Sometimes....

Love Hurts!!

We just love each other so much...

I think I'll squeeze his face to let him know...

 

I bet he would really love me to jam my fingers in his mouth. 

 

 

 

 

Ouch!!!

I'm outta here!!















No! Don't even think about it! Talk to the hand!













Oh, come on Luke!  I can't resist.  Let me just squeeze you a little.
Mom, seriuosly.  Can you do something?












Okay, let's just wrestle and make up.  I'm sure I'll bite you back shortly.

Rainy Day Expeditions

Gone Fishin'

Hi, this is Samuel.  I had a big day with my dad recently.  He took me on my first fishing trip in a real boat. We had sooo much fun!

Daddy brought a life vest for me from home, but I was determined to wear the one they offered us at the boat house and he let me.  He let me help steer the boat too.  We caught a fish, I promise.  Daddy's hands were just too full to snap a picture of it.  We didn't want him to die, so we let him go back and live in his home, the lake.

It was a little tough holding the rod and reel with that bulky life vest on, but that didn't matter to me.  I managed just fine.  No problem!!

Daddy was impressed that I wanted to fish for so long.   I love doing things with just me and dad.  He teaches me so much!   The bigger I get the more fun adventures we get to have.  I love it!

That was a BIG lake!!  I kept looking all around in the trees for animals like monkeys, bears, alligators, and dinosaurs!

After our fun in the boat we had a picnic.  Daddy packed me a PB&J.

A boy is hungry after all that fishing and boating.

Can you tell how much fun I had hanging out with Daddy and going fishing for the first time??  We had a blast!!  Thanks Dad!!  I love you!

Binocowars

I've taken Samuel to the Museum of Natural Science a few times lately (Pre-Luke), and they have a wonderful room for preschoolers called the "discovery room" with all kinds of things to see and do.  One of his favorite activities the last time we went was using the binoculars to look at things and look out the windows.  Since then he had been asking for a pair of binoculars, so one day I had the bright idea that we could make some with toilet paper rolls.  Obviously I'm not the first genius mom to think of this because you can find a million examples and ideas online (google, pinterest, whatever!).   We had a lot of fun making ours.  I let him paint the rolls, put stickers, and glue them together.  They turned out really cute and he was so excited!  

 We got a total kick out of watching him too.  He's our little explorer.  He loves to pretend he's exploring, so binoculars are a must.  However, he says "binocowars."   He's usually exploring so he can rescue something.  

Who knows what one might find in that room...

Our little explorer in action with his new binocowars.   

 

In the photos below, we spotted a rabbit in our front yard, so I suggested he get his binoculars to see it better.  :)  He was soooo serious about it.
 

Look at those elbows perched on the sofa.  Thank goodness the little rabbit cooperated and stayed put for a little while munching on grass, so this little explorer could get a good view.
 

Thomas Flannel Board Fun

 I pulled this out about six weeks ago after remembering I had it.  My sister-in-law passed it along to me years ago when I was teaching, so it has been around the block a few times.  It finally dawned on me that Samuel may enjoy it at the phase he's in, so I dug it out of the closet.

 Enjoy it is an understatement!  He loves it!  He's played with it several times a day since.  We just leave it out on our coffee table at all times, so he can play with it when he pleases.  He sometimes likes for us to join him, but for the most part he wants to create little scenes all on his own and show us what he's done.

It's so fun to watch his creativity blossom.  We don't actually own any Thomas stuff like the actual train set or anything yet.  Funny how this simple little felt board with all the pieces just lights his fire.  I'm so glad I remembered we had it at just the right time.  

Us Lately

Time just gets away from me these days.  I have so much I want to say or document here in this little corner of my world but somehow one day leads to the next and I don't get to it.  Finally, I'm dedicating a few minutes just to reflect and write...

I'm officially 22 weeks pregnant today.  I'm really starting to feel this little boy's kicks and movements.  He's active at different times throughout the day or evenings.  Last night, Tyson got to feel two really strong kicks for the first time.  Makes it so real for him.  He got all excited and initiated a lengthy conversation with baby boy.  Speaking of Baby Boy, that's his name at this point.  With Samuel we knew from the start what we wanted to name him, but this time around we don't have a name chosen yet.  We've thrown out a couple of ideas, but we are really praying into it and believing God knows his name and we'll know too by the time he's born or shortly there after.
Samuel has a little guitar and he's initiated singing "lullabye's" to the baby.  It's the sweetest thing.  I don't know where he heard it, but he sings "lullabye and goodnight, go to sleep little baby" real slow while strumming his guitar.  Oh my goodness.  Last night, he got down and said, "I love you, baby brother."  Oh, I hope this affection continues for years to come.  He also asked for a pacifier over the weekend.  Hmmm... He said he was a baby now.  Oookaay.  We obliged him and found a pacifier he could carry around.   He didn't really want it because he lost interest very quickly.

I'm slim on photos (not slim in photos though :).  I haven't taken hardly any belly pics this time around and not to many of Samuel this month.  Consequently, I don't have a picture of it but Samuel has been enjoying helping me wash the dishes lately.  Our dishwasher isn't working right now, so I've been doing a lot of hand washing.  He pulls a chair up to the sink next to me and does his "water work."  I put soapy water in a large bowl with a few plastic dishes and it keeps him busy.  Actually he's right there with me and I'm getting dishes washed.  It's a win/win.  I don't have to stand there at the sink and wonder if he's decorating something with a Sharpie or digging through my jewelry box.  Of course, I have to strip his clothes off first in order to salvage them from the copious amounts of water that makes its way out of the sink.

Hide and seek is a big deal right now too.  It goes like this...Samuel says to one of us (usually Tyson), "let's play hide and seek.  Go hide, Daddy!"  However, what he really means is I'm going to hide and you find me.  Every time.  This could be very confusing to the outsider.  The other funny piece of information is that the child hides in the exact.same.spot.every.time.  That special spot would be in his bed.  He runs to his room and hides in his bed as if it's the first time he's thought of that spot.  We count, go look, and he screams and squeals with delight when we find him.  Over and over.  He loves it.  I do have a picture of this...
Another game of hide and seek went on tonight which is when I asked Tyson if he noticed that Samuel never wants to find us.  He always wants to be found.  He especially wants to be found by Daddy.  We talked about how that's so true with us.  Don't we all want to be found?  We all want to be wanted, pursued, sought after...found...ultimately by our Father God.  The ultimate lover of our souls.

What about Africa?
It's been six months already since we've been back.  I've personally done a lot of processing, reflecting, and wrestling with God since we've been home.  There's been a big battle of the flesh and the spirit in this heart of mine.  Thankfully God can handle it.  Long story short, ultimately we believe going back to Africa is for us.  We are praying and seeking God for His timing in all of this.  We would appreciate your prayers for us too.   We're looking ahead and trying to live in this present moment at the same time.

Well, that's all the musings this pregnant brain can jot down for now.     Good night!

A Lot of Catching Up to Do

It's been way too long since I've written.  I miss my blog, and have had several posts written in my head lately.  The best way I know to catch up is to post a bunch of pictures of what's been going on and start writing.  Samuel is changing so quickly, and he's so much fun that I don't want to let the time go by without documenting some of this.  So there. I'm back.  

The Crib Days are Over...  It's official, we had to take the side rail off the crib.  This was one transition I was holding out on as long as possible (for my own convenience!).  It all started on a Saturday morning when we were greeted in our bedroom by a little voice that said, "I cwimb out of my cwib."  Hoping it was just a fluke, we kept things the same.  After a couple of more mornings and naps of finding him at our bedside with similar greetings, I was still in denial so I just lowered the rail thinking I'd at least reduce the chances of a broken limb or something but still keep the "crib."  That lasted until I actually saw the process of him climbing in and out with my own eyes. Nuts!  After that I decided to take the rail off and do the conversion to a toddler bed.  This was in the evening on a night that Tyson works late, so I was by myself.  At first, Mr. Samuel acted like a big shot about it and was all excited climbing in, climbing out.  Chest puffed out.  Big boy.  However, to my dismay when it came time to actually go to bed, he completely freaked out on me.  Complete hysterics, uncontrollable.  Finally, I pointed to the bed rail leaning against the wall and said, "Is that what you want?  You want the rail back?"  "Yes!! Rail!!" Sigh...I'm tired, I'm by myself, my kid is losing it, and I proceed to put the rail back on which involves tilting the crib on its side for starters.   Twenty minutes later the rail is back on, and he's happily going to bed. That was an eye opener.  My outgoing, extraverted, adaptable child likes sameness and security.   I chose to re-think things in the morning.  I  quickly made my way out to the store the next morning to buy the safety rail you see in the picture.  This was our solution.  It's safe enough for him to climb in and out of but offers that little boundary of security he wanted.  He's doing just fine except for the fact that he gets up EVERY morning between 6:00 and 6:30, and now we can't just listen to him talk to himself in his crib for a while.  We find him standing at our bedside  saying things like "Here I am!"  "Let's watch a little TV," or "I want a snack."   Help!!!

 Getting Our Christmas Tree...  This month has been full of fun and surprises for this two year old.  He's made this season even brighter and merrier for us.  For the first time, the wonder of Christmas is on his radar.  We ventured out to pick our tree on December 1st.  We picked one from a tree farm called Pop N' Son.   The picture above is in the car on our way.  He was very excited.  

So were we.  When we let him down he took off racing through the trees like it was a maze.  There was another family there with a little boy around 5, and Samuel kept chasing him.  It was hard to look for a tree and keep an eye on the little kid in the red vest.

 Let's get this one!

 We found a winner!!  Let's take it home!

This is the tube they slide the tree through to fit netting around it for the ride home.  It looked like a fun tunnel to someone I guess.  

 Trimming it up and getting ready to load.

 They had a giant inflatable snowman.  It was huge!!

 Samuel was in awe of this whole process.  We were so busy getting ready for Africa last year and he was a year younger that we didn't focus much on the usual Christmas traditions.   He was bouncing off the walls with excitement when we got the tree in the living room.  He wanted to "help" with the lights.  He loved looking at all the different ornaments too.  Tyson's dad and step-mom gave us the neatest train that goes around the tree.  That was the icing on the cake!  You can see it a little bit in the picture below. It makes music and Santa waves.

 Last Friday night we went to a Christmas Party for Tyson's work.  The whole family was invited, so we all three went.  This is Tyson and Samuel before we went. Don't they look handsome?  When we told Samuel we were going to a "party" all we heard until we got there was, "Party! We go to party?  When we go to party?"  I didn't realize how much parties mean to this kid.  When we got there, he was just giddy.  The excitement went on all night, and when we left he said, "I had fun at my party." Oh dear!   On a side note, I've been trying to put some focus on the advent season and counting down to Jesus' birth, so Samuel will learn to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.  I'll post soon about a couple of activities we're doing.  Anyway, I was trying to explain to him the other day that it will be Jesus' birthday soon, and he quickly interrupted me and said, "We need cake!"  I suppose we'll be making a birthday cake for Jesus. :)

His First Parade...  To keep in step with the Christmas spirit we went to our little town's annual Christmas parade on Saturday.  We live so close to the downtown area, we just walked.  This was Samuel's first ever parade.  I think it now ranks up there with parties!  It may be better than parties.  He came away with pockets full of candy and got to eat two lollipps while we were there.  When do you ever get to see Santa and the Chick-Fil-A cow within minutes of each other?

 I think he was trying to dance along with this drill team.  Needless to say the parade was a hit.  To be honest, I was kind of tired and tempted to blow it off, but I'm glad we went.  

 He loves to sit in front of the tree and watch the train every night.

I hope this finds you and your families having a joyful holiday season.   I was reminded today that my true joy and all my hopes and dreams can all be found in no one other than the One whom we're celebrating ~  Jesus!!

Our Little Cowboy (and a cat's worst nightmare)

Tyson took Samuel out to practice riding last Friday afternoon.  A friend from his work has a horse and has invited us out to learn more.  This time it was just Daddy and Samuel.  From the looks of things, he had a great time.  

Tyson knew I would say something when I saw this video of Samuel riding with no one holding on to him, and of course that was the first thing that came out of my mouth.  What?!?!   After the initial shock, I was pretty proud of my boy for his bravery and balance. :)

Again, my initial response to this video was, "Did you wash his hands afterward?"  I need to chill!  The kid has no fear, and that cat was a very good sport (thank goodness!).  Note Tyson encouraging SJ to get the cat!

Look, Dad!