Jesus In My Heart

Three mornings ago, Thomas and I were checking out my toe, which I think is barely hanging on to life right now. Thomas remarked at how "sick" it looks, and he told me Jesus should put a bandaid on it. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus to help heal my sick toe. He said to me, "But Jesus is not in my heart." What followed was a short chat about how Jesus loves us very much and hears us all the time, not just at bedtime, etc. He told me, "No, he's not in my heart." "Do you want to ask him into your heart, Thomas? He loves you very much," I replied. "No, maybe this summer," he said, smiling up at me so sweetly.

Tonight, he asked me to pray for his owies on his legs. They are numerous today after a long weekend of playing with cousins, so it took more time than usual to detail them all for Jesus. At the end, he quietly said, "and be in my heart, Jesus."
I whispered, "Did you just ask Jesus into your heart?"
I could barely make out his whispered yes, and I could tell he was super shy about it.

I have faith...

Cooper's 1st Birthday Party

What a beautiful day it turned out to be! Last weekend it was snowing and on Tommy's birthday last month it was snowing. Today was beautiful, sunny and actually warm enough for the kids to be outside. The kids took it a bit far with their attempts at swimming in the lake and naked, bubbly slip-n-sliding, but the adults were able to hang out in the sun as well without being too cold. Brad, Erica and girls joined us after a long, traffic-filled drive up. They were staying the night, so hopefully it softened the blow of the long journey up. Robin, Lily and Jack didn't fare as well. Jack threw up and was sick on the drive up, not to mention the long traffic delays in both Everett and Mt Vernon (darn those tulips!). Poor Jack spent the afternoon curled up in the Monkey-room in isolation, as Robin told us she didn't want to share the wealth with everyone. Stephen and Barb came, and Gene and Punkie are finally up and healthy enough to come over for a short visit. The Lawrences came over after a long day for them, so it was short visit but filled with naked tubing, slip-n-sliding, jumping castle, pizza and treats. It was a great day together, balloons out in the yard, treats, presents and good times. Cooper enjoyed all the attention from the family, and was pretty reserved about his first few bites of cake. Eventually, and to our delight, he tried out the feel and texture of the cake itself, instead of just it's taste. Too soon it ended up in his hair, ear and face, which is any photographer's joy. What a sweet boy he was. The kids helped open his gifts, and helped blow out his candles, too. In the afternoon Cooper joined in with the sliding in the yard. It was quite a thrill to watch Cooper's naked bum sliding down the big boy slide into a freezing cold puddle of bubbly water at the end. Thanks Uncle Stephen! Despite his lips turning purple, he hopped in and out of the hot water bucket, throwing fits when we'd take him inside to warm up. He wanted to be with the big kids all day long, doing what they were doing. I can't believe our little boy is ONE today! What an amazing 1st year we've had!

Cooper's Almost 1

Jenny has called me up after two different babysitting gigs with him, telling me what a sweet boy he is. I have to smile. Truly, we are blessed to have this little boy in our lives. One year ago, late in the night and only hours before getting serious with hard labor, I remember wondering what we should name him. We didn't know. I remember laying in bed after a long day trying to get labor to progress, thinking about this little baby, worrying about him, thanking God that we had gotten that far with the pregnancy, wondering how our lives would be changing in a few short hours.

Today, Cooper was toddling about, trying to keep up with Grandpa and Tommy as they mowed the grass. He hollered and cried when he couldn't get what he wanted. He spent a lot of time in the "Hoob-mobile". He hollered and cried when he couldn't get into the lake, over and over again. He climbed up on the entertainment center from the red ottoman, he begged to run the coffee machine and hold the grinder as it was grinding. He wrestled with his brother and dad on the floor bed. He made friends with anyone and everyone who would look his way in Costco, quite pleased with himself as he quickly made his way down the long aisle. Finally he's making gains at sleeping through the night (now I know I've gone and jinxed myself) He still walks around with legos stuck in his mouth, puts rocks in his mouth, and enjoys playing in the toilet bowl. Now he has figured out how great it is to flush the toilet as well, or play in the shower water, or dig around in the dirt of our house plant. The other day he surprised me by plopping himself down beside me when I said I wanted to change his dirty diaper. Most times he's fussing and trying to flip on me when I'm trying desperately to get him changed. He's trying to help when changing his clothes, and loves to fling laundry about. He also appears to have his mother's love of gab. Jenny told me today that even with her on their car ride, he was talking up a storm, jabbering about this and that with the kids. He loves to put things over his head and play peekaboo, and enjoys chasing and being chased around, his hands flapping around as he hurdles himself around. The other day he made his way down 4 stairs. How, I really don't know. He should have ended up in the ER. Somehow he made it down, fully standing, looking up at me as I sprinted around the corner.
With Cooper, our lives are full of laughter and joy. Each day is such a beautiful gift. To see our boys playing, loving on each other, giggling and sparring...it truly has been an eventful, crazy, wonderful year!

Last day of being zero (years old)

Struggling to keep up...

All in a day-John's Day with the boys!

While I was lounging by the pool before hitting the airport, John was busy with the boys, sledding, playing in the snow and building a snowman! After picking me up from the airport, the weather turned nice and he invited the Lawrences over to play on the beach and swim. I was too bitter about the snow to join in much, and was freezing to boot! However, John couldn't help but update his pictures throughout the day to show what extremes they did as the day progressed!

All in a day-Cynthia's Day with the Girls!

These pictures happened while it was snowing in Bellingham. There was no guilt at all! We mostly lounged by the pool sipping on drinks, snacking and listening to music. In between we stalked the neighbor "hottie" for Rhonda (me in the middle of the night sneaking around to get a look) and took Rhonda to get her nose pieced at the most sketchy place I've been in a long time. More details to follow!

The Shag has got to GO!

Although with summer coming on we thought about letting him just keep the shag and run with it, not seeing his ears and eyes was starting to bug us. Not to mention the fact that now he doesn't want to wash it or get it wet. "But I want it long like a girls," he'd cry, when we brought up the fact that he truly needed a haircut. He'd run his hands all over it, enjoying the feel of it and the look of it when he'd wake up with severe bed head. The bigger poof and bed head the prouder he seemed. Today, however, after much prep work throughout this last week, Thomas finally succumbed to the dreaded haircut. Poor Brad had to work like crazy to get it done, and was a pro at dealing with the squirming, the threatened mutiny in the middle of it, and weird head positions when Thomas would be tickled or annoyed or angry that a hair was not just right on his face. After it all, and a shower in which he actually had to wash his head (this produced a near meltdown and many tears) he was rewarded with a Hershey chocolate bar and a trip to pick out a toy of his choice-the bribes that worked this time to get him on the stool.
Thanks Brad! You're one fabulous "uncle" and even better barber!

A glimpse of sunshine!

Cooper at 11 months!

Cooper continues to be an absolute delight! He has mastered walking ( a bit wobbly and stiff at times, but around objects, in circles, etc.), and now can be found "bounding" around as we hold our breath. He clearly wants to run like his big brother. He loves to chase Thomas around, and now enjoys laughing and squealing through the house in chases with all of us. He loves to wrestle, loves to race for the toilet when someone forgets the door, and will squeal with delight if he makes it all the way in. Of course, that same enthusiasm is in full force if you pull him away, including back arching and cries of intense distress. He continues to put everything into his mouth, including legos, rocks, old food, dirt, sand, and chunks of our flesh, should we let him get to our skin. He loves to rummage through the fridge, delighting in anything he can fling out, and crawls into the dishwasher to fling things here and there. There is a big box of party supplies from the Nascar party that he crawls into and trashes through. He's into climbing now, not only into the fridge and dishwasher, but up onto the ottoman, couches, and toys big enough to fit his body, or so he thinks. He wakes up happy and has quite the range of sounds and chatter that fill the house most of the day. His tongue looks like it may actually heal up better than we thought as of a few days ago, and we think the lump from his flap may actually be molding more to the main part of his tongue. Speech issues, drooling, playing with the tongue and a deformity have all weighed on my mind lately. He enjoys playing games with peek-a-boo and This Little Mouse, and you can see his mind just trying to figure it all out. Grandma got him playing a game on the bed with her, and it's so sweet to see him develop these little games that he enjoys. With all the company we've had with cousins and friends, he's had a great time with all the attention, and seems to really enjoy the excitement and activity. He loves to cuddle on the couch and watch BunnyTown for moments here and there, and still laughs and gets all excited when Jack's Big Music Show is on. He cries and cries if he's left out of outings outside or upstairs, and when allowed outside finds complete enjoyment playing with his old car seat, playing with the straps, checking out the toys strewn about and finding his way back to the water buckets. The other day I had to pull him out of the hot water bucket as his lips were purple from the cold. He could care less how cold it was outside and was mighty displeased when I hussled him back inside to warm up. It will be very interesting watching these two boys as we get nearer to warm weather and fun times outside.

Preschool Gladiators