Thomas turns 2 years old!!

December 30th, 2015

At two years old Thomas keeps our laugh tanks filled up and is just a joy.  He is also mischievous and gets into everything and sometimes I think he is going to make me go lock myself in a closet. 

• If you want to see a little of what Thomas is like, watch the 1989 Steve Martin movie "Parenthood" and watch his son Justin.  If they remade the movie, I would audition Thomas for that part.
• He is my best eater.  He likes more things than all his brothers put together.   Thank God I got at least one like that.
• He is finally sleeping through almost every night.  He was past 18 months and still usually waking once, which was oh so lovely with another little guy wanting to eat and such.
• He still likes the pacifier, the soothie, which he calls "Blue," because his favorite is the blue one.
• His hair is crazy and I have to cut it fairly often or he starts to look like a wild man.
• He is pretty much potty trained at home.  He pretty much runs around naked at home all day.
• He loves to dance.
• He loves a good walk in the stroller and that is pretty much the only place he is chill.
• He loves cars and playing cars and the Blue Track we have for them.
• The first and last thing he does every day is find and talk to Zeke, who he calls "Zekey" or "Zekiel," which sounds like "Zekeo."
• He wants to be involved in the process of doing everything.  
• He likes to push literal buttons, turning the TV on and off when Jackson and Max are trying to watch.
• He is starting to put two word phrases together, which was a long time coming.  Pretty much he has been on the slow side of talking since the beginning.  
• That being said, he is super smart.  He will take a chair into the kitchen and put it in front of the fridge in order to climb up and get what he wants. 
• He is a messy eater.  Definitely likes to play/paint with his food and leave a trail wherever he goes.
• He loves our neighbor's dog, Olive and will call out her name incessantly if he can see her outside.  Better than the dog, he loves their daughter Genevieve.

1 year.  

2 years

Jackson: Eight years old!

October 6th, 2015

• The boy is handsome as can be.  Looks just like his Daddy.
• He is into Pokemon.  He and Max can battle for long games and he has quite a collection of cards and paraphernalia.
• We consider him in third grade this year.  He is reading all kinds of different books, although I would not say it is his favorite pastime.  He is working on learning to type and got quite good using a free internet program called Dance Mat.  
• He is still playing piano and is quite good.  He has gotten to a point where he enjoys playing, I think because he is good at it and who doesn't like doing things they are good at, lol? 
• He is super competitive.  As in, he can turn every single thing into a competition, which he will then try to find a way to win.  
• We are working on recognizing when this is unnecessary, like when you are playing with your 4 year old neighbor girl who is like your little sister.  We must be nice to the little sisters!
• He is also into sports, specifically NFL and college football.  He is keeping his own Word document on their rankings and the order in which he likes them.  Good Lord, help me.  Max and Jackson already know and understand way more about football than I do.  
• He played flag football, which just ended.  We had great coaches and he really enjoyed the boys on his team.  We are taking a break from sports after this, until the next season of flag football.  
• He is still a rather picky eater, although I can get him to try new things without as much hesitation as there used to be.  
• He and Max are still the best of friends.  So glad they are brothers.  
• He loves the little guys and is great with them.  Watching Thomas give him hugs and kisses is so fun.  
• He loves to measure himself and weigh himself.  He is certainly enjoying the growing up.  I keep telling him to slow down and of course, he giggles and says, "I can't!"  Don't I know it? 

Current favorite pastime: Wii.

Had a little run-in with the pavement at the park.  Had a great time playing football with the Cowboys for the fall season.

We had a barbeque with friends to celebrate Jackson's birthday, not that I got any pictures of him with his friends.  Lions cake!

Zeke: 8 Months!

Welp.  I missed the 7 months post.  Poor Zeke.  He certainly seems to be experiencing that thing where there are less pictures and stuff written about him.  Too many other kids to look after.  But, I wouldn't have it any other way!!

• Crawling all over the place and fast too.
• Wants to eat any time we are eating.  Will take baby foods/rice cereal, but seems to want what we are having if there is something he can work with.  
• Starting to like the bath.
• Doesn't take a pacifier.  Or his thumb.  I can live with that.
• Not sleeping through the night.  Still gets up once, usually twice to nurse.  And he is an early riser.  
• Dinner time is the witching hour.  He does not like me to cook.  He wants me to hold him pretty much the whole time I should be cooking.  I usually love cooking, but Zeke...
• He likes those little surf-board MumMums. 

He loves to climb all over Thomas.  And the big boys too.

Grandma Clemens came to visit!

I could not get a better picture, but this boys is already trying to climb the stairs!  Lord help me!

Riding on my knees:)

One of his favorite pastimes:  pulling my hair, sliming all over my hair, climbing all over me!

Sweet potatoes and favorite people

Zeke at 6 months

At 6 months Zeke:

• Rolls all over the place.  I have to gate the top of the stairs when I put him outside the boys' bathroom because I am worried he will roll all over the place and right down them.
• He has a voice.  It mostly feels like he is yelling at my all the time, but I can take it. 
• His hair is still crazy, but it doesn't stand up anymore.  And he is the blondest of all my babies.
• He has started on some baby foods with rice cereal and seems to like them.  
• His most favorite place is in my arms or on my hip.  
• Napping is not his favorite, at least not long naps.  Cat-napping seems to be his thing.
• Jackson, Max, and Thomas make his eyes light up.

Ha ha.  There might be more than this, but he just turned 7 months, so I better make the post, with a few pictures.

Will YOU be a part of something amazing???

Back a number of years ago I attended the "Women of Faith" conference in Oklahoma City.  There, I was introduced to the idea of child sponsorship and I walked away from the conference with a little boy, Mpundu.  I will admit to being a poor communicator.  I did all the things WorldVision sent me to keep in touch with him and let him know he is thought of and loved from afar.  But I didn't so much extra.

Fast forward to our time in the Azores.  I had been wanting to sponsor a second child for a while, but I guess I was being lazy or holding back and had not set it up.  I also wanted to look into another organization, Compassion International, that works in third-world communities through child sponsorship.  During that tour in the Azores, we had a miscarriage.  I was so sad, but this seemed like the right time to add a sponsored child into our family, so I picked a little girl from Peru, Natalia.  Had our baby been a girl, we would have called her Natalie and I wanted this little girl to be blessed in honor of our little one.

Now, our sponsored children include one boy, Sanzya (who took Mpundu's place when WorldVision completed their work in his community), Natalia, who is now 7 years old, and more recently we added a 17 year old girl named Rosalande, from Haiti.  Older children have a hard time finding sponsors, but it can mean so much blessing in their lives when they do.  I think since I don't have any daughters I am drawn to the girls.  I also think, what a difference we can make in the world when we give girls a chance!  In many third world countries women are the sole providers for the children and they need help.

Sponsorship is so cool because you know you are making a huge impact in these young ones' lives.  They are able to go to school, be dressed in appropriate clothing, and have access to food and clean water because of your generosity. You can send extra gifts (of $$) for birthdays, Christmas, or whenever.  I have done this and received back pictures of our kids so happy with the things they were able to purchase with that money.  Sanzya actually bought a bed roll with one of our gifts and I had to explain to Jackson and Max that not all kids live in houses like we do.  Some of them do not have access to running water and have to walk long miles to get to it and bring it home.  And most of the times, when they do this, the water is not clean.  Many of them live in a house that has a dirt floor and no windows.  Probably almost none of them have flushing toilets.  What an eye opener for my kids.  I hope as they continue to grow up that they never take for granted the blessing of living in America.  And that they use the blessings that come with living life here to bless others.

Most recently I decided to participate in Compassion International's Speak Up campaign, in which I got the name of a little boy who needs a sponsor and I would pray over who might be the right person to ask to be his sponsor.  I had a couple people (and their families) in mind, but then I thought I would write about him here as well.  The little boy is Abdoulaye Kabore and he was born 10/17/2009.  He lives in Boromo, Burkina Faso, a country in Africa.  Would any of you reading this feel led to sponsor this young boy in need?  

And if not this boy, another child in need?  Compassion has so many to choose from.  You can make it special by aligning something about that child with something special in your life:  a birthday, anniversary, special achievement...  You can just look through their pictures and see which one speaks to your heart.  You can just click on the first one you see.

If you have questions about the process or more about my/our personal journey with sponsorship, feel free to comment or write to me personally or give me a call, whatever.  I want to talk about it!!  Being a part of something like this is super exciting and a blessing to both that child and I know it will be to whoever steps up.

Max at 6 years

Max turned 6 this year!  May 25, 2015

A little late to the game with this post, but figured I would make it anyway, for my own memories and because I love this boy!!

• Is our goofball
• Very easily distracted
• sings to himself all the time
• loves to dance and be silly
• Reads well, writing keeps improving and just finished 1st grade math
• Loves puzzles
• Favorite foods:  Mom's "good toast," eggs, pediasure (blech), mac and cheese, and cereal
• Still loves a good bath, especially if Jackson joins him and they have time to play Supers in there

Max loves Awana and he finished his first year as a Sparkie with a book award.

Cuddling little Zeke:)

Aunt Cara came to see us after Zeke was born and it made for the perfect early birthday present.  Here, we were exploring the beautiful Waimea Falls trail. 

Birthday cake

We got Max a last minute bounce house for his birthday.  We used to have this idea that we would let our kids have a birthday party when they turn 5 and when they turn 10.  That went out the window with Max.  His excitement over a party was just too much to bear for this mama.  The cool thing about these boys is that simple is just fine with them.  I am no pinterest worthy party planner or party have-er.  But they don't care!  A bounce house, some snacks, and good cake are plenty for them.  I think Max's little heart was full-even if his party was called something like "Max's Mix-and-Match Birthday Party."  You got it; I used all the old party stuff we had collected from any other time.  Super easy!! 

Zeke at 4 months

My little Ezekiel is a sweet and smiley baby.  

At four months:  

• He sleeps "through" the night, waking to eat once or twice.  
• Is till only breastfed.
• rolls back and forth
• Smiles lots
• Would rather be held than not and likes to take his morning nap in the Ergo.  
• Lights up whenever Mama comes around, but likes all the brothers and Daddy pretty well too:)

Our friend Renae got Zeke that "Lil' Fox" onesie

I think this was supposed to be 15 weeks.  Oops!!  But look at that smile!

I will never not love to look at my sleeping baby.  So peaceful.  That that little overall outfit?  That was Jackson's.  But it is too stinkin' hot to put him in it, in Hawaii, for more than a picture.

And I guess I forgot 16 weeks altogether.