Going to Grandma's House

Well, Jonah has had quite a lot of adventures this Christmas. He really enjoyed his gifts, as I showed you yesterday. He also got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's all by himself. He is such a big boy...he didn't even know we were gone.

Jonathan went on a ski trip with K-Life this year, so I went down to stay at my parent's house while he was gone. They were both on vacation, so we lived it up. Then, on the 22nd I came home to Branson and left Jonah with Mom and Dad. It was a huge success all around. Jonah did great, my parents had so much fun with him, and Jonathan and I had a mini in-house vacation (we actually slept-in...something we haven't done since mid-October 2009)!! We got Christmas shopping done, went to dinner, went to Silver Dollar City...it was FABULOUS. We cleaned our house and it stayed that way. I sure love our boy, and I don't want to part with him on a regular basis, but I (we) fully enjoyed the mini vacation! Then, after the Christmas Eve service at our church, Jonathan and I went back down to my parents' house.

We were very anxious to get there...I wore water-proof mascara that day, just-in-case, you know!! Well, reuniting with our sweet boy was wonderful & a little lack-luster at the same time. Jonah was having such a good time with Grammy and Grandpa he didn't even notice we were there. We scooped him up for hugs, but he wanted to play. We gave him kisses and he looked at the tv. Then, once we'd all sat down at the table to eat, it was like a light bulb came on. He was eating dinner just fine, then all of a sudden he looked at me, started reaching for me, and tried to climb out of his highchair. I'm glad he is so well-adjusted. I love that lil' cutie!

This is a rocking chair that was mine when I was little. He would climb up into it and turn himself around to a seated position...what a smart little fella!

This rocking horse was made for me when I was little. I think I can remember getting it for Christmas one year. I love that my baby can have fun with it now. He lit up every time Mom would rock him on it! He was so good about staying in place when seated on the horse. There will come a day, I'm sure, when he tries to climb all over it or ride it while standing.

Look how cute! They had such fun together!!

Can you see the Wii controls in Jonah's lap? He would climb anywhere to try and get those. In this picture he had just climbed up into my mom's lap (he can use his charm) and searched the back of the couch...look at that victorious face! He was so proud of his accomplishment. 

Thanks, Grammy (and Grandpa), for a great week. We will do it again sometime.

Having a Ball!

Merry December. This may be one of my last posts for the year. We have been having such fun this Christmastime! Jonah loved opening gifts, but really loved playing with them! One of his favorites was this ball that was in his stocking!

He loves to play with balls! He even knows how to say "ball," but we'll get to more of that in a moment.

Here is another picture from Christmas morning! Look what Santa brought...

We've been having lots of fun with this truck! It even has a working excavator scoop on the front. Thanks Santa Rob! (our friend Rob loves to spoil Jonah...and nobody is complaining)

Here we see Jonah with 2 balls! He is having so much fun! Here is a video of him playing with Jonathan. These guys are so cute!

Here he is again saying "ball" ...this one is short.

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Wow! I know it is mid-December. I have to keep reminding myself it is supposed to be this cold. It's almost Christmas, right?! The wind almost did me in last week. But, I'm still here. And so is this cute cute cute boy. So, if you need to warm up a bit, just look at this little bundle. He is so snuggly!

Believe it or not, I purchased the pull-over at a different place than the hat/mittens. But, they just so happen to match perfectly! I guess that makes him my cute little matchy monkey!

(he loves the mittens...he laughs when I put them on. he also loves to pull them off! I have to be quick to get them on at the same time, so he can't use his free hand to remove the mitten I just got on. then, I have to get the passy in quickly or he will use his teeth. my baby, he sure is a smart little thing!)

Merry Merry Christmas

Well, here it is. The busy hustle & bustle time of year. This is the time we all go out, fight the parking lot chaos, search for just the right gift (or one that will "just have to do"), and stand in long lines...all in the name of merriment! Crazy what we'll do for loved ones, isn't it! I really do love this time of year. I like shopping and gift wrapping. I like the fun of a good gift exchange. And believe you me, I've been in on some pretty fun exchanges already this year! Some of you (like my sis-in-law) were smart and completed your shopping by September. And the rest of you are like me, and have barely begun! I always find myself waiting till the last minute...but I just don't know where to begin. Thankfully we've simplified things this year and I have a whopping total of 5 real gifts to purchase. The downside is they are all for...well, I can't say who for, but let me just say, they are not easy people for which to shop. Anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk about today.

I took a little time out of this busyness to create some Christmas cards. I was very excited about my cards this year. I had some I'd gotten on clearance a few years back. They were dated, so I found a clever way to disguise the date and keep them cute. I worked with my family to get a wonderful photo, which I inserted in the photo slot. It was only after I sealed each one of them that I realized my "adhesive device" used in disguising that pesky date created a bulk in the card. This bulk, I knew would cause the cards to be hand-sorted (@ .64 each). Sooo, I re-opened each one of them and traded out the adhesive. resealed them. stamped them. Only to find I didn't have enough for all the folks on my list! WHY oh why do I do things the hard way?? This new predicament led me to walmart.com/photo. I found a cute, inexpensive card that went well with that wonderful family photo. To make an already long story a little shorter, everyone on my list got a card. Then, today I discovered this: the Christmas card I WISH I'd done!!  Isn't it the cutest idea/design/creation you've ever seen! I just love them. Maybe next year. Maybe.

Ok, the link didn't work, but I was able to post an example. It is an ornament. Isn't it the cutest! (I had one all personalized and everything, but eh, maybe next year). This is found at tinyprints.com...they have several designs.

The Year in Review

Well, this is a little late in coming. I just thougth everyone might enjoy a collage of Jonah's first year of life. I took a picture every Friday (well, almost every Friday). I have them labeled by week. I couldn't figure out how to center each little "thumbnail" in the collage, so some of them are kind of funky. We sure do love this boy and the time we spend with him!! He is a good little picture-taker!!! (remember, you can click on the photo to see it larger...just click the "back" button on your browser to return to the blog).

Just Ask

I'm feeling a little thoughtful & reflective today. I'm taking the time to think of the things the Lord has done lately. I don't always do that. Most often I hustle and bustle to the next thing or think ahead to plan what I need to get done. Today I was pondering in my heart while driving. God is so good.

Jonathan and I were recently met with a challenge. Something out of our control had been decided and it made a big impact on us directly. It was a negative thing and we felt a little betrayed/hurt. After going through a few emotions, we collected ourselves and DID something. We wrote a letter. The trouble with letters is that you don't get the exact feeling/intonation behind the words. We had to trust that the words would be received in the right way. It was scary, but we left it in the hands of God. You know what? HE took care of the issue. We have yet to know if our problem will be fully resolved, but we feel like the letter made it's desired impact. Thank you, Lord!

Someone else, very close to me, shared a story just yesterday. She was working, and on her way to an meeting that was less-than-thrilling. She was talking it out with the Lord, asking Him to show her she was in the right place, making the right decisions for the future. WELL, let me tell you, He did just that! Someone who observed her work that day said he would like to offer her a job...make it worth her while...AND that they have tuition reimbursement (for that masters degree she is enrolled for already). Even if it doesn't pan out, if she doesn't change jobs, she feels valued and reaffirmed!

Matthew 7: 7-8. 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

No Shave November

 

Have you ever heard of "No Shave November?" I had not until this year. Jonathan (along with his fellow K-Life staff guys) participated this year. I wish I had pictures of the other guys. K-Life staff are under contract to be clean shaven, so they had to get special permission to partake of this apparently nation wide event. 

*I have learned that some women participate in this as well. I am not, nor will I ever be one of those women!

I found a website about it...I grabbed this from the site:

The Rules

1. You do not shave in November.
2. You DO NOT shave in November.
3. If you shave you are out.
4. No trimming, no waxing.
5. No shaving can go on as long as you want it to.

oops...looks like Jonathan did not obey rule #4. He kept his beard trimmed neat and tidy...thanks, Honey!

Beard Facts

• On average, whiskers grow 5.5 inches per year.
• Hans Langseth of Norway grew the longest beard ever recorded at 17' 6".
• The only guy without a beard in ZZ Top has the last name of "Beard."
• The average man will spend 140 days of his life shaving.

Well, you may have noticed that we turned a calendar page today. It is no longer November. Which means...yep, he shaved. Jonathan had some fun while removing the facial hair & I snapped some photos. Let me just say when it comes to Jonathan and facial hair it must be all or nothing. I like him with a full beard and I like him clean shaven...there is no acceptable in-between!

Yipes. This is downright creepy!

silly guy sporting the mutton chops.

 does anyone agree the one on the left looks a bit like a mug shot?!

NOT your best look, Dear.

 Now THAT's what I call handsome! I sure do love Jonathan. So does Jonah. He cries every day when his daddy leaves for work.

If you are bored, you can check out all these beard styles I found. Some of them I've never heard of...ok, most of them I have never heard of. I guess that could be due to the fact that I don't have a beard!

Top Ten list for 13 months

Well, here we are at another "month-stone." I don't know if I am cool enough to coin a word, but I think that one is fitting. It's a milestone... he's a month older...."monthstone."  13 months. Wow, when did that happen? Ah, well, he's just going to keep at this growing business, so I'd better embrace it!  

This is a non-traditional Top Ten list. I am not counting them down. I'm doing good to get this typed, as Jonah is sitting with me.

13 months means:

*drool (this is not exclusive to 13 months....but it is STILL here) Most people use a bib to catch the drool and keep the child dry. I am considering a full sized bath towel at this point.

*runny nose. I think his runny nose goes along with teething...hence the drooling. "Dear Jonah, GET SOME more TEETH ALREADY!!"

*running fever. Jonah has been running a low grade fever off and on this week. Poor guy. Poor Mom. We need these teeth to come in NOW!
*taking steps. This is going to be the month he starts walking, I'm sure. He's gotten to the point of walking along side me while holding my hand. He takes a cautious step of his own every now and then. It's coming.

*shaking his head "no" (mostly when asked if he wants to go into the nursery) sometimes when he is doing something he knows he shouldn't

*taking a bow. This may be my favorite thing EVER. This is by far the cutest thing he's ever done. He did it the 1st time a week ago. If I can ever get him to do it on camera it will be a miracle.

*12 month shirts are getting too small.

*he likes music...the other day on the way to church he was patting his hands on his legs with the rhythm of the music on the radio.

*  m,    hkvfkfldhwl;b vm, vnkejo ui gt';r kle (he likesy to hElp mommy type)


And the final thing about 13 months.... 

*he has a new battle wound:

Can you see the bruise down the side of his face? Over our Thanksgiving vacation Jonah was sitting a little close to Harry. Harry was asleep. 

Jonah decided that was the best time to grab a handful of fur/skin. Harry did not agree, and reacted accordingly. Jonah screamed. Harry got a darn good spanking. 

Five minutes later, Jonah was laughing and trying to pet Harry again. Silly boy. Leave that dog ALONE!

New Adventure

Don't you just love this print by Mary Engelbreit? True friendship is a rare gift, wouldn't you agree? When you find those "forever friends" in life, you hang on tight, no matter what. Sometimes "no matter what" is silly, sometimes it is sad, sometimes really really happy. Sometimes it means your forever friend is moving away. (can I just be 12 years old for a moment?)

Today's post is in celebration of a new adventure for our friends. This makes a new adventure for our family/me as well. Jeremy and Susan Hetzel are some of the dearest and sweetest friends any body could ask for. They are very special to our family. Today they are moving to Colorado Springs, CO. That's more than 12 hours (792.73 miles according to mapquest) away from here. From me. (12 year-old me stomping my foot here)

This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. It was taken in college. We'd just made an angel food cake from scratch in baking class!

The day Susan married I cried. A lot. (just look at her wedding pics...it was embarrassing) Not the run-of-the-mill "happy for you" tears, no they were much more than that! I couldn't help it. Something inside me told me it was the end of our friendship as I knew it (which, it was, but not in a tragic sort of way). I thought she wouldn't need me anymore, since she had Jeremy. That was SO not true, but it felt true at the time. We adjusted to that change over time. And having lived through that, this change seems a little less tragic. I'm not sobbing uncontrollably (at least not right now...the 12 year old inside might take over at any moment!). I am sad. I am sad that I won't be close by when her baby is born in January. I am sad her children might forget me. I am sad that they won't be able to come over at a moment's (or at least day's) notice. But more than that I am happy!!!!

I am happy for this new adventure in the life of their family. I am excited that they are moving where God wants them to be with the confidence that He will use them in this new phase of ministry. Jeremy will be serving as a youth minister in a church out there. Jeremy has lived out there before and has many good friends. I am excited for them to have a place that feels like home!

So, here's to friendship and new adventures! We love you guys....and you'd better follow this blog or get Skype or something!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

When I saw this little banner for Thanksgiving, I just fell in love with it! I love the simple pumpkins and the pretty background. I am a sucker for argyle. I love it!

I've decided to celebrate Thanksgiving all week. I hope everyone has special plans with family sometime this week. I don't know how many blog posts will be written, but each one will be thankful!

We will be celebrating with the Atkins family, as we do every year. All of Jonathan's aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin-in-laws, and their children will be there. We usually have 40+ people celebrating thankfulness! I am looking forward to seeing all of them and playing some games! Oh, yeah, and the food! I'm looking forward to the food, too!

Today I am thankful for family. Jonathan and I are very blessed to have the wonderful extended families that we do. We love being a part of the whole! So, if you and I are related (by blood, or by name) I am thankful for YOU!

Teeth.

Teeth. Who needs em? WE DO. We are desperate to get these silly things in. Jonah has been teething since January. He started getting teeth in July (that is 6 months with nothing to show for all the drool). At first I didn't even think he was truly teething, but looking back, I believe he was. By the end of August, when he was 9 months old, Jonah had 4 nice big healthy teeth. He still has those same 4 nice big healthy teeth. And he's still drooling! I thought he'd have more by now. There doesn't even seem to be a new tooth in sight. No swollen gums, no little white points peeking through. But, by golly, he sure. is. drooling (as well as a few other teething symptoms from time to time). I have a hard time believing it will ever end!

 See those gummers...those cute toothless gums! 

(see the drool on his shirt?)

 

There are the bottom teeth. They came in 1st...within a week or so of each other.

 Then he grew 2 on top! 

4 cute teeth on 1 cute boy!

Ok, but do you want to see something really cute that he does with his teeth?

He BRUSHES them!! 

He loves his little toothbrush. 

We only use water, but it's a good start to a lifelong practice!

Duck!

Don't worry, I'm not warning you of something flying at your head. Duck has become a favorite word around our house. Why? Well, because it seems to be the next word Jonah is learning to say. I'm officially calling it his "first word" (other than mama or dada). He hasn't totally mastered it, but he tries A LOT. I'm sure he will continue to get better and master it soon. He still says "mama" most when he's upset and "dada" when he's just jabbering and content. He says "duck" in the bathtub. This video will show it. I've gotten 2 takes on it. The 2nd one showcases his "duck" the best. Please ignore my prompting in the background. I'm not as cute as the boy!

I love Green Beans....really.

I love green beans. I always have. Well, I've always loved to eat them. Growing up, I wouldn't have confessed this so readily, simply because I HATED getting up at 7am in the summer to pick the darn things. We grew a garden every year. When Emily and I were old enough to start picking Dad suddenly thought we could grow twice as many rows. The crop seemed to multiply every year. So, we made it a game...whoever got to the end of their row 1st wins kind of deal...oh wait, if you finished 1st you got to help the others (ie: pick MORE)! But, I do have fond memories of snapping beans while watching Anne of Green Gables!! My parents still grow and can green beans every year. No restaurant can come close to my mama's home cooked green beans.

So, all of that to say, I LOVE green beans! They are tasty, healthy, and baby friendly! They have just enough structure to not fall apart in the mouth, but are soft enough to be eaten by someone with only 4 teeth!

 See the beans.                                        See the beans cut into bits.

The cute baby can self-feed these bits!

But, he prefers it be fed to him on a spoon. I don't mind feeding him. It keeps the bean bits out of his hair. More of the beans make it to his mouth when fed by fork. 

Now, isn't that a cute and happy boy! He loves his green beans!

ok, while we are on the subject of food...I found the cutest thing at the grocery store. I'd never seen such a product. The vegetable can is in the photo for perspective, so you can see just how cute the little "mini bananas" are! They taste a little different, not better, not worse, just different. Now I have the perfect serving size for the baby! 

Puppy Time

As you well know, Jonah loves to play with Harry, our rat terrier.  Well, today he decided to play Harry...not with Harry...he wanted to be Harry!  I was sitting at the computer (where you can find me most mornings checking the blogs I follow) watching Jonah on the side.  Then, I heard the sound of Harry's crate closing.  I went to check, and sure enough, there was the boy IN the crate!  Yuck.  

But, (say it with me) 

"At least he's not eating dog food", right?!

Good Morning, Harry.

Harry is probably sulking because we made him go out in the rain.

Let's go Exploring!

I recently caught Jonah exploring while I was working ok, ok, "working" on the computer. He had been playing at my feet, but got bored of that and went in search of something more exciting! Now that he is a whole year old, he pretty much does whatever he wants, trying to assume the role of man-of-the-house. (not really). Well, anyway, here you go...watch the little cutie for yourself!

He thought he was pretty cute too. I love watching Jonah. Especially when he is happy with himself. Here, look:

On his way in. 

What the pictures don't show is the laundry he pulled OUT of the dryer before he headed over to check out the detergent!

And coming back out! Look at that smile! There is a word for that look...MISCHIEVOUS! 

(in the sweetest sort of way)

Mommy moment: This was his 2nd time coming out from behind the door.  I put him back in to try to record him on video. It didn't work, but I did get a cute picture. I think the first time around he was walking out and shoved the door wide open! Sorry you missed it!

Birthday Week: The Party

 

That's right! It was Jonah's birthday on Saturday! We had a great time out at the pumpkin patch! One might assume that we picked pumpkins or played in the corn maze, but we did not. The party alone was about all Jonah could handle! We decided to play it simple and let him go home for a nap! We had such fun celebrating with family and dear friends!

 

First of all, what is a birthday without cake?! This cake turned out just as cute as I'd hoped! Thank you, Mom, for putting it together! (I did the baking, Mom, aka Grammy Pammy, did the assembling and decorating!)

 The full spread. We had caramel apples for our guests to take home, pretzel rods, plain cupcakes to go along with the big cake. There were ingredients for s'mores on the other table, which included the biggest marshmallows I've ever seen!

 Here we see Madeline playing our little guessing game! Guess how many candies are in each jar..closest guess wins the jar. Ironically, Madeline's mother won TWO of the jars of candy!

 The candy corn tree...and in the corner of this picture are the marshmallows. I don't know if you can see the ginormous ones. They were called campfire marshmallows and were as big as my fist before roasting!

Here, check them out (I don't know if this does them justice):

 The birthday boy with Mommy & Daddy!

 CAKE TIME!!

 PRESENT TIME!!

Jonah loved all of his gifts. Watching him open and enjoy his gifts was so much fun!

This was his gift from Auntie Em! Cute little shopping cart filled with goodies! He's gonna learn to walk anytime now! He also LOVED the Leap Frog push-and-ride learning train! (yeah, the one with no volume or "off" button, thanks Aunt Melody!) He's done some damage to the gift from Aunt Riss as well...pulled the baseball right off the top...not sure it was designed to come off, but this kid was sure proud of himself for removing it.

We had such a great day. Thank you to everyone who could come! We love you all dearly! 

We are so thankful for this boy and have enjoyed the first year so very much. He is the best gift of all!