Thursday, October 31, 2013

Trick ot Treat Mommy-Chinese style

Josiah saw that Halloween was today on his calendar so he asked if we could dress up, I said of course! So i took them out for trick or treating of sorts ha! 
Josiah asked me if others would also be dressed up, i said no! ha
I said we'd go to 5 stores and pick out a candy from each to put in our star wars cups, 
he said well in America, we go to people's houses, ha!  
He really wanted to hand candy out, which is sweet, but we didn't, we just went to 5 shops and entertained lots of people a long the way and they said they had a good time!  
Josiah was Mr. Incredible, 
Evie Joy Captain America
Judah Chewbacca
Mommy Han Solo
Daddy Captain America




Saturday, October 26, 2013

Judah's First Trip to the Rock Park

 Josiah 1 month away from 6!
 this picture cracks me up that EJ is waving behind JO!
Evie Joy, 4, was really into throwing rocks into the water!  
Josiah took this one, impressive!  

Judah loves Josiah!


I love the way he smiles at Josiah!  He thinks he is the coolest person ever!  

Monday, October 21, 2013

A Random Sunday Morning!


Love Josiah


I love this kid!  He is maturing so much!  In one month he will be 6 years old!  He is absolutely Judah's favorite person. It is so fun to see Judah laugh and get excited about his big brother Josiah!  I wanted to remember 2 things about my Jo lately-
1. His goal in reading all of his Bob book collection is to have his very own real bible with everything in it so he can read it.  What an awesome kid!
2. That he is maturing in sensitivity to sin.  He has come back to us and admitted when he lied- conviction, definitely a God praise in his life!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Some things we are loving about Sonlight!

We are using the K curriculum from SonLight.  We started in January of this year.  I am amazed at how much my children are learning at such a young age.  I would never imagine teaching them about the Holocaust yet, but the way the curriculum teaches it, through a novel, they have grasped so much at ages 4 and 5 than i would have thought possible.  Also for EJ, my 4 year old, is using words like refugee with understanding.  And they include geography lessons in the novels and missionary stories as well so it helps the kids associate the place with understanding and interest.  As a bonus they are discovering a love for learning through stories and a love for reading.  They mimic school time by reading to their stuffed animal friends and I hear them rehash what they have mastered.  Thankful for the benefits and rewards of being their Mommy and Teacher!  What a JOY!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Miracle of Judah 3 at Months!

Judah when first admitted to hospital 
Well let's begin with the fact that Judah's life truly proved to be a miracle this month!  Grandma McLane said Saint Jude stood for the Impossible and that is what our sweet Judah has shown!  We thought Judah had reflux, he was progressively throwing up more and more and then after every feeding.  He actual had something called Pyloric Stenosis, where his stomach muscle grew together and food could no longer pass through.  The Doctor could not believe how old and big Judah was.  Normally this is detecting in the first month of life, but Judah was much older and bigger, Doctor says, because I treated him too well, keeping him upright with small feedings.  He was 10 weeks old when he had the surgery.  This is such a testimony of God's goodness.  While I would  hold Judah 9 hours a day and try to prevent him from vomiting, I would meditate on how God went after the one lost sheep, how God loves His children so much more than I do my own children.  At night I"d have to listen to him in case  he was vomiting and have him upright in the car seat.  That carseat is another testimony of God's provision, how we brought it for Evie Joy to use on the plane and she couldn't because of airbags and we had it here in China for 3 years for no good reason and now, all these weeks it was saving Judah's life.  I love how God used what was a burden to be a blessing in our lives.

Judah well enough to get discharged!

Who's baby is this!?  Getting more and more playful! 

After 2 weeks in and out of the hospital, we were able to reunite with our family in the mainland and return home.  
 Judah loves his new toy- his playmat!  He can lay down flat now and enjoy it!  He even falls asleep sometimes!
Evie Joy playing with Judah on his mat
 He is sleeping in his bed so wonderfully now!  About 14 hours at night, laying down on his back!  Amazing!  It was really dark so this was hard to get a picture of!
 If he gets fussy the kids pull out the iPod- he loves music and it usually calms him!  And they just pile lots of toys on top of him, funny thing is that is kinda works!  One day i was in the shower and he had like 10 toys on him and they made him stop fussing! Ha!


Cannot get enough of these sweet sleeping baby pics especially since we didn't have too many of those for a awhile!  

Our sweet friend Juzi!  Who actually gave as a gift the outfit he has on!
Watching a show with Big Bro and Big Sis- he loves the lights and sounds of the tv, ha!  
 He loves for his Big Bro and Big Sis to hold him!  That helps Mama use 2 hands to get a few things done!  Poor Jo right after this picture Judah pooped on him :(  He said Mommy can you please get him?!
He also likes his mobile above his bed!  Yay for fun baby toys!

Judah loves when the kids talk to him, he gets so excited.  I'll have to get a picture or video of that soon.
Some friends at our home with Judah and Jo's matching outfits!

These ladies took a break from digging a parking lot to get a picture with Judah!

This little girl is 6 weeks older than Judah- her Mommy is our fruit lady!

We don't know much about Judah's stats...I do know at the hospital he was down to 12 pounds and went back up to 13 before we left.  He had grown 3 inches since birth, so was 24 inches.  Weighing him today he seems to be around 15 pounds now, but of course not super accurate.  But, definitely back to gaining and growing!  He loves going for long walks in the Ergo carrier the best.  We've gone dancing a few times on the street corner, him in the sling, and he has enjoyed that too!  
We are so thankful, this month, more than ever for his life and know more than ever that it is in the hand of God!  Thank you God for entrusting Judah to us!

Monday, October 14, 2013

A little studying here and there!

 Above, they are so funny.  They woke up in playing Star Wars mode so Evie Joy says she has to wear a Star Wars shirt to play Star Wars, ha!  Here they are tracing and cutting out characters to play with!
Below, Josiah has really grown in reading and he 'teaches' Evie Joy a little of what he knows!  She wants so bad to be able to read like her brother and it is so sweet that he really tries to help her...they were waiting for me one morning to get started and i caught them reading together like this:
i love this pic of Evie Joy, she has painted nails, a Toy Story shirt and is playing Batman Legos!
Above is Josiah's Joker- love it!
Below, After the Bible story about King Josiah, Josiah made this:
Josiah is for King Josiah, 3 is for 3 more Kings after him, the crown is for Jesus, the True King 
Evie Joy is working on her Kindergarten level workbook!   That girl loves to study!
And sometimes they just take a break and get into Super Hero mode!  LOVE these kids!

Evie Joy and her Scooter!


Jo's New Bike!

Josiah outgrew his little bike so he got a step up in size and Sister Evie Joy has been taking advantage of him riding her around!  This last picture he was so sweet, he rode her all the way home from lunch the other day!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

A few definitions I want to remember

Recently when teaching the kids we've used a few  definitions I want to keep:

HOLY- special, set apart and NO sin

REPENT- truly sorry in your heart, say you are wrong and choose to obey, do the right thing

HUMBLE- say you do wrong

Also, Daddy explained an object lesson that has really spoken to Josiah:
 he is made in His image with his mind, poured ink on a paper, had him do fingerprint, said our sin is black stuff on our heart, we have God's fingerprint on our heart and if we sin, it puts black stuff and then people can't see his fingerprint. but the ink on our hands we use soap and water to get it off, but the black on our heart only Jesus' blood can wash it away... he has been thinking about this so now when he is kind it is showing God's fingerprint to people and if he sins it is putting black stuff on his heart

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Oldie but Goodie Sunday Fun with Juzi!

this was from last Spring before our life went internationally crazy, but it was such a fun day playing with our friend Juzi, i wanted to include it as a keepsake!

Projects...a few left behind!

 the top one is Evie Joy's drawing of Poppe! ha! and below, it is a map for MOmmy to not get lost on her way back to our home in China!