Tator Tot Mish Mash

What I love... 10/2/11

2011-10-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the moments of love and laughter I have enjoyed with my children these past couple of weeks:

Josiah:

* Saying to me, "Please stop saying that mom-- it is making my eyes twinkle!" (I kept repeating this sound he didn't like!)

* Letting Evelyn get the newspaper this morning-- I had asked him to get it but she really wanted to so he let her. Love seeing unselfishness!!

* Doing a wonderful job memorizing scripture-- even knowing the book/chapter/verse!

* Reading his first book to us-- a "Bob" book-- he is doing great! And he is very proud of himself!

* Bravely riding Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain at Disney World-- and loving it!!

Evelyn:

* Doing twirl after twirl after twirl in numerous dresses and skirts. She loves twirling right now!

* Repeating "Jesus never sleeps or slumbers"-- Jason taught her that verse to help her not be scared at night.

* Talking about how she loves people-- "I love daddy." "I love Charles." "I love Laura." Too cute-- and it is often out of nowhere that she says it!

* Asking "Do you love my curls?" Oh yeah! And when asked who made them, she says, "Jesus did!"

Rebekah:

* Being such a little ham and giving so much joy-- I can tell she will be making us laugh through the years.

* Crawling backwards towards Jason but frontwards towards me-- explanation?! LOL!

* Throwing fits when she has to get out of the bathtub with Evelyn-- she only does this when she is with her sister/brother, not when it is a bath by herself!

* Always greeting Daddy at the door with lots of love-- she is always glad to see her Daddy. :)

The small things...

2011-07-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

I overheard a young mom talking to a more seasoned mom today about writing down the little things that happen throughout the day-- especially what your kids say and do, so that they can look back over it when they are older. I *really* want to be more consistent with this, so I am picking myself up and dusting myself up and trying again! So here we go...

Josiah just turned 5!! Ahh! My baby is 5. I made him a Lighting McQueen cake and he threw a ton of sprinkles on it. He wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting-- a man after my own heart! We tried to light these color candles, but they wouldn't hold a flame, so we had a "3" and a "2" candle that we put together on the cake to add up to 5. So clever are we. :) He got a new bike and we are trying hard to learn to ride it without training wheels. Evelyn is also close to learning to pedal her bike. It is fun to see them reach these milestones. But anyway, in short he loves wrecks, messes, money, collections of anything, anything of daddy's, stories (to tell them and be told them), and his sisters (most days).

Evelyn is now 3, and today was a bit rough. She is the sweetest little thing, but she is also my most thick-skinned/hard-headed little child. I often have to ask her over and over to do or not do something. But, she loves her brother and sister very much (she really looks up to Josiah). She loves to help and do little "mommy" things. She is a sweetie. She still has long, sweet curls that get all the attention wherever we go. :) Today in the car she said out of the blue, "I love my daddy." So we called daddy and let him know that. Those little things melt your heart. She also likes to say uncoerced "Thank you, Mommy," and "Thank you, Daddy," at the dinner table.

Rebekah will be 10 months old in 2 days-- on our 9 year anniversary! Her middle name is true to her nature-- she brings much joy to our lives. She has been a wonderful baby-- she also loves her siblings, but can become quite concerned when they hover all over her. She really loves it when I carry her around and Josiah or Evelyn is following behind us--then she really starts to giggle. She loves her daddy to pieces too. She is usually always the first of the kids to greet him at the door. She makes a b-line for the door with a cute little scoot/crawl. She likes to keep one leg in a bent position and use the other one to move herself. She certainly has daddy wrapped around her little finger.

I am going to try desperately to start updating this again regularly. I must!

Catching up

2010-07-27T20:46:00.001-07:00

It has been so long since I have posted-- life just gets ahead of you. I just keep putting this blog off with all of the other daily business of life getting in the way, and then before I know it several months have passed! I also get so overwhelmed by all of the stuff that I have not written about yet, and so I just avoid the blog!! So, I guess it is time to just "let go" of all the small things I have not written about yet, and just move on. So here is a quick update:

I am 8 months pregnant with our baby girl-- we are trying to decide on a name, but it is proving to be hard this time around! Josiah just turned 4-- he is a very active little guy, still saying lots of funny stuff. Evelyn turned 2 in April, and she is just a little cutie. Loves to dance and sing (especially loves Miss Pattycake right now) and has excellent vocabulary. She and Josiah frequently get in fights, even though I know they love each other. She still loves her little baby (dirty as it is-- and she never keeps the clothes on it!), and I think she will really love her new little sister. We also moved into our first house at the end of June. Many things need to be done to it is still (lot has been done already) but slowly things will come together. We have now lived here in Virginia for 8 months. It is beginning to feel more like a home to us. I have been trying to get together for playdates with other moms from our church, and it sure does help to form those friendships. Jason is also taking part in a men's meeting at our church every Saturday, and I know he is found that to be invaluable.

Here are some sayings I wanted to write down that Josiah has said recently:

"When I was really little, I got married, and Daddy was upset." (???? What is he thinking???!!)

(We were talking about "Junior" and how you are usually called junior when you are little): "So, when you are little you are junior, and when you are big you are Josiah!"

He was reading to me the story of Adam and Eve recently, and instead it sounded like he was saying "Madam and Leave!"

Hopefully I can stay up to date with this blog from here on out. I really want to keep these memories here so I don't forget them!!

Life in Pictures

2010-02-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

I will be posting some pictures from the last couple months whenever I have some free moments!

I just thought this was a cute picture of Evelyn standing next to Grandma's legs. She looks so contemplative.

Josiah and mommy giving some cheeses.

Grandparents enjoying kids unwrapping gifts.

"Christmas Chaos!"

Maya sitting on my lap while I took pictures of us-- I think she could have sit there for hours!

Keira and Evelyn checking out a book together-- dressed like twins!

Josiah got into mommy's makeup bag!

Catching up...

2010-01-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy last couple months with moving, graduation, and the holidays. But I will be trying to catch up over the next few days on what has been happening around here. To start, I'll begin with some Josiah and Evelyn stories.

While Josiah and Evelyn were taking a bath at Grandma and Pop-Pop's house over Christmas, Josiah was doing his own version of "This little piggy" on Evelyn's toes. Here's his version: "Popcorn... candy... popcorn... candy... popcorn, candy, candy, candy, CHICKEN!!"

Josiah and I were at gas station recently when Josiah saw someone go into the gas station. Josiah asked why he went inside, and I told him that he might have wanted to get a pop. Josiah asked, "Or juice?" Yes, maybe juice. "Or milk?" Maybe milk. "Or Noodles!!"

Yesterday we were heading home from the grocery store with some free balloons. Josiah somehow rolled down his window, so the balloon of course flew out the window. Josiah started crying hysterically and was holding on to the string tightly, trying to get the balloon back inside. I was on the highway, so I couldn't help him get it back inside. All I could think of to do was roll up the window. The ballon stayed outside our window for about 2 miles, but then broke from the string and flew away. We don't have much luck getting our balloons home. Oh well. It was probably funny to see a car driving down a busy highway with a balloon outside its window.

Evelyn is starting to say more words, like baby, mommy, daddy, Josiah, and most other words she will attempt. One phrase she says is "Me-Mu". It took awhile to figure out that this is what she says when she wants you to pick her up. :)

Yesterday Josiah and Evelyn both got their flu vaccinations. It has been awhile since Josiah has gotten a shot, and he really played it up (like his mommy does.) He was walking around like a little old man-- limping really carefully. He dropped something and asked for me to pick it up-- "I can't bend over-- I got a shot!" Thankfully, he had a miraculous recovery once we arrived at Chickfila.

I was saying goodnight to Josiah and told him, "Good night, sugar!" He replies, "Good night sugar too, Mom!"

Recently Josiah has been wanting to have "talks" before bedtime. The last several nights he has talked about everything that lives in the water. "Sharks live in the water. Goldfish live in the water. Alligators live in the water..." He has quite a list. One night he was listing everything and added something that actually doesn't live in the water: "Sharks, fish, jelly fish, jelly doughnuts..."

Beginning the Goodbyes...

2009-11-11T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, as our move approaches, the rounds of good-byes start. This morning at the women's Bible study I am a part of, they had a good-bye luncheon for me and the kids. Cried a puddle of course. :) Tonight our home group had a good-bye dinner for us, cried another puddle. I am going to miss these people like crazy-- it's amazing how the Lord knits your hearts together in just a few years. Jason and I have both commented how much our hearts aches at the thought of leaving these precious friends. We will miss you all so much. We started taking pictures tonight of our friends so that we could have their pictures with us. We got about half-way through picture-taking when our camera died. But, we did get to take this precious picture of Josiah and Matthew:

We will miss you--- boy, we will miss you!

Pumpkin Train

2009-11-11T19:14:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, we went for a ride on the Pumpkin Train-- this is a real locomotive located in Noblesville, IN. They do the Pumpkin Train every year in the fall. You take a train ride to a pumpkin patch, pick out a pumpkin, and ride back again. I thought Josiah would LOVE to ride a train, since he loves Thomas the Train so much. He had a smile on his face pretty much the whole time! We got to go with Pop-Pop, Grandma, Aunt Courtney, Uncle Danny, Noah, Maya, and Keira. We all had a good time, and especially enjoyed our pizza dinner afterwards! :)

Fall Harvest Party

2009-11-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

First of all, anyone reading this will have to excuse all of the underlining. It is automatically using underlining, and I do not see any button to change that-- the button has disappeared-- so everything is underlined! Oh well.... Anyway, here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago. We all went to a Fall Harvest Party at our friends, the Jordans. They live on a nice piece of land out in the country-- we had a great time with lots of other families. Everyone brought some stuff to eat, we had a bonfire, the kids took turns hitting a pumpkin pinata until candy flew everywhere, and Josiah took his first hayride! This hayride was a mini one for the kids-- it was a lawnmower hayride! Josiah enjoyed it-- even if he was the only boy among all girls! :)

Evelyn and Yogurt

2009-10-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Evelyn found some strawberry yogurt the other day that big brother had not finished...

(Hmmm... this tastes pretty good!)

(No, this tastes REALLY GOOD!!!)

(Mom, make sure to buy more of this at the store!)

Silly Sayings

2009-10-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

Josiah is at the age where we hear so many funny comments coming from him. I love this time-- he makes me laugh quite a bit! I wanted to record some of these sayings so I don't forget them!

* One morning he says: "Gotta go get some work done. Gotta go to school and get some work done." (He often hears me say that Daddy is at school getting work done!)

* While riding in the car, I said that we should call Daddy and see how he is doing. Josiah says, "Don't bug him."

* While eating lunch one day, he says (in reference to eating the food): "Bigger and stronger, basketball high to the sky!" (He knew that he needed to eat in order to get bigger, stronger, and throw the basketball high to the sky.)

* He was fairly new to potty training when he started his second year of preschool. We were reminding him that he needed to tell the teacher if he needed to pee or poop. So, on the way to school with Daddy, Josiah keeps reminding himself: "I need to tell the teacher if I need to pee. I need to tell the teacher if I need to pee..." So Jason says, "And poop too!" And Josiah says, "And pee!"

* While riding in the car, Josiah picks up something to read (I think it was a phone directory). He says, "Mommy, are you listening?" I say that I am, and he says "Good-- you get candy if you listen." I say I would like that! He says, "When we get home-- you get candy when we get home." (I am often telling him that candy or gum is at home, and not with me in the car!)

* He is sitting on the couch one day and I ask if I can sit down. He says, "Yes, may I can!" (Too cute when they get their grammar all messed up at this age!)

* At least a couple of times now lately he has looked at a picture of himself and said "Too cute!"

There will be more to come-- I got some cute pics of Evelyn eating yogurt this afternoon!

This is delicious, Mommy!

2009-08-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

I love hearing Josiah say words that he has never said before. Some words are just so funny to hear coming from my 3 year old. Today we picked up some bread from our local Great Harvest Bread company (good stuff!) and they give you a free piece of bread to slather with butter for your car ride. I got some sourdough and gave a piece of it to Josiah to eat. He took a bite and said, "Mommy, this is delicious!" I just couldn't help but laugh. I love making my children happy. Sitting here writing this, it makes me think of how much God loves to make His children happy. But even more, He loves to hear us say, "This is wonderful, Daddy. Thank you!" How much it warms His heart to hear us say thank you. I need to be doing this more.

Josiah is definitely saying words and phrases left and right. I wish I could remember them all to write down. We recently (finally) bought a used train table for him. My hope was to move all the tracks off the floor and on to the table. But nonetheless, at the end of the day, there is track *everywhere*, table and floor. Jason told me it wouldn't make a difference mess-wise having a table or not, and I guess he was right! Josiah likes to have messes with his trains. He loves to make train wrecks. It is amazing at this age how much they try to role play what they have seen on TV/movies. They have such an imagination. Today Josiah was drawing, and I could see that he was really progressing with his drawing. He drew an apple slice, and it actually resembled an apple slice! I was impressed.

Evelyn is such a sprite. She has an a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e if she doesn't get what she wants. She and Josiah have been fighting over these ducks I just bought, and if he takes the ducks away from her, get ready to hear some high-pitched screams. My goodness, my ears just can't take much of those screams. Like nails on a chalkboard! But she is just so sweet. She gives sweet kisses (just leaning in with an open mouth) that you just love to get. For a brief time, she would say these cute "O! O!"s when she would get excited about something. I hope when I am 50 that I still remember what those sounded like. Too cute. She is climbing on everything these days. One day I found her squatting next to the TV on the tv stand. She just climbed up the side of it. She is on the table, on the end rail of Josiah's bed, everywhere. She also is starting to form her words more-- she is saying a quite recognizeable "more." It is neat to see her beginning to talk. And lastly, she gets very excited to see Daddy when he comes home. I know Jason feels good when they are excited to see him!

July Happenings

2009-07-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well, once again it's been awhile since the last post. Guess I know now that I will probably be posting about once a month now-- if I get more posts than that it is icing on the cake! Speaking of cake, Josiah had his 3rd birthday party yesterday at Dobbs Park here in Terre Haute. We had lots of family over for a cook-out and cake. Grandma Bette made a Thomas the train cake, which Josiah has been talking about for several weeks now. He was super excited about it-- but when it came to having a piece of it, he was too interested in the unwrapping of gifts to care about eating cake. He was adorable as ever, and pics will be following soon.

Just wanted to share a couple of cute stories lately. Josiah is in the stage where he says stuff that is so cute, and many times you are left wondering, "Where did he come up with that?" So I just wanted to share some cuteness. First, he fell down one day recently in our apartment. As he's getting up he says "I'm okay!" He has never said it before or since. Another day he brought out one of mommy's belts and wore it high on his waist like mommy and said, "Too cute!!" Tonight we went on a walk (all four of us) with Nana. Josiah and Evelyn rode in strollers. Nana pushed Josiah, and Daddy walked next to us. We walked across several roads on our walk, and each time Josiah looks over at Jason and says with concern, "Be careful, Daddy!" Josiah was concerned because Daddy wasn't holding his hand while crossing the street.

Evelyn is loving boxes and other containers right now that she can sit in, such as Josiah's suitcase. She made herself a little perch in there the other day. She also likes any of the buckets in Josiah's room that have toys in them. She'll make herself at home in one of them and play! She just loves checking out what mommy is doing. I bought tons of diapers the other day (great deal!) and I had them all stacked neatly on mom's coffee table. She was so excited when she saw them, and started taking them off and carrying them around. In no time they were everywhere on the floor. She found one package that looked comfortable and had a seat. She's just a little mommy in training in many ways! Too cute!

Well, in a little over 5 hours my two year old will officially be 3 (at 4:56 am). He was only 3 weeks old when we moved into our tiny apartment in Purdue Village. At the time I thought, "Wow-- he will be three when it is time to move out of here. That seems so far away!" But the time has flown by, as any grandmother will tell you. We love our little man so much. He is such a blessing to us all.

It's about time!!

2009-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Life just has a way of going by so fast... and another month has passed since my last entry! Evelyn is now 13 months old and Josiah will be turning 3 in just a couple months! Evelyn is close to running-- those skinny little legs walk as fast as she can make them! She is a busy little girl. She is getting into most of the things that Josiah got into at this age, such as taking books off the bookshelf and pulling stuff out of the trash can (yuck!). She is babbling quite a bit, and is trying to repeat sounds that we make, such a book, squirrel, puppy etc. She also tried to copy mommy and daddy tonight as we were whistling. She looked so cute doing it-- of course there was no whistle, just air coming out! She usually likes to either be in Josiah's room playing with all of his toys, or at mommy's side. One of her favorite things to do is play with the dryer-- she'll remove the lint trap, take out the lint, etc. So whenever I am over doing laundry, there she is with me! Today she got a hold of my cell phone, and she was just babbling on and on about who knows what! If only we knew what our children were thinking at this age! I'm sure there is so much they are wanting to express but just can't.

Josiah is getting to be a little boy now, and not so much of a toddler, even though he still seems to have the "terrible 2's" tantrums every now and then. He likes to help out a lot more-- he tries to feed sis some of his food or drink, and will help her get something that she has dropped. He enjoys tummy time with mommy. He is quite fascinated with my belly, and he likes it when we pull up our shirts so that our bellies are showing, then he puts his belly on mommy's belly. He can lay there on mommy's belly for quite awhile-- it's comforting to him, I guess!! Within the last few days his latest word has been "What?" For example, "Come here, Josiah." "What?" (As in, what do you want?) We can repeat this exchange several times. I'm guessing I say this quite a bit and he is copying me or something! Josiah is still playing a lot with his Thomas trains. He just loves his trains. I am hoping to find a good deal on a train table soon. It will be nice to have all of his tracks up off the floor!

Evelyn turns 1!

2009-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that my little baby girl is one year old. She is a precious little girl, who loves her mommy, daddy, and brother very much. She usually always has a smile for you, and is full of spunk. Evelyn is always on the go these days, seeing what she can get in to. Cabinets, books on the bookshelf, rolls of toilet paper, trash cans, and even big brother's potty seat. We are enjoying watching her grow and her personality develop. Her first year has been full of joys (lots of love and smiles!) and trials (nursing and weight gain issues), but we wouldn't trade any of it! We look forward to the days ahead with her-- we know the babble will soon turn to words, and the walking to running! We love you Evelyn, with all of our hearts. We thank the Lord for the gift He has given us in you!

Fun with Worms

2009-04-27T20:14:00.001-07:00

We have been preparing our garden, and Josiah has been "helping" us out there recently. While digging around, we came across some worms. It was his first exposure to the little slimy things, and he was very interested in them, as most little boys probably are. He wanted us to keep finding him more. He would pick them up, carry them around, and then find a new one to play with. I really do not like worms, so Jason was teasing me by telling Josiah to let me kiss one of the worms. Unfortunately, he didn't get the "teasing" part of it. If it's good enough for mommy, then it's good enough for me. So, he kissed a worm. At least he didn't eat it!

"BigGirls"

2009-04-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

Today was the teacher appreciation luncheon for Josiah's preschool. One of Josiah's teachers was chosen to give a little inspirational talk. She started out with some funny stories from their classroom. She talked about a little boy that came up to her and said "I biggirls." (That's what it sounded like to her.) "I biggirls." She knew that couldn't possibly be what he was saying, so she asked him to show her. He stuck his finger up his nose and said, "I biggirls, see?" I automatically thought it was Josiah who said this, but I wasn't sure. This evening we were driving home from Chikfila, and I told Jason this story. He said he really didn't think it would have been Josiah. So I decided to test him.

"Josiah, say 'Boogers'."

"Biggirls."

Laughter. "Biggirls." More laughter. "Biggirls!!" The more we laughed, the more he said it. Well, now we know it was him! :)

Sis and her chocolate pudding...

2009-04-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

Time to practice using a spoon... but the mess comes very quickly!

Chocolate pudding makes a great hair mousse:

And here a cute and clean Sis holding two different "Georgies" as I affectionately call them (Curious George). Sis loves the little one-- he frequently visits her mouth. She has recently started to hold stuffed animals, like the big George you see here. We have several stuffed Georgies in our household. Josiah calls the biggest one "Daddy George."

Spring Fest

2009-04-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we all went to Purdue's Spring Fest. It was awesome! I have never gone before, even though we have been here for years! But, the weather was great, and Josiah is of the age that he can really enjoy it, so we went. If anyone reading this lives near Purdue, I definitely recommend going-- in my opinion, it is better than going to the fair. Lots of animals (especially baby ones!), lots of bugs, plants, tractors, reptiles, science stuff, etc! So here are some fun pics from the day.

Josiah touching a snake.

The guys checking out the tractor.

Sis riding an old tractor, while savoring her first taste of a dum-dum pop!

Big brother's turn.

Kids had the chance to take a "ride" on a seat made for handicapped farmers so they could still access their tractor. It lifts the farmer up and over so they can then get into the regular seat to drive the tractor.

This is a piece of equipment for spinning honey out of honeycomb. They let the kids spin it if they wanted to, and Josiah enjoyed the opportunity!

Checking out the bees as they are making honey. They had a room dedicated to bees, and if you wanted (we wanted!) you could taste test 8 different kinds of honey. It was neat to taste kinds that I had never known about and may never taste again!

Here we are in the Insect Petting "Zoo"-- and Josiah is petting a huge cockroach!

There were lots of baby animals-- including this adorable baby duck! I want one! :)

What a fun day! Summer here we come! :D

One more Easter Pic...

2009-04-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

Had to include a picture of Josiah in his bunny ears that he made at preschool. Isn't he cute? :)

In other news, Evelyn is officially a walker now. She is a couple weeks away from being 1 year old! Can't believe it! She made her first steps a couple weeks ago, and has steadily been getting better. I think she enjoyed the new challenge. She is also displaying a big personality, and she lets you know when she is not liking something. The other day I was playing with a toy of hers. All of sudden she stares me in the face and does her little frustrated growl sound-- telling me to get you hands off, MOM! I want to play! She also displays this frustrated growl when she is trying to get to me, but has something in her way. So I hurry and move the obstacle in her path, and she is happy again. She is very sweet, but I am starting to believe that her brother has met his equal! She is going to give him a run for his money. Evelyn is also doing better with eating, but her drinking has been our biggest concern lately. She just doesn't care about getting the liquids. That is our biggest prayer concern for her right now.

Josiah is continuing to improve in his language. I really need to get some cassette tapes and record him talking. It is so cute to hear. Jason reads Bible stories to him every night. Josiah has the story of Jonah pretty much memorized. Jason will start the sentence and Josiah will finish it. He says thank you quite often, which I love to hear. It comes out "Tank oo" though. Love it. At bedtime, he loves for me to sing songs about Thomas the Engine, and Lightning McQueen. I make up the songs (I never remember what I sang the night before, so they are new every night), but he loves them anyway. He is so sweet. Love me children!!

Easter Fun...

2009-04-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

We spent our Easter weekend with Jason's family-- there was plenty of good food, candy, and gifts to go around! Josiah is starting to get the hang of the concept of an egg hunt. However, his cousins Grant and Taylor helped him greatly by directing him where he should go to find eggs.

Here are some pictures from Sunday:

It's been a loooonnnnggg time...

2009-03-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

I really didn't mean to wait 3+ months before updating this blog again. :( Well, I have quit a bit of updating to do. Hmm... well, Evelyn is 11 months old very soon, and Josiah is a few months away from being 3! They are both just as sweet as can be. Josiah loves Thomas the Train and Sesame Street right now. He is always asking to watch the videos. He currently wants a Thomas the train cake for his birthday, but we'll see if that changes between now and his birthday. His language is really exploding right now, which is exciting. Seems like he is constantly learning new words. He is still being quite a pest towards his sister right now. I often find him locking her into wrestling-type moves. He has just started becoming a lot more affectionate. He is saying "I love you" and "Thank you, Mommy." He likes hugging me more, which I am glad-- since he wasn't much of a hugger up to now! The other day he was playing in his room, and then he came out to get me because he needed my help connecting part of his car track. I helped connect them, and of his own will he said "Thank you, Mommy!" It was so sweet! Before bed we read him Bible devotional stories, and then sing songs. His favorite songs are the "Gum Song" and the "Choo Choo Song"-- I made both of them up, but he likes them anyhow! :) He is also *very* persistent right now when he wants something. He will ask for it over, and over, and over, and over until I get it for him. It can get quite... frustrating. Especially when he sees that I am getting for him-- like a sippy. He sees that I am making it for him, and yet I am just not fast enough or something. And one last thing I'll write about him. He sometimes plays Mr. Bashful (especially when we ask him to say hi to someone he might not know). He flirts those little eyes upwards and bats his eyelashes. Too cute. Just want to scoop him up and give him kisses!

Evelyn is doing well-- she will take a step before falling to her knees. She is so close to walking! It is hard to believe my baby girl is almost a year old. She is babbling like crazy. I so want to know what she is wanting to say! :) She is almost 16.5 pounds. For a couple weeks she had a great appetite and gained almost a pound. Her appetite has slowed down again, perhaps from teething. Hopefully it rebounds again. All tests done so far have come back normal. Looks like her slow weight gain has no medical reason. She is so beautiful-- she has the greatest smile that just warms your heart. I love my children so much! Josiah gets a bit frustrated with Evelyn every now and then, because she is interested in playing with all of the toys he plays with. So she often picks up the track he so carefully put together, making big brother quite upset. It will be great when they can play "nicely" together (does that exist?)!

Okay, hopefully I can get back on board now with frequent updates, and it won't be months until the next one!

Picture Day

2008-12-10T19:14:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to JcPenney's for some annual pictures. It was TONS of fun. (I'm not being completely honest with that last statement). We weren't in the best mood to begin with upon arriving. Then I realized I forgot Evelyn's hair brush (I hadn't brushed it at all yet), and her pretty red bow I was going to put in her hair. Then Josiah and Evelyn wouldn't smile. Usually they are pretty smiley kids, but not this morning. I get a kick out of this-- the one time you *really* want them to smile, they don't. And Josiah-- the little booger-- everytime we asked him to smile, he closed his eyes and often looked away from the camera. We got a couple cute pictures, but definitely not all I was hoping for. Oh well, I guess there is always next year!

On another note, I did something today that I really enjoyed. While Evelyn was napping this afternoon, Josiah and I sat on the couch and talked. Though he is only 2 and still has limited language, I still think we did a good job communicating. We talked about the construction workers who were digging a hole near our building, how they wore yellow vests, how the sky was blue, how there was a squirrel in the tree and how that squirrel likes to eat nuts just like Josiah does. It is amazing the conversation you can have with a 2 year old! I am looking forward to more!

Evelyn is extremely close to crawling. Any day now I expect her to bolt across the room. She is such an adorable, beautiful little girl. However, I would appreciate anyone's prayers though who reads this blog. She is just extremely slow in gaining weight. She had some blood work done this past week to check for allergies/digestive issues that might be contributing to this. As her mom, and her main food source, it has just been a *huge* burden on my shoulders. It is hard to express in words the emotions I feel-- you just feel like a big failure to your child. I have cried rivers of tears since her birth (over the many issues surrounding nursing)-- just ask Jason. Poor fellow has seen and heard it all. So, long story short, we would appreciate your prayers. (Part of me feels silly asking this-- especially when I see so many people around me struggling with what can be considered far worse problems. But, she is my daughter, I love her, and I am asking for prayer even in a "small" matter.)

And in closing, I have read and heard some edifying words during this stressful time as a mom. I thought I would include them, too. Unfortunately, I do not have the source of these quotes-- I have just been writing them down here and there as I have heard them:

"Don't try to crawl out of your problems and hard times. Are you looking to God because you want a quick fix out of your troubles? Stay in them-- God is wanting to *change you* in these difficult times. He will move you out of them when it is time."

"I will never be enough-- because only my God is enough."

"My focus needs to be on Jesus-- He will keep me at peace and still through the ups and downs of life. If you keep your eyes on the situation or on people, you will ride the waves up and down. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and He will keep you steady."

and finally, a Scripture: Isaiah 61:3

"To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."

A Whole Month-- Yikes!

2008-12-02T17:13:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I have waited this long to write another post-- sometimes life just gets the best of your blog! Well, things are going pretty well on the home front. Josiah and Evelyn are as cute as can be. Evelyn is 7 1/2 months now, and weighs about 15 pounds. She is a petite little thing weight-wise, but she is so active, just like her brother. She is so curious and attentive, and really reaching at anything in her grasp. She is doing great with sitting now-- hardly ever falls over. And it looks like any day now she will be crawling. She is just about there-- then watch out mommy! It will be *very* interesting to have a teeny home with a crawling baby and energetic toddler in it! This Friday she goes for another weight check. If she is still falling in the weight percentiles, the doctor said that they would be "obligated" to do some blood tests and make sure that there are no allergies or other problems that are causing the slow weight gain. I am hoping and praying that she is doing well enough that she doesn't have to go through blood tests. Josiah went through the same round of tests, and I thing he handled it much better than I imagine she would.

Josiah is enjoying the first snow this season. Last year he was still young enough that snow wasn't all that exciting yet. But this year, I think he will have lots of fun in it. We got out of the car today after preschool and he stood in the same snowy spot for about minute, and jumped up and down in it. Then he stuck his fingers in it, and then looked at it closely and smelled it. Snow is curious stuff! I am looking forward to playing in the snow with him this winter-- and maybe even sledding!

They are such blessings-- Thank you Lord for my children!!

And one more post...

2008-11-03T19:10:00.001-08:00

Josiah has been doing such a wonderful job lately with speaking. It seems like language is really starting to take shape-- yippee! Here are some of the words that he enjoys using right now:

car

bike

bob (veggie tales character)

pop (for popcorn-- just introduced him to it, and he is hooked)

yellow

sissy (sounds more like "ditty")

broccoli

juice ("duce")

It is so fun to hear your child say his/her first words-- yeah Josiah!!!

And Evelyn is officially sitting up on her own. She will be going for her 6 month check-up on Friday, so I will type out all current stats then! Until then... have a great rest of the week everyone!

Bath Time...

2008-11-03T18:52:00.001-08:00

I have been meaning to post some bath time pics of Josiah and Evelyn. Josiah very much enjoys having his little sis join him for baths now... even though he can pester her a little too much... as you will see in the pics.

Pumpkin fun...

2008-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we visited my sister down in Indy and took the kids to an apply orchard for their fall festival. We enjoyed the really tasty apples-- the "Crispin" variety was excellent-- I'll have to remember to get more of those next year! We attempted to get some pics of Josiah among the pumpkins, but sometimes he just isn't in the mood to stand around. They also had a blown-up activity thing that he enjoyed bouncing in...

It's been awhie...

2008-11-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long time since my last post... I'll try to stay more consistent in my postings from now on!!! Well, I'll catch everyone up on the latest and greatest events, and work my way back from there. This past Friday we went to a party at our friends' house-- the Jordan's-- they live on a nice piece of land out in the country. Since we are not (and they are not) really in to Halloween, they invited us and several other families over for a party. It was a great time-- food, fellowship, campfire, and lots of activites for all the kids. They hand-made a pumpkin pinata, and all the kids-- from the youngest to the oldest could take a whack at it if they wanted. Josiah (assisted by daddy) had a total of 6 whacks at the thing. I would think that with his active gusto that he displays at home, he would really get into hitting it. However, he mainly just showed a huge grin, looking at everyone looking at him, and gave some gentle taps. He enjoyed it though, and we are expecting a harder hit next year. He also enjoyed throwing bean bags into buckets to get candy as a prize. Yes-- he really enjoys his candy. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to show... wish we did!

Menu Plan Monday... Coming Soon!

2008-10-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT!!

I've got a new blog!! This one is dedicated to food/cooking. Tatortotmishmash will be dedicated to mommyhood/my kids. Please feel free to come on over and check it out!!! This is where I will be posting my "MENU PLAN MONDAYS":

thehumbleherb.blogspot.com

Good Reminder...

2008-10-10T11:40:00.001-07:00

My brother-in-law has a blog called LifeChange. He posted today about the need to stay attentive to your marriage. Check out his post below and watch the video clip!

LifeChange

"NO": It's official!

2008-10-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, Josiah is officially in the "No" stage. Do this please... "No". Come with me... "No." Do you want some of this..."No." So, we are now in the "NO" phase. However, he does say "NO" really cute! And this morning was my first parent/teacher conference with his preschool teachers! They said that he always has a smile on his face all the time, even when he is doing things he is not suppose to be doing-- like pulling a little girl's braids! He's already flirting with the girls! Also, they said that he is a big "watcher"-- he is just so interested in watching what everybody is doing, including potty time. They said that he will just stand there and stare when another little child is on the toilet. Once a little child was wiping their behind, and they said he even tilted his head just right so he could watch them wipe!!!

And Evelyn... her personality has REALLY been coming out in the last week or so. She is often reaching for anything out of curiousity, including mommy's food. So I often try to hold her out of arm's reach. She doesn't like that at all, and starts squirming and fussing because she isn't getting what she wants! She had a check-up today, and she weighs 14 lbs! She's a petite little thing (but tall-- 25 inches!).

To Evelyn...

2008-09-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Evelyn,
You are now 5 months old! How quickly 5 months have passed, and yet it seems like you have been in our lives for much longer than that. Baby girl, you are so precious. What I am enjoying so much about you right now are your smiles. You love interacting with me and daddy. You love to be held and talked to-- it brings a huge smile to your face every time. And your smiles warm my heart up so much! I am looking forward to seeing you sit, crawl, talk, walk... but for right now I am content just holding you in my arms, seeing your smiles, and listening to you jibber-jabber. We love you!

To Josiah...

2008-09-23T20:48:00.001-07:00

Every now and then on this blog I want to write some notes to my kiddos...here's the first to Josiah.

Josiah,
You give us such joy and laughter, even in the midst of some tantrums! :) Today Daddy gave you some gum, one of your favorite treats right now. You are finally learning not to swallow it-- yay! When you saw that daddy was going to give you some, you got the biggest smile on your face-- it was the "I'm the luckiest boy ever!" look. Then you started dancing excitedly-- when you dance like this you look like a little horse galloping-- no other way to describe it. Whenever I talk to parents, they always comment on how fast their children grew up. I am constantly reminding myself to treasure these times with you, because before I know it, you will be 5, then 10, then 16, then off to college... We love you so much Josiah. We thank the Lord for you.

Count your blessings... and pray for this family!

2008-09-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

You just never know how good you have it until you see another family going through such a difficult trial. The Decker Family has been through a big trial during the past few months. You can see their story on their blog here:

Scott & Carol Decker Family

Carol, a young mom of two daughters, went into early labor with her second daughter in June. She ended up having an emergency c-section. She then had a severe septic infection, and the drugs which were needed to save her had some very unfortunate side-effects that caused her to lose both legs below her knees, her left arm, and her eyesight. Please pray for this young mom-- I can't imagine not being able to see my precious babies, or care for them in all the ways you would want to do as a mom. Pray for her amazing husband who is standing strong by her side, and her two daughters Chloe and Safiya.

And more pics...

2008-09-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

Here's more... I had to post them all since she is just so darn cute...

Pics of Evelyn...

2008-09-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of Evelyn eating cereal! Unfortunately, I didn't take pics when she ate it for the first time, so here are pics when she ate it the second time! She seems to really like it! :)

What are you saying "Yes" to?

2008-09-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I said this blog would be about lots of things, and this is one of them-- my thoughts. Many times I have thoughts that I want to remember and don't. Many times I sense the Lord is trying to tell me or remind me of something, and I forget it 24 hours later. So, here is where I will be recording some of these thoughts.

Recently, I feel the Lord asking me, "What are you saying 'Yes' to?" When we say yes to something, we are always saying "no" to something else. We only have 24 hours in our day, so we much choose where we will be spending our time and energy. Like right now, for example, I have dirty dishes to attend to. However, I am choosing to say no to them and yes to this blog. I deem it to be more important at the moment. Why am I having these thoughts about management of time? Well, I have not been the greatest lately at putting my time where it matters most. I am a huge bargain shopper. I enjoy it, and it is satisfying to find great buys. It can also be very time-consuming. But the Lord has been reminding me a lot lately that these things will not last, that these "great bargains" will not ultimately bring me happiness. What matters in this life? Christ, family, people... I need to keep my heart on what truly matters. I don't want to look back 10 years from now and have a heart of regret, thinking about the things I could of and should of been doing with my time-- namely spending it with my husband, children, family, and friends. Lord, help me to follow YOUR way!

Lyrics to the song, "Life Means So Much" by Chris Rice:

Every day is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there's plenty of room for writing in
All we do is believe and think
So will you compose a curse
Or will today bring the blessing
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketching

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Every day is a bank account
And time is our currency
So nobody's rich, nobody's poor
We get 24 hours each
So how are you gonna spend
Will you invest, or squander
Try to get ahead
Or help someone who's under

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much

Has anybody ever lived who knew the value of a life
And don't you think giving is all
What proves the worth of yours and mine

Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
That somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much

Every day is a gift you've been given
Make the most of the time every minute you're living

Josiah's First Day of Preschool

2008-09-19T19:49:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of Josiah's first day at preschool. He is going twice a week for just a couple hours each time. He is enjoying it very much! Notice how difficult it was to get him to just look at the camera for 3 seconds and give a us a huge smile?! (If you want to see the pics larger, you should be able to click on them and they will open up a larger pic.)

Look what I got, Mama...

2008-09-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Josiah has this thing lately where he knows what I don't want him getting into, but it doesn't stop him from getting into it (especially when I am not looking). Today, for example, he got into a small box that had some bottles in it. I told him this morning that I didn't want him getting into it. But while I was nursing Evelyn, he got into it. A few minutes later, he brings over one of the bottles to me. He looks at me with mischievious little eyes, and a big grin. He hands me the bottle and nods his head, like he is saying, "Look what I got, Mama..." He often does this half-way through things that he knows he shouldn't be doing. He just pauses and looks at me with a grin, letting me know that he is in the middle of doing something he shouldn't be! Silly little man...

And I thought I would add this... Josiah decided to add some crayons to my grape juice today.

Evelyn's first taste of cereal

2008-09-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

Today, I took the plunge and gave Evelyn her first taste of rice cereal. She handled it like a champ! She ate almost the whole thing of cereal. Took her a couple attempts at first to figure out how to keep it in her mouth. She really seemed to like it though! Pics to come...

Zipcar

2008-09-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Now this is a cool concept. I only wish they had this in West Lafayette!

Zipcar.com

It is all because of the Haircut...

2008-09-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today was a rough day. Josiah was into everything and anything!! Here's the list:

* There was a box of crayons on top of the microwave. He pulled a chair over and ended up dumping all the crayons out.

* He took a magenta-colored marker and scribbled (quite a bit) on the carpet.

* I spilled a little bit of couscous (a tiny, pebbly pasta) on the floor and he had a hay-day spreading it everywhere wildly with his hands.

* I had him sitting at the table with his markers. I am fixing dinner, and when I look at him a minute or so later, he has bitten the blue and black marker tips out of the markers-- he has marked all over his arms with the black marker and there is marker all over his mouth. Thankfully, it is very washable (thanks Crayola!)

* He of course wouldn't leave sis alone on several occasions, which led to several time-outs.

* He got into a bottle of dawn on the countertop and spilled a nice puddle of it on the floor.

* He bit into a lovely rotten apple on an outing at the park across the street (that was just gross)

* At the same park, I thought he was following behind me as I was pushing the stroller. When I look back, I see that he has found an old fast-food cup on the road, has taken the lid off, and has the straw in his mouth. Nasty.

Now why was it a rougher day than usual? Well, I cut his hair this morning. According to Jason's mom (hi Angie!), boys act up when they get their hair cut. At least, both Jason and Eric would act up, so I guess he is at least continuing the tradition.

Spinach Salad

2008-09-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

One of my passions is good food-- that's good tasting and good for you. This is my favorite time of year, with all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables that are being harvested. We have a great little farmer's market here in Lafayette every Saturday morning. I took Josiah and Evelyn to it this past Saturday. Little man nabbed a green bean from one stand when I wasn't looking! Anyway, we have had lots of yummy veggies and fruits to eat this week. I decided to try out a new recipe this week. It is a Spinach Salad. It turned out really well-- a keeper. I added some sliced grilled chicken (that I had marinated in italian dressing) on top of the salad too, to make it a complete meal. It looked so pretty too (I can't always say that about my meals)-- wish I had taken a picture. Here is the recipe for those who might also want to try it. This was posted by "Hey Jude" on recipezaar.com:

Spinach Salad with Honey Bacon Dressing:

8 cups torn fresh spinach
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1 hard-boiled egg, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, shredded on large holes of grater
7 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon yellow mustard or spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

1
Combine first 6 ingredients with 5 of the cooked, crumbled bacon strips in a large bowl.
2
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar, oil, mustard lemon juice and remaining 2 strips of cooked, crumbled bacon.
3
Pour over salad.
4
Serve immediately.

Josiah and Pop

2008-09-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

First cute story about Josiah. He is such a smartie pants (most moms probably think this about their kids!) All four of us are sitting on the couch tonight. Jason is drinking some pop, and Josiah already has a sweet tooth. Sometimes daddy will pour a little pop into his sippy cup as a special treat. Well, Jason told him that he couldn't have any pop at the moment, but Josiah wasn't done trying. He reaches over and holds Jason's hand-- the way to daddy's heart. Jason nudges me to show me what he is doing. I bend down and whisper into Josiah's ear: "Are you holding daddy's hand because you want some pop?" Josiah, with a big smile, nods his head yes. Silly little man!

2008-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! My first post! Well, I have been busy trying to design this blog so that it looks cute. This is my best attempt so far-- it is quite time consuming. I think I have seen on other blogs that there are people who design blogs for a living-- which means I would have to pay for a cute blog design. But, that would be money that could be better used elsewhere right now, so I won't be doing that. Well, on to other things. First of all, why did I name my blog "Tator Tot Mish Mash"? Well, first, because "Tator Tot" was one of my nicknames when I was little. Second, I have tots-- two of them, which I will be writing about on here. Third, this will be a "mish mash" blog-- lots of different topics will be on here. I can be pretty scatter-brained-- thinking about a lot at once. So, this blog will probably reflect that. Whatever I want to write down, I probably will. I was inspired to start blogging from my friend Amanda (hi!). She has two tots of her own, and she is a great writer, and a great mom, who enjoys blogging about their lives. A main reason for my blog is to write about the everyday happenings of my children. I know that they will grow up so quickly, and I want to blog about the little things (and big) happening in their lives. Why blog though? Well, I am just not a journaler. I know this after 29 years of life. But, blogging is different (don't ask me how). Also, after a couple weeks of posts, I plan to print all the posts, then file them into a binder. I will have this to keep for a lifetime. I know that if I don't blog about the little everyday things, they will get lost in this brain of mine. So, here we go...