Easter Hope

This morning, I sit by the window, soaking in the sunshine that's still a bit cold to actually be in. And I reflect on the past couple weeks and the weekend to come. My husband and I have been aware of coming Easter Sunday and what that means to us personally. We'll still give a little candy (and this year pajamas for Timothy); we still dyed eggs and made bunny shaped cookies. Nothing wrong with that. Yet, as I rolled out the dough for the cookies I thought, "Oh Easter is so much more than this." It is the whole foundation to the hope I believe in.

No sweeter name than the Name of Jesus,

No sweeter name have I ever known

No sweeter name than the name of Jesus.

You are the Life to my heart and my soul

You are the Light to the darkness around me

You are the Hope to the hopeless and broken

You are the only Truth and the Way

*Lyrics by Kari Jobe

Jesus. He is the hope I believe in. Not just today or on Easter. He is the perfection that I cannot be. He is the sacrifice that is completely sufficient. Yes, he died. But do not stop there. He rose from the dead. He ROSE from the DEAD! Impossible, but so so possible for him. 

Timothy sang this song for a Palm Sunday service at our church: 

Jesus came to earth

He lived a perfect life

He died upon the cross

Then He rose from the dead

Now He is in heaven

Seated on His throne

At the right hand of the Father

Where heaven is His home

We praise You Jesus, Son of God

We praise You Jesus, Son of Man

You left Your throne of grace

To suffer in our place

So we praise You, Jesus Christ

Jesus Came to Earth

Such simplicity, written for a child, and such life-giving truth. This is a hope worth believing in, trustworthy, and a hope that doesn't fade. A hope that doesn't end with death but where there is life no longer separated from Jesus but with him forever - no longer will we be apart. 

We watch Les Miserables this past weekend. I don't think I've ever seen it before, and the context of the songs makes it that much more moving. The finale ends with a song speaking of the hope of tomorrow.  Tomorrow comes...seems so far away, yet life is fleeting. So humbled and thankful to have Jesus and to wait in anticipation of being with him. 

Cayden 10mo!

This 10th month has been a huge month of milestones!

He is officially crawling everywhere and super speedy fast. He's rarely down for the army crawl - crazy to think I thought that would never end. And he's mastered the art of pulling up and started doing a little cruising around those items he's standing up with. I've even caught him a few times one handed standing. Geez. Okay, just be a baby, Cayden! His favorite standing place is still Tim's chair at the dining table.

Written on 3/11/13: As of late, his second nap of the day has had some protesting. Sometimes it takes upwards of 30mins for him to settle himself; this may include crying, talking, rolling around, laying there. I sometimes go back in to comfort him by rocking him in my arms and singing to him (so thankful for the sweet memories as a child of my mother doing this for me). And once I put him back down, he's usually down within 5mins. However, today I hear screaming. Not just crying, but screaming like he is in pain. A bit concerning for me! What did I find when I went in there? Him standing in his crib. :) While I've seen him more recently pulling up on anything that will support his weight, I've never seen him any higher than on his knees in bed. The poor kid can't figure out how to get back down. He's tired, he's cranky, and he is ANGRY! I know the doctor would say to just let him cry and figure out how to go back down, but it's so hard when you feel bad for them. And when he's crying...a lot. :(

I noticed two new teeth break through (maybe the incisors?) pop through on the 15th. He didn't seem particularly fussy this week, but he does this funny scrunching up his nose thing around the time new teeth come in. And one of the big top ones and a bottom one are coming through. Who knew I could have started this month with barely two teeth and have six by the end of the month (those four new ones have just broken through - no pictures of those yet).

And we've heard him say things like, "yay" when asked if he wants more food and "all" for when asked if he's all done. One time Tim and I thought he said, "all dahn." :) He still isn't very good at signing "more" but he sure knows "all done" and gives a big grin when he is.

He's clapping!! With a little encouragement like "Yay! Cayden!" he'll start clapping. One time I said that, and he shook his head 'no' and then started clapping. :)

He typically sleeps around 11hrs these days - but don't talk too soon. He'll probably wake up at 3am tonight just to remind me he still wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes.

The Adventures of Jonathan

*Bedtime stories told to Timothy of a boy a little older than him who learns right and wrong or does remarkably funny things. 

Once upon a time there was a boy named Jonathan. Now, Jonathan liked to be warm. He did not like to be cold very much. He went outside and went "Burr cold, burr burr burr burr!" One day, he decided to put on as many jackets as he could. He put on his mom's jacket, his dad's jacket, his jacket, and his brother's jacket but it was too small. He told his mommy that he was ready to go outside. When his mom saw him she laughed. She said, "Jonathan, you can't wear all those jackets." Jonathan said, "If I don't wear all these jackets, I won't be warm." "But Jonathan, you have to wear your own coat. If you try to wear our coats, you'll look very funny walking down the street. If you want to stay warm, put a long sleeved shirt on, then a sweater, then your jacket, then a hat and gloves."

That day, Jonathan learned to put on his long sleeve, sweater, jacket, gloves, and hat when he went outside in the cold.

By: Eric

The Adventures of Jonathan

*Bedtime stories told to Timothy of a boy a little older than him who learns right and wrong or does remarkably funny things. 

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jonathan. He had a dog named Fluffy. One day, Fluffy really wanted to go outside, so much so that he put his paw on the door. That day Jonathan was going to the beach, so he decided to take Fluffy outside to the beach with him. Now, Fluffy had never been to the beach. He wasn't sure if he would like it. He wanted to go to the dog park and be with his friend Fodo. When they got to the beach, Jonathan jumped right into the water, but Fluffy didn't want to. What if the water was cold?! So, he just waited on the sand. But then he started to sweat. He was getting too hot. So he decided to put his paws in the water. It wasn't cold at all! It was great, and Fluffy jumped around and splashed Jonathan. Fluffy was so glad that he tried the water, and they had a great time playing frisbee in the water, rather ball, together the rest of the day. 

By: Kristine

The Adventures of Jonathan

*Bedtime stories told to Timothy of a boy a little older than him who learns right and wrong or does remarkably funny things. 

Once upon a time there was a boy named Jonathan. Jonathan loved going to the beach. He usually wore his swim shorts but one day he really wanted to wear his coat. Even though it was hot outside, he zipped up his coat and went into the water. At first, it felt really funny to wear his coat in the water. The water even filled up his coat. But when he tried to swim, it was really hard. He tried swimming again...but - it - was - too - hard! So, Jonathan took off his coat and put it on the sand. When he went back to swim with just his swim shorts, he saw that it was much easier to swim without a coat. Jonathan realized that day that coats are for winter and not for the beach.

By: Kristine

So impressed!

For My Records (Timothy at just over three - 37mo)

Children are amazing! And they learn extremely quickly. For Timothy, his learning is enhanced by songs. He's learned how to spell his name (minus the 'I') and all of Cayden's name just by a jingle. He can figure out the name 'Esther' by sight or hearing the letters spelled out. 

This morning, he sang all the months of the year. The months of the year?! Yes! It was crazy! I'm one impressed mama. 

As for some other areas I'm blown away by: 

-He counts successfully to 14, skips 15, and 16 finishes off the counting. 

-He knows Sunday - Wednesday in order but needs help with the rest. 

-He identifies most of the uppercase letters and some lowercase. He identifies numbers up to 13 (although 12 is a little foggy). 

We are doing nothing special other than making silly songs and showing him letters he asks about. I continue to be so caught off guard and surprised by this little guy. I tell him that God has given him such a good memory and smart brain. I think that is the root! 

*Hours after I posted this: He sang his name song with the I!! Yay!

The Nurturer

Timothy has so much sweetness pouring out at unexpected moments. 

If a friend is upset that a toy was taken or dropped, he runs over quickly picks it up (or something similar) and runs it back over to the crying friend. 

Sometimes if Cayden has a toy Timothy wants, he says, "Here you go buddy," as he offers something else to play with (that maybe Cayden will or will not like :)). 

If Cayden is screaming in Target cause he'd rather I hold him than sit in the cart, Timothy comforts him and says, "It's okay buddy." or "You'll be okay, I'm right here." In these moments, Timothy teaches my heart to soften to Cayden's cries just has he has. 

So thankful for this little/big boy. 

Brother Love

Apples and Oranges

Both my boys! Some similarities, some differences. (Both are about 9.5 months.) 

Snow Day!

It took us to get all the way to March to get a really good snow. And it took me all the way to March to get both boys bundled up and out to play in it. So much fun! So glad we made it happen.

But here are some lessons learned from today:
1. I do not know how to build a snowman.
2. I cannot accurately throw a snowball at my oldest child.
3. Even if we end up building a snowman, eventually the "destroy everything" will come out in my boy and it will be gone in a matter of three swings of a shovel.

February Pictures

I usually try to categorize the pictures, but sometimes you just have to get things done and be fine with it. So here's some from February, all smashed together!

*Glow sticks

*Cayden at Tim's birthday breakfast

*Cousins rocking it out at Tim's 3rd bday party

*We're trying to act like Eric isn't taking pictures of normal events.

*Littler cousins!

*Wow, money!

 *Birthday cake!

*Loving how the boys are playing more "together"

*Our valentine rocker

*Newest and sweet valentine!

*Special visit from the Bucks!

*Seriously, the best brothers!

*Attack daddy! This is going to get better as they get bigger!