Daddy is Safely Home!

I'm so happy! I thought you'd want to know.

A Very Exciting Day

Today has been pretty eventful so far! The first big event is that we went to Wal-Mart, and while we were there, we saw a man checking all the lightbulbs in the ceiling flood lights. The great part about that is that he was driving a cart that lifted him up to the ceiling, and it made a beeping noise while he drove. I had a great time watching him drive his tall cart!

The second thing is that our thunderstorms from last night gave us lots of rain, and today the rain turned into hard little balls that make noise when they fall on the ground, and they make the roads really slippery. Daddy was on an airplane today, and he was on the last flight allowed to land at the airport. We are praying that Daddy can drive home safely with all of the little rain balls on the road!

Forever


I plan to always sleep in my crib, no matter how big I get.

Family Love


My mommy and daddy make me smile so big that I can't even keep my eyes open!

Emma Claire

Today is a great day! In the morning, I got to go play with Emma Claire, and this afternoon, Caleb is here. We're supposed to be taking naps, but I'm boycotting my nap. I'd rather lay in bed and practice my words. Here are some pictures of me playing at Emma Claire's house. I love my little buddies!



Bathtime and Clueless Mommy


Here's a picture of me playing in the tub to show you how big I'm getting, since I'm almost two. And, this doesn't show in the picture, but I'm getting my two-year molars. Mommy had the idea to feel for them tonight, and since I didn't bite her, she found one on the top right. As you know, Mommy has always been pretty clueless about teeth. So, even though she didn't know it, last week I was sick, sleep deprived, traveling, and cutting a molar. Oh, and my friends here think I grew while I was gone, too. No wonder it was tough!

Two Years Ago

We're two weeks away from my big number "2" birthday, so that means it's reminiscing time for Mommy. Two years ago, I was two weeks away from being born. Mommy and Daddy (and me in Mommy's tummy) spent Thanksgiving dinner with Uncle Mel, Aunt Jan, Great Grandma (who is in heaven now,) and Margie, who is Aunt Jan's mom. We also visited Sam and his parents and grandparents (there was no baby Katherine yet!) We went downtown to see the ducks at the end of the day. We also helped Great Grandma put up her last Christmas tree at her house. (Actually, I didn't help, I just listened from inside Mommy.)

Lots of things have changed since that Thanksgiving. The biggest change is that I'm here! And, we are really missing Great Grandma. Since we are going to be moving soon, we are really going to miss seeing people we love, like the ones we spent Thanskgiving with two years ago.

Here is a picture of our family at the park downtown just two years ago. I was getting ready to come into the world!

Thankful

I haven't been posting much lately because I've mostly been sleeping. Ever since we got back from our house hunting trip, I have been really tired. I've been sleeping 12-13 hours at night and napping 5-6 hours during the day. Mommy and Daddy didn't realize how much it wore me out to travel across the country while I was sick!

On Thanksgiving, I was well enough to spend the day with Jamey and Caleb and their families. I'd like to say I had a great time, but I don't think I was very good company. Mommy and Daddy say I've been pretty cantankerous lately. I was so crabby that this is the only picture we have of the day, and as you can see, I'm not playing with my buddies. Sorry, little buddies!


Today I am getting closer to being back to normal. I napped less and played more. I'm having a hard time remembering not to get really mad when things don't go my way!

Anyway, I sure am thankful for the friends we played with on Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for all the people we love who were far away, and I'm thankful to be feeling better!

Our New House, Maybe

Here are some pictures of the house we think we might live in next. The mommies and daddies (mine and theirs) are trying to work things out. Do you think all of our friends will want to come visit us there? I hope so! Look at these pictures, little buddies, and start talking to your mommies and daddies about a visit. I can tell you all about how to ride on an airplane. (By the way, I'm not including pictures of my possible bedroom because it's pink right now.)

Here's the best part: the backyard. (This picture and the next have white space at the bottom-there's nothing wrong with your computer.)


I plan on running around this backyard! The swingset/fort comes with the house.


Also great for running around: the playroom! (Their toys don't come with the house. I'll get to bring mine with me.)


This might be Mommy's new kitchen.


Here is the front living room as you'd see it from the stairs. Something tells me I won't be allowed to slide down those stairs as often as I'd like. Mommy says she's apprehensive about stairs. That's a big word to say that she won't let me play on them.


And, here's the front of the house.


These are the pictures of the house off of the website where the current family is showing it. We are getting close to being the next family to live there. We hope you'll come see us!

The Latest

You might be wondering what's going on since I haven't posted lately. That's because we went on a big plane trip, and I saw grandparents and aunts and uncles, and my mommy and daddy looked for places for us to live. I didn't get to see any of them myself, but Mommy took pictures. Unfortunately, our camera's card went bad (again!) so Mommy can't post pictures from our trip. Mommy is very cranky.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for our trip and took care of us here and there. You'll be glad to know that I traveled like a champ on the way out, but we won't mention how the trip back went. I did lots of playing with my grandma and learned lots of new words. Unfortunately, I was sick for the whole trip. I'm really tired of having my nose wiped.

We are back home now, and we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner with Jamey and his family, and with Caleb and his family. I'm sure it will be a great time (although I hear rumors of the grownups eating while the kids sleep.)

We hope all of the people we love who are far away have happy Thanksgivings! We sure have a lot to be thankful for.

If Mommy can get the camera to work, I'll have her show you some house pictures and some pictures of me with airplanes.

Famous

I am so famous that I'm on Emma Claire's Blog. Can you believe it? I got to play at her brand new house on Thursday. Emma Claire lives just a block or so away from me now. What could be better? (Well, maybe if she moved with me to my new house so that she was still a block away...)

Good Morning!


A Note From Mommy

I had to share with everyone that Jonathan put together his first original two-word combination today. (He's repeated some others like "want some" and "not now," but he probably thinks those are just a single word!) His combination: "Big truck!" Uncle Todd would be proud. And, Uncle Todd, you'll be pleased to know that Jonathan can say "truck" clearly with the correct sounds at the beginning. Jonathan was saying "big truck" over and over in the car on the way home from a visit to Daddy's work, and when I'd say "big truck" back to him, he'd say, "Yesss!!!" It was hilarious.

And now, as he's going to sleep for his afternoon nap, he's been saying , "Race! Car!" over and over. He's a funny kid, and we're having a great time watching him learn.

Little Buddies

Here are some recent pictures of me with some of my buddies.

Here I am with Caleb at Mr. Tony and Ms. Rochelle's house right before my dad had that accident. Things are always more fun when Caleb is around! I think we make things a lot more fun for the grownups.


This one was taken today at Emma Claire's new house. She lives just two blocks away from me now. Playtime and walks will be even easier now, and Emma Claire has a whole room just for playing. I got to try it today, and it's great!


Here I am playing in Sam's sandbox. We were taking turns throwing sand on each other and giggling. It was soooo much fun! I think I overheard our moms say that normally we wouldn't be allowed to do this. I don't know what they're talking about. We had a great time together. When it was all over, we had sand in our ears, in our clothes, and just about everywhere!

Baby Maddie


Today, Mommy and I visited brand-new baby Maddie. Here are some pictures of her. Mommy thought she was really sweet, and I didn't tell anyone what I thought, but I watched her pretty closely. Maddie's mommy and daddy visited me when I was Maddie's age. That was a long time ago.


Maddie was born the morning after Daddy's car accident. Mommy and Daddy thought it was really fun to see her mom and dad coming into the hospital while they were waiting for Daddy to get his staples. Welcome to the world, Maddie!

One Year Ago


Mommy felt like taking a walk down memory lane today, so she thought she'd find a cute picture of me exactly a year ago, when I was exactly one month away from my birthday. Well, Mommy forgot that a year ago, I was not being cute. I had croup! We are very thankful that I don't have croup this year. Here is a picture of what I looked like last November 10.

Birthday News


You might be wondering what this picture has to do with my birthday. Well, I found out today that Mommy and Daddy are going to take me to the fire station for my birthday! The lady at the station said that they have a special tour for kids my age that takes less than half an hour and is all about the big red trucks. (Half an hour is a long time when you are just turning two.) Hmmm... do you think they'll let me drive?

Mommy and Daddy had planned to have a very small gathering for my birthday this year with just a couple of friends. But, that was before they found out that this would be my last birthday that we'd celebrate here in our town. So, now everyone's invited to drop in at our house after the fire station tour and have some birthday treats on Saturday morning, December 9. I think I'll be more interested in the treats this year than I was last year! And, I think it will be fun to have lots of friends come over.

I don't really know what it means that we are moving away from here, because this is the only place I have ever lived. We are going to live in a town that's close to lots of relatives, and that makes us happy, but we are going to have to leave everyone we love here, and that makes us sad. When I find out more about what it means to live somewhere else, I'll let you know. Until then, I'm going to do as much playing with my little buddies as I can!

Ethan

My buddy Ethan came over to play, and we had such a good time! I hope he comes again soon. Ethan is a few months younger than me, but a tiny bit taller. He can reach light switches, and I can't quite do that.


Ethan loves a lot of the same things that I love: trucks, tractors, and also this bear.


Ethan's mommy brought treats for us!


Mommy read to us.


And, Ethan gave me lots and lots of hugs.
Come visit again soon, Ethan!

Sweet Sleep

The Healing Power of Cookies


This is an update on my daddy, and as you can see, he is doing well. His cut has healed enough that I'm allowed to show you a picture of it here. Can you count the staples? There are 18, which is higher than I can count.

Daddy is healing so well because Jamey's mom made him some peanut butter cookies. From what I hear, they are wonderful. Unfortunately, when I point at them and say, "Eat," Mommy says, "Those are Daddy's." Do you think I'll get to try them someday? Even if I don't, I'm really happy that Daddy is doing fine.

Meeting Nathan

This weekend, my buddy Nathan, and I got to meet each other for the first time. Nathan's mommy and daddy had never met me, and my mommy and daddy had never met Nathan! We're so thankful we had the chance to get together, because Nathan and his family live far away.

Here we are: Ms. Jennie, Nathan, Mr. Mark, Daddy, me, and Mommy.


Nathan and I played with my farm...


...and just played around.


I had a fun time with Ms. Jennie...


and some bonding time with Mr. Mark.

We'll miss you, Nathan, Mr. Mark, and Ms. Jennie!

Happy Birthday, Spike!

Remember when Mommy had six friends who were going to have babies in one month? Well, that was one year ago, and the last of my little buddies who were born, Spike, just had his birthday. Here are some pictures of his party.


Here are Spike and his daddy and mommy. They went to college with my mommy. They are really proud of Spike for turning one!


Here are three of my little buddies posing for a picture without me: Jamey, Spike, and Ava. Mommy says that everyone was so impressed that Spike kept his birthday hat on.


Jamey pushed Spike's chair...


...Ava rode Spike's horse...


...and Spike made friends with the dog I sent to him.


Here is Mommy with Ava. I think Mommy and I both have a little crush on Ava.

Happy Birthday, Spike! I'm sorry I missed your party!

A Quick Update

I just thought I'd let you know that my daddy is doing fine. He has funny metal things on his head that he doesn't want me to conk, but other than that, he's just fine. I'll share some pictures of two fun things soon: my visit with my little buddy, Nathan, who I met this weekend, and also Spike's birthday party, which Mommy attended without me. She thinks I don't know, but I do, and can't believe she left me behind during my nap! At least I got to see pictures.

We just found out that baby Maddie came this morning! We'll post pictures when we visit her.

Mommy knows a family who lost everything but each other in a house fire this morning. They have a boy who is bigger than me and a girl who is littler than me. We are really thankful that they are all OK, but please pray for them if you think of them in the next few days!

A Note From My Mommy

Hi everyone, this is Jonathan's mom. Just thought you might like an update on the latest news that happened after Jonathan's bedtime.

All three of us were over at Tony and Rochelle's looking at their vacation pictures with some other friends from our small group, and Tony, Jason, and Jeff decided to go the the local football game afterwards. Jonathan and I went home, and after I put him to bed, the phone rang and I got the call from Jason that the three guys had been in a car accident. They were hit by someone who ran a stop sign just a block or two from our home, and everyone is OK. Jeff got the worst of it-he has a good-sized cut on his head (it hit the hook used for hanging clothes inside the car) and had to have 18 staples in his scalp. He's going to be sore for awhile, and I'm sure he'll be anxious for Monday morning when he can get in to the chiropractor! Everyone in our small group pulled together, and Tony stayed at our house with Jonathan so that Rochelle could take me to the ER to be with Jeff. She and Jason stayed with us at the ER, and it was great to have them there. (Jason took some "before" and "after" pictures of Jeff's stapling procedure, but I will probably not share those, as this is a "G" rated blog.) We are thankful that everyone is OK.

On a more positive note, while we were in the ER waiting room, our good friends, Adam and Kari, came to the hospital because Kari is about to have their baby girl! Keep checking back for pictures of her. I'll share as soon as I know anything. We're really excited to meet Maddie (and my aplogies, Kari, if I spelled it wrong!)

On our way out of the ER, we saw yet another family that we know-they were bringing their little girl in. There is just nothing like a small, town, is there? No matter where you go, you see people that you know and love!

That's enough from me! The next post will most likely be a fun one from Jonathan!
-Jonathan's mom

Tall

Friends

Yesterday, we got to spend some time with friends. Jamey and Caleb and I went on a walk with our mommies. It was so cold that they bundled us up so that we could hardly move! Then we all came home to our house. Caleb and I had snacks and played while Jamey took his morning nap.


Caleb and I had a great time playing while the mommies talked (which is not as much fun as playing.)


Jamey, you're going to have a lot more fun when you stop being sleepy in the morning. I hope it's soon!

I'd Rather Be Reading


You might notice that I'm getting a very special treat in this picture: I'm getting to watch Boz. And while I love Boz, I love reading more! I'm reading one of my favorite books, Things That Go, which belonged to Uncle Todd when he was a little boy.


Yup, I really like to read.


This is my newest favorite book, Big Dig, from my aunt Amanda. I'm big enough now to read it without pulling on the pop-up trucks. I like to run around the house saying "bigdig" until Mommy helps me find it!

Tuesday

Here are some of the adventures I had on Tuesday.

In our town, all the kids go downtown in the afternoon dressed in their costumes to get something called candy. It is very fun to hold and crinkle, but I'm not sure what else it is for. Our candy disappeared after we got home. Here is a picture of me with some of my buddies all dressed up to go downtown:

Oliver as a zebra (Oliver is Jamey's cousin,) Jamey as a puppy, Ava as a bee (she is so cute!) me as a tiger, and Spike as Peter Pan.


Here are the mommies: Spike's, Ava's mommy with Ava, mine, and Jamey's. Thanks to Oliver's mommy for taking the picture! Our mommies say they really can't believe that they did this-dressing us up and taking us downtown with the hundreds of other kids.


Roarrrrrr!!!


After dinner, my neighbor and buddy, Delaney, came over to show me her costume. Delaney and I were not interested in posing for a cute picture.


After I went to bed, Sam and his family came over. Even though I was in bed, Sam got to come in to say "good night" to me!


And now, my pumpkins' faces are gone! Mommy says that they are going to be pie. Maybe this year, I'll get to learn about pie.