Still here...

Hey blog peeps, long time no blog. We are here, doing well, and finally unwinding after the holidays. December was kind of a weird month for us. Josh was working nights and when he wasn't working or sleeping he was studying for boards (step 3). His board exam was the Wednesday before Christmas and last night was his last night shift! Can I get an AMEN?!! Josh is working all this weekend and then starts surgery rotations for the next 4.5 years! There really isn't much to complain about the first half of his intern year, it's been a pretty smooth transition for us. I'm praying for another smooth adjustment into his surgery schedule and a regular on-call schedule. So there's a little update on one of my boys.

And now a little update on my favorite 13 month old. Jonah is doing great. This is a really fun stage but it isn't without its challenges. We're also struggling with chronic ear infections. Poor little guy keeps getting a cold which leads to an ear infection. His pediatrician just gave us a number to call an ENT for a consultation so we'll see what they say. I'm praying for no tubes.

We had a blast celebrating Christmas with Jonah this year. 

He doesn't get the whole Christmas thing but we it was 

still fun together. 

And there really isn't that much new with me. I love my job of taking care of my boys. It's hard work but extremely rewarding. I'm also staying busy with BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). As much work as it is I'm so thankful to be studying God's Word through through BSF. I've also met some really women through my discussion group. 

So far our first seven months of living in Canton has been pretty good. We've had ups and downs but God has remained faithful and we continue to look to Him as we embark on 2012. 

 Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy 2012!

May your new year be filled with the Lord's peace and 

knowledge of His love for you.

Jonah's 1st Birthday Party Pictures

About a month ago we celebrated Jonah's first birthday in Dayton at my parents' house. It was quite the celebration with a lot of family and friends. I really enjoyed the planning and putting this party together, and of course celebrating Jonah. I definitely couldn't have it without the help of my amazing family. I of course have a lot of photos from his big day but here are just a few highlights from his day. 

Jonah wasn't quite sure what to think of his cake. He acted like he didn't really care for it. He was more concerned about it being all over his hands than actually eating it. Not sure how he went from the pictures above to the pictures below so quickly. 

We actually gave him a quick bath before he opened up his presents.

I told Josh if our next baby is a boy (good Lord's willing we're able to have another baby) he will be having the same first birthday party that Jonah had. :) 

Thank you again family for all of your help, and thank you to Josh's family who drove five hours from Michigan to celebrate Jonah's first birthday. I can't even begin to tell you how much it means to me to have had so many of his cousins at his party. And I certainly can't forget to thank my Aunt Toni and cousin Jessika for flying up from Atlanta, GA just for the party. Thank you all so much!

It was an great day of feeling loved and blessed by our family and also by many of our dear friends. There is something about seeing other people love your children that warms your heart. 

Jonah is 1!

Sorry this is a week late, we've been a little busy around here celebrating our one year old, traveling to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and decorating for Christmas. And sorry again for the incredibly long slideshow, I seriously deleted so many pictures to make it not so so long. Thanks to those who watched it. Jonah and I watched it again today. He actually cuddled up close with me and watched the whole thing. He does have a cold so he has been super snuggly. And also, these are probably the last of the monthly pictures. Don't worry, there will still be lots of pictures of Jonah. I just don't think we need to do it anymore and I kind of promised him during our last mini-photo shoot (below) that if he sat still and smiled for momma that I wouldn't make him do this again. 

Discovering Jonah:

• weight: 20.6 lbs (20%)
• height: 29.5" (40%)
• head circumference: 18" (30%) 
• favorite food: cheese (particularly pasta and peas with a little cheddar cheese)
• you take two naps during the day and sleep about 12 hours at night (on a good night)
• you are pretty chatty but "dada" is about the only thing we can make out right now, I'm still waiting for you to say "momma"
• I don't think you have a favorite toy though you do love your stand up keyboard (which thankfully plays really nice classical music). You prefer to play with anything that hasn't been Jonah-proofed like book shelves, the printer, or our scale in the bathroom. You also love books. You love us reading to you and you have been enjoying looking at them too by yourself. You particularly love to be able to turn the pages yourself.  
• you're not walking yet but you are cruising along the couch and I can see you get more confident every day. 
• you have six teeth but only four that are visible right now. 
• you have been getting upset if someone else is holding you and you can see me or your father. And we got paged for the first time to get you out of the church nursery at a church we were visiting for the first time two weeks ago. 
• you understand when we say "No touch" and "sit down" and you listen about 60% of the time. I can see you learning and trying to process these instructions. Many times a stern no really hurts your feelings and I hate that but it is truly because I love you so much. I wish you understand why we tell you no (like don't like the trash can because it's dirty and has lots of germs), but your Kika reminded me there are going to be many more times when I will tell you no and you won't understand it, it will be because I said so. 

Jonah, this past year has been wonderful! You have taught your father and me so much and we continue to thank the Lord for blessing us with you. We will continue to pray for your heart to know the Lord and to desire Him above all else. 

We love you Jonah, we couldn't imagine our family without you.

And a recap from the past 12 months...pretty sure month 5 was your chubbiest and baldest. =)

Happy 1st Birthday Jonah!

Jonah is one year old today!!! We are excited to celebrate our son and also celebrate getting through our first year as parents! Thank you Lord for blessing us with a wonderful baby, Jonah truly has been such a good baby. I know there were things that challenged us (like Jonah's 45 minute naps up until 6 months), and there will certainly be more challenges. But we welcome them as we welcome this next year of Jonah's life.

Here is a long (sorry) slideshow of pictures from Jonah's first year of life. I tried so hard to keep it short but I failed. So sorry friends for the long photo-montage of our baby boy. Family, I'm sure you will enjoy every bit of this. =) Grab some tissues because I was a mess making this. This year has flown by. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around being a mom with a one year old.

Happy 1st birthday Jonah! We hope you know how special you are to us. 

After Thanksgiving I will post pictures from Jonah's birthday party and his 12 month picture. 

Until then, happy Thanksgiving! 

photobooth pics

Last weekend we celebrated Jonah's first birthday (his official birthday is next Tuesday the 22nd). We had a wonderful time celebrating our sweet boy. We of course took lots of pictures and I will be sharing those very soon. But as I was going through the party pictures I couldn't help posting these pictures now. We set up a little photo booth and it's hard to tell from the pictures but I think the kids (and grown-ups) had fun.

A special thanks to Jonah's grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncle from Michigan for driving down for Jonah's party. It was such a blessing to have you there and I loved that Jonah had many his cousins at his first birthday party. 

This one is from the night before the party, we were testing out the photo booth 

making sure it was all set for the party. By the way, I love married Marcky. Aren't he and his wife Shelly, so cute?! 

I don't know what I would have done without these beautiful girls, thanks so much ladies!

Another thanks to my Aunt Toni and cousin Jessika for flying up from Atlanta just for the party. 

Jessika just started med-school and even had a test the following Monday, and she still came! She is such a sweet girl and I love how much she loves Jonah. 

Thank you again Josh for putting up with my crazy, being so helpful, and for making our son's first birthday party amazing. I love sharing these memories with you.

And thank you again to everyone (mommy) who helped me make this party happen, 

I seriously couldn't have done it without you (mommy). 

Party Time

This weekend we will be celebrating Jonah's first birthday at my parent's house in Dayton! 

(His birthday isn't until the 22nd but this is when we were able to get the whole family together.)

I am so excited to celebrate my sweet boy, watch him eat cake for the first time, and see his family come together to love on him (even Josh's family from Michigan is coming down! I feel so blessed that they would make the drive for his party.) And of course at the same time, I feel a little sad that all of this is happening so quickly. I'm praying I will fully be able to enjoy this celebration and not get caught up in the details and constantly worrying if everyone is happy (just call me the party people pleaser). 

I ordered his invitation from this shop on Etsy. The seller was super great to work with. 

And for your viewing pleasure, a t-shirt I had made for my brother's 30th birthday. 

A few Halloween pics

Halloween....Jonah's last first holiday. And we celebrated by dressing him up as a cheeseburger!

Seriously, the cutest cheeseburger I've ever seen! 

"Can someone please get me out of this cheeseburger costume? 

My parents are embarrassing me."

Aren't both of my boys so handsome?

Josh and the interns organized a little Halloween party last Saturday. We went as cheeseburgalurs! The party kicked off right around Jonah's bedtime so he was a little sleepy but actually did amazing for us. So proud of that little cheeseburger. The party was fun, it was really nice to meet more people in Josh's program. But the party did not compare to the Girls' Group Halloween parties. It was kind of a sad day knowing that I wasn't able to be there this year. 

And we didn't go trick or treating this year. We thought it would be kind of weird if we went when Jonah is clearly not eating any sweets. Maybe next year. Hope everyone had a fun Hallowizzle!

11 MONTHS

You look like you're too big to fit into the picture. Which you are getting to be 

so big and I'm gonna need you to stop it, okay? 

So fast, you getting bigger is just happening way too fast for me. 

I mean, I know you aren't heading off to college anytime soon, but I can't believe in less than a month you are going to be 12 months. A full year! If I'm not okay with you getting so big so fast (I totally realize there is nothing I can do about that) this month, not sure how I'm going to handle you turning a full year next month. But like always, I'm jumping ahead of myself. 

I will try to embrace today and cherish every moment I have with you. 

This is seriously the name of your game, let's pull up on anything and everything. 

And you continue to be a ham in front of the camera, which makes for a lot of smiley pictures. =)

I don't know how you know it but every time I pull out the camera (which is a lot) you give us the biggest smiles. Your father standing behind me making silly noises and faces might have something to do with it, you happen to think he is pretty funny.

Yes, you love your Dada and I'm kind of okay that you've been saying "dada" and not "momma", because I know where I stand. You are just starting to have a hard time if someone takes you that is not as familiar to you, you get a little sad and point to me. And if you realize I'm not near you while you've been playing, you get a little fussy and try to come find me. I never ever want you to be sad but I kind of love you crawling up to my legs and pulling on my pants to get me to pick you up. The first time you did that my heart just melted. You are very much a momma's boy and I'm perfectly okay with that. 

A picture from your first wagon ride last Sunday. Thank you again Grandma G, for such a great gift! We love it and hope to get in lots of use before it's too cold. 

 

Another fun gift from Grandma G, an IKEA tool belt. It's a little big but it's not stoppin' Jonah. So cute! 

I love that you love reading books and hope you always love reading. You don't always want to sit on our laps and snuggle but if we grab a book it is guaranteed snuggle time. 

Your father has been mentioning that you might need a hair cut soon. Your hair can be unruly most of the time but I'm loving seeing the curls pop up and I want to wait and see if we can get some floppy curls. I promise to trim the back to take of the rat tail/mullet if that gets out of control. Don't you just love this awesome front wave? And check out those curls in the pic below, I love them!

Thank you again Jonah for bringing so much joy into our lives. Seeing God's grace through your life has been an amazing blessing and gift to our entire family. You are loved and adored by so many sweet boy. And thank you for taking an amazing nap today so I too could rest and write this blog post for you. =) Love you so so much Jonah!

New Tricks

I call these first two pictures his 'downward facing dog' pose. 

This little boy is on the move. 

He is loving the new world he is discovering now that he can pull himself up 

and crawl for real and real fast. 

I love how he gets excited every time he pulls himself up, it's like he is so proud of himself. 

Imagine if for your entire life (all 10 months of it) you only laid on your back or belly or sat on your toosh to play, and now all of a sudden you are realizing there is a whole new world (the bathroom, laundry room, windows, our closets, the kitchen, outlets, etc.). You would be pretty excited too when you pulled yourself on the coffee table or couch. 

I absolutely love that he is developing physically but it is seriously happening so fast. Everyday I am seeing him getting a little more coordinated and problem solving when he gets stuck somewhere. The best has been watching him learn how to get down when he is standing up. He starts slowly with a little squat with his hands still on the couch, and just before his bottom reaches the floor he plops himself down. This kid is amazing and I am one really proud momma. 

And with all of this new physical development, diaper changes are extremely challenging with a little boy who does not like to sit still unless you are reading to him. 

And we also have our fare share of bumps and bruises. But if he is anything like his boy cousins,

 I'm sure this is only the beginning.