blog, but I hope that will change... Let's see, my last post was April. I'll try to recap our summer:

May - Landon turned 4 and had his first friends birthday party. The kids had fun playing games with water balloons :) It was already getting very hot!

June - Getting hotter... We stayed inside a lot, or played at the mall. Landon took swimming lessons and finally got comfortable in the water! This was a huge accomplishment for him. His teachers were great. I never would have thought of telling him to hum when he goes under water, but that really helped him not to get water in his nose and take away his fear of going under!

A sad thing for us that happened was Seth's sweet aunt, Donna, passed away. I really enjoyed getting to know her these past several months, she was an incredible woman who truly loved the Lord and trusted Him until the very end. I am thankful for her sake, she isn't suffering anymore, but miss her dearly.

July - Hotter still... We made it up to Iowa for the annual 4th of July conference. It was so refreshing to spend time with family and friends and being reminded of the Lord's love and faithfulness. We had a new niece born, Evy, and got to meet her on our way home. She was so tiny and precious!

August - I didn't think it could happen, but yes even hotter... Went to Lake of the Ozarks with my family. We celebrated Olivia and her cousin, Aubrey's 2nd birthdays. They were very excited about their pink watermelon cake :)  It was such a sweet time. We enjoyed watching the olympics, boating, swimming, late night talks, so much fun! I couldn't believe how Landon was in the water. He was doing flips off the side of the boat! Such a change from last summer. We had a break-in, but I am thankful that the kids and I weren't here and it truly has been a good reminder not to hold things here dear. We can take nothing from this world with us - only what's done for Christ will last.

September - Still hot... Labor Day weekend, most of Seth's family came into town and we had a work weekend at his parents house.... well, the guys worked while the kids played and the ladies talked - it was great! I feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. My labor day didn't come unfortunately ;) but we are patiently waiting this little one's arrival. We can't wait to find out if this baby is a he or a she. I already know he/she is a night owl (must take after daddy). Every night my favorite activity is to watch my belly jump around :) An induction is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00AM, but I'm praying that I will go into labor on my own. Anyway, can't wait to post next time as it will probably be about our newest addition!

Catching up

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post! December was quite a busy month, then I spent January trying to catch up and now it's February! Every time I have sat down to try to blog I usually have ended up doing something else because it felt too daunting. I will do my best to recap all that has happened these past couple of months...

1. We had a Christmas Party for the neighborhood kids and Sunday School kids. It was a lot of fun. We had 11 kids from the neighborhood and 11 from church. I pray that the Lord would be working in each of these little hearts.

2. Olivia turned 4 Months old



3. We got new windows



4. We went to a local Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree.





5. We had a nice Christmas in Iowa. I actually got to stay for an extra week with Landon and Olivia unexpectedly. We had a really nice time. Landon got a battery-powered Thomas train which he was very excited about and Olivia got a teddy bear "from Samuel."




6. Landon is out-growing his nap... and I am not. One day I was so tired I let him play while I slept (obviously I was not thinking). He finished off the cornbread muffins (I think there were five) and ate a little of the wrappers too.



...then he emptied the wet wipe box and made this artistic design on his train track.


7. Olivia turned 5 months old



8. Celebrated Christmas (in January) with Seth's side of the family



9. Kids got RSV, I got strep throat - were cooped up for a little over a week

10. We celebrated Seth's 28th Birthday



11. Got the biggest snow storm Tulsa has ever seen- cooped up for almost another week so far...


Here is "Snowy Olivia" as Landon calls her in this outfit...



10. We celebrated my 27th Birthday



11. Landon's prayer the other night, "Pray for Carlos, and for Gregory, and for Daniel, and for Potipher's wife, A-men"
Carlos, Gregory and Daniel are from Joshua Club and he has a movie about Joseph, so that's how he thought of Potipher's wife. I have no idea, however, why he associated them together - silly boy!


(Kids from Joshua Club. From left: Gregory, Carlos, Meme)

Anyway, we have had quite the busy last couple of months, but hopefully things will start to slow down and I will be back to posting more regularly. Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying your families!

Saying Goodbye to the Gummy Smile

Last night Landon was up several times in the night. He was just kind of being a fussy boy. This morning I felt a tooth on the bottom that must have popped through during the night! It will be sad to say goodbye to that cute gummy smile that I love so much, but at the same time all the changes are fun so much fun.

What have some of you done to help your babies through the teething phase?