Fight with the Window Sill

Well, we had our first big accident yesterday.  I was packing for our trip to GA on Sunday.  I had finished packing all of Sophie's clothes and went to Josiah's room to work on getting his stuff together.  He followed me into his room like a good little baby duck.  I went to open up the curtains, and he followed me over to the window.  He tripped over his own foot and fell forward and hit his face on the bench window sill.  He scrapped his nose and bumped the bone under his left eye pretty good along with scratching his eyelid.  As soon as I picked him up, his eye was bruised and swollen--it was that fast!  I called Chris at work, and we decided it would be best to call the doctor and see what she wanted to do.  They decided that it would be best to have him checked out.  So I pack the kids up and Chris makes his way home.  We arrive at the doctor's office, and she feels like we need to go ahead and get some x-rays.  The reason she decided to do this was because of how quickly he bruised up.  She said his injury looked like it should a day or two after the accident and here it was only a couple of hours.  She wanted to make sure that he didn't fracture anything.  After she got done checking him out--he was running a little bit of a fever and had a runny nose--we head over to the radiology office.  Chris said that Josiah did an EXCELLENT job when it came time to have his x-ray done.  The tech there said that everything looked great and there weren't any fractures--PRAISE THE LORD!!  Needless to say, I felt horrible about the whole thing--I guess it is because it happened on my watch and it was the first accident we have had with him.  Chris had to keep reassuring me that I am a good mom and that it was an accident.  I was so upset by the whole situation, I threw my cellphone away!   By last night, I was feeling better.  I guess we should be very thankful that Josiah made it 22 months without having anything major happen to him!

On a brighter note, Sophie is doing a tremendous job with sleeping!  She had quite a few nights in a row where she slept 9 hours!!!!  She is no longer screaming when she is in her car seat and tired---that's a good thing since we have a LONG road trip to GA coming up in a few days!  Now, when she is in her car seat, she fusses a little bit and then goes right to sleep.  Chris and I have asked, "Whose child is this?"  Seriously, we are very thankful for this maturing because the drive to GA could have been extremely long if we had to listen to her scream the entire way! 

Well, I should get going--Josiah has gotten up from his nap.

All By Myself

Well, Mommy and kids are surviving our first over night by ourselves.  Chris took some youth to Lynchburg, VA to another EPC church, and we stayed home.  Both Josiah and Sophie have been wonderfully behaved---a lot of prayers must have gone up on our behalf!   Right now, I'm listening to Josiah over the monitor--he should be napping--yelling, "BUBBLES! BUBBLES!"  I went in there to tell him that we couldn't do anything fun until he took his nap---his response---"BUBBLES!"  He is being absolutely cute, but I have to keep my tough mommy face on!  Sophie amazingly napped when she was supposed to, so that is good.  I think there is a conspiracy around here that Mommy is no longer going to have a nap in the afternoon!!!!

Last week, we had a fun family outing to the Frying Pan Park.  It's a local working farm, so we got to see lots of baby animals.  Josiah had fun making all the animal noises.  It was hard keeping him in his stroller.  Sophie did what she does best--took a nap.  It was a lot of fun and we are enjoying our "weekends"  which are now Mondays and Tuesdays. 

Well, it's time to share what is new with the kiddos.  I'll start with Josiah. 

*Josiah has started his 2nd swimming class.  He is still in the guppies group, but is doing a fantastic job!  He has no problem blowing bubbles, putting his face in the water, turning his head side to side so his ears are in the water (this is preparing him for the breathing motion), and floating on his back.  He LOVES to show us his skills in the bath tub at night.  He should be able to move on to the next level the next time around. 

*Josiah has been such a big boy eater lately.  He has been eating the same things Chris and I are eating.  The other night he had honey mustard chicken, mashed potatoes and peas.  The next night he had ham, rice and mixed veggies.  He has also been eating pears, peaches and pineapples along with fresh berries.  I think he has turned a corner when it comes to eating!!!!

*The other morning, I was getting our breakfast ready.  I told Josiah it was time to head over to the table.  He goes over to the table and pulls out my chair and says, "Sit, Momma, Sit!"  Chris has started pulling my chair out for me--well, most of the time!  So I guess Josiah thought it was his job to do it since Chris wasn't home.  It isn't anything that we expect him to do, but he is obviously watching us. 

*He did make Chris and I laugh--after the fact---the other night during his bath.  He was being a little difficult in the bath tub.  Chris told him if he didn't stop and start listening that he was going to get a spanking.  Josiah proceeded to turn his bottom towards Chris and spanked it a couple of times.  Where he got that from, I don't know!?!?  It was rather funny though, but we didn't laugh at him because if we did that would have been it for us! 

*Josiah has been enjoying "doing" the Wii with Mommy.  He definitely inspires me to work out.  He gets his own remote and will march in place next to me as I do the exercises.  When we head down to the basement, he wants to do the Wii, so like I said before he is inspiring me to loose these last few baby pounds. 

*Josiah used his potty for the first time this week!!!  Ok, so I did a little bribing to get him to do it, but I think he was having performance anxiety.  I gave him an extra juice box, a snack and sat him in front of the TV to watch Elmo.  Usually, he needs to have water after his nap and TV is a rarity for him.  Sure enough, he ended up going pee pee in the potty!!!! 

*He has started learning the different types of weather.  Each morning we come downstairs and open up the blind.  I say, "Good morning, God!  Thank you for the beautiful _________ (sunshine, rain, etc.)!  Now, he has started saying, "Sunshine, sunshine!"  on sunny days. 

*He has also started bowing his head when we pray.  When we sit down at the table he makes sure we say our blessing by saying, "Bes, Bes!"  No food is going in his mouth until he has said it.  It is so sweet to see him bow his head! 

*Now for our little girl.  She has been doing a much better job going to bed at night.  We have figured out that she needs a pre-bed time nap.  She gets up for a little bit, takes a bottle and then nurses before she goes down.  She is sleeping about 7 hours straight!  Naps on the other hand are an entirely different story, but we will eventually get there!

*She has started "holding" her bottle when we feed her.  There is a picture in the April album of her holding her bottle.   

*She  has started holding her toys, but now will shake her rattle. 

*The other day she was having some tummy time and was looking in her mirror.  I guess she liked what she saw because she kept smiling at herself. 

Not much else is going on here.  Chris will be out of town again next Friday and Saturday for presbytery, so I will be hanging out here with the kiddos.  Please say some prayers that we will have another great weekend!

PS--Josiah has finally gone to sleep--I guess he gave up on the "BUBBLES!"

Easter and More!

Well, the last few days have been rather busy.  We celebrated our first Easter as a family of four.  Last year, Chris and I were serving in the nursery at church during both services, so it was especially nice to be able to worship together.  Chris dad came to church with us on Easter, then we went out to lunch and visited for a bit.  It was nice to have family around.  I think that is the hardest thing for me about living away from family during holidays.  My mom, sister and niece arrived the Monday after Easter and stayed with us until Friday.  Again, it was nice to have family around for the week.  Chris and I were able to go out one night.  It was nice to spend some time together and reconnect as a couple. 

We started a new tradition this Easter.  We purchased Resurrection Eggs, which are eggs filled with symbols that tell the story of Jesus' resurrection.  It amazed us how quickly Josiah picked up on what was in each egg.  The blue egg had a donkey and when he saw the blue egg, he would say, "Donkey, donkey!"  The next egg had 3 coins in it for the 30 pieces of silver that Judas took to betray Jesus.  When he saw that egg, he would say, "Juas, Juas!"  The next egg had a cup in it to remind us of the Last Supper.  When he saw that egg, he would say, "Cup, Cup!" and then take the cup and drink out of it.  The next egg had praying hands in it to remind us of when Jesus went to pray in the Garden.  Josiah would try to hold his hands like the praying hands, but had a little bit of a hard time.  Next, was an egg with a whip in it for when Jesus was beaten.  Whenever he saw this egg, he would say, "NO, NO, NO!"  We don't know why exactly he would say that, but he must have understood when we explained that Jesus was beaten with the whip and it was very, very mean.  The next egg had a cross made out of nails to remind us of Jesus' death on the cross.  Whenever, Josiah saw this egg, he would say, "Cross, Cross!" The next egg had a crown of thorns.  When he saw this egg, he would tap his head with his hand.  When he got the crown of thorns, he would balance it on his head.  The next egg had a spear in it to remind us of when the solider stabbed Jesus to make sure he was dead.  When Josiah saw this egg, he would say, "Pear!"  The next egg had a die in it to remind us of when the soldiers cast lots of Jesus' clothing.  When he saw this egg, he would say, "Dice!"  He would have fun rolling the die across the dining room table.  The next egg had a piece of linen in it for when Jesus was wrapped in his burial clothing.  Josiah wasn't very excited about this object, but I think it is because it's a hard concept to understand and let's be honest a small piece of fabric doesn't do much!  The next egg had a rock in it to remind us of Jesus being laid in the tomb.  He had LOTS of fun with the rock and rolled it across the dining room table like the die.  He left a few scratches on it, but when Chris and I are in our 80's we will remember this special time with our kids sharing Jesus with them.  The last egg was empty to show us how Jesus was raised from the dead.  Again, this wasn't very exciting for Josiah, but as he gets a little older it will make sense to him.  We look forward to many more years of sharing Jesus with Josiah and Sophie and any other children God blesses us with. 

Josiah antics:

*The other morning, I was tickling Josiah.  He told me, "No!"  and then laughed.  I gave him another tickle, and he said, "No!"  I thought he was playing a game with me, so I tickled him again.  This time, he said, "No!" and signed "no" at the same time.  That is what I do when I mean business about him not touching something.  When he did that, I realized that he wasn't playing a game anymore!

*Chris' dad and stepmom came over for a visit, so we cooked a nice lunch with steak.  Josiah hasn't had steak yet, so we decided to put some on his plate to see if he would eat any.  To our surprise, he ate about 5 pieces!  He has also been eating fresh fruit in his yogurt.  I'm not having to puree it like I did before, which is a nice step to get rid of in the kitchen!  We were so proud of our big boy eater!

*He has also started drinking out of a big boy cup.  He started off doing really well, but has started taking a mouth full of water and then spits it out all over his shirt and then laughs.  Needless to say, we make it a special treat to use his big boy cup. 

*Josiah went to the National Zoo for the first time while my family was here.  Actually, this is his first zoo ever.  He liked the lions and tigers and the reptile house.  I wasn't overly excited that he liked the reptile house because I have a feeling he might bring some "presents" when he is older!

*Before we went to the zoo, we were telling my family what they had there.  We started by saying, "They have lions and tigers..." and then someone finished, "and bears! Oh my!"  When they said, "Oh my!" they put their hands on their cheeks.  Well, that is all she wrote because whenever we said, "Oh my," Josiah puts his hands on his cheeks! 

*One day, Josiah had enough of his Mimi holding Sophie.  He led my mom to the couch and told her, "Down."  So my mom sat down on the couch.  He told her, "No, down."  She told him that she was sitting down.  Then he pointed to the couch again, and said, "Baby, down."  My mom told him that she was holding Sophie for just a few minutes.  He kept pointing to the couch and saying, "Baby, down."  When my mom wouldn't put Sophie down, he came over to me and looked at Mimi and said, "Baby, Momma."  I think he got his point across that he would ready to have some time with Mimi! 

Sophie antics:

*Sophie met three new family members in less than a week.  She met her Papa T, my sister and my niece.  For some reason, whenever my sister would hold Sophie, she would start crying.  It wouldn't matter if she had just finished eating or just got up from a nap.  She could be sitting there smiling and cooing, but as soon as my sister picked her up, she would start screaming.  My sister had a good spirit about it and by the end of the week, Sophie liked being held by her aunty.  She even let her Aunty Sue give her a bottle or two. 

*Sophie also went to the zoo for the first time.  She spent most of her time sleeping in her carseat or eating.  I can tell I feel so much more comfortable being a mom because I was nursing Sophie as we walked around the zoo.  With Josiah, I would have found a bench and been there for 30 minutes. 

*She has started grabbing for her toys that hand down on her exercise mat.  She smiles when she hits them and they make noise in return. 

*She also took a bath with Josiah for the first time.  I decided to go ahead and see how that went since I feel like I spend so much time feeding, changing diapers, picking up after the kids, bathing, etc.  I figure if I can cut some time out some where, then I might as well do it.  Josiah was very sweet with her.  I bath Sophie and Josiah sits in the tub and "helps" me.  Then I get Josiah cleaned up while Sophie sits in her lounge chair.  I get Sophie dressed in the bathroom while Josiah plays with his toys, then it's time for Josiah to get out and Sophie just chills in her swing.  It seems to be working for now, and I'm glad to save some time in the process! 

Please be in prayer next weekend.  Chris is going away on a youth trip, so it will be the first time without him.  I tend not to sleep very well while he is gone, so prayers that I sleep well will be appreciated

Busy, Busy, Busy--There's so much to do!!

Well, it's been quite a few days since I've written a journal entry.  Things have been a little busy for the Greenwoods, but that's OK since it makes the days go by a little faster.  We have been enjoying the beautiful weather by going outside.  I can't wait to plant some flowers in our pots and front garden.  We might need to slow down a little to be able to do that.  I think after Easter things will be a little quieter.  I feel like one of the songs that is on Josiah's toys.  It goes, "Busy, Busy, Busy! There's so much to do!" Here are a few things that the kids have done since the last time I wrote.

Josiah:

*A couple of Sundays ago, we were at church.  Normally, we get Josiah out of the nursery during the music time and then bring him back when it's time for the sermon.  Well, on this particular day, he started "singing."  Of course, he wasn't saying the words, but he was really trying to sing along with Chris.  It was one of the sweetest things I have seen!

*One evening he was playing with play dough.  He was trying to cut out some shapes.  He was having a hard time, so he made this frustrated sound.  Well, the next morning when Mommy and Daddy didn't get him out of bed as quickly as he wanted, he made the same noise.  It was all we could do not to laugh. 

*We had a nice spring shower one afternoon when Josiah and I were outside playing.   I decided we would stay outside and play in the rain. We did that for a little bit until it started thundering.  We had so much fun getting wet together!

*Last Friday, we had an Easter party at our house.  We invited friends from church and my MOPS group.  There were 7 boys (including Josiah) that came over with their moms.  I was able to bring out some of my old Easter activities from teaching.  We all had a lot of fun fellowshiping and making crafts. 

*Josiah has been sleeping in his big boy bed since last Monday!  Five days into it, he decided that he was going to get out of his bed.  He did it so quietly that I didn't even hear him until he stepped off from the stair.  I got this panicky feeling because I knew someone was in our house.   He came around the corner and gave me a big smile and said, "HI!"  It was all I could do not to laugh at his sweetness, but I knew if I did he would think he could get out of his bed.  So I stopped feeding Sophie and brought him right back to bed.  We had a talk about how he needs to stay in his bed until Mommy or Daddy come and get him.  Praise the Lord, he hasn't gotten out since then! 

*Last night, we gave Josiah a cupcake for dessert.  Josiah is ALL boy in every sense except he doesn't like to get his hands dirty.  Well, I put the cupcake on his plate and he started eating it like you do in a pie eating contest.  He had us in stitches as we watched him eat his cupcake.  He was very successful in not getting his hands dirty.

*He is off from swim classes this week because of spring break, but each night during bath time, he shows us all that he has learned.  We have signed him up for the April class, so Josiah and Daddy will continue their special time. 

Now for Sophie:

*Sophie is starting to "stand" when we hold her on our lap.  She is so much stronger than Josiah was at this age. 

*She slept 7 hours lastnight!!!  Don't know how long it will last, but we sure did enjoy it!

*She has started taking a bottle every afternoon when Chris gets him.  She is quite the eater!  She will suck the bottle dry and then will nurse until she is full.  She is so different from her brother when it comes to eating!

*Last Sunday, we decided that it was time to just let Sophie cry herself to sleep.  I was in her nursery trying to put her to sleep.  I was trying things that had worked previously (rocking, nursing, sitting her on my lap), but nothing was working.  Chris finally came in and told me to put her down.  That we've tried everything, she was dry and burped, so we just needed to let her cry.  Well, amazingly she fell asleep on her own.  So it's been over a week and she's been putting herself to sleep at night--and during the day.  I guess a part of me was afraid that if we tried the putting her down that it would be crying for hours like it had been, but I'm so thankful that Chris encouraged me to put her down. 

The next couple of weeks will be busy.  Chris' dad and step-mom are coming into town for Easter.  Then my mom, sister and niece are coming for my niece's spring break.  Chris will be going on a youth trip the next weekend and the weekend after that he will be going to presbytery.  Then after that we will be heading to GA for a week.  I guess April is going to be just as busy as March!  I'll try to post pictures and journals when there is some down time.  Until then, we pray that everyone has a wonderful Easter and remembers why we celebrate it--Jesus LIVES

Pencil and Paper

Well, it's getting harder and harder for my ol' brain to remember all that the kids do between each journal entry, so I've started writing down what they do on a piece of paper and hope I can remember what my notes say! If I'm not careful, I won't be able to win any of my disagreements with Chris! 

Sophie:

*Well, she went to her 2 month check up on Monday.  She now weighs 10 pounds 3 ounces and is 22.75 inches long!  She got her 2 month shots, and Chris said she did fairly well.  We were definitely spoiled that day because she went to bed around 5:30pm and didn't get up until 9:00am the next morning--well, except for eating! 

*She has put herself to sleep quite a few times during nap and a couple of times at bed time.  Still not much of a pattern with her yet, but we are working on it. 

*She does wake up full of smiles for us each morning and her brother wants to be the first to kiss her.  She is definitely loved by him.  I will have to save these cute little journal entries and remind them how much they loved each other when they are in their teen years! 

*She does spend more time awake during the day.  We are trying to find a careful balance of how long to let her stay awake.  We've found out that if she stays awake too long, then she gets over tired and then night time is a bear! 

*She has discovered that she can make noises now.  The other night she was saying, "Ahhh!"  After a couple of times doing it, she realized that it was her and she kept smiling and saying, "Ahhh!"  

Josiah:

*Well, he has gone back swimming and REALLY loves it!  He's getting to the point that he doesn't want to get out of the pool.  I need to go get him a wet suit shirt because he gets so cold when he is in the pool.  He usually comes out with blue lips!  He is putting his face in the water, kicking his feet, lying on his back, jumping off the side of the pool and "swimming" on his stomach (Chris is holding him). 

*He is definitely a very observant child.  It is amazing how he knows how Chris and I do things.  The other day, I was brushing my teeth.  When I got done rinsing my mouth, he grabbed the hand towel and gave it to me to wipe my mouth.  Then he was taking a shower the other day.  After I got done washing him, he took the soap and wash cloth and started "washing" himself.  When we get a package in the mail, he goes to the kitchen and points where the scissors are because he knows we need to use them to open the box. 

*Chris had a sad moment the other day with Josiah.  We were walking Chris to the door because he was leaving for work.  Out of the blue, Josiah said in his soft voice, "Bye-bye, Daddy!"  He had never said that to anyone before.  It made Chris sad because he realized that Josiah knew he was leaving.  I told him to not get sad until he says, "Daddy, don't go!" 

*The other night we were getting dinner ready.  Josiah asked for "Fluff," so I made him a Fluffanutter sandwich.  To our surprise, he actually wanted the sandwich and ate 1.5 sandwiches that night! 

*One night we were reading one of our library books before he went to bed.  It was a book about a hat.  This is one of his words from his reading program, so I figured I would see if he could read it.  Sure enough when I pointed to the word, he read "hat."  There was a sentence that said, "No hat!" and when I pointed to that he was able to read those words. 

*One afternoon, Josiah was standing right next to me.  I asked him, "Do you want to draw with Mommy?"  He looked at me, tilted his head and said, "What?"  At that moment, I thought, "Isn't he too young to be doing that?  I thought this didn't start until his teenage years."

*Josiah is quite the comedian.  The other night we were at the dinner table, and Josiah was eating goldfish.  He held one up to feed to Chris like he has so many times in the past.  He got it right to Chris' mouth and then put the goldfish in his mouth and started laughing.  We both looked at each other and started laughing with Josiah.  If we're not careful, we might have a class clown on our hands. 

As you can see, we are staying busy and entertained.  Well, I should get going and try to get a few things done while the kids are napping

Leaps and Bounds

Well, it's time for our "weekly" update.  Josiah and Sophie continue to grow leaps and bounds. 

Josiah's updates:

*The other day he was sitting on the counter and he got ahold of the soap.  He started "pushing" the bottle to get some soap out and then was rubbing his hands together "washing" his hands.

*(My favorite of the week) Sophie as lying on the couch and started crying.  Josiah walks over and takes one of her hands in his.  He started "talking" and then said, "Amen."  He obviously saw her upset and knew to pray for her.  It did my heart good to see all the praying that we do for others has effected him and that was his first response. 

*He did sleep in his big boy bed for one nap, but hasn't done it since.  We'll keep trying though.

*As you might have seen, we got a new van.  Josiah is LOVING it.  He sits up above the window now, so he can see everything that is going on.  When we got out of the van for the first time, he started crying.  Now, when we go outside, he wants to go in the van.  I guess both Mommy and Josiah are enjoying the new van. 

*He started his swim class.  Surprisingly, he cried when he first got into the pool.  As much as he loves the water and loved swimming last summer, we were really surprised.  By the end of the lesson though, he didn't want to get out.  So we think he is going to like his lessons.  (Pictures under Josiah's March album).

*Josiah held Sophie for the first time.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  Since then, he asks to hold her. 

*He also has started flossing his teeth.  I decided the other day to  try it.  He NEVER wants to open his mouth for us or the doctor to look into, so I wasn't at all expecting him to let me floss his teeth.  Well, he did and wanted me to keep flossing his teeth.  It has even inspired me to keep flossing my teeth with him.  Our next visit to Papa T should be a good one!

*On Sunday, Josiah did a craft during Sunday School about when God fed the Israelites manna.  Well, his craft had a tent with some "manna" (oatmeal) sprinkled on it.  When we picked him up, I was making a big deal about his craft and asked him what it was.  He pointed to the "manna" and said, "Food."  I had no idea what the lesson was about, but read the slip we were given about his lesson and sure enough he was right!  It was amazing that he remembered his Bible lesson. 

Now, for Sophie:

*She was having tummy time this week.  She lifted her head and turned it back and forth.  There are pictures in the March album for you to look at to see how much she enjoyed it. 

*She has really picked up on smiling.  It's not just a reflex now.  She smiles when we talk with her.

*She has also started cooing when we talk with her.  It's neat to see her starting to interact with us. 

*She is also starting to track with her eyes. 

*This week, she was lying on the couch again.  Josiah came over and was "talking" to her.  She obviously liked what he was saying because she started smiling at him. 

*She is sleeping around  4 hours at night.  We did get a couple of treats of 6.5 hours, but that isn't the norm at all.  We've had some trouble getting her to go to bed at night, but the last three nights she has been in bed by 8:30pm, so we feel like we are heading in the right direction.  We praise the Lord for helping her to get to sleep at a decent time. 

 

Need My Space

 Well, the Greenwoods have purchased a new van.  Well, not a brand new van, but new for us.  We went on Carmax. com to look for a van and then went to test drive a couple.  We started with a 2009 Honda Odyssey and decided that it would be way too much.  Then we drove a 2008 that was owned by a smoker.  We didn't want to take the chance that the smoke wouldn't come out.  So our dealer did some research and found  a 2007 Honda Odyssey, but it was in Charlotte, NC.  We had the van shipped up to us and it got here 5 days later.  We went back to Carmax and test drove the van and decided that it was perfect for us.  So we ended up getting it.  We have taken it to our mechanic, and he said that we got a great car!  Chris asked me what I thought of having a van, and I told him that "I'm glad that I'm moving out because I need my space!"  I was referring to packing the kids up in the Camry all the time.  Our double stroller took up most of the trunk space--now I can have it in the back with room to spare!  Josiah is liking his new van.  He actually started crying when I took him out of it.    We  feel very blessed to be able to get a bigger vehicle.  It's amazing how much you need to pack up when you have two kids.  Please look in the "March 2010" Family Albums to see pictures of our van.