A Thought

I found myself wondering something as I chose a nice, sunny hiding spot during a game of hide and seek with the kids. First, it felt nice to lay down and stretch out on my back (you know, better for hiding) and also it was approaching naptime. So I wondered if it would be a bad thing to find a really good hiding spot, you know, one where it takes the kids 45 minutes to find me and has them wandering out into the garage and possibly the back yard because they are sure I cannot be in the house. I mean, what is the worst that could happen? Naptime for me? A happy coincidence. You tell me: bad parenting or excellent hide-and-seek skill?

Josiah is TWO

Two years ago, we were looking at this face:

And what a precious newborn our little man was. But he didn't like to sleep. Thankfully, those days are long behind us and he is napping like a champ right now. Here is the face of our two year old big boy:

We didn't get to have his party on his birthday, what with it being a workday and all, but we did let him make his own choices about the lunch menu, and capped off the evening with a trip to frozen yogurt. Josiah was excited about it, almost as much as the rest of us! He especially liked the "choc'ate candy" (M&M's).

He got his own dress-up clothes for his birthday! Three full outfits in firefighter, SWAT, and airplane pilot. Out of everything, he enjoys the flashlight and sunglasses accessories the most, of course.

It is most intimidating to have a SWAT officer show up at your door, showing a little diaper.

We also had his annual doctor's appointment this week. Josiah weighed in at 30 pounds, which is in the 74% for weight, and was in the 79% for height. He checked out as completely healthy, but he still had to get a flu shot, much to his chagrin. He is talking really well, stringing 4 word sentences together frequently, such as, "What that man doing?" and a popular one this last week, "Happy Birthday to you!" I'm also suddenly hearing a lot of "WHY????" and "That mine [teddy, plate, blanket...insert object here]!"

We had the cousins (and their parents), and grandparents over for a birthday party on Saturday. We enjoyed spending time together, eating a meal and cupcakes (which Josiah informed me that night were "Icky." Bummer for him, I guess I will eat the rest of them...) and opening presents. Josiah had more than enough help from his sister and Greyson. See him in the front opening one present, while the others check out his new toy train in the background. Quality control. Apparently all four of the little ones had discovered and unwrapped the toy train while we were cleaning up the meal, and then put it back in the gift bag before it was time to open presents. Clever ones, those.

More pictures were taken by my father in law, and will be posted upon acquisition. Thanks to all for the part you have played in ours and Josiah's life. We are so blessed that God placed him in our family.

Boots

You see, here at our house there are a couple of members in particular who are loathe to part with the long summer days and enter into the rainier, cooler fall weather. There are some who say they hate the rainy winters that may never end, and teach that philosophy to their daughter. I just say "bring it on!" and bake pumpkin bread. However, in an attempt to encourage the little ones to embrace the spirit of fall, we purchased some boots recently. For stomping in puddles. Playing in the muddy backyard. And going to the pumpkin patch. Now my kids love fall! Maybe we had better purchase Adam a pair... Hello Kitty or Batman?

Back by Popular Demand (or a couple of passing mentions)

It has been nine months since the last update. As one of my friends commented (one of the two mentioned above), "Josiah has been 15 months for a long time!" As time passed, I was unsure whether to try and catch up with everything that had happened, which just seemed too daunting, or to start off afresh as if no time had elapsed, which really seemed rather unfair to all the other happenings that didn't want to have their feelings hurt just because they are in the past, either.

So here, in bullet format, are a few things you may have missed in the life of Team Puckett over, well, almost all of 2013:

• Tax Season 2013 
• Numerous sickness season 2013 (trust me, you do not want photos here)
• Beginning of the Timbers season

See Kenji in the background?

• Playdates with friends

Josiah with Isaiah at the Oregon Zoo (spring 2013)

Michaela splashing with Lily (obviously during the summer)

• Nephew Liam's 1st Birthday!
• Begin attending Bible Study Fellowship (kids and I)
• Story time at the library
• Family vacation to San Diego (May) 

On the beach in front of our condo

Point Loma Lighthouse

Old Town San Diego (delicious Mexican food later that day)

My surf bum

San Diego Zoo

• First ever camping trip with our children (SUCCESS!)

• Grew a backyard garden
• Blueberry picking (and peaches, and apples)
• Swimming lessons (Michaela - Josiah can start when he's 3)

Spring session

Fall session

•  Cousin Greyson's 3rd Birthday!

Don't know where my photos are of the birthday, but a cute cousin photo nonetheless

• Camping with Abbey and Dave and the cousins 

Grammy hugs

•  Michaela's 4th Birthday!

The new bicycle!

"Hold my seat, Daddy!"

15 Months

It has been a while since I've done a purely child-development blog post, so you can move on to other things  now if you don't particularly care about weight to height ratios and spoon-feeding. (I saw a friend post on Facebook a few days ago how funny it is that we mothers are incredibly proud of normal development in our children.)

Josiah is 15 months old now, and I've been feeling a need to document some of the changes he is undergoing, because they are starting to get interesting. He had a visit to our doctor last week and was completely healthy and the doctor said we made her job easy. My job was a little less easy since my poor baby had to get three shots at the end of the visit. Wish I could say he took them like a man, but, well, he's a few years off from that yet. Josiah weighed 23 and a half pounds, and was 32.5 inches long. This put him in the 39% for weight and the 88% for height.

At long last he is getting in a few new teeth (I thought he was going to be a 6-toothed child forever), but strangely enough they are some molars, not ones closer to the front. He is also growing in his ability to feed himself, and lately has been refusing to eat what I feed him and wants to feed himself with his spoon. Mashed potatoes that were refused entry, oatmeal, and others have been warmly accepted if he can spoon them into his own mouth - or his own bib, or pants. A messy, but necessary, step to eating independence.

Josiah is walking, running and climbing like crazy. When he feels he needs to see what is going on, he pulls a little chair over from the kids' table and climbs on top of it so he can see onto the counter. He thinks standing on throw pillows makes him taller, as well. He likes to clap, give high-fives, and Adam is teaching him to fist-bump. He can identify his toes, his fingers, his nose, his mouth, and his teeth. Sometimes eyes, but that can be a dangerous prospect since he forgets to close them first before indicating it with his finger.

The not-parentally-approved method of playing with trains.

His word list is growing! Bup (up), Uh-uh (Uh-oh), that (used for everything, wanting to know what it is, does, or what that sound is), Daddy, duck and Kak-kak (can you guess what that one is?, clue: closely connected to "duck"), bye-bye. There are a few words that are very important to him that he cannot yet say - an example, overhearing the word "bath" leads him to run out of the room and go climbing up the stairs all by himself, assuming that he will be having a bath immediately. "Diaper change" sends him running in the opposite direction from me.

At library story time, looking mischievous

Josiah loves his big sister and imitates much of what she does. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Shredding kleenexes, though, is a skill he thought up all by himself. And in other important Josiah news, he loves his cuddly and blanket. Don't try to sleep without them.

Happy New Year!!!

We wish to friends and family an exciting beginning to a new year! Sure, it's an arbitrary day on the calendar (but it's a new calendar), but it's also an excuse to take stock, revisit ideas, and dream new dreams for the time ahead of us. Usually it takes me most of January to do this, but really, what else can you do in January?

We spent New Years' Eve with our friends Josh and Sarah and kiddos. Sadly, our friends Travis and Kalina couldn't make it (for the first time in 8 years!) because of sick children. Even so, they managed to make our annual group photo. Look carefully.

Waiting for everyone else to show up for the group photo

Happy New Year!

And Many More

Those of you who see Adam on a daily basis can now wish him an informed, though belated, birthday. We are usually nearly partied out by the time Adam's birthday rolls around several days after Christmas. This year we celebrated by being present for a business meeting at church, then came home for some brunch coffee cake. After the kids got up from their afternoon naps, we headed out for a rousing dinner at Red Robin, because there really isn't a more family-friendly restaurant. Adam's birthday wouldn't be complete without a stop at Home Depot, and then we returned home for cake and ice cream. I'm so grateful that Adam was born, and grew up into a pretty awesome guy, because it's difficult to imagine my life without him!

Celebrating Christmas - for as long as possible!

Well, there you have it. The month of December came, saw, and went without even a passing mention of Christmas here on the family blog. Well, we were busy. Mostly keeping Josiah from undecorating the Christmas tree. Or standing on the Christmas presents for a better view. Or helping Michaela frost and sprinkle 20 Christmas cookies. Yes, 20. She's prolific.

So in my typical fashion, I'm putting off taking down the decorations that we so excitedly put up a month ago, and instead I'll share some photos of our family during December.

Josiah had just fallen asleep in the car and was soooo tired.

Our Christmas tree hunt this year was pretty fun. A client of Adam's invited us (and many others) out to his piece of property which used to be a Christmas tree farm, but is rapidly turning into a forest of ex-Christmas trees. Thanks to his generosity, we searched out one of the few trees under 15 feet tall, and brought it home for free. It had a bit of Charlie Brown tree flair, but that's how I love my trees.

This is it! Smile while we wait for the guy with the chainsaw...

Eating a few treats to celebrate getting the great tree

Mid-decoration process

Christmas morning at our house:

I love this look: I am so excited about something - maybe socks? - and Josiah is sure I'm wacky

The stocking excitement

 Christmas Eve morning at Grammy & Papi's house (Adam's parents):

Anxiously waiting for cousins Greyson and Liam to arrive so the stockings can be opened
(hard to believe it was almost 8 am with how dark it was outside)

And then the grown-ups insisted on taking pictures before present-opening could begin

 ...Or maybe we were waiting for our mochas and eggnog lattes. Yum!

The three musketeers

Literally the best picture we have ever taken of all 4 together

Playing at the train table! Christmas present from Grammy and Papi

Christmas day was spent with my parents and my sister at our home. We didn't take a lot of pictures, probably because Adam's trigger finger was tired from the few days prior. I, however, was given a new camera by my handsome husband, so these are my practice shots.

Sporting a new shirt, and in the customary position of grabbing mom's leg

I think this face was in response to, "Be serious, Michaela"

It turns out the adults were right, having children reveals again the fun and mystery of Christmas.