Another big milestone!

we had a big day today! ely learned how to say the "k" sound. for those of you who are around ely know that her "k" sound has been the source of some misunderstandings for awhile now. she couldn't make the sound, but she wouldn't use the same substitute sound. sometimes the "k" would be substituted with an "s" or a "p". some examples:
mama kathy = mama sassy (which i think we're going to try to keep. it's so cute!)
cup = pup
cat = sat
kisses = sisses
kitchen = titchen

cry = pry
but tonight, my baby grew up a little more. she was talking to her papa on the phone telling him about the puntin patch, and told him the ducks make a quack sound (duck used to make a "sact" or "tact" sound in our house). preston got excited and told her to go tell mommy what sound a duck made and she did! k sound and all! i then asked her to say other k words like cup and kathy. she screamed every time she did it, she was so proud of herself! she then proceeded to say other words without a "k" sound just to get me and preston excited. she said "door" and screamed, "chair" and screamed, "freezer" and screamed...you get the idea! :)

here's her "k" video. sorry if it's a little bouncy, she wouldn't sit still!






Pumpkin Hunting Season
we also went pumpkin hunting today. it was a great family day! my family has gone pumpkin hunting ever since i was little. ely is now old enough to understand what is going on and to have fun with it. she ran from ride to ride and picked up pumpkins. she threw one too. they look like balls and what do we do with balls? we throw them. :) but she apologized to the pumpkin and said that he wasn't sad anymore that she threw him.

here's a few of the 100 pictures i took. ;)

her baby puntin

the first ride. she was so proud to drive the train!



the second ride, kind of


the third ride. she's driving again!



the grand finale. a horse named mariano!


her pig face
she was not afraid of any of the animals

trying to find the perfect pumpkin. apparently it's in the middle of the pile!

ahhhh! we found him!

this is all josiah did at the pumpkin patch. very lazy!

the kiddos

it was a great day!

Humbled by a stranger

i had an alexander day yesterday. you know, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. it was the kind of day that if given the opportunity i would have dropped off the kids and came home and slept for a week. the kind of day where i felt like screaming at the top of my lungs "STOP MAKING NOISE! I NEED QUIET!" which always works, right? fighting fire with fire...ok maybe not. my day was filled with a crying, inconsolable baby and a temper tantrum throwing toddler. the crying and temper tantrums all happened in the middle of a store with quite a few onlookers. it was just one of those days where nothing goes right, you think that you are going to fly off the handle at any moment. when preston finally came home from work, i proceeded to hand off josiah and said that ely was his too. i just needed a break. breaks don't come as easily when there are two little ones who need a mommy.

i finally got a break when the whole family went to bed. i needed some time to just be mindless so i sat in front of the computer. instead of being vacant, i came across something that pulled me out of my funk and made me think, feel and cry.


i have a confession before i start, i am a blog stalker. i love to see glimpses of lives of people that i don't know and to catch up on the lives of people i do. while blog stalking i found a blog of a friend of a friend of a friend (that's how bad my stalking has become!). it tells the story of baby isaac and his family. isaac was born this last tuesday but due to a chromosomal abnormality only lived 16 minutes after birth. they are in the midst of a rainstorm of trails and yet through all the struggles that i can't even imagine they are clinging to jesus. i was humbled by their faith as well as god's grace. how can i complain when i have both my children in my arms and her baby is now in jesus' arms and she will never hold him? i was all of a sudden grateful for the struggles of earlier in the day. this family is holding onto god's faith during the loss of their son and i am here not even thinking of my god and how he is sustaining me through my day. i went on to read some of the comments that the family received and saw how many people isaac's story has reached and i am now one of them. i love my children and can't imagine life without them. i want to learn how to cling to jesus everyday and rest in his peace and grace. maybe then my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days will become wonderful, hopeful, love filled, very peaceful days.

Happy 6 week birthday, Turtle Nesper!!

our little guy turned 6 weeks old today! it has been a good, but hard 6 weeks. josiah is so different from ely when she was a baby. it's taken me some time to get to know him and how to comfort him the way he needs to be comforted. he started to smile this week. itmakes it's a little easier on those really hard days to remember his sweet little face and his toothless, wide mouth smile. even when things are really difficult, i know that he is wonderfully made! i look at him and am excited to travel through life with him. i see god in his face and am find myself thanking god all the time for giving us josiah thomas.


for those of you who don't know, ely has decided that she doesn't like the name josiah thomas. when i was pregnant i asked her what we should name the baby if it was a boy and she said turtle. here's how introducing him went:

"ely, here's your brother! his name is josiah!"

"i don't like that name! it's turtle."

whenever people stop me and ask me his name i tell them and ely corrects me and tells them his "real" name.

i love the nickname. she is so proud of her little turtle. here is my little bug and my littler turtle.



i don't know where she gets it from, certainly not me, but ely is a sucker for a camera. my mom bought her a couple of new dresses and ely wanted to have a photo shoot. she posed herself in all hte pictures. i think we watch too much america's next top model in my house! :)

PS she dressed herself and did her own hair!