He's a Walker!

It's official, Luke is a walker! Two days ago he took about 4 or 5 steps. Then later that evening on two different occasions, he was in the middle of the floor and spotted a toy. He stood up without holding onto anything and just walked over to it. Like a pro! Of course I can't get a picture of him doing it, so the picture will have to wait. It is so fun! He is just beside himself with glee. He grins so big because he has figured out that it is a BIG deal. He has also figured out that he will be able to play with the big boys more if he can walk. Oh no! I'm in trouble.

He also has figured out it is cool to make the big boys laugh. I had Seth in the car with us yesterday. Luke started smacking his head and bopping around. Seth and Aidan cracked up and he ate it up! He kept doing it until he was giggling so hard, he could hardly keep his head up. What fun stuff!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Today as I do my normal Mommy stuff, checking some blogs, I came across the Steven Curtis Chapman website. In a year of loss for me, and a mother of two little ones, I was very moved by this family's loss of their 5 year old daughter adopted from China. I can't even imagine and it makes me teary to think about it. But what an amazing story they have! Their faith in God and His plan moves them daily to continue to serve Him and to get up each day.

Today is Veteran's Day. I must admit I don't give much thought to it. I don't give much thought to the fact that I can write on a website about my own faith. I don't give much thought to the fact that I can teach my boys about Jesus and not one fear crosses my mind. It is the bravery and service of these veterans that allows me to move through my day without any real fear. I am thankful, and often list these things in my prayers, but on such a miniscule level. I have grown to expect freedom and forget that it costs many people and families much more than I can imagine. I'm happy to sit in my safe world and take it all for granted. Today I pray for forgiveness and for the heart that is much more grateful.

Back to Steven Curtis Chapman...he wrote a new song while visiting the Bethesda Naval Hospital recently. He met a man who had just returned from Afghanistan a couple of weeks before and had just the day before Steven's visit, had part of his legs removed. You can hear the song on his website, after you sign up for the newsletter. It is called Thomas McBride. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to link stuff yet. It all just reminded me that if I do nothing else, I can have a grateful heart and look for ways (other than at Christmas) to minister to those serving us and protecting our freedom.

Our church is very active with the local military in San Diego and I have absolutely no excuse! One cool thing that they do is send a letter (via volunteers like, hmmmm, me?) to military men and women who have just accepted Jesus as their Savior. Just a note of encouragement and welcome. Ok, that's not that hard to do, but I'm sure it has a great impact. I've got to start small, huh?

So now you know how my heart really looks....is there someone you need to thank today? God bless!

Happy Halloween

We had a great time last night at our church's harvest party. Luke did very well with his lion costume....mane and all! He was in the stroller to start off, but we went inside to where they had things for smaller kids. He took off and wanted to "walk" around. He is so close to walking. The blog post will be coming soon, I am sure. Aidan loved being called superman. He got this cute grin whenever we'd say superman instead of Aidan. Our church has moved into a big new facility and they went all out! There must have been 10 different inflatable things. I had never seen a few, but the best was the foosball inflatable. There were ropes across the sides and kids were belted to the ropes. They could only move sidways, like foosball. Then of course the necessary bounce houses, an obstacle course and the slides. Aidan only played one game...fishing. He is too smart! They put the fishing rod over the wall and pulled out candy clipped to a clothes pin. Right away, he asks, "what's back there?" They were gracious and let him look over, although I'm not sure he saw the person because when I asked, he said there was candy back there. They told him to keep it a secret, so the person must not have hidden. There was also an animal show. They were just putting away the alligator when we walked in. That was all Aidan could talk about...until they pulled out the boa constrictor. They had 5 kids come up and hold it! I'm not into reptiles! On the way home, Aidan said he wanted to hold it. We told him he probably had to be 6.

We didn't come home with an obscene amount of candy, for which I am thankful. Although Aidan did have nerds and hot tamales for dessert after breakfast! Daddy told him he could pick two. He's so great! I would have told him one. I have made one thing of smarties last all week. They were in the goody bags from Luke's party. Aidan doesn't get much candy, so he had no idea most people eat the whole thing of smarties at once! I know, I'm so mean. I figure I better enjoy it while it lasts.

Happy Birthday Luke!

Luke,

I can't believe you are a year old already! Where did the time go? You are such a joy and a blessing to our family. A year ago with just three weeks to prepare, we learned you were to join our family. Those were the longest three weeks ever! God knew I couldn't stand a 9 month pregnancy! What fun it has been to have two boys in my life. You are becoming quite independent. You want to walk and are sooooo close. You have taken up to two steps at a time, for about two weeks now. You barely hold on when you walk along walls and furniture.
You have the greatest smile and a great belly laugh. You have almost all your teeth already. The last molar and eye tooth popped through yesterday.

We had a great time Sunday celebrating your birthday with all of our friends. You wore the traditional Hanbok and tolerated it quite well. We laid out many items on a blanket for you to choose from...to let us know what your future may hold. A Bible, book, paintbrush, string, money, tamborine and a computer mouse. You chose the mouse. Daddy says you'll be an engineer. We tried to get you to choose a second item, but you wanted to know where the mouse was. We ate bulgogi, ChopChae and some other Korean dishes. We sent everyone home with rice cakes and m&ms with your picture on them. It was a late night but you were a trooper and played and laughed for everyone.

You have a strong opinion and definite perseverance. Someday that is going to serve you well. Some days it frustrates me, but I trust that God is going to shape and mold that so He can use you for his purposes. Our prayer for you, as your name means, is that you will become a strong man of God who shines His light to all you meet. Luke, you were hand picked by God to join our family and you are a special boy. I can't wait to see all God has in store for you. You are much prayed for and a very loved boy. May you always know how much I love you! Happy birthday pumpkin.

So Big!

I haven't posted a recent picture of Luke lately. Here he is...so big. He is now standing up on the furniture, crawling more each day and climbing over stuff like a pro. I can't believe he is 9 months already. He and Aidan have such a great time together. I told Jim the other day while listening to them in the back seat of the car laughing hysterically, "this is why I wanted at least two kids." It is heart melting to hear them have such fun together. I know someday I'll wish they weren't so silly and loud, but for today, I love it!

Where does he get this stuff?

Last night's dinner conversation....Aidan, what are you doing? I am trying to get my head off (making a strained face and pulling on the chair). Why are you doing that? I think I need a new one. Maybe a blue one.
Life has been lots of fun lately with these kinds of interactions with our 3 1/2 year old. Adding to that is Luke's mobility. He is almost crawling, pulls up on the furniture and has a new perspective on life...much higher.
We have had a nice summer spending time with family and enjoying a slower pace. I'm ready for our fall activities, though. I enjoy the structure of planned activities...at least for our mornings. More pictures to come.

We are not taking the stroller

Today, as usual, Aidan asked where we were going after I took my shower. I told him we were going to the mall. He sat for just a minute with a smile on his face. He then said "we aren't taking the stroller." I asked him what we were going to do with Luke? Without hesitation, he said, "you'll put him in the carrier." Patting his chest. "And I will walk and we will all go on the escalator!" Brilliant! The way he presented this grand idea, you would have thought he had been working out the plan for days. Maybe he has. Actually it has probably been 7 months. That's how long it's been since we've been to the mall without the stroller. Every time we go, which isn't even that often, Aidan asks to ride the escalator. My answer is always, no because we have the stroller. The saddest part was that we went out to the car...got all strapped in the car seats...and nothing. The car was beyond dead. My door had been slightly cracked...must have been enough to leave a light on. Talk about a sad boy! They were real tears of sadness. Not even a real tantrum. He just sobbed there in his car seat. I must say he handled it all very well considering the excitement he had about finally riding the escalator after all these months. He pulled himself together and got out of the car. He rode his bike outside for a while. Without any pouting. I was a bit sad, too. It is such a fun part of my job, seeing my 3 year old get totally excited about stuff I don't think twice about.

I thought about the scene. That is me sometimes. Just really sad when my plans don't work out. When God says, No, not today. Sometimes I throw a fit and melt down, but sometimes it is just plain sadness because I thought it was such a great idea. I wondered if God gets that little pain when we cry over our sadness. But I realized that God sees the bigger picture..what's better because of the No. All I had to offer Aidan was riding his bike in the driveway instead of riding the escalator. I'm sure we will make it to the mall soon. Aidan doesn't give up on an idea very easily.