Swimming

I tried getting Josiah into swim lessons but they were already full, so I started looking around at other pools and found a toddler swim time at another pool.  Josiah was a little hesitant at first, but warmed up so quickly to the water!  We've been a few more times now and have to bribe him to get out of the pool.  It's amazing to see how quickly little ones develop at this age, how quickly they change and grow, and to be a part of it all!

Bear cuddles

I could stare at this sleeping face forever, especially when he is so sweet cuddling his little bear. Love.

Little helper

Just spending an afternoon at Granpa and Grandma's mowing the yard, that's all.

Love

I knew having a child would be rewarding and exciting, but I didn't know just how much I would be able to love and care about a little one.  My heart is truly overwhelmed sometimes when I watch him doing something or when we get to cuddle.  As we prepare for #2 sometimes I wonder if I have the capicity to make room in my heart for another, but I have been assured that the heart just grows...as I've seen it do with Josiah.  I've learned a whole new amazing level of love that I could have never experience without having kids and look forward to the adventures ahead as a family of 4.

Favorite things

Josiah LOVES the summer outdoors and all that he is able to do...these are just a few of his favorites!

Grow, baby, grow

This little one is growing and growing.  I can't believe there are still 2 months left...because it seems there is no room left in my belly!  It has been such an amazingly smooth and easy pregnancy.  The only scares come from working and terrify myself with all the "what ifs" and unknowns that happen with pregnancy.  Working in high-risk labor and delivery which takes on lots of babies with problems, I have to remind myself to separate my pregnancy from theirs.  The things I see are neither common nor the norm, but it sure seems like it when I'm surrounded by it all 3 times a week.  But therein lies the point where I grow in faith that my God will give me all that I need, whatever the situation.  I have seen and overcome great things in life, seen miracles worked, watched amazing things happen.  I know my God is going to lead me and provide all that I need, forever. So I try to just enjoy the ease of this pregnancy and keep dreaming about my little baby girl. 

Zoo

The zoo is yet another place that has come more alive now that Josiah is older!  He had so much fun visiting all the animals and just watched them so intently.  He has now perfected his monkey sound as those were by far his favorite!  He laughed so much as they swung around and said "uh oh" as they dropped to the ground.  This kid is amazing, and more than watching all the zoo animals, I found myself just watching him..waiting to see his reaction!

Future Pilot

My aunt and uncle have a plane and so we went and visited them at the hanger after a trip with my parents.  Josiah was so impressed and gave a big "ooooh!" as soon as he saw the plane up close!  He loved getting inside and being a pilot...I think he might have a big career ahead of him!

Newport Marathon

My brother ran the Newport Marathon again this year so we all headed to the beach for the weekend!  We stayed in a house right on the ocean and it was so fun to all be together!

 Josiah LOVED the beach and sand and scooping and everything about the beach!  Hard to get him to leave it behind!

 One of my favorite things is to visit the tidepools!  We've done it since we were kids and I still love it just as much.  Although they seemed a little sparse (or I'm just getting older) it was fun to walk around the rocks and see the starfish and urchins and anemones.

 And of course what is a beach trip without ice cream!  We walked to the ice cream parlor and Josiah thought that was a really good idea too!

Amazing job on the marathon, John...a personal record for a marathon!  And what a good reason to get away for a weekend and spend awesome time together!

Summer

Summer is so great on so many levels...and Josiah would fully agree!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day found us over at my grandparent's house (where else) for a potluck of sorts and strawberry shortcake.  I always love it when we are all together and it was such a nice, sunny day to be outside.  Josiah loved his freedom to run all over my grandparent's place!  It's so fun being a mother and to have the joy of watching my son grow up and dream about what my baby girl will be like!  I never knew being a mom would be THIS great!

Pink!

We are slowly but surely getting ready for our baby girl.  Ariel, along with a little help from Josiah, painted the room light pink.  I wasn't going to do pink, kind of felt against the whole color coding our kids idea, but whatever, we have a light pink room and I love it!  Her closet is starting to fill up too as I can't help but looking at all the amazing girl clothes around!  I fear this is just the beginning of that as it'll probably only get worse as she is born and grows!

Hose

Summer is such a fun time to be outside and Josiah wants nothing else.  He LOVES being outside, to say the least, and always hates it when it's time to come in.  He has found a new love these days...the hose!  So why not teach him he can drink from it, not only throw water on things!  He thinks that is the coolest thing ever!  He also learned that he can spit it out afterwards for additional fun!  It certainly means a clothes change afterwards, but we can handle that!

Sesame Street

We got to take Josiah to see Sesame Street Live in Portland and were so surprised that he actually loved it.  If there is anything that can keep this boy's attention for more than 10 minutes, it has to be good!  He loved all the singing and dancing and the animals (or whatever they are) would come out to the audienc...definitely his kind of thing.  It's so great to do things like this as he gets older and is more interested and able to pay attention to them.  He tried cotton candy for the first time and we got a big "mmm, mmmm, mmm!" 

Swinging

This is my view from the kitchen window...and I love it.  I am so blessed to have a husband that is so involved and dedicated to the life of Josiah.  They play endlessly together and Josiah knows he is the one to go to for the really good kind of playing!  So this is what I watched the other night as I made dinner...my two boys swinging.

Content.ment.

As I sit here drinking my tea while Josiah sleeps and this baby girl kicks in my belly, I realize that this is what contentment must feel like.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with this feeling I can't quite even describe.  It's some great mix of  joy and peace and excitement and love and happiness.  Sometimes when I pray I just have to remain quiet because I know God knows exactly what this feeling is. 

No, life isn't perfect by any means, there are still a lot of things that need to come together after moving to the USofA, but slowly things fall into plac and I trust that the last pieces of the puzzle will all fit together soon too.  We have faced challenges and obstacles and overcome so many things already, I know that whatever comes our way we can work our way through it as well.

We have been blessed beyond counting and there are so many things ahead of us that it's hard to imagine that it will actually be better than it is right now!

To the river

We had some extra time the other day and as it was beautiful and sunny, we headed to the river.  Josiah showed once again, what a big kid he's becoming by getting down to play in the sand and water. Although he didn't like the sand stuck to his hands (he's a very clean boy!) he did love walking the trails and throwing sticks.  It was such a nice time with the 3 of us to be outside and enjoy the sunny Spring days we are getting!

Gymnast superstar, kind of

Josiah tried his hand at gymnastics for a month and, well, we're just going to wait a bit longer until we try again.  He did really well for about 1/4 of the class but otherwise wanted to run and jump and play on everything that the class wasn't supposed to.  I mean really, he's 17 months, we weren't expecting him to be doing backflips and a floor routine!  I am proud (as is he) of his somersaults!  I'll find him waiting with his head on the floor for me to flip him over, that's how much he loves them!

Baby time

It's old news by now, but we are officially announcing our pregancy!  We waited until 20 weeks this time because, well, we don't really have a good reason why!  Anyhow, she is perfect as can be and yes, she is a she...we are having a girl!  Josiah hears about his little sister, but has no idea what is coming his way!  It's exciting knowing that it's a girl, but boy are we in trouble when it comes to shopping!  I'm trying to wait until it gets a bit closer, but I might have already started buying her a few things!  We are so excited about all that is ahead as we become a family of 4! 

Easter Day

Easter Day we started out by opening Josiah's Easter basket.  He thought that was a such a good idea, he put things back in to be able to pull it out again.  We then went to church and celebrated the real reason for Easter amongst our church family.

In the afternoon we headed over to my grandparents house where we had another photo session, lots of food, and and Easter egg hunt.  My grandma fills the eggs with money, so Josiah liked shaking each egg when he found it.  He got a little sad when he shook one that had cash and it didn't rattle, but he'll figure that joy out eventually!