Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Of Kiddos, Holidays, and Moments to Remember

Hello world!

I must admit, I have missed blogging regularly these last couple of months, but sometimes, I'm just too busy living life to stop and write about it.  Mothering three children ages 2 1/2 and under has to be the most demanding, exhausting, constant, and exhilarating work I've ever done.  Here are some snapshots into our world from the past many weeks, followed by a few videos for your viewing pleasure. :)

Sometimes, my boys play very happily together.  Other times, I have to referee spats and struggles sharing.  This was a memory captured of them playing so sweetly.  Isaac was most delighted to give his little brother pushes around the house on their toy car, and Josiah was just as delighted to have additional speed to his travels.

I feel like this picture is the epitome of my life right now with energetic boys moving so fast, the picture is blurry!

I am trying so hard to enjoy their little years, and not let them rush past me too quickly!

Josiah, my little "elf."

My turkey platter creation for Thanksgiving with the family.

After we spent time with Nathan's family in Dayton for Thanksgiving, we drove over to Cincinnati to see my grandfather, whom I hadn't seen in over six years.  Unfortunately, he had injured his nose a few days before our arrival, which is why he is wearing the bandage over it.  It was great to introduce him to my husband and children for the first time!

Isaac enjoys dressing up!  Here he is sporting my old ski cap and my shoes in addition to his construction worker vest.  I just love his sense of style!

The mother of one of our church members made all three boys some adorable winter hats!

Adoniah is growing bigger and stronger every day!  One of his favorite activities is jumping in his Bumper Jumper. :)

Peek-a-boo!

A happy boy most of the time!

And pretty cute, too!

I can't tell you how much I'm loving our new mantel decor!  (An early Christmas present thanks to an amazing sale on canvas photos at Sam's and my husband's generosity!)

Early December - time to get the tree up!

Isaac quickly decided the tree's box was the perfect little "house" for him to play in!

And of course, whatever big brother does, little brother is sure to join in!

JoJo was fascinated by the ornaments on the tree.

We had to have many lessons over the coming days on how to leave the ornaments on the tree and not scatter them all over the living room floor!

Sometimes, it's just too hard to select a favorite picture of Adoniah from the ones I take...



...because each expression is different and adorable!

We enjoyed a family night at the Bob Evans "Christmas on the Farm" event where we saw beautiful light displays, drank hot chocolate, chatted with friends, and took a carriage ride around the property!

Our  little family - Christmas 2015

Isaac and the piggy hay bale.

Our beautiful tree all lit up.

My friend, Korey, often pops over on an evening when our husbands are at the church playing basketball to hang out with the children and me.  We all enjoy her company!



Josiah was very excited to receive a new stocking in the mail made by his Great Aunt Nora!

Adoniah's stocking is almost as big as he is!


Isaac was happy to have a special stocking with his own name on it and several of his favorite characters: a snowman, a teddy bear, and a penguin!

And now for some videos:

This first one I took of Adoniah back when he first started rolling...shortly after turning 3 months.  Now, he is almost 5 months and rolling all the time with greater strength and confidence!  It's so fun to watch them grow and develop!

          

This video was an attempt to capture Josiah dancing with his little hat on, but just as I turned the camera on, the hat came off and the hilarious moves stopped.  Oh well...maybe next time!  This child has danced from early on, without anyone ever showing him how and no matter the type of music playing.

           

I leave you with laughter as the pillow men collide! :)

           

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A new little niece!


Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law on the birth of their third daughter yesterday evening!

Briana Nicole Day
8 lbs. 11 oz.
21 inches

This was Katelin's first birth here in the United States after delivering twice in Ukraine.  She had a home birth at my parents' home, and everything went beautifully!  Mama and baby are doing well.  We praise the Lord for this new little life to love!


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Several Thousand Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than be prepared for several thousand words in this post, because it's brimming with a whole bunch of pictures that have been storing up on my computer in the past few weeks!

These first four are compliments of Rachel Horvath, the amazing young lady and dear, sweet friend who came and stayed with our family during and after our big move for a total of four weeks.  I seriously don't know what I would have done without her!  She is the true definition of kindness, servant-heartedness, and cheerfulness, and is incredibly capable at all things house and children oriented!

Rachel with Isaac and Josiah one Sunday morning at church.

Josiah was a special little buddy of Rachel as I was often tending to the new baby during those first several weeks of being here in Ohio.

Sweet boy!

We love Miss Rachel!

Behind the scenes of Operation Move the Piano!




Josiah has some big shoes to fill! :)

I love this facial expression of sheer delight with himself for putting on daddy's shoes!

Our big Adoniah boy, now 3 months old!




Another sweet friend, Sarah (Earnhart) Robbins popped in for a visit recently after we both discovered we are only living 4 hours away from each other in Ohio!  Sarah's husband is currently deployed with the Navy, so she had the availability to come for a few days to meet the family.  (It's been four years since we've seen each other!)  Sarah helped us host an open house for our church while she was here, and was a lot of fun to hang out with doing every day things on the other days!

Here is Nathan raking millions of leaves in our backyard in preparation for the open house.

One of our church friends serenading us at the piano during the open house.

Meanwhile, back during every day life, Isaac discovered a way to carry his doll in a baby carrier like he sees me do with Adoniah sometimes!

I was so proud of his creativity!

He is such a good Daddy to his doll. :)

We had a beautiful rainbow one afternoon.  I tried to capture it on camera, but the window screen makes it a little obscured.

Adoniah was looking so cute one day sitting up like a big boy in his Bumbo chair.  I tried to take his picture and ended up getting a whole host of different facial expressions!




Isaac came to me with his pants on his head and excitedly proclaimed, "I'm a goat, Mommy!"  I laughed so hard and had to take his picture!



My little boys after bath time.  They love to run around in their diapers!

Josiah: Catch me if you can!

Here is Isaac modeling a new hat he got in the mail from a kind friend back in Texas.

Josiah eagerly explores a big box of clothes sent from Grandmommy and Granddaddy!


My little champ!

In closing, here is an excerpt from a video I sneakily took of Isaac one afternoon as he walked around the house singing praises to the Lord.  Moments like these are ones I cherish!