Thankful...

2010 has been a busy year for us. There has been lots of uncertainty and lots of joy as we've seen God work. Here's a summary...
1. January 2010: We had recently found out two things: 1) Perot Systems had been bought out by Dell, which meant uncertainty over Josh's position. 2) I was pregnant with baby #2...which wasn't expected. Given the almost direct contradiction of these two things, we were thankful that after a couple of months of searching for a new job, Josh was offered a position at Lennox Intl.
2. February 2010: Josh finished up his job at Perot Systems/Dell on his 3rd anniversary there. He started at Lennox a few days later finding the work environment much more favorable.
We found out we were having another boy. :)
3. March 2010: After many discussions, we decided to put our house on the market so that we could be closer to Josh's work.
4. April 2010: Heather's sister, Cynthia, and Cynthia's friend came to visit. We have a couple of offers on the house, and finally have a contract on it.
5. May 2010: Much turmoil this month. The sale of our house progresses. The appraisal of the house comes in very low, but since we already had a contract on another house, we go ahead with it. We moved out at the end of May, putting our things into storage because we hadn't yet finished purchasing our home in Plano.
6. June 2010: We signed for our new house and moved in at the beginning of June. :) Heather and Elijah travel to NY to celebrate Cynthia and David's high school graduation. They worked basketball camp at Houghton for a week.
7. July 2010: Elijah and Heather returned home from NY and worked to get settled in to their new home. Elijah celebrated his 2nd birthday. Josh and Heather celebrate their 8th anniversary.
8. August 2010: We welcomed Ezra James into our family on August 6th. Heather celebrates her 31st birthday with her sister Brandy's visit.
9. September 2010: Josh celebrates his 31st birthday.
10. October 2010: This turned out to be a fairly low-key month. We enjoyed getting to know our neighbors and settling into our new routine with a 2 yr. old and a baby. We sold Josh's Honda. Josh starts riding his bike to work.
11. November 2010: After not knowing whether or not we'll be able to go to NY for Christmas, we finally purchased tickets. We go back and forth about trying out a different church due to the distance from FBD, but decide that FBD is our church home. We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving with Josh's parents. We also made a trip out to see Heather's Uncle Henry and his four boys in Texarkana.
12. December 2010: Josh has to work very long hours at work. 11 hour days are common...some 12 and 13 hour days happen. Another job opportunity pops up for him, but after praying and some negotiations, Josh decides Lennox is the place for him. We look forward to visiting family and friends in NY for Christmas.
As you can see, this has been a busy, but exciting year. God has been good. Even in the midst of uncertainty, God led us to where He wants us to be and has especially shown me how to trust.
I wonder what adventures God has in store for 2011. :)

See Jesus

The first questioning phase of Elijah's life has begun. Each day is saturated with "that, Mommy?" (what's that) and "____ go?" (insert Daddy, trash truck, etc.). Answering these questions has become second nature to me. Most of the time I don't even think about it.

Tuesday was different, though. His little mind was on Jesus. After all, we have been talking a lot about Jesus as Christmas approaches. Our trip down to church was peppered with, "Jesus at work with Daddy?", "Jesus in Gloria's class?", "Jesus Elijah?" (Is Jesus with Elijah?), etc. By the time we got to church, I had explained several times that Jesus is with us all the time, but we just can't see him now.

When we walked into class, I could tell he didn't understand that part, though. He looked around the class and said with huge tears in his eyes, "Jesus go, Mommy?". He burst into a sad cry. What could I do?

As I think about these interactions, I realized that Elijah really wanted to see Jesus. His whole mind was focused on it. How often do I want to see Jesus this badly? Unfortunately, I often get distracted by many things and forget my desire for Him.

Oh, the lessons you can learn from a 2 yr old. Thank you, Jesus, for bringing these little ones into our lives, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The Eyes have it...

I've been trying to take a few pictures around the house lately. I don't want to be the type of person that has a ton of pictures of the firstborn, but very few of the second. Well, that's already happening...but that's a different story.

In taking these pictures, Elijah's eyes are always closed. It's been a frustrating venture. Some very cute pictures are rendered unusable because his eyes are closed. Here are some examples:

In every one of these instances (plus many others), I have thought that this was a result of the flash...until I saw this one:

Then I KNEW he was doing it on purpose! No amount of bribing for M&M's could keep his eyes open after this! Grrr...

Letter of the Week success

Elijah and I have been having a letter of the week. For several weeks, he was really into it, but recently his interest has diminished. The letter J hasn't been a favorite for him- even though the main character in J is Jesus! Because of this, I have been wondering how effective it is to do the letter studies at with an "early" 2 yr. old.

I recently purchased him an easel. He loves it! I was surprised today when I looked at the easel and saw this:

Can you see it? Or does it take a momma's eye? Yep! That's a "e" "L" and a "J"! I was proud of our big boy. :) Guess the letter of the week is paying off.

Insects starts with I!

Recently, I picked up a preschool curriculum from ConfessionsofaHomeschoolerMom. It's a great curriculum that is based on the letter of the week and adds in a Bible verse, along with work on numbers and shapes. We've loved it so far! I decided to start with the letters in his name first. This week, we've been working on the letter i.

After completing all of our regular activities, I thought I'd mix it up a bit today. We went on an insect hunt. On our way, I realized that there not as many bugs out and about on cooler days! We found our fair share, though, especially under a rotting log. Elijah thought it was pretty cool and kept asking for "more, more!". He's really enjoying our work on the letters!

More Nong! More Nong!

What in the world, you ask? This is the chant I hear many times a day by Elijah. He LOVES to sing songs! Every car ride is accompanied by combinations of "The Wheels on the Bus", "Jesus loves me", and "5 Little Monkeys". And yes, it can be an interesting combination sometimes! And you have to watch out. If you don't sing along, Elijah bellows out, "Ning, Mommy! Ning!" (This reminds me of The Phantom of the Opera- "Sing, Christine! Sing!".)
I confess. I sometimes get tired of hearing and singing these songs. Sometimes I just want a silent car ride. But then I remember the wise saying of my friends: "This will only be for a season."
My Grandma had a great pet peeve- handprints on the door. She must have cleaned that glass door a dozen times a day. (And we would sure hear about it!) At the end of her life, though, she was confined to a wheelchair in a nursing home. She was very lonely for people she knew and loved. I wonder if she began to want to see little handprints on the glass door again. (And, by the way, if you come to my house and see fingerprints all over our screen door window, this is why. :) )
Cherish your children...Nongs, handprints and all.

I'm okay...

I know that sounds like a strange comment. For the longest time...okay, maybe my whole life...I've struggled with who I am as a person. I am constantly feeling as if I don't measure up to my own expectations. I often wish I was like others- especially those who are bolder, more at peace, more confident in themselves. I'm thankful, though, that God has been teaching me more about who I am in him and more about how I've been uniquely created.
The other day at Mother's Heart Bible Study, one of the mentoring moms taught about personalities. I've heard the lesson twice before, but this time she put a different spin on it. She had us sit in groups according to our personality. In my small group of phlegmatics, we were asked to discuss things that we wanted others to understand about our personalities. As the others listed things, it felt as if weights were lifted off of my shoulders. I'm not the only one that gets overwhelmed easily or responds by pulling back when someone demands that we do something. I was able to relate to what the others said. That was such a freeing feeling.
I'm okay just the way I am. I don't need to try to be like others with different personalities. God has created me to be the person I am...and thankfully He's not done with me yet!

Potty time!

WARNING- This whole post discusses potty training. If you are disinclined to read about such topics, check back at a later date for a different posting. :)
After a month of constantly changing and cleaning cloth diapers, I was exhausted. I was also kicking myself about not potty training Elijah before Ezra was born. My excuse then was that I wasn't brave enough. Why did I think I'd be brave enough when I also had another little person to look after?
I decided we were going get after this potty training thing with great gusto. The three-day potty training would work well. After all, how hard could it really be?
Then the first day happened. My thinking then was more like "how are we ever going survive potty training?". We got Elijah to sit on the potty chair by watching DVDs. He would sit there for 30 minutes or more with no success, then run out to the kitchen only to pee on the floor. Grrr...I can't even count how many times this happened. Good thing we have hardwood floors!
The second day went pretty much the same way. Sigh... Ahh...but the third day, we noticed a difference. He succeeded a few times! We were ready to shout our excitement from the rooftop!
We've been at the potty training game for about two weeks now. We're in a pretty good routine. We tell Elijah it's time to go potty, he goes pee, then yells, "TREAT". Either that or we drag him kicking and screaming to the potty. That's when we know he has to go poo.
He's done well at running off into the back yard to do his "duty". He knows that if Mommy sees him working at it, he'll be forced to sit on the big, bad potty. He has quite the love/hate relationship with that thing.
The other day, I got a daring idea. In past times, Elijah has insisted on having undies on when he's had to go poo. I wondered what would happen if I let him run around without bottoms on. With a wary eye on him, I was sure to stay close. He kept running to the potty, then running away. Later, as I ran (as fast as I could) upstairs to get another outfit for the baby, I heard, "Maaamaaa! Maaamaa!" Uh-oh. This could not be good. But as I ran back downstairs, I realized the sound was coming from the bathroom where I discovered Elijah sitting on the potty and SUCCESS! :)
Now that I'm not changing or cleaning as many diapers, I have more time to do other things like sit back and relax. Right.... :)

So it's been a while...

Wow! A year and a couple of weeks has passed since I've blogged. I must admit that I'm not very good at being consistent with such things.
Since August 25, 2009, we've added a new member to our family- Ezra James. In the haze of the past five weeks since he was born, I've come to recognize just how ignorant I've been. I remember one time hearing a woman talk about not being able to get a shower before her hubby came home that evening. At the time, I thought, "How in the world can you not have time to take a shower? The kids sleep. It's a priority!" Ahh...now I've learned that life with a toddler and a baby is completely different than life with just a toddler. I'm thankful that God gently reminds me of my ignorance at times like this. Life's about learning, right?
Then, it finally happened today. When Ezra was born, I mentioned to Josh that we have to be diligent in not leaving the boys alone in a room together. Well, over the past 5 weeks, I've been slowly desensitized to this lesson. Today was the shocker that will help me to remember! While I was out of the room for a brief second, Elijah must have decided that he wanted to pick up his little brother. His almost-13 pound brother is heavy! To my horror, all that I heard was a large thump and Ezra screaming. I found him laying on the floor and Elijah running away. Thankfully, Ezra's okay. I took him to the doctor who gave him the all-clear. It could have been much worse! He hit the hardwood floors pretty hard!
Well, I hear Elijah waking up. More tomorrow...or a week from now...or maybe even a year! Who knows?