This boy

Mark and I agree: Tobias either is completely charming and lovable or giving us gray hairs. Seriously. But when I look at this face, my heart just melts.



As part of our “New Years goals”, we decided to memorize a Bible verse per week with our kiddos. I found a site that has some cute kids ones complete with suggestions for familiar children’s song tunes as well as motions.

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/bible_and_rhyme_activities.html#BibleMemoryCharts

Here is Toby’s rendition of Psalm 119:

“Thy Word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin in the sea.” (against Thee ;)

A New Year

Maybe, just maybe, I'll be a little teeny tiny bit better at blogging more regularly this year... Notice how I'm not making any promises whatsoever.

I whole-heartedly admit that I am a complete and utter blogging slacker. Honestly, the months of November and December were booked with portrait photographs mixed in with lots of family celebrations, school programs, and gathering of friends. Truly a joyous time, yet not many spare moments to focus on documenting our lives.


Here are a few quotes and comments from the Christmas season:

• Lydia dictated this letter to Santa:
“Dear Santa,
My children, Lydia & Tobias, were good.
My children are hoping you will take Lydia’s special bag by the fire.
I hope you bring me lots of presents.
I hope you bring mommy and daddy what they want too.
They wish you a Merry Christmas too.
I hope you know this is my card to you, Santa.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all the nice presents.
You are a very nice Santa.
Baby Jesus is born at Christmas. I want you to know that.”

• A couple weeks before Christmas Lydia made this observation to me:
“Mommy, there aren’t very many girls at the Christmas story. Mary is the only one. I want to be the second girl. And then I’ll come back to you, my sweet cupcake.”

• When Tobias saw a Nativity set he would say, “I see Mary, Joe-fuss, and Jesus baby” (as compared to Jesus the adult, you know, with the beard and big robe).




• Lydia did wonderfully in her two preschool programs. She sang the songs, complete with motions and had a grin which you knew was genuine joy. Her favorite Christmas carols to sing were "Away in a Manger" and "Angels we have heard on high."
"Jesus we remember it's Your birthday"




After spending the beginning of my 2nd trimester battling a series of infections for 8 weeks, I’m feeling remarkably well. This baby is truly a “wild one”. Lydia was a “kicker/puncher,” Tobias did “yoga” (squirm and hold a position), this little one shakes my whole belly with his or her acrobatics. At about 9pm every night Phoebes (short for Phoebus our in-utero name) does something akin to a dance: rhythmic, whole body movements. It’s a riot! Lydia laughs and giggles when she feels the baby move. She loves to tell the story of how she was sitting on my lap while we were reading before naptime and the baby kicked her right in the back. We’re so excited for the mid to end of March when this little one is anticipated to arrive. We had a very encouraging appointment with an OB who is, if everything goes well, going to allow me to attempt a VBAC. So, we’re praying I go into labor prior to my scheduled C-section on March 28th. If you feel so inclined, please join us in praying for a safe, natural delivery.



My “nesting” project was to repaint our family room. As soon as Christmas was over Mark spent 2 weeks prepping the walls and soon we were painting every free moment we had. Of course, this was extremely disruptive to the “flow” of our lives since this is where we spend a good portion of our time playing and relaxing. We are so pleased with the final outcome which just needs a few finishing touches. So thankful for this “new” space in anticipation of the increased amount of time I’ll soon be spending here nursing, changing, playing, napping (Lord willing!)…
BEFORE


AFTER:


I continue to be awed at the time and energy Mark spends to show his love for me. Oh, how thankful I am for him!


Some random snippets about the kids:

• Call each other “bonky head” to be silly

(before heading out for their first real sledding experience at the Gotwald gathering at Camp Sequanota)
• Toby has a tough time saying “R”s so they usually come out sounding like “L”s. For example “Let’s Rock and Roll” sounds like “Let’s lock and loll.” ☺ We can pretty much understand everything he says if we know to replace about ½ of the Ls with Rs.
• Toby really enjoys being “maked” and telling other people that they are “maked” even if they are completely clothed.

• Lydia loves to pretend and create her own agenda (like getting all of her snow clothes on, going outside and eating icicles and sledding by herself after asking for permission). We're thankful she's taking an interest in learning to write letters and really starting to help around the house (putting clean silverware away from the dishwasher, putting laundry in the basket, setting the table, etc.) She is becoming such a sweet "big girl".
• Two weeks after “saying goodbye to diapers,” I’m declaring Tobias potty trained. Stressful? Yes. Worth it? Totally.

Whew, that's enough for now. Blessings!