A Little Blast from the Past

Joshua has been very into drawing, coloring, cutting, gluing and just generally creating the last few months. We've gotten a few new things to keep the interest going, but then I remembered a wonderful toy I used to have when I was a kid - Fashion Plates! You put the "plates" of a model wearing a different shirts, skirts, pants, etc into a tray, put a piece of paper over it and rub a crayon on the paper to transfer the image. I used to spend hours doing it! My brothers even had a boy's version where they could make different monsters and heroes. My brother dug them out of storage at my dad's house so that Joshua and the girl I watch after school could use them. Joshua LOVES this activity! He has even created his own book of monsters, which he also named. So glad my mom was smart enough to save these unique toys - now the next generation is getting use out of them!

A few too many of my favorites . . .

As you can see we finally got around to having pictures taken of Joshua and Matthew as well as lots of family shots. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, but pretty windy so the photographer had to be creative in where she positioned us. It's always frustrating trying to get kids to smile on command and this was one of those occasions. Joshua is still in the stage of having a cheesy grin plastered on his face and Matthew hates the wind in his face so his smiles weren't very abundant. After an hour and over 160 pictures later we thought we'd have very few that we would even like, however we were pleasantly surprised by the end results. Now to choose the pictures we want to order. . . that will be a whole other ordeal! (Sorry about the small size of the photos on the slide show, but I didn't want to upload 20+ photos for one post - you can see them a bit bigger individually on facebook)

November 16, 2005

Even four years later the date November 16 and what happened is still fresh in my mind - my dear mother drew her last breath on this earth and went to live with her Heavenly Father. It's still not easy. It just plain stinks not having my mother, supporter, encourager and best friend around! I still wish I could pick up the phone and call her for advice, especially when it comes to raising my boys (she always had such creative ideas for dealing with children and their many issues). I wish she could see Joshua and Matthew and smother them with love, attention, hugs and kisses. She would have loved their smiles, laughter, individual personalities and even their naughty ways. I wish she was here to be my support and encouragement on those rough days. I wish I could ask her about how I was when I was little in comparison to my little guys. The list goes on and on and on and on. Not a day goes by when she isn't thought of or remembered. Joshua and I talk about Nana in heaven many a day. She is still loved and cherished. I'm thankful that she is in a better place and her suffering came to an end, but I still miss her so much it hurts and the tears still flow. Someday we'll be back together. . . some day. . . .

A little bit of change. . .

I like to blog about my kids and our family, but not usually about myself and I'm usually the one behind the camera instead of in front of it, but not for this post. My hair has been boring me as of lately and it's been the same style for quite some time, but I had no ideas for how to change it. Yesterday I went to get my haircut with the normal trim in mind, but when my hair dresser asked what we were going to do with a gleam in her eye I asked her what she had in mind. Keep in mind this the hairdresser I've been going to since I was in elementary school so over the years she has gotten to know when I'm ready for a change. She asked how short I was willing to go . . . immediately I had a flashback to a really short style I had in middle school that I ended up hating. I informed her that I wasn't ever going back to really short hair and then she explained what she had in mind. I let her do her thing and ended up really liking the results! It's more of an edgy look although still simple and workable - can be worn down, pulled up or tucked behind my ears. It's a welcome change for me, but when I got back home Cory said, "what did you do?" Joshua looked and me and said "huh?" Matthew just stared at me with a worried look on his face until he figured out it was me. Not exactly the reactions I was looking for, but I guess not everyone was ready for a little change.

Big brothers are too funny

I have probably mentioned it before, but Matthew finds Joshua very amusing! We've been trying to capture Matthew laughing on video for quite some time, but I'm not always quick enough. I finally got a good video of Matthew yesterday thanks to Joshua. Everyday after lunch Joshua likes run around the kitchen island and sneak up and tickle Matthew or hide under the tray of the highchair and play peek a boo with Matthew and Matthew gets into these fits of giggles he laughs so much!

Matthew's Baptism

Today we had the great honor of celebrating Matthew being baptized! We had put off having him baptized until our church had moved to the new building, or was it just that life has been so busy we had put his baptism on our list of things to do, but hadn't gotten to it until now. Either way, today was the day. We gathered at church with our family this morning and Pastor Brad baptized Matthew. This was the first baptism at the new church so they were still trying to figure things out, but it went off without a problem. Matthew did well, mostly staring at the water that was about to be put on his head with a look of curiosity. Joshua stood up there with us and while the baptism was being done Joshua kept saying, "I think he likes it" meaning Matthew liked the water on his head. Unfortuately our camera's batteries ran out during the baptism so we didn't get many pictures. We continued the celebration by going back to our house for lunch with our family after the service. I had a friend of mine, the same one who has made all of Joshua's birthday cakes, make a cake to celebrate Matthew's baptism and she did a fabulous job! We are so thankful that God gave us the gift of Matthew and we pray we can share with him our faith and help him grow his own faith.

Standing at the front of church ready to have Pastor Brad baptize Matthew.

Pastor Brad introduces Matthew to our church family.


Trying to pose a 6 1/2 month old with a cake is not the best idea.

Matthew's certificate of baptism and his celebration cake.

The cake was awesome - a gift box with a tag that read Matthew "A Gift From God" (the meaning of his name)

Happy Halloween!

We started our evening out with a Jack-O-Lantern pizza (from Papa Murphy's) which Joshua was excited about. After a quick dinner it was off to get the boys dressed in their costumes with as many layers as possible underneath as we were trekking out in the cold and wind. My brother came with me and the boys trick or treating while Cory manned the door at home. We found it's a bit quiet as far as there not being tons of trick or treaters in our neighborhood. We also found that people were crazy generous in the amount of candy they handed out, I'm talking handfuls of candy at almost every house we went to. People even wanted to give Matthew treats to which I kindly said no thanks as I could tell our teeth would already be rotting out due to Joshua's haul. One of the houses in our neighborhood even had their garage set up with tables of candy, cookies, cider, and wine. Joshua was a bit slow going at first when we set out, but once he got the hang of it he was all into getting the candy. Matthew did fairly well, but hit meltdown at the furthest point away from our house so I had to run him back home (and yes, I had stupidly carried the 20 lb. chub the entire way thinking the stroller wouldn't be very trick-or-treat friendly going up to doorsteps - my arms are still trying to heal). Apparently Matthew has inherited his father's poor circulation and was FREEZING despite the layers he was wearing. Soon after I got Matthew home Joshua and Uncle Phil came home because Joshua declared he had enough candy, which he absolutely did! Grandma and Grandpa Hager had also come over and gave Joshua and Matthew special Halloween treats! It was a fun-filled night!

Halloween dinner.

Trick or treating with Uncle Phil.

Special treats from Grandpa and Grandma Hager.

The little dalmatian got a stuffed dalmatian.

The candy haul!

Silly and tired trick or treaters wearing their treat bags after dumping out the treats!

Candy Drop!

Saturday was the traditional candy drop at Harder & Warner Landscape and Garden Center. We braved the wind, cold and a few sprinkles with Shawn, Erin, Owen and Aiden just for enough time to watch the machines drop the candy and to gather some goodies.

Dropping the candy!

Two little firefighters gather some treats!

Traditional Pumpkin Carving

Joshua wanted to carve the HUGE pumpkin he had picked on his field trip. He chose Lightning McQueen as his design. There wasn't anything kid friendly about the pattern however, so mom ended up doing all the carving.

Joshua promised that this year he would scoop out the seeds, unlike other years in which he has just been grossed out by the slimy goo and wouldn't go near it. He didn't use his hand, but rather a scoop to get the seeds and goo out and that only lasted all of maybe a minute. I guess baby steps are good.
Here is the completed and lit Lightning McQueen.

Joshua chose a pattern called the Howler for daddy to carve.

Field Trip to Post Family Farm

Yesterday was Joshua's field trip to Post Family Farm. I've been to this farm since before it was even popular and have lost count on the number of field trips I been on there - I taught with one of the daughters of the farm's owner so we were doing field trips there before it got so popular. Since I didn't really want to carry the 20lb. chubs with me Missy kindly offered to watch Matthew in the morning and I watched her daughter Matea in the afternoon so she could go with her son Eli on his field trip. It was delightful to be able to really concentrate on Joshua and give him that one on one time the whole field trip! Our morning was filled with fun including playing in the straw maze, riding the pumpkin train, petting the animals, going on a hayride, picking pumpkins and my favorite, eating warm pumpkin doughnuts (they melt in your mouth and if you haven't ever had one you are seriously missing out - a half dozen even found their way home with us)! Joshua's favorite part by far was picking the BIGGEST pumpkin he could find. Between being so busy this season and the frost ruining some of their small pumpkins they didn't have many small ones to choose from so they told us we could choose a large one which thrilled Joshua! He had his eye on one as we came to a stop on our hayride, ran right over to it and said, "Yep, this is the one I want. It's a HUGE one!" And huge it was, it was a trick to get it on and off the hayride.

Joshua liked this one because it was white, but the HUGE pumpkin won when it came time to pick one to take home.


Petting the bunny.

Riding the pumpkin train.

Cheesy grin from the pumpkin train rider.

Taking a picture of ourselves on the hayride was not an easy task, but we got a decent one!

Harvest Festival

Oh the lovely Michigan weather! We had planned on going to "The Zoo Goes Boo" with Shawn, Erin, Owen and Aiden this past Saturday, but due to cold temps and rain showers we opted to find something indoors to do so the little boys would be warm. I discovered that there was a Harvest Festival at a church close by and I bravely assumed that the activities would be indoors (and thankfully I was right). There were tons of games to play and for each one played the kids got to choose a piece of candy. There were other activities also like decorating cupcakes, face painting, tattoos, and and inflatable bounce house just to name a few. Joshua and Owen had a great time so mission accomplished for a cold rainy Saturday!

Bouncing around on the hippity horse.

Joshua and Owen thought this was the coolest bounce house given that they are both dressing up like firefighters this Halloween with their little brothers as their side-kick fire dogs.

Joshua got his face painted for the 1st time ever (he never has before because, "it's too messy")

Decorating cupcakes - YUM!

The more sprinkles the better according to Joshua.

Matthew is 6 months!

Unbelievably 6 months has passed before our eyes and Matthew is growing an developing at rapid speed, or so it seems! We are trying to cherish each moment of his babyhood, even the not so fun ones. Today he had his 6 month appointment with the pediatrician and his stats are as follows:



Weight: 19 lbs. 10 oz (84%)
Height: 27 1/4 in. (79%)
Head Circumference: 43.7 cm. (49%)

He is a big, healthy, strong little man who is developing well. He is still outgrowing Joshua in weight and height, but interestingly his head size is slightly smaller. At 6 months Joshua weighed 17 lbs. 5 oz.(50%), was 26 1/4 in. in height (20%) and his head measured 43.9 cm.


At 6 months Matthew . . .

~is sitting up on his own and is very stable. He has even gone from sitting up to manuvering himself purposefully to laying down. It's hillarious to watch as he sits he bends himself in half and shifts his weight and always has a huge grin on his face after he has accomplished laying down.


~can roll back to tummy and tummy to back - however it's kind of exhausting to move all that chub so a few times is enough and then he takes a break.


~is being weaned from breastfeeding and had his first taste of formula today. He is still eating 6 times a day.


~is eating solid foods and has progressed through almost all of the stage 1 foods. He has taken a liking to eating over the past week.


~is very ticklish, especially his feet. He also has laughing fits when daddy blows on the side of his belly.

~naps very well taking a 2 1/2-3 hour nap every afternoon. He takes a morning nap, but the time and length is inconsistent because we are usually out and about.

~has been crying out during the night and not sleeping well lately. He has had crying episodes for as long as 1 1/2 hours. The pediatrician thinks it's most likely a bad sleep cycle and teething, although she said it could be night terrors. Whatever it is we hope it stops soon as it's making for two very tired parents! Funny thing is Joshua sleeps right through all the crying!

~has been wearing 6-12 month clothes, but is going to outgrow them fast at the rate he is growing!

~enjoys playing with toys and tossing them off his highchair of course. He loves to sit on the floor playing with his toys and can entertain himself for quite some time.

~LOVES his big brother and watches everything Joshua does.

~squeals and screeches to let us know he wants to be heard. He is quite possibly the loudest baby ever!

~continues to be a very happy little guy who is full of smiles and giggles!

Ladybug Learning

Last night while Cory was grilling, Joshua our little nature lover discovered a ladybug on the house. As they looked around they noticed a few other ladybugs on the siding along the back of the house. Today as Joshua and I were outside feeding the birds we were surprised to see lots of ladybugs all over the siding of the house. Joshua grabbed one of his bug boxes and off we went collecting ladybugs. We collected somewhere around 40 and there were still some out of our reach that we couldn't catch. This afternoon during Matthew's nap Joshua and I searched the internet to see what we could learn about ladybugs, since I don't have very many kids books we could gather information from. We learned that ladybugs are different colors - red, orange, pink, yellow, green, brown, black and one site said blue - to ward off predators. We also learned that ladybugs hibernate when it is below 55 degrees outside, which explains why we've seen them today and yesterday with the warmer temps. Other things we learned were that they are actually beetles instead of insects and that their proper name is really lady beetles instead of ladybugs. I even found a video on the life cycle of a ladybug so we could watch it go from egg to larva to pupa to ladybug. Thankfully one site told us that if keeping ladybugs as short-term pets we should provide them with water on a cotton ball or paper towel and give them moistened raisins or other non-citrus fruits to feed from. There are lots of little facts we learned via the many websites we visited and Joshua loved them all. Then he got his journal out and drew ladybugs while watching the ones in his bug box. Love this age of being so curious about the little things in life and taking joy in them!

Observing and drawing in his journal.

He decided to make a green ladybug instead of a red or orange like we collected.




Green Ladybug

Two colorful ladybugs.

He asked how to write ladybug.

The final product. A red, blue, green and pink ladybug each on there own leaf.

(not sure why this uploaded in the wrong direction, but I can't seem to correct it)