Beach Time

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent an afternoon at the beach with the kids. They so enjoyed running around, chasing sea gulls, putting their toes in the water, and playing in the sand.

Emma and Daddy's sand castle - after Jonah breached the moat.

It was such a relaxing time and so fun just to spend time as a family.

Jonah brought Thomas along and played with him and buried him. I think he was most excited about giving Thomas a bath when we got home.

After dinner we went to a restaurant right on the beach for dinner. The restaurant, Poe's, is a fun burger place named after Edgar Allan Poe who served part of his military time at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. It is a fun place and Emma was SO excited to go out to eat. We never go out to eat, and Jonah reminded us of why. Aside from the complicating factors of his allergies, most of his tantrums are at meal time. And, yes, this meal was no exception. He spent the first 20 minutes we had food screaming and Mike had to leave with him twice. Other than that, it was fun to just enjoy time together without dishes to clean up!

Jonah ate an entire plate of fries and a hamburger patty with lots of ketchup!

Emma and Mommy enjoying dinner. Emma thought it was fun to have "mommy time" at dinner while Mike was dealing with Jonah outside. I guess that was the bright side!

Jonah at 18 Months

Jonah is now one and a half! He is growing and changing every day. He is more fun than Mike or I could have ever anticipated. Below are some pictures and updates.

During his breathing treatments he makes sure that Puppy has his mask on as well. We had to purchase a nebulizer when Jonah had so much trouble breathing with his cold that he needed to do regular breathing treatments. He was one sick little boy.

Shopping trip with Daddy - so much more fun than Mommy. Mommy trips usually max out the excitement with purchasing prunes or brussel sprouts.

Jonah loves his time with Daddy and is so excited to "help" Daddy fix things. He is soaking up all he can about tools and music and football from Daddy. They play tackle football. The other afternoon I asked him to play football and he looked at me and said, "No. Football with Daddy."

Jonah's allergies have become a painful thing in our family. Jonah is adventurous when it comes to food and very well aware of what he is missing. He has meltdowns and temper tantrums when he is unable to have the food we are eating. It is become more necessary and more of a challenge to find meals that he can eat along with us. Eating out is essentially impossible and finding treats for him is difficult as well. This past week I took Emma to get a cupcake as a reward from not crying or taking Ducky to dance or Jesus Class. As we entered the store Jonah started cheering and yelling, "CUPCAKES". We bought one for Emma and took it home where he was able to eat one I made him. He was so proud to have the same treat as her and we all sat and had a cupcake together. We have also found a yogurt place that has sorbet he can have. He loves that, but we do realize that it will not be long before he figures out that what he is having is not the same. He will be retested in May and hopefully we will be able to add dairy and egg to his diet. We will see though. I never anticipated it to be this emotionally difficult to deal with food allergies.

Jonah had his first playdough experience this week. He quickly realized it did not taste good and he was consumed with making balls and dropping them through a tube. He also enjoyed the rolling pin and cooking in the frying pan.

Jonah is waiting for Poppa to visit at the end of February to have his first chocolate milk. He knew exactly what it was when I put it in the cart and when he hears us talk about Poppa he says, "Poppa coming...drink chocolate milk".

This little guy has always been a climber so going to the park is a challenge. He always wants to be where Emma is and at the park in our neighborhood he has mostly mastered the large playset and slides. Of course I stay close by, but I have stopped climbing up with him - mostly because I now physically cannot. Here he is coming down the big twisty slide by himself.

Here he is climbing up to the slide. The picture doesn't fully capture the scale of the slide, but it is much taller than I am. He thinks he is hot stuff up there!

The following list is mostly for our memories since this is essentially taking the place of his baby book.

• 25lbs 2oz (39th percentile), 35in (98th percentile), 18.75cm head circumference (45th percentile) Jonah grew in all areas. He continues to be tall and lean. He is a healthy skinny boy!
• Jonah's favorite things include: playing football, Thomas, tools, books, cooking, painting, playing with Emma, playing outside, going for walks, bridges, boats, cranes, construction, planes.
  
• He is happy most of the time but he can throw temper tantrums that put Emma's to shame. He is very opinionated and passionate, so if told no, he will make his displeasure known to all. He also gets very frustrated when things break, like his waffle or banana. He screams "BROKEN" and gets really mad. We have worked on recognizing that now he has pieces, but he still is pushed over the edge when things break.
• He loves playing with his sister. They play babies and cook in her kitchen and play ball and she reads to him. They plays really well with each other and we are so very thankful for that!
  
• Jonah is sensitive and as sweet as any little boy could be. He loves to hug and kiss and cuddle. He hugs and kisses pictures in books and toys and people. He will point to something and say, "Hug? Kiss?". He takes care of Emma and is always caring for his Puppy. When someone is crying he gets very upset and needs reassurance that everything will be ok. One of his favorite things is hugging and kissing my belly. No one taught him that. Emma doesn't really do that, but he does. He kisses it and says, "brother, love".
• This child talks up a storm. By 18 months he should be saying at least 10 words. I cannot even begin to guess how many he actually knows. He strings words together into three and four word sentences and is extremely effective in communicating with us. He has started telling Mike about his day at dinner time without my prompting his answers.
  
• Jonah knows his colors. I take no credit at all for this, but the child knows them all...including brown, purple, orange, pink, blue, red, green, black, white, yellow. No idea how, but he does.
• Jonah also has been picking up on his letters. He knows E and can identify it anywhere. I am pulling my hair out trying to work with Emma on her letters and he is just learning them along with her. I am afraid he will know them all before her! :)
• Jonah loves numbers and likes to count. He can tell you how many of something there is if you ask up to the number three. He counts to 10 and loves calendar time in the morning.
• The boy loves to run, although his run is more of a prance. He is FULL of energy and I am so thankful we can get outside often.
• Jonah discovered Thomas about a month ago and has been obsessed ever since. He carries Thomas and Percy around all day and has started lining them up and pushing them around. He takes them in the store and makes them chug along the handle of the cart while we are shopping.
• We moved Jonah to a new room a few weeks back to get the nursery ready for the baby. He was excited about a new room with his toys in it, but he did not handle it well that we took his bumper pad away. After a week and a half of screaming through the night we finally put it back in to see if that was in fact what was going on. Once he got the bumper back he went right to sleep and was silent for four nights. I found a great deal on a new bumper and put it in his room so I could get the nursery ready. He screamed through the night again, so we are putting the original bumper back in his bed and using the other bedding in the nursery. Crazy.
• This little guy has stolen our hearts! We are having some anxiety about sharing our hearts with another little boy. We are praying for a smooth transition for Jonah. He is very much attached to Mommy and we are expecting a significant adjustment.
  

January

The month of January has passed by relatively quickly. We have continued working on the house, getting ready for the arrival of baby Woods. Uncle Ben Rooke, aka Ben-Ben, came to visit on his way to Florida. It was so very fun to see him even though his visit was very dramatic. He was a HUGE blessing to me especially! Other than that, we have been recovering from illness and getting ready for a new baby.

As we continue to settle in Charleston, the number one question I get asked is what the weather is like. Our weather has continually be around 65 or 70 and sunny just about every day. There have been a few "cold" days, but most of the time it is just delightful. I am realizing how much I am enjoying the weather and not missing the cold at all like I thought I would. I am very content to wear a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt with the occasional sweatshirt. It is awesome to be able to get outside for a walk or bike ride or the park every day. From what I hear this is an unusual winter, but it seems like that is the case just about everywhere. We are relishing this weather, knowing that the heat will be here again before we know it!

Here are some highlights from the month.

While Uncle Ben was here Jonah got sick and we ended up with a 2 hour doctor visit which consisted of two breathing treatments for the little guy along with his ear infection. Uncle Ben was an unbelievable blessing as he just jumped in and helped me and rolled with the punches when Jonah screamed literally all night and morning. Ben-Ben took Emma out for some fun time (a smoothie, cookie, and a walk) while I took Jonah to the doctor. In addition to some special time with Ben-Ben, Emma played dolls with Ben-Ben and essentially monopolized his attention. She said to me today how much she misses him. We are hoping to see Ben-Ben again on his way back north.

Enjoying alone time with Ben-Ben

Here is Jonah in the doctor's office getting his breathing treatment. His breathing was really bad and he just laid there. He was very concerned about Puppy and making sure Puppy was getting medicine too.

Here is the new bedding for the baby. We got this bedding on clearance at Target for $15 for Jonah, but Jonah has insisted upon keeping his original bedding. So, we are thankful for a cheap new bedding set for this little guy.

Emma has been taking Teddy with us everywhere. Usually Teddy, which she insists is a he, is dressed up in some combination of her clothes and tutus and leotards. It brings smiles to the faces of everyone we come across while we are out. Not only are they smiling at her outfits, but Emma just bounces him and talks to him and shhhhs him like a real baby. This is a trip to the park where she took care of Teddy the whole time. When she does swing now, Emma can get herself started and pump to get going. We didn't teach her that, she just did it the other day.

Painted toes during alone time with Mommy

Emma introduced Jonah to playdough this week. She played for over an hour and Jonah joined her for a little while. They both love it along with art projects.

Bath time fun with Daddy

Emma with Teddy on a bike ride. She got a basket for Christmas so her friends could come alone. The only problem is that we routinely stop so she can comfort whoever is in the basket because that baby is crying. She has pretty much mastered riding and holding a baby at the same time. She also has figured out how to peddle backwards and stop herself!

We received a new panini maker at Christmas and have been having awesome sandwiches for lunches all week long. It has been used so much already and is essential in making grilled cheese for Jonah which has become his favorite meal.

Finally asleep. Sweet. She has been reading books to help fall asleep at bedtime and Mike snapped this as he turned out her light one night.

This is a typical sight for Mike as he drives home over the water each evening. He sees the most amazing sun sets and enjoys the scenery. His job is going very well and the Lord has been stretching him but also very faithful in providing him with a lot of encouragement and affirmation in the decision for us to move here. The Lord has also affirmed that decision for me as Mike has worked from home several days in the past two weeks. I have realized that Mike working from home in Cincinnati would have been a disaster. We love Daddy time, but we have a working routine on weekdays that doesn't quite work when Daddy is working in the house!

In other news, we have pretty much landed on a church. We have been attending a southern baptist church that has been an amazing blessing to the kids and to Mike and I. Our attendance has been inconsistent between Christmas and illness, but we are excited to get involved once we have adjusted to life with five family members. Along with that, we are looking at preschools right now for next year. Emma is doing much better with the transition to life here, but we are realizing the importance for her of friendship and structure. She will LOVE going to school a few mornings a week and we are praying through those decisions.

Here is a video of the kids playing with the new game Aunt Erin and Uncle Ben got them for Christmas. There are butterflies that come out of the elephant's trunk and they have to catch them in nets. They can play this game for a very long time.

Back in Charleston

As I mentioned in the last post, we have been really busy getting the house ready for the baby to arrive in five weeks...or less...YIKES! Here are a few pictures from the non-painting moments.

Emma with braids. She looked so old and was so proud of them!

Jonah tried sitting in Emma's booster chair at the table. He loved it, but he was able to move the table, so he went back to the highchair. Since this picture we have purchased a table and chairs for the kitchen and will be moving him to a booster soon...once he gets adjusted to his new room.

We took some time off of projects to watch the Steeler's playoff game together. We had a picnic dinner in front of the TV, which the kids thought was the coolest thing in the world.

Last Saturday I opened the garage door and found a flood. The water heater - which is OLD and past its life expectancy - began spewing water everywhere. Thankfully it is covered by the home warranty and after two plumber visits that day, we got the leak contained and an order for a new water heater on Monday. A weekend of no hot water gave us some perspective but we were SO thankful that the water heater went out while it was still covered. When the plumber opened the control panel he and Mike found that the unit had actually been on fire. You can see the scorch marks on the unit. Praise the Lord for his protection and provision. The water heater is directly below Emma's bed and the reality of what could have happened if the unit had actually ignited is horrifying. So, now we have a new water heater and HOT SHOWERS!

Oh, my little boy! He is obsessed with painting and Mike gave him a paintbrush. While I was taking out the garbage yesterday he opened the fireplace and started "painting" with the ashes. When I walked in he had the most proud grin on his face. He is so darn cute...that is for a reason. He might not be around if he wasn't so sweet and cute! He is all boy and into everything and has been taking things apart and trying to see how they work and learning how to use tools like daddy. I am sure we have many, many more fun surprises with this one!

Today I took the kids to the aquarium and had so much fun. Jonah was old enough to be completely in amazement of the animals and Emma was a sponge wanting to know all about each exhibit and what the animals ate and where they live. The highlight of the aquarium for Emma is the loggerhead sea turtle which we could not find in the tank today. She was just devastated by that but handled her disappointment so well. She did not have one of her emotional outbursts over it but quietly cried and asked if we could come and look for her again. Bless her heart! So we came home and had a "special lunch" of macaroni and cheese and flower shaped sandwiches.

Another side note is that Jonah has tried and absolutely LOVES sunflower seed butter. Since he cannot have peanut he is always upset to not be able to have what Emma is having. He has eaten so much of it since Friday when we got it. We had to get it at Trader Joes and during that trip the van died, I had to call AAA, and spent Saturday dealing with the car at the Honda Dealership - FUN! So thankful for AAA. Jonah has his 18 month checkup on Tuesday so I will do a post with an update on him then. He has changed so much and it is so fun to see his personality growing and developing with his interests and temper tantrums!

Christmas

Christmas 2011...what an experience! I have to say that the trip to Cincinnati was not at all like Mike and I expected. We were bracing for an emotional trip home and an even more emotional departure with wonderful time with friends and family in between. What we got was so much more, but through it all, the Lord really answered our prayers. It has taken me a few weeks to be ready to revisit the trip - along with the fact that we have put every single spare moment since we arrived home into working on the house to get ready for this little guy's arrival in five weeks. So, here is a synopsis of our Christmas trip to Cincinnati - it is mostly for our benefit to remember for years to come, so don't feel as though you need to read it all.

The Trip to Cincinnati

Our trip started with the blessing of Mike getting Friday to work from the car, which meant he just needed to be available to answer emails and calls. That enabled us to leave at 7:30 instead of 3:00 for the 10 hour drive. At 5 am Emma woke me up complaining about her ear. Both kids had a virus earlier in the week and she had been complaining about her ear at bedtime all week but we had assumed it was more of a stall tactic than anything since she was fine during the day. I called the pediatrician's office and they were closed for the holiday weekend and urgent care didn't open until 9, so we decided to see how she did and left for Cincinnati with the plan to take care of it once we got there. We left at 7:30 am and were about 10 minutes from the house when Mike had to pull over abruptly because Jonah was choking on his breakfast and turning blue. After dislodging his cereal and vomiting all over, we were back on the road. In the first hour of the trip we stopped 3 times. For the remainder of the trip we stopped counting the stops and both kids screamed the majority of the way. Yes, I know traveling with little ones is challenging, but our kids are amazing when it comes to car trips. Their screaming and whining and complaining was off the charts and totally perplexing. We were so thankful when we finally made it to the Saxby's and got settled and went to bed.

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful brunch and time with Grammy and Poppa and Uncle Ben and Aunt Erin on Christmas Eve. Both kids had some very abnormal emotional outbursts that we attributed to being overtired and recovering from a long car trip. After naps we headed to New City for the Christmas Eve service. Mike was leading worship, so we got there a few hours early to have time for Mike to practice and for the kids and me to catch up with dear friends. To sum it up...the kids were AWFUL. I was totally embarrassed by their behavior and interactions with people. Nana and Papaw came to the service with us and experienced the screaming and crying. After the service we put the kids to bed and had a nice dinner with Mike and Teri. During dinner Jonah started crying and that continued all night long along. About halfway through the night Emma started screaming as well.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning Grammy and Poppa came over to give the kids their gifts and spend a few minutes with us. We so enjoyed our time with them and with some motrin the kids were running around and playing nicely. When the motrin wore off Emma started screaming about her ear and so started the conversation about how to deal with that. It was Christmas Day - there were no options but the ER and all of our doctor friends had either moved away or were visiting family that day. So we headed over to Nana and Papaw's while trying to decide what to do. We had a great brunch with Nana and Papaw and the kids both napped before Aunt Sarah, Uncle Keith, and Sarhea arrived. When they woke up from naps we dealt with screaming for about 30 minutes until the motrin kicked in and we had to figure out what to do. At that point, Amy called from California and connected us with a friend who was willing to look at the kids. So, we opened presents and the kids played for a while. We went to Mike's extended family's for a little while and then to have the kids' ears looked at. Emma had a double ear infection and Jonah had one ear infection which was rupturing. We were so thankful for the medicine we were able to get into them and for not having to go to the ER. We got them to bed and had a much better night.

26th

The next morning we headed over to Nana and Papaw's to spend the day with them. We had a great brunch and we were just relaxing, enjoying time together. Jonah woke up screaming from his nap and I went in to check on him only to find that he had thrown up ALL over the pack-n-play. The vomiting continued for the rest of the day. So I went back to Saxby's with Jonah and Mike took Emma to the Festival of Lights with Nana and Papaw and Sarhea. They had fun even though it was super crowded. That night her ear ruptured as well.

27th

We took it easy in the morning and met Nana and Papaw for lunch at Skyline. After a wonderful lunch, I had the chance to go met Dori for the afternoon and enjoy time with a precious friend. The kids enjoyed time with Nana and Papaw and we went back to Saxby's at dinner time. We had the chance that night to spend time with Uncle Josh and Aunt Courtney who brought us Chipotle for dinner - HUGE treat for us. It was a wonderful time with friends. After we went to bed the Saxby's arrived home from California.

28th

Jonah started crying in the middle of the night. While I was up with him I started with the stomach virus and since Jonah would only let me hold him, I was sick and snuggling a crying toddler. When morning came Mike took the kids and spent most of the day with his parents until Emma woke up from her nap with the virus. They came back to Saxby's and Emma and I stayed in the basement sick. We had to cancel plans a with the Reitanos, Helins, and Saxbys. It was so frustrating to be there and not able to spend time with people and even worse to be at Amy's and not able to see her...not to mention humiliating and awful to be so sick at someone else's house. Mike and Jonah did spend time with the Saxby's and Mike even had a chance to hang out with Dan and play some video games.

29th

We woke up feeling better and since Mike was not yet sick we decided to try and make it home. I had a little time with Amy, which some time was better than none and we left around lunch time. Overall the ride home was a good as we could have asked for. The kids were great and the only drama was when Jonah choked and vomited all over. After holding our breath to see if it was a recurrence of the stomach virus, we were pleased to know he was fine. Mike stayed healthy and never got the virus, but half of the Saxby family was blessed by our germs.

The Lord's Blessing

What a long retelling, but I really do want to remember this story. The Lord blessed us in so many ways through these events.

He provided a doctor to see the kids and medicine to help them feel better.
He provided a place for us to stay alone so the screaming through the night wasn't bothering other people.
He gave us sweet time with both sides of the family and lots of time for Emma and Sarhea to play.
He blessed us with a van that made the trip so much easier.
He blessed us with understanding friends who were very gracious about returning from vacation to a stomach virus.

Most of all, though, the Lord used this trip to show us that nothing had really changed in Cincinnati. Life has gone on and friendships have gone on, but we didn't feel this overwhelming sense of being "left behind" that we were anticipating. Emma didn't struggle emotionally with leaving, nor did I. We were so ready to go home and were so thankful to be back in Charleston. Every other trip we have made I have cried when we crossed the state line into South Carolina. That night I cheered when we made into the land of palmetto bugs and fire ants and alligators and snakes. The trip to Cincinnati was a really important one for all of us, but the Lord really used it to help me let go of Cincinnati and be ready to be in Charleston. Facing all of the memories and familiar sights and people made us feel loved and did not leave us feeling lonely or sad. We left with a spirit of gratefulness for the wonderful time with family and the friends we did see and thankful that the friends we did not get to see because of the virus already have plans to come in the spring so we will have much deeper quality time with them then.

Now that we are home it is time for the baby to come. WOW! We are not ready for that and at the same time just excited for him to be here and the anticipation to be over. We have painted Emma's room, Jonah's room, finished the dining room and living room, and the nursery will happen this weekend (the ceiling, trim, doors, and walls of each). Along with that, we have reorganized the entire second floor, the garage, and every closet in the house to make room for another little one. We are sick of painting but are almost there. Once he arrives, Mike and I know we won't be doing house projects for a long time!

Here are the very few pictures I took during the trip. Needless to say I did not have time or emotional capacity to take any more pictures.

Jonah just watching Thomas on the way to Cincinnati...one of the few stretches he wasn't screaming

Emma was so excited to make special Christmas cookies for Uncle Ben. She made them herself with very little help.

My sick baby

Here are some videos of Emma singing on Christmas on the way to Mike's aunt and uncle's. She was making up her own songs which is just hilarious. Enjoy!