While Daddy's been away

Dear Daddy - We've been having fun while you've been away in Atlanta learning more about church, and we wanted to show you some pictures from the last two days. Liam has been working on pulling himself up. He hasn't done it yet, but he's close! Micah has eaten two yogurts, both all by himself with no help from Mommy. Micah has been playing puzzles... ...and trucks, much to Samson's dismay. We miss you and can't wait to see you tomorrow night! Love, Liam and Micah

Our Family

I have always felt that church family is, in many ways, as critical to our lives and our development as beings of faith as our biological families. I think I came to this realization when I got heavily involved in my church youth group when I was a teenager, and was taught about how important it was to support and love one another as we all go through life trying to stick to our ideals of faith. I am extremely thankful to my home church for teaching me that lesson, in addition to so many others. Tim and I have certainly had a chance to put that theory into practice when we moved to Florida. Neither of us knew anyone here and we had only been married four short months when we came here, ready for our first big adventure together. Since we left behind the support of our immediate families, we needed to find that support elsewhere. And we have in our church. They have loved us and cared for us and supported us, just like our biological families would. Over the weekend, our family had a kickoff party for the upcoming capital campaign. We loved hanging out with our family and celebrating the future with joy. The party had a football theme so we were all in our Steelers or Eagles gear. One of the cool things for the kids was this blowup play structure. I think Micah could have lived in it! His friend Glenna helped him navigate the blowup structure the first few times. She helped him climb the wall inside... ...and then slide down the other side. Think he's enjoying himself?? There was a decorating contest for cars. I did decorate our car, but you can't see it in this picture and it didn't win anyway - but I'm proud to say the Steeler truck in the front won third place! Gil, a Pittsburgher by birth (and owner of the Steelers truck), holding Liam, a Pittsburgh fan by birth! Micah wearing two football hats. Because one isn't enough. Liam took a turn in the hat. And thanks to Ryan and Deci. We thought church was the perfect place for Liam to try out his shirt, which says, "Hey Cleveland, I've got the Browns in my diaper!" (Take that, Barbara!! :) Buddies wearing hats together.

Ordinary Time

I was reminded in worship this weekend - by my husband - that the season the church is in right now is called "Ordinary Time". While some may think the name connotes "boring" or "run-of-the-mill", this is the very reason I embrace it. I think that Advent and Lent and all the other church seasons are wonderful, with their colorful banners decorating the sanctuary, their beautifully expressive music touching our souls, and the chance to once again explore the life-changing redemption through the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. But these high times of the year are the exception. Most of our lives are lived in ordinary time. So many of the biblical stories that mean so much to us are the stories of the things Jesus did during the ordinary days of his ministry. And I tend to find so many more deep moments in the surprises that come during the ordinary times of life. Okay, I know you really check this blog for the pictures, not the spiritual insights. :) So here are the pictures from the ordinary time of our lives. Daddy teaching Micah how to play "Cootie", which was a Christmas gift from Aunt Heidi and a game I remember playing as a child. While he calls it the "Cootie game", he doesn't really play a game as much as he enjoys building the cooties and taking them apart. Apparently building cooties is an easier task when you wear your fireman's hat. It also makes for a great picture when you're done building it. We went to Epcot last Friday and found out that they replaced the garbage truck exhibit with a fire truck exhibit. Micah was a winner either way, but you can climb on the fire truck, which was way cool. You can tell how excited he is in the picture! Micah and I stood next to the fire truck and when you push a button on top of the fire hydrant, a camera takes your picture. Then you can add fun details to the picture (like silly hats and "Be Fire Smart" logos) and email your friends and family. Here's our fun picture.After the fire truck, we went to see the Nemo exhibit. Mommy and Micah inside Bruce. On Sunday, Micah refused to take a nap despite spending more than two hours in his room playing on his bed with his trucks. So he was pretty tired by 5:00 and fell asleep on the couch while watching Mickey Mouse. This morning I gave him some blocks to play with and later when I went back through the living room, this is what I saw. More evidence of OCD? You be the judge... :)

Liam is 34 weeks today

Here he is - our own professional drooler at 34 weeks. As usual, the weekly pic turned into a photo shoot with Micah wanting to join in on the action. This week he brought his fireman's hat as a prop. Liam thought it was entertaining... ...until Micah put it on his head. Then, not so funny. Good thing he's cute.

Christmas, Part II

We stopped at a rest stop on the way back from the visit with Tim's grandparents - and our visit with friends Jason and Rachel, who graciously let us spend the night in their house. I'm sorry I have no photographic evidence of our visit with them!! This was a horrible stop for us. Micah enjoyed his chicken nuggets, but Liam had a blowout that required a change of clothes, and assistance from a nice lady in the women's restroom. She got me wet paper towels when I realized I had run out of wipes in the middle of the diaper change. Thank God for sweet grandmothers who miss their grandchildren and visit their love upon all other kids! After finally getting Liam all cleaned up, Micah was way too antsy to let his parents get some desperately-needed coffee, so I told him to strike a pose. He was all too happy to oblige so I played paparazzi for five minutes while he hammed it up. Here are a couple of shots. I think he's seen one too many pictures of me making faces at the camera. We went to a party at friends Kirk and Laura's house that night, which was New Year's Eve. Steph, Sany and Thomas came with gifts for all the kids. Micah loves his doodle car! Liam chilling with his new keys. Look, Katie - we got a good one! True Chloe looks a little annoyed, Thomas is holding a woman's shoe, and Liam's mouth is agape at Sany's war cries, but at least they're all seated together at the same time!!! Didn't last long until the two on the end made a break for it. Micah and Caleb, still doing what they were told and sitting for the picture that's not happening anymore. Are these guys going to be the rule-followers? Liam, pre-vomiting. He was pretty upset and we found out why a few minutes later when we saw his dinner for the second time that night. While Liam was throwing up all over Kirk and Laura's carpets (and his own mother), Chloe and Micah were looking all cute sitting together in a chair. It was the last cute moment anyone in our family would have for days as the stomach bug that made Liam throw up quickly made its way through our whole family, including Pop-Pop. A big shout-out to Mum-Mum, who took care of us, did countless loads of laundry, and somehow managed to keep herself from getting sick.Looking cute after playing in the snow. Micah got sick later in the afternoon on the day this picture was taken. A visit from their buddy Sam. Can't believe we got all of them looking at the camera at the same time!!! Hamming it up again. Little Black boys. :) Happy New Year to all!!

ABC's

I know, I still need to post more Christmas pics, but Micah's been working on his ABC's and tonight's bathtub performance is too great not to share.

Christmas, Part I

We travel to Pittsburgh every other year for Christmas, and this was that year. So we flew up on Christmas day and were greeted by Mum-Mum, Pop-Pop, Aunt Heidi, and lots of snow!! In fact, it snowed the whole time we were there. I really enjoyed it. This was the first year that Micah started to understand the whole concept of Santa Claus. When we took him to see Santa, he asked for a fire truck. And he reiterated that request throughout the season. So Santa sent a fire truck for Micah to my parents' house. He loved all the sounds it made and the fun ladder on top. Liam got a book that lights up and sings to him. Another great toy, this one from Aunt Heidi. A larger version of his favorite toy dump truck. This one talks to him and (in theory, because we could never get it to work) comes when Micah calls him. We'll keep working on that! Aunt Deci helping Micah open a present. He caught on pretty quickly to the opening of presents and now asks every once in a while if he can open presents, even if there aren't any around. Aunt Heidi hanging with Liam. Micah and me opening up a gift from his cousins - Jon, Sherri, Brandon, and Taylor. It's a book called, "Jingle Bugs". So cute and Micah likes reading it. Every year on the day after Christmas, my parents host a party for the relatives on my dad's side of the family. This is a picture of all the men in attendance who are part of my dad's extended family. This is everyone at the party. The picture was taken by my Uncle Bill, who was willing to lie down on the landing to get a great shot! We ventured over to Gettysburg to visit with Tim's grandparents, also known as "Daddy's Pop-Pop and Daddy's Mum-Mum", because that's how we had to explain them to Micah. Tim's Aunt Bobbi took this picture of all of us in Mimsy's room. Daddy Paul donated some of his trains to their retirement center, and helps to display them every Christmas. He's also one of only eight people allowed to run the trains so Micah got a treat when Daddy Paul made the trains run just for him - and then let Micah push the button to blow the train whistle!! A picture of the train setup. More pictures to come...