Picnic and a Playground

Now that William is walking!, he is wanting to get out and about more and do lots and lots of climbing and exploring.  He is loving playgrounds and will stay there all day if you let him!  When it's time to go, he points back to it and makes noises to tell us he wants to stay.

And being at the playground with this child is a two person job!  Matthew was at one end of slide while I was at the top... and William must have gone up and down, and up and down, and up and down again... at l e a s t thirty times before the sun was going down, it was 1.5 hrs past his bedtime, and we basically forced him to leave.

It's the simple things in life!

Enjoying his picnic dinner and being silly with daddy

Daddy: "Kisses?"  William: "Aggghhhh!!!"

smack :*.  Love that this captures both of their dimples.

Mommy's turn for some lovin

He thinks our teeth are hilarious

<3

Time to climb

Do you think he's enjoying himself?

Up the slide..

Back down... and up again...

...and again and again!

Next Little Joy

When I think of our next little joy on the way, I feel as if I've received a tremendous gift that I didn't deserve.  And I immediately think of this verse -

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! ~Matthew 7:11

I also think constantly of many friends and family who have experienced, or are currently experiencing, such great loss when it comes to receiving such a gift as a child.  Heartaches one after another.  Miscarriages and even surgical procedures to remove the life that once was.  I have shed tears and prayed on my knees asking our good Lord to grant such a gift to these women.  It would be petty of me to even pretend to know what that's like, much less to offer cheap encouragement.  This verse is just encouragement that we serve a God who is good, all the time, and that His gifts are always good, whether he sustains our next baby or does not.  We just can't know what is going on in the heavenly realms, but we know that there is much going on up there that we WILL one day know, if we trust in Him alone for salvation.

I've been reading from Job in the past few months, and the entire book is based on a decision made in the heavenly realms between God and Satan, that God would allow Satan to send trial after trial upon Job knowing Job would stand firm in his faith.  I mean, who wants to be that guy?  But it's a comfort to know that when we experience trial, we serve a God who is Sovereign over it.  And we may not know, or ever know, why... but He does.  And one day we'll be with Him.  And He'll wrap us up in His arms, and we'll then have all we've ever needed and will ever need for all eternity.

We are praising Him for this good gift that we do not deserve, and praying He would sustain this little life for His glory.  And praying (bc it's impossible to get this mindset without it!!!) I'd hold my children with loose hands so that their lives would be lived out for King Jesus...if it means I get them for a few years, for a lotta years, if God takes them many miles away or has them close to mama's arms.  I love you already baby H no. 2!  Thank you Jesus!

Two peas in a pod

Ducks

We are enjoying this 15 month stage with William so much.

He has FINALLY dropped his morning nap.  On most days anyway.  It sounds crazy that this would give a mama lots of excitement - less napping - but it frees us up for more exploring and less time within the house walls while babe sleeps the day away in his crib.  I mean, REM sleep is awesome... but my child has gotten enough in the past 15 mos to make him Einstein at age 12.

We have been able to take advantage of Will's newfound wakefulness for all sorts of new adventures.  One of this week's firsts was introducing him to feeding the ducks at a nearby pond in what we call the "fancy" neighborhood of Clarksville.  Although these particular ducks were spoiled and did not want to be fed.  But the GIANT catfish had a hey day!

The way William clings to daddy melts my heart

Matthew is such a sweet, nurturing, thoughtful, and fun dad to William

Catfish were too quick to catch on camera, but they were huge.

Waving to the ducks

Fancy

Don't need a paycheck... just need these two forever. 

Mommy-son shot before it's off to Chic-fil-A for dinner!

Forks, Spoons, and Big Boy Dishes

William has always impressed us with his eating skills.  But in the past couple of months, he has gotten to where he does not even want to eat without having utensil in hand.  Started with fork, and has now moved on to the spoon.  And as of this month he can be trusted with his very own ceramic bowl on his tray.  This is his "special" bowl that was mine at his age... my mom got one for my brother and I on a trip to England.  And he knows not to pick up his bowl with his hands, although he loves to pretend to go for it with a big smirk on his face and mischievous eyes darting from beneath his eyelids.  We are moving up in the world of table manners.  Slowly... :-p

We are still not sure whether he will be a lefty like daddy or righty like momma.  But so far he definitely favors his left hand.

His affections for oatmeal are unmatched.  Prefers it over sugary cereal, toast and jelly, omelets, pancakes....and asks for oatmeal when I try to give him something else (his asking is more of a grunt, but I know what it means :)).

Excited about his new skill.  No more scraping oatmeal with hands off of a tray (yessssss).

Posing for camera

I love his silly side

Tentatively picking up his bowl while I'm saying "no no baby"

"But mom!  Look at my adorable face!"

Helen, Jessi, & Enzo

We have met some new special friends through church and have enjoyed spending lots of quality time with them lately.

With Matthew working late Tuesday nights, sometimes I'll use that to get some girl time in with Helen, sweetest gal from Nigeria with the most beautiful smile, heart for the Lord, and some seriously good fashion sense.  William and I love playing with her two beautiful (and I do mean b e a u t i f u l) kiddos, Jessi (18mo) and Enzo (3).  Since Jessi and Enzo are so close in age they enjoy playing and eating together.  And Enzo loves cars trucks and blocks and all things BOY, which is right up William's alley.  William wants to follow Enzo around and do whatever he is doing... it's adorable.

We recognize and accept our pale-ness as a family.  However, when you spend a lot of time with friends from Nigeria, your paleness starts to hurt your eyes.

Our September beach trip cannot come soon enough!!!!!

Baby Einstein time

Toy time

Sweet girl making towers

At the beach! Well, we can pretend! :)

18 month olds gotta try the sand to see how it tastes.

Three little musketeers

Walking!

Our William is officially walking at 15 months!

July Visit at Mimi and Pop Pop's House

Our last stop before heading home was to Macon to see Mimi and Pop Pop.  We ate (some more delicious food!), visited with more extended fam, napped (me!!), baked, and played tons with William.  He loved taking the cars and trucks and trains around saying "vroom vroom", banging on all the musical instruments, and especially using the rocking chair for climbing.  We have an all-boy on our hands!

Jammin out with Pop Pop

Not sure who's having more fun here :)

Dad showing William how to play Jerry Lee Lewis-style

William loved all the cars and trains

Peek-a-boo with Pop Pop's PE scarves

Peek-a-boo never gets old!

Our climber loved Mimi's rocking chair...it just made the rest of us a little nervous!

Loved crawling into chair and sitting himself down to read books...

...upside-down

He found that he enjoyed sitting sideways the most

Finding more books to read with Mimi

Fun times

Silly boy

Sweet family picture

Cousins and more family came over to hang out... here's Ashley playing William a song... he loved the music AND her iPhone!

Playing with my my dearest Aunt Mary-Anne!

William wanting some daddy love while he hangs out with my cousin Jes

This is a typical family evening with our family after a big meal.... sit around talking and listening to music and eventually doing something very fun but random like dancing or magic tricks :)

Polly and Ashley looking so pretty <3

Will tryin on cousin Jes' flatbill and getting swallowed whole

Piano with Jes

My dad LOVES magic tricks.  So he pulled out some out of a hat (get it?), and so did we!

Matthew surprised us with this awesome card trick

Jes is   s t u m p e d!

Oh and we found this little guy outside.  But he's not poisonous.  Just incredibly creepy.