Firsts!!! and a video of a first!

Well this week has been a week of firsts for Will. We are excited!

Last Saturday Will and I went to the Woman's breakfast and a baby who is 6 months old was there. She was playing with her tongue like crazy. The next day Will had found his tongue and was playing with it like crazy.


On the 23rd, Wednesday, Will rolled over for the first time from tummy to back rolling onto his right side.


On the 23rd he also ate some rice cereal for the first time. He didn't seem to care too much then he started to gag. I don't think he is ready for that yet so we will try it again in a month.




And for the last first! Will laughed for the first time today. I was so happy! I was kissing on his neck and he started chuckling. It is such a joy to see our children happy.

Our First Snow!

I was told yesterday at church that it was going to snow today. I didn't want to believe it. Today is the last day of summer and it would have been nice to go to the park, go on a walk, or eat lunch outside our backdoor today. Instead we woke up to snow! It is so pretty outside, the snow is softly falling and there is snow covering the ground. I really don't mind the snow. I plan on staying inside all day. Joshua plans on going out!

A LONG update...

I thought I should write up another post, however, I don't feel I have much to talk about. We have been very busy trying to get healthy! It feels like it has been one thing after another. First I got the flu, and Joshua got a cold. Then it felt like my flu was over and then my allergies got bad. When I thought that was getting better it turns out Joshua and I both had left ear infections and sinus infections. We are now on antibiotic, I think we are finally on the mend. We can use prayers for Will though. He has a bad juicy sounding cough. I feel so bad for him, he sleeps a lot, just not at night.

Will is 4 1/2 months old already and I still find it easiest to stay at home. Will takes three to four naps a day so it is hard sometimes to have both boys and myself ready to go out the door during one of Will's awake times. I feel he sleeps better at home so I like to be here for his naps. He still seems to be gaining weight well. It is hard to believe how small he was just four months ago. He is such a precious little boy, still so innocent. We have a lot of time together at night lately so I posted some Bible verses on my wall so I can memorize while I am feeding, walking and bouncing him around. He seems to enjoy being awake and hard to get back to sleep between 3:30 and 5am so I bounce a lot on my exercise ball and walk him around a ton! I don't want him crying and waking up his brother so at this moment it seemed like the best thing to do. When he is six months old though I am planning on having Joshua sleep in our room on the floor and try to train Will to sleep better at night. If I have the energy to do so that is. He is now rolling. He loves to roll up on his right side to look at things and his toys. He still hates being on his belly. He enjoys sitting with me on the ground as we watch Joshua be a wild man or as we play with toys.

I ventured out to Wal-mart the other day... alone... and half way through shopping I wondered why I had chosen that store and not Safeway (Wal-mart has better deals on toilet paper and diapers, that's why). I could have used help out to the van this time. I had Will strapped to my chest and he still doesn't have complete head control so I still need to have one hand supporting his head. Joshua was in the basket complaining most of the way. I had a cart full of groceries, thank you Lord for providing! By the end of our trip I had two sad children, and yet I still chose to go to the post office and health food store after that. I am not doing that again, by myself. On our way out of Wal-mart Joshua was standing and holding onto the cart, like most children enjoy doing. I was pulling the cart, it is easier to pull a cart one handed then to push it. By the time we got to the van Joshua had gone from standing to laying under the basket. I am still not sure how he did that WHILE I was still moving. My son is talented!

Joshua is doing okay. We could use a lot of prayer for him and his willingness to obey us. It seems like he spends most of his day being punished. I really hate sin! He is doing MUCH better at eating new foods. Yesterday I made a Chicken pasta dish and he loved it. That was the first time he tried mushrooms and loved them. Tonight I made beef stroganof (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and a salad and he ate his food all gone! He is still completely in love with Will. He loves holding his hand, playing with him, giving him his pacifier and blanket. I am sure he cannot wait for Will to be able to play with him. Tonight he was trying to show will how to roll over. Joshua was rolling all over the living room. Joshua loves playing hide-and-go-seek and would play that all day, along with play-dough.

I am doing well. I feel sometimes that I fail to be the mother and wife God wants me to be. I am constantly struggling with that and trying to improve through reading God's word and in prayer. It is so much harder for me to go from one kid to two, but it is so worth it!!! I have been busy, in my 'free time' sewing Christmas gifts for my boys and family members. I found something cute I want to make for Will's birthday and will probably start on that soon as well! I don't think I ever have all of my craft projects finished at the same time. It seems like there is always something on my list of things I would like to make.

That's about it for an update. Michael is at a comedian with his cousin so I had the time to sit down and write before I head off to bed. Enjoy the pictures. I love to hear comments so feel free to leave one!!

I just received my first blog book from Blurb. I love it and cannot wait to make more!!


A classic Joshua pose. He loves to make silly faces so I did it too!



Will trying to sit up like a big boy.



playing with the jumperoo we are borrowing from the Hubers. Thank you so much!





Joshua once again with a silly face.



Joshua adoring his brother.



Me: What time is it?
Joshua: TUMMY TIME!!!



My handsome boys



All of them togther. They fill my heart with Joy!!

Will is 4 months old!

On Saturday Will turned 4 months old! It seems unreal that he is that old already. He loves to talk, kick the floor, suck his paci and if that isn't available suck his thumb. He loves to smile, play patti-cake, and do baby sit-ups. He loves looking at his family. He hates laying on his stomach, he is so lazy he won't even try to lift his head up off the floor he just lays there now. He can tolerate the car seat now, so we might venture up to Gillette one of these days. He is old enough to start eating rice cereal but I don't think he is ready. I'd like him to be able to sit in a bumbo before he starts eating food.

We went to his Well check yesterday he is 26 inches long 80th percentile, Weighs 14 pounds 8 1/2 ounces 40th percentile, and his head is measuring 43.1cm just below the 75th percentile.

I'll try to get better at posting pictures more often. I haven't had the time recently. We have all been sick, so I have been busy trying to get healthy and taking care of my sick family.

Joshua has been very cute lately. The other day he held on to Will's hand and said "I love you Will! I love you, I love you, I love you!" It was so cute.

Here are pictures of Will on the day he turned 4 months old.

Update.

Aside from my last post it has been FOREVER since I wrote last so I thought I would give you an update.

We are doing well and staying busy. Michael, Will and I just got back from my cousins wedding in Texas on Monday. We had a WONDERFUL time and are so glad we went. Aside from missing our flight out of Denver the rest of the trip went well. We flew out of Denver and into Dallas, picked up a rental car and drove 2 1/2 hours to Temple Texas. We were able to see 15 family members as well as my cousins new bride and her daughter. It was so much fun, my family is a hoot. I LOVE my time with them and always look forward to the next time we are able to get together again.

Joshua stayed the weekend with my sister and her three children in Denver. He had a great time playing games, watching movies, swimming, and eating cake and icecream at my nieces birthday party. It was a great mini vacation for Michael and I. Not having a three year old around that demands a lot of our time and attention was quite the treat.

We did make our return flight on Sunday, stayed the night with my sister and drove home on Monday. We are now back to normal and aren't planning on any trips for quite awhile.

Friday I went garage sale-ing and found some bar stools. They are oak, tall, swivel seat, with backs, and I got them for $5 a piece (total 2 stools). I thought I got quite the deal. Friday night Michael went to the Honda dealership inquiring about a job that was listed in the newspaper (the job was just for Friday night and Saturday morning moving vehicles around). While he was there he found a Honda, Odyssey '95. I had been eyeing one that was parked on Custer a lot. It is like a van, it has four bucket seats and a bench seat in back that can hold two people. The side back doors don't slide open they open like a regular car. The back bench seat can fold down into the floor for easy hauling, and it has a rack on top. It fits our family GREAT. We are so thankful for the Lord that he gave us a new vehicle. We were able to trade our car in for the new one, and they took our offer after some negotiating. We ended up going back to talk to the Sales Rep on Saturday and that is when we got the car. We signed the papers today.

Will is growing like crazy and Joshua is doing great. Michael is still finishing some classes and will be done with them soon.

I think that is about it for now. I'll try to post some pictures later. At least I posted an update. :)

Third stop Oregon...

Okay... I am so sorry it has taken me FOREVER to get my Oregon Pictures posted. Here they are. The pictures include pictures of my sister with my boys, my dad with my boys, Oregon mountains, and my sister and I. We had a great time in Oregon, even though we were there only two days. It was great being able to see my dad, step-mom and sister again. It has been way too long since our last trip out there. Joshua LOVED seeing all the animals my family have chickens, two horses, and three dogs. Joshua was 'farmer Joshua' whenever he would go outside with his Grandma. I thought he looked cute in the hat and had to take some picture. I thought the picture of him in the hat turned out rather well. :)

The night we got into Baker City we drove to LaGrande to see my sister. It was great to see her and have her meet Will for the first time. The mountains were beautiful driving in, Joshua and Will fell asleep on the way over. Joshua in his BK crown was too cute to pass up taking pictures of him. We were able to see my sister's place and hang out there for a little while before heading back to my dad's house. We had some good conversations, lots of games of hide wood eggs and find them, and lots of good food (as always thank you Linda for your wonderful hospitality).

On Friday we drove to Boise ID to see some GREAT friends of ours who used to live here (you are greatly missed). We had great conversations, games, and food. Thank you for entertaining us, we look forward to our next visit. For the fourth of July we went to a parade downtown and ment to light fire works that night and watch the local fireworks. I came down with a sore throat that as of TODAY is finally going away. So I went to bed and the guys played games. The 5th of July we lit some sparklers and smoke balls. One of the green smoke balls rolled under our green jetta. It looked like our car was melting. :) It was great fun.

We took the entire 9 hour trip home in one day, however, it took us 12 hours to get home. It has taken some time to get on a schedule again but I think we are finally back to a normal life here. Enjoy the pictures.

Second stop Ketchum Idaho

Our next stop was in Ketchum Idaho. We were able to stay there with Michael's Mom, Dad, and Sister in their time share. It was an enjoyable stay and I'm glad we went. The town was tiny but it was gorgeous, and so was the area surrounding it. We went on many walks, a hike and I went on a short run with Todd. The town had a lot of cute stores to shop in and a wonderful chocolate and ice-cream store. On Sunday we went to a nice church in a town 15 minutes away. Will slept nicely in his travel bed and Joshua slept in the LARGE walk in closet, that was his 'bed room' for during our stay there. We left Ketchum on Thursday so we could stay a night with my Dad and Step-Mom in Oregon.








Maxine and Todd on the trail below, the picture is zoomed in.


same shot zoomed in.

A tiny little park.









Family picture