Life is too short to knit with ugly yarn

Thanks to Nana for keeping Hannah Kate while Micaiah & I went yarn shopping with friends! Shopping with a bunch of women wore him out! (Don't worry, I uncovered his head!) 

Sweet Boy & Big Sister Too!

 7.23.13 

I decided we needed more pictures of our baby boy!

 Helping Mommy knit!

 He did NOT want his picture made with Mommy!

 He can rock on all fours now (& if he does it, Hannah Kate likes to demonstrate her ability to do so as well!)!

Hannah Kate carried this shell around for a few days.  She would tell me to pet it & that it has a nose. 

 She laid like this for about 30 minutes (needing to be recovered a few times) while I worked in the kitchen.  Her baby doll is under there too.

And she found Jimmy without a paci & said he was a good paci too!

Hannah Kate was crying all morning & when I was fixing her hair....

Me: I think we need to learn a new verse "Do all things without grumbling or complaining.' That means you don't cry about it when I fix your hair."

She repeated the verse then said, "but I'll cry just a little." 

Big Girl!

Hannah Kate's baby wearing a micro-preemie onesie she wore in the NICU! 

Funny

On the way to the library this morning I said, we're running late!" Hannah Kate immediately chimed in from the back seat, "Mommy you cannot run! Just walk!" 

Jamaica

This past week & next week, some our church family is conducting a mission campaign in Jamaica.  We haven't been since Hannah Kate came into the picture and we miss it SO MUCH.  Wesley had been almost every year from the year he turned 16 until 2009.  I have been five times.  We are so thankful that God is blessing the church in Buff Bay with a great campaign & has added three souls to His church this week (Acts 2:47).  One day when our kids are out of car seats, we are going back!  I miss it so much.  Just looking at these pictures for this blog post makes me so sad.  These were from our last trip in 2009.  I absolutely cannot wait to take our kids.  Here are more pictures & details about previous trips we took.  Jamaica was the first place I ever saw the ocean (in 2004). I got out the album of pictures from my first trip & was showing Hannah Kate this week.  She kept asking to touch the ocean too, & I said, "We have to tell Daddy to take us to Jamaica!"

 I miss these sweet girls SO MUCH!  I am pretty sure that they are so big now that I wouldn't recognize them. :(

Bro. Fitzroy was baptized during my very first campaign.  During this campaign, he was a student at the Jamaica School of Preaching. Now, he is a preacher in Jamaica & this week, he preached his first sermon in a crusade.  I wish we could have been there, but we are anxiously awaiting a CD of the lesson!  Last year, he got married on the weekend in the middle of the campaign & this year he & his sweet wife are expecting a baby!

Hannah Kate's current memory verse seems pretty appropriate,
"Go into all the world & preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

Our Little Firecrackers!

Hannah Kate 29 Months

Clothing Size: 2T
Diaper Size: 5 or 2T Easy-Ups (hopefully done with those SOON!)
Shoe Size: 7
~Hannah Kate LOVES to: sing "Amazing Grace" (the word wretch is at least 8 beats long), play in the water hose/shower, listen to "banjo song," play hide & seek ("play hiding seek" or "hide playing seek"), seeing Micaiah as soon as she wakes up, playing ring around the rosies (pocket full of "toesies" thanks to Daddy), climbing into her bed (but no longer because she knows she gets in trouble for doing that), making a "tunnel" with our comforter on sheet washing Wednesday (we drape it off the bed-Wesley's idea), going to the library
~Common sayings: next...., because......, after......,You're so stinker!, anything said in "D-d-d-d-dora!" Are you okaaaaaaaay? (while crying), It's okay (if she's scared of something), I can do it by myself, When I get bigger, I can..... (or 'Caiah), Okay, bye, I'll see you in a wittle while (& leaves the room), Hey, what goin' on?! Want to show 'Caiah how you..... (use the potty, eat your food, read a book, etc.) OKAY! (if she's trying to tell you she wants/to do something
~"Hankee doodle" went to town riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat & called it "macra-moni"
~She says, "You can......" & then says something she wants to do (she wants us to say, "You can....")-she tries to trick us into saying she can do things she's not supposed to do & someti,es that's her way of asking to do something.
~We went to tell Wesley's parents bye before they left for the Jamaica mission trip & she kept telling them, "I really missed you. I'm so happy to see you!"
~She often says, "Mommy say......" (ex. Are you okay? Are you spinning? What you doin wittle baby? or something she wants to do-if it's a question & I say it, then she'll answer.)   The other night at Nana & Papa's, she said, "Want to tell Papa 'Han Tate, do you want to play upstairs! OKAY!'"
~She keeps reverting to baby ways. If Micaiah rolls across the room & I say something, she will roll across the room & say, "Woah! How did you get over there?!"  She likes for me to rock her & hold her like a baby. When I do that, she will say, "Mommy say, 'What you sayin wittle baby?" So, I say that, & she replies, "Baby sayin' Mommy. Baby sayin' Daddy." (or anything she can think of)
~She went through a spell where she would stretch out words a LOT, especially words with /a/ in them.
~She loves Bible class,reading her Bible, & "want to learn about.... (insert Bible character here)."
~Her current memory verse is Mark 16:15, she says, "Go into heaven & preach the gospel to every creature." My brother said that's the epitome of "preaching to the choir!"
~We're still trying to potty-train. She won't tell us if she needs to go, but she will pee-pee when we take her & is not wetting her pull-up or panties much.
~She LOVES playing with other kids.

Movie nite

It's kinda dark....but it IS "movie nite" :)

Building a Better Marriage

Lately, I've realized how hard Satan is working to tear down our marriages & how blessed we can be by putting forth some effort to have a marriage the way God intended. Here is a great opportunity for us to read a book that will help us build stronger marriages. Chris & Melissa Clevenger are having an online book club this month with the book I Promise. There is a reading assignment for each week. Chris & Melissa both blog about the assignment & then invite others to comment on their post for the discussion. The book was less than $10 on Amazon. I've read the first two chapters and it's great. I hope you will join in as well! I'm on my phone so I can't make pretty links, but here are the links you need! 

Melissa's blog:

http://anomalousjaney.blogspot.com/2013/07/his-reads-her-reads-i-promise-chapters.html

Chris's blog: 

http://chrsclvngr.com/mydeskhisglory/intimacy-commitment-and-honor

I Promise on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Commitments-Determine-Destiny-Marriage/dp/0785289232/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373079697&sr=8-1&keywords=i+promise

Let me know if you join in! 

Micaiah 7 Months

 This is what life is like these days. One minute he is up.....the next he is not!

This post is so ridiculously late. It makes me sad. :(

Micaiah~7 Months

Diaper Size: 2 Pampers, Medium cloth

Clothing Size: moving into 6-9 months, but still a lot of 3-6 months

Fun Facts: 
~He is so very mellow. We are spoiled! 
~He can sit up by himself if you sit him up & put something in front of him to play with. 

Otherwise, he flops over.

~He can roll & pivot to get ANYTHING he sees.

~On June 3rd, he got his first tooth (bottom left-not a middle one!).  Within about 3 weeks, he had 6 teeth! He was fussy, ran a fever, etc. during that time period.  We even had to give him Tylenol. This was so different than Hannah Kate when she was teething-we barely knew it!

~His laugh is pretty fabulous.

~He started eating food on June 18th. His first food was avocado. He was not a fan.  The next day & ever since, he has loved it.  He has also enjoyed butternut squash, green beans, & green peas.

Things Micaiah LOVES:

~Rolling!
~Bible class

~Hannah Kate talking to him. She is such a good big sister & will even take him toys & his paci when she thinks he needs them.

~Any interaction :)

~Eating

~Flailing his arms when he is happy or playing

Things Micaiah Does Not Love:

~Being put down or into the Jumparoo or Exersaucer.  (This is not a good thing to dislike.)  He was never been this way until the very end of his sixth month.

~Sometimes going to sleep, but he will usually calm down & go to sleep.

~Being away from Mommy or Daddy-he does okay for a little while, but then he will realize we haven't been around him I guess & he boo-hoos!

We love this sweet boy!