What Micah is Up To

I haven't done a "what the boys are doing these days" post in a while.  I figured I would start with Micah.  He has officially stopped being obsessed with time, numbers, etc.  I think he figured them out enough to satisfy his urge.  He has really taken to playing games lately.  He loves dominoes, crazy eights, memory, solitaire, Hi Ho Cherrio, and Candy Land.  I am excited about this because Matt and I also love to play games, so we are just as entertained as our almost four year old.  He is talking a lot more.  He will now start conversations instead of just responding.  He will tell me stories about his day at school.  He has started pretending, which is something he has previously not been fond of.  We baked several cakes outside today in our water table, and he even made me the most delicious chocolate chip cookies with a whole cup of cinnamon in them!  His interests are much more diverse these days, so we have a much easier time entertaining him, and I am not as worried about him doing the same thing day in and day out.  He loves to play outside.  He will send cars and trucks down the slide, hit baseballs from his tee, and his all time favorite-swing.  We have also started doing some crafts and practicing writing.  He loves using scissors and glue.  He wants to learn how to write, and is starting to make legible letters and numbers.  He also loves to read.  He reads very well now and will often take turns with me before nap time.  He will read a page, then I will read one.  He will even read long passages from the Bible at night with Matt.  This is especially impressive to me because he will sound out hard words and the print is so tiny.  We often tell him he has a gift, and are excited to see how the Lord will have him use it.  He has numerous books scattered about on his floor in his own special order.  He gets upset if I try to clean them up.  I have put a basket to hold them all in his room and have finally convinced him that this way is much neater!  This past weekend, he came down with yet another cold.  Unfortunately, ever since that first bout of pneumonia back in November, these viruses seem to go straight for his chest.  He has been coughing a lot these past few days, and has been a bit moody.  He had a meltdown on Saturday when Matt had to leave for work.  I literally had to chase Matt down our driveway so that he could come in and help me calm him down.  For being such a trooper and helper while Dada was at work (and to help cope with the sickness), Matt brought home a new dice game.  We all had fun with Toss 'em Up that evening.  Thankfully, it seems like he is on the mend today-still coughing but much better spirits.  I am hoping he will recover quickly as he has his poetry day at school on Friday.  He has been asked by his teacher to recite a Bible verse for everyone before his class says their poem.  He informed me today that Ms. Charissa was going to get him a microphone so that his voice would be louder.  We are praying for courage for him as he is still very shy.   I am going to do my best to get a video of this!  Until then, here is a video of us playing his new game. You will have to excuse all the coughing.

Easter Pictures-Finally

If I wait much longer to post these, they will be Way Back Whensday eligible!  Matt has been working busy 60+ hour weeks (his partner is away on a medical mission in Brazil), so I have been also working much more during nap time to stay on top of things around here.  We have realized, which we have long before, that we just weren't made for those type of hours.  I am so thankful, much more so after these past two weeks, that Matt really only works about 30 hours a week.  Not that he is not working extremely hard at home; we just do better when we are all here together.  And lately, these boys have been something else with their new love of devising naughty and "what will really get under Mama's skin" types of things.  But that is a new post entirely.  I thought I would do a little post of my handsome boys in their Eater attire.  We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  My mom was in town, we celebrated Owen's birthday, and spent a wonderful Easter Sunday at home with the boys.  Have I mentioned that the boys LOVE their Nana?  They were so happy to have her here, and I don't think Owen could have gotten more in Nana's lap (he kept scooting up to be closer and eventually settled in on her chest and neck!)  I think he is developing a little jealousy complex about being the youngest.  I wish we could have gotten some cuter shots of the boys together, but they just won't perform for the camera.  Matt will say "Boys, where is Mama?" and they will both point making most of my attempts just really cute pointing pictures!  Also notice the adorable owl t-shirts in the Easter baskets.  My friend Taylor is starting to make these as a little side job.  They are adorable, and the boys love them and the really cool "eye" buttons.  She also sent the boys "birthday" shirts-pictures of those to come later.  

Way Back Whensday

Tutorial session complete!  I now officially (kind of) know how to scan, save, crop, drag and drop etc. the pictures and retrieve them for this post!  Here are the baby pictures of Matt and me.  Funny, we only possess very young pictures of Matt and only toddler pictures of me.  Alas, we can certainly see some characteristics in our boys, which is fun.  Owen and I have almost identical bottom teeth, and Micah no doubt got his mouth from Matt.  Enjoy our pictures from back in the day.

                             These were my "portraits" from age 1,2,and 3
Matt with his mom at about 4 months
We aren't sure about his age on this one, but we have several baby pictures of Micah that look like this.  
His newborn shot.  Love those hands by his face.  Owen loved to have his there too.  

Worth Seeing

I will (hopefully) have a Way Back Whensday post for you all later tonight. I am going to get a tutorial on getting pictures from scanner to the blog tonight from Matt, so that I won't be dependent on him from now on. He is working late, so hopefully we will remember and be up for it. I love baby pictures. Until then, make your way over to view Raechel's blog and quench your "adults as babies" viewing desires.

Ok, and the movie worth seeing is Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Matt and I stayed up entirely too late watching it last night, but it really is thought provoking. And if you love movies that strike up a converstation, this one is for you. The film is a documentary exposing the fear of evolutionists in allowing free speech in scientific inquiry. Several of the scientists interviewed had lost their jobs, or were asked to resign for even mentioning Intelligent Design in peer reviewed articles or for allowing it to be presented as one theory of the origin of life. Also interesting was the connection between the belief in Darwinian evolution and Hitler's regime. I also was unaware of the American time period where those with genectic disorders or sicknesses, and minority races were strongly encouraged not to have children. Furthermore, from 1907 onward, tens of thousand of Americans were sterilized against their will. This was allowed by the so-called eugenics laws, which encouraged those of "good genetic makeup" to have families but allowed for those of allegedly poor genetic makeup to be prevented from reproducing. Nope, they didn't teach us stuff like this in public school. Seriously astonishing! One interviewee commented that while most evolutionists wouldn't take it this far, a belief in Darwinism is almost a prerequisite for carrying out such atrocities.


Ben Stein declares in the movie that he wants to see a world where “scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it’s anti-science. It’s anti-the whole concept of learning.” Amen!

Ken Ham, president of AiG and the Creation Museum, had the following to say about the Expelled documentary: “I urge everyone not to miss Expelled. I found it riveting, eye-opening, even astonishing. Ben Stein does a masterful job of exposing the ruthlessness of evolutionists who will go after anyone who challenges or merely questions Darwinian orthodoxy.

Alright, enough. I didn't intend to write a movie review. But, hope it inspired you to see the film. Let me know what you think!

Owen's Party (In Pictures)

Playing with all his new cars. He was making a tunnel for the cars to roll under!

Deciding to take matters into his own hands. He thought he could put his new table together himself!

"Whoa! Big Bulldududududu!"

Showing Gramps his new fire truck.

Loving his singing card from Nana aka "Mina"

Loving his party. He had fun spending time with all his family.

New Thomas books. These now sleep with him. He loves to show me something new every morning.

He had so much fun with "Mina" last weekend. We were all sad to say bye.

The adult cake. Thank goodness my mom was here to help with this one (it wasn't as simple as I thought). It was a busy weekend!

Sharing Owen's icing

With Uncle Andy and Aunt Jessica. I thought this turned out great!

"One more hug!" for Great Grandad

Eating some guacamole with Grammy. This is one of Owen's favorites.

His own special birthday cake (really two cupcakes smashed together with some sugar/fat for icing)

Part of the table. We had green chicken enchiladas with a black bean salsa, guacamole, and Tostitos scoops hint of jalepeno. These are by far my new favorite chips. Owen enjoyed some Stacy's pitas because of the corn allergy.

At the Dinner Table

In an attempt to keep the boys engaged at the dinner table (lately they just scream back and forth and think it is hilarious--ugghh) we were reviewing some counting skills with Owen. We counted to ten, and then to keep things challenging, we counted backwards from ten. After reaching zero, there was a pause as we continued eating. Micah said "Owen can you say negative one?" If he has his way, I think he might try to teach Owen some addition and multiplication by next week!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Owen Andrew, sweet boy, happy birthday to you! When we found out I was pregnant, we wanted another son. The Lord blessed us with you. You came into our lives two years ago and forever changed all of us. Micah had no idea at 22 months what having a sibling meant, and we had no idea what raising two boys would be like. While there have been trials, I think we would all agree that these have been our favorite two years yet! We would never go back. You came into the world a sad baby who wouldn't leave his mama's side. I couldn't bear to send you to the nursery, so I held you almost non-stop for the two days we were in the hospital. But boy did you change after we brought you home. You were the most content baby, and you slept all the time, in your own bed no less! Funny, you still sleep roughly 15-16 hours a day! From day one, you have been in love with your big brother. We prayed for a friendship between you two, and we love watching the two of you play and love each other. It is hard for you to be the youngest sometimes. You want so badly to be one of us and to do what we all do. It has been a joy to watch you get excited to try a new food because we were all eating it, and to watch you transition into other "big boy" things. You thought potty training was a privilege, so it was not the chore I feared. You have a wonderful sense of humor. We commented when you were six months old that you were going to be a funny guy, and boy are you! You keep Micah in stitches, and I often can't wait to tell Dada your latest clever words. You want to be heard. Lately, you scream and get incredibly sad if we forget to acknowledge you or miss the dump truck (or fire truck, or tree, or flower, or fire hydrant etc.) that you were trying so desperately to point out. You love attention and affection, and while you are content to run around the house most of the time, you will sometimes need to sit in our laps for hours watching a movie or reading books. You love to be read to. It blows my mind that you will lay in the bed with me and read until I finally have to say that is enough! You point out everything in the pictures and get so excited when you recognize different letters. Your brother loves you immensely. He will often say "where is my Owen?" if you are no where to be seen. You have helped him loosen up and be a little boy, and he loves to protect you and teach you things. Your Dada loves to come home to you because you get so excited and run straight into his arms screaming "Dada, Dada!" We love you so much, Owen. We are praying that you will continue to grow healthy and strong and that the Lord will continue to bless you. May he give you a heart of flesh that strives to bring glory to Him. May you look only to Jesus for salvation. May he grant us many more birthdays, smiles, and hugs!
Your birthday
Your first birthday-loving the cake even though it had no dairy or eggs!

Still no dairy or eggs-you are such a champ about your special food!

The Sounds of Easter

"Christ is risen! He is risen INDEED!"

Saturday at Cheekwood

We took a stroll through Cheekwood botanical gardens on Saturday afternoon with the boys. Matt and I figured we would be the only ones to really enjoy it, but the boys actually loved pointing out the beautiful flowers and walking around the gorgeous grounds. The last half hour or so they became restless as we wandered through the art museum, but that is understandable. Here are a few shots from the day.

Palm Sunday

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Revelation 7:9-11

Way Back Whensday

Well, it is Thursday again. I can't seem to get this done on time. Alas, here are my pictures from April 2002 per Raechel's request. I love these pictures because I loved this time in my life. One amazing thing about going to college in Auburn, Al was the fact that we were only 3 hours from the beach. Seriously, friends and I would pack a picnic and leave at 8am, have lunch and lay out on the beach, enjoy a yummy seafood dinner and head home. Oh, how carefree things were pre-parenting! These pictures were actually taken during one of Matt's fraternity parties called "Fiji Island." Traditionally the Phi Gamma Deltas would build this enormous structure and hold the weekend long party at the fraternity house, but this particular year it didn't pass fire codes, and so the group decided on a beach trip to Destin. This trip was especially memorable because we rode up with and shared a room with the Browns. Nathan and Matt were already close friends, but we were really only aquaintances with Taylor. We had no idea that the Lord would be orchestrating a life-long friendship with two (now three) wonderful people. Nathan and Taylor had been praying for a "couple" friend to spend time with, and the Lord provided for them and us! It is often hard as a couple to make friends with another couple. So much has to click between the group. The weekend was filled with so much encouraging conversation and fun times. I will always be grateful for these special people and our wonderful beach trip together 7 years ago! See you next week, hopefully on Wednesday!