In the past few weeks...

We took the kids miniature golfing for the first time





My niece Katherine babysat Judah for the first time (I think they had fun :-)



Judah turned 4 months old - WOW! (and is still not sleeping through the night)




Elijah learned to make homemade play-doh with friends Ellie & Brant (and made a mess!)







Jason took Elijah ice skating (okay, maybe this was my idea and I got in big trouble from Jason for it....I think his legs are still killing him from that!) I'll spare you the videos...I think I'd get in trouble for that too.





Judah went for his first swim in Nana & Grangoat's pool (and loved it for about 5 minutes)





We all learned how to fly









And we perfected our family trick....oh yes people, we ARE that talented!



Random-ness (is that a word???):

1. Thank you for your prayers for the Carder family - baby Ella is doing fantastic and her surgery went amazingly well! Please continue prayers for her recovery (she'll be in the NICU for at least a month probably) and for her sweet mommy Amy's blood pressure to go down - she is still in the hospital because her BP is so high.






2. If anyone knows how to get pictures to be side-by-side on the blog with a border around them, please let me know. My sister-in-law is working on a new header for our blog so it will look different around here pretty soon.

3. I start a new job on Monday as an assistant at Elijah's preschool - just Mondays and Thursdays from 9-2. I'll be helping none other than my BFF since the 5th grade...Lori. I am super excited and know that we're going to have a blast teaching together! We'll have a 4-year old class but Elijah will be in another class with my wonderful friend Jennifer, and Judah will be with a very sweet lady, Brandy, right down the hall where I can go and feed him anytime I need to. I'm a little nervous about leaving Judah so please say a quick prayer for us on Monday around 9am.

4. Last night, Jason and I went on our first date BY OURSELVES in over 4 months! Wow...that was a long time coming. Why has it been so long, you ask? Hmmmm.....what happened a little over 4 months ago? Oh yes, Judah James came along and turned our world upside down. Thanks for babysitting Kaki!

5. Very random, but I'm just curious....what did you all think of possible VP Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican convention the other night? I've read some heated discussions of this on others' blogs and want to know your opinion. I, for one, was not too impressed.

Please pray...

for Ella Hope Carder, our friends' baby girl that was born on Sunday, Aug 31st. Several of her organs are on the OUTSIDE of her body and she is in surgery right now to put those back INSIDE her body. The surgery is very delicate and she is tiny at only 4 lbs, so please pray for the surgeon and for healing for her, as well as strength for her parents Rick & Amy, and big sister Eva. To read more about their story, please go to their blog: http://thecarderfamily.blogspot.com/ .

An update on our family to come soon!

Catch-up in pictures

Elijah on left and Judah on the right, both around 3 1/2 months old.

Can you find any similarities between the two of them? I just knew when I was pregnant that they'd look just alike, but sometimes they hardly look like brothers.

Some new ones of the ever-growing Judah:

This is the first outfit I bought for him when I was about 6 weeks pregnant - we decided if it was a girl, we'd put a red bow in her hair! :-)

Jason tickling his neck

Brotherly love

Matching swimming suits

The new "do"... Elijah wanted to cut his hair short enough to spike it with gel.

Aunt Lauren's engagement party was this past weekend - Elijah LOVES his aunt Laur-Laur! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

She illustrated and wrote this book for him and Judah, then had it printed for them.

Playing in the rain this morning:

Jason returned to work this morning after an entire week off of school & work - BOO! We had a fun time doing some things around here as a family. He starts back to school next Monday. :-(

On my mind today

Update: by request, videos added at the bottom

Things I love about Elijah:
1. He tells me he loves me on a daily basis
2. He loves God and lets me know that regularly
3. He talks about heaven a lot and is excited to go there one day
4. He is a great, healthy eater - the other day he ate about 15 sugar snap peas saying YUM after each one & most of the time when I give him some food he asks, "will this make me strong & healthy?"
5. He brings me a glass of water every day, all his idea
6. If he gets to pick a treat out of the treat jar, he shares it with me
7. He reminds me to "be patient" sometimes
8. He loves his baby brother and is so sweet to him
9. He thinks things through very carefully before trying something new
10. He is a lot more independent than I was...he loves to spend days away with his grandparents
11. His love for music, and the fact that he knows David Gray, Coldplay, Jack Johnson and several others just by the sound of their voice
12. He is very compassionate towards animals..he says "they're so sweet" about every single one - even roadkill! :-)
13. He gives the best "great big hugs"
14. He still likes to cuddle up in my lap and read
15. The way he sings the Curious George TV show intro music - it cracks me up!
16. The way he says "I'm going to win" every where we go
17. He loves helping me do the dishes (maybe I can make that one stick- ha!)
18. When I tell him that Daddy is at work, he says, "I love Daddy very much. He works hard to take care of us."
19. He entertains Judah in the back seat of the car, which is HUGE since Judah cries in the car if he's not getting attention - yes, he's spoiled :-)
20. His gorgeous blue eyes - they are the first thing everyone notices
21. He looks like a perfectly balanced mix of Jason & I
22. Even though he has his moments ( on a daily basis :-) , people always tell me how sweet, respectful & well-behaved he is
23. Sometimes he just randomly tells me that I'm gorgeous
24. He likes to quotes movies & TV shows...sometimes they are part of his dialogue and I have no idea what he's talking about
25. He is an encourager and tells others, including me, that they are doing a great job
26. His bedtime routine...he prays every night for God to make him a mighty warrior for Him, and the way he sings "Good Night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"
27. When we tell him we're going somewhere that he's really excited about, he does a happy dance
28. He genuinely loves his friends & cousins
29. He loves sno-cones as much as I do - now Jason can't just make fun of me anymore!
30. Anytime we are outside, he picks up a leaf, stick, twig, whatever to give me and says, "Happy Birthday Mom"

I could go on and on about our sweet Elijah. We think he's the best 4-year old in the world and that God couldn't have given us a better firstborn child. I will probably go back and add more things as I think of them or as he does them, so I can remember how precious 4 years old was.

I LOVE this kid!

Elijah singing the Curious George intro song - it cracks me up because he doesn't know what most of the words are, so he makes them up. He was very aware of the camera this time though so it wasn't quite the performance I usually get, and I had to bribe him to do it...he doesn't like to "perform" (just like me!). Sorry it's kind of dark.


Judah's new trick...you have to wait for it. I believe today (Aug 8th) is the anniversary of the day we found out we were expecting this little stinker!

This & That

Be sure to watch the video to see this incredible story about giving generously and selflessly: click here.

Also, while I'm thinking about it...here are 3 great low-budget, thought-provoking films that I highly recommend. Click to view their websites.
1. Bella
2. Sicko
3. The Business of Being Born

Another update on our family to come soon!