"Baby"

This is Joshua's new word! You must be saying to yourself, "boy she really is acting like a first time mom!" Seeing as though Joshua seems to be lacking in the language department (he only has a few words to communicate with) I was thrilled to hear him add "baby" to his small vocabulary. We are assuming this new word has come about because he is around Owen so much now. As an early childhood educator I wanted him to exposed to a variety of toys so I bought him a small baby doll a few months ago, but he never had much interest in it. Well, that seems to have changed! He's not going to the extreme that I'm sure little girls do when it comes to baby dolls, but at least he says "baby" and plays with it now. In fact the other night I gave him one of his old bottles to feed his baby with. It was so adorable I just had to get a picture. You can never start training a boy to be a father too soon!

Back to Reality

I arrived back in Grand Rapids safe and sound last night around 6:00 p.m. It was a long drive home (about 9 hours plus a lunch stop and bathroom breaks) but we were ready to be back.
We has a fabulous time at the MOPS International Convention! Don't get me wrong, I missed Joshua and Cory, but it was so nice to get away and just have to worry about myself for four days! Some of the highlights from my trip included:

1. Attending general sessions at the convention with 5,000 other MOPS moms and seeing how Jesus is touching lots of lives.
2. Meeting the CEO of MOPS International, Elisa Morgan as well as another author who is very involved in MOPS International, Carol Kuykendall.
3. Hearing Nicole Nordeman, Mark Shultz, Kim Hill and Go Fish live on stage! It was phenomenal!
4. Hearing the testimonies of MOPS moms.
5. Eating a $300 dinner that the hotel paid for (they were trying to make up for the troubles we had with our room when checking in).
6. Eating Chick-Fil-A which sadly can't be found in Michigan.
7. Getting to know the three ladies from my group that I went with and becoming good friends.
8. Coming home refreshed and renewed!

And good thing I came back refreshed and renewed because I came back to a sick husband, had to take care of Joshua without help as I unpacked and prepared for our MOPS meeting this morning - back to reality in a hurry!

A Surprise For Joshua

This afternoon Phil called me and asked me if I had purchased anything for my child today. I hadn't. Then he asked me how much I loved him. I told him lots. At this point I was lost. Then Phil asked me if I knew what toy was released today. I had no clue. Phil was flabbergasted since he thought I was up on all the latest toys! Then I hear this little voice laughing over the phone which I immediately recognized as the voice of Tickle Me Elmo (which I own and both Joshua and Owen love). Still I was confused. Then Phil went on to tell me that he had gotten Joshua the 10th anniversary Tickle Me Elmo that was just released in stores today and newly named TMX (Tickle Me 10 or Tickle Me eXtreme). How cool is my brother for doing that!!! So this evening Phil and Ciejae came over to give Joshua his new toy. Boy is this new Elmo crazy. It laughs hilariously as well as slaps his knee, falls down on the ground, rolls over, slaps the ground and gets back on his feet. The technology in this toy is quite something! Joshua liked his new Elmo at first, but like any toddler his attention span was short so he didn't play with it much. Thankfully Uncle Phil is very savvy and understood this. A huge thank you to Phil for spoiling Joshua once again!

Watch the video

Off to Nashville. . .

Wednesday afternoon I will be off to Nashville, TN with three other women from my MOPS group for the MOPS International Convention. We are staying at a gorgeous resort hotel and convention center that just happens to across from a huge outlet mall so we should be able to keep busy for a few days. However, it should be an interesting time since I've never been away from Joshua overnight, let alone 4 nights! I don't think he will miss me much, but I'm afraid I'm going to miss him terribly - well okay, not those toddler temper tantrums he has been having! Don't be surprised if there aren't any new postings until I return, since Cory isn't the blogging type. I will update everyone once I return! Pray for safe travels for us both Wednesday when we leave and Sunday when we will return home.

The Boys

This is what I have come to call them as I already am getting their names mixed up! Today was a low key day of mostly hanging around the house as Joshua is still not quite himself and Owen seems to be on a food strike. Anyway, the adults seem to have adjusted for the most part, but it seems that Joshua and Owen are still trying to adjust to our new situation. Owen has been a happy camper for the most part and Joshua is doing more helping than I ever expected from a 16 month old! Joshua likes to gets Owen's new diaper during diaper changes, gives Owen his bottle, gives the burp cloth to me when needed, brings Owen toys and books. On the flip side Joshua has taken toys away from Owen when he finds them more interesting than the ones he has. Today he was going to walk right over Owen, but looked at me and thought better of his choice as I said, "Don't you even think about it!" Below are a few pictures I captured of the boys today.

Sharing a toy.



Flashing a tootless grin!


Joshua gives Owen a hug!

Crazy and Chaotic. . .

Is how I would describe yesterday! It was the first MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) meeting this year. The day began with the struggle of trying to wake Joshua up early (he is somewhat like his mother and is grumpy if woken up). I had to literally shove breakfast down his throat, get him ready for the day and throw him in the car along with Owen. Then it was unloading tons of stuff plus two kids from my car once we got to church. Those of us setting up early for the meeting found that it wasn't easy with our kids running around! Then it was off to drop the kids off in the nursery and check on all of the volunteers who came to watch the children during the meeting yesterday. Finally the meeting got underway. It was a busy, but fun couple of hours that ended all too soon. So, back to gather up the kids and all their stuff and then loading up the car once again. As I found out yesterday, attending MOPS this year is going to be a lot different with all the responsibilities I have taken on as coordinator!
The rest of the day consisted of getting both boys to eat and take naps along with some laundry and taking care of all the stuff I had brought to the meeting that morning. Then after a quick dinner (I think I ate in 3 minutes) I headed back to church for a women's ministry night. MOPS had a booth there explaining the ministry we do at Cornerstone (our church). I got back home just in time to get Joshua ready for bed. It was a whirlwind day! Oh, and to top it off Joshua woke up this morning at 2 am throwing up! I have a feeling that today could be another long day.

Try. . . try again. . .

Watching fireworks with mom.

Pointing at the fireworks.

Cuddling with Grandpa.

Celebration on the Grand fireworks

Having fun with dad while waiting for the fireworks to begin.

This past weekend was Celebration on the Grand which kind of marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall (it's amazing how accurate that was this year). Well, we (Cory, Joshua, me and my dad) were all set to see the fireworks Friday evening, it was a beautiful mid 70 degree night, but while waiting for them to begin we could see some rain clouds rolling in and then we spotted lightning. The rain started to fall so we picked up our things and headed to the car. By the time we loaded everything and got in the car it was pouring. So much for fireworks. So, we figured we would try to go see them again Saturday night and luckily this was a go. The unfortunate thing last night was that it was COLD! I'm talking 55 degrees and windy (not September weather, more like October weather). Our cheeks were rosy and our fingers we chilly as we sat and waited in our jeans and sweatshirts. This time Uncle Phil and Ciejae joined my dad, Cory, Joshua and I. At 9:30 PM the fireworks went off and Joshua immediately started crying, he wasn't big on the noise. After a few minutes he calmed down, but had to be sitting on someone's lap. All in all a good time, even if we did have to do it twice!

"Out of Control!"

This is the phrase I would use to describe Joshua's hair the last couple weeks! This kid has so much hair I don't know what to do with it, especially the back which has a natural wave/curl to it. I decided Joshua's hair needed more assistance than my scissors or my expertise could offer, so off to Great Clips we headed (we wanted a cheap kid's haircut and fast). By the look on his face Joshua didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of letting some strange lady cut his hair at first, but when offered his snack cup filled with Smarties Joshua sat pretty still and didn't make a peep. He had lots of hair cut off and the back was thinned out. He looks like a new kid! I miss all that hair, but it had to be tamed!




No more unruly hair!



Looking handsome again!



Getting those locks tamed



The before shot, too much hair!

One of Many. . .

This post will be one of many to come I'm sure, but I just have to share these pictures I captured of Joshua and Owen playing together yesterday. This situation is going to be good for both boys and both are sure to learn a lot. It's funny how Joshua is already trying to "help" with Owen. Yesterday he wanted to rub Owen's back and he tried to share his lunch with Owen.

Who's that playing with me?!?!


Joshua rubs Owen's back.


Joshua plays a tune for Owen.

Labor Day Weekend

Not much laboring going on around here, but we've had a good bit of family time this weekend! Saturday night we were able to catch up with people in my family when we went to dinner with my dad, my brother and his girlfriend Ciejae. Sunday night was a picnic at Jaycee Park with Cory's family. Even though we didn't have anything special planned, the weekend was one of rest, relaxation and fun!

Watch the video