and Si makes 3

Just a little update from the last 6 months

2011-05-30T04:51:00.000-07:00

I had almost given up on the blog but I have overcome my own ambivolence in order to preserve the memories I know I will miss dearly when, 20 years from now, I realize I haven't printed a single picture or scrapbooked a single page since Si was 16 months old. I am not going to be that mom.

We have quite a lot to report too. Many of the events over the course of the last 6 months certianly fit toward the top of the list of most stressful life changes so I am happy to report that we are doing quite well and very excited for where life has taken us! So here is the update in sinewhat chronological order:

January 2011: Caleb and I began to pray together and with our small group for a change. We knew we were discontent and feeling like some major change was needed. We asked the Lord to show us a new path and to give us the courage to follow him if we needed to make some drastic changes.

24 hours after said prayer: Caleb was layed off from his job in AZ and learned his last day would be Jan. 23.
One week later: We made the decision to put our house on the market and move back to the northwest so we raise Josiah closer to family.
One week later: My parents flew down to help us pack and make last minute decisions. The first of many sacrificial and crazy generous gesters by my folks in the days, weeks and months to follow.
February 11: My last day of work and the last day in our AZ house! I took some pictures of the empty house but the ones below actually mean more to me. Below are the trees that will be dearly missed. The ability to grow citrus is a luxery I will miss, goodbye dwarf grapefruit tree. The evergreen was our first Christmas tree which we planted in our backyard and have watched quadrupal in size over the last almost 5 years.

Road trip: All packed up, we said goodbye for the last time to Arizona and started our 4 day road trip to WA. Road trips are super exciting to me. This one however, started with Josiah throwing up 6 times on the way to Santa Barbara and our arival time looking more like midnight than the original ETA of 6:30 pm. The following day Shep got sprayed for the second time in a year by a skunk (see post of our camping adventure from summer 2010). In hindsight, we had a great trip and it was even somewhat relaxing; however, it did not strike me at the time as a great opportunity for picture taking. I think this is our only pic from the trip. We are at a little dog-friendly motel in northern CA feeling terrible that, as gross as that type of motel is in general, we were making it so much worse by housing our skunked family member for the night. Josiah didn't seem to mind the smell of his best friend.

We arrived in Yakima (my parent home and our new temperary home and storage facility) in mid February.

One week later Caleb got a position with Columbia bank in Tacoma. We were thankful for that position for a couple of reasons: 1) employment 2) our overall goal was Tacoma and 3) we had no lapse whatsoever in medical insurance. (Thank you, God!)

One week later: I got a job with an eye bank in Seattle called Sightlife. Caleb and I both feel very blessed to have gotten jobs so quickly and to really like what we are doing.

The housing came to us a little slower but definatly worth the wait. We lived for two weeks with my parents, although Caleb was only there for a weekend. Once he got the job in Tacoma he stayed with a friend there. The long-term plan was to rent a home in the Proctor area in Tacoma very close to Casey's house. The catch was that the house was occupied and we spent an extra month at two other locations (homeless really) while we waited for the house to be available. It was worth the wait and we now are a tiny more settle having been in the house for almost two months now.

We have been spending tons of time with family (making up for lost time) and trying to find a church here in Tacoma. We love our little neighborhood and have been taking family bike rides almost nightly scoping out the area and making ourselves at home.

This picture was taken before we cleaned up the back porch area. We have a bit of a space problem right now as the owners of the house still have stuff in a storage room and we also have a ton of stuff to squeeze in now that we are down a garage. (no garages in Proctor) I mentioned the graciousness of my parents: they still have one whole stall in their garage filled with many of the contents our our AZ home.

We are starting to reconnect with friends here in the northwest who have kiddos Si's age. Fun that Ashley and Si are only a week or so apart in age and have some fun pictures side by side at several different stages. Fun to get to see them grow up together now.

One of the best parts about being back in the northwest....despite the incredible stress, did I mention I cried almost everyday for the first month or so? (it could have been the stress or the fact that I didn't see the sun at all in that time frame.) Anyway, the best part about being back is having these 4 kiddos living 7 blocks away from one another. Si loves his cousins so much and we are cherrishing our time together.

Maybe I will start posting a little more often! I am trying to convince myself to get my camera out once in a while and maybe if I have my mind set on blogging I might just make that happen. We are certainly looking forward to our future here! We have a wonderful, vibrant, loving little buddy who will be 2 YEARS OLD in about a month! I can hardly believe how fast time flies! What a blessing we have here with our life, health and family. We miss our adopted family in Arizona dearly and hope to vacation there a ton in the future! I kind of think I left a little part of my heart there, espeically the part the craves sunshine daily! If you are in the northwest, we hope to see you much more often than we have in the last 5 years! A huge thanks to everyone, family and friends alike, who have taken care of us physically and emotionally as we made a huge leap of faith that brought us back to where we started. We are very thankful.

You can learn a lot from a gingerbread man

2010-12-18T21:57:00.001-08:00

I read some ground-breaking research the other day having to do with gingerbread men. It seems the way you eat a gingerbread man may better help us to understand a person's personality. For instance, according to this researcher (probably from Yale or Harvard) if you bite the head off the gingerbread man first, you likely display leadership characteristics in your work/life/family. Not the first personality characteristic I'd have imagined for a person who instinctively bites the head off a cookie, but who am I to argue with science? I didn't take the time to educate myself on any of the other points made in the article but now I wish I would have. Here's why:

After reading said research and subsequently bringing home some gingerbread men from church last week, I decided to do a quick study on my husband. I told him about the research after he bit off a ginger-leg without any hesitation or consideration for any other appendage.

A few days pass and I get a call from Caleb who informed me that rather than cut up Josiah's dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets into tiny bite-sized pieces as is customary in our house, he'd decided to leave them whole (our baby's growing up). Caleb put six dinos on a plate and was amazed to watch as Josiah BIT THE HEADS OFF EACH AND EVERY NUGGET and then ask Caleb for more nuggets (request denied) before he'd take a bite out of any other body part!

It's a good thing I read the research or I would have been a bit concerned about the psychiatric well-being of our little budding leader! Now I am just proud. You really can learn a lot from gingerbread men it turns out.

Thanksgiving in Tucson

2010-11-26T18:50:00.001-08:00

We are spending Thanksgiving in Tucson with the Fields this year. We have so much to be thankful for; good friends and family, a wonderful little boy who amazes us everyday and jobs and home that allow us to bless those who God places in our paths. We can't ask for too much more and are so excited each time we get a little piece of home; that is visitors to AZ! Here are some pictures of our holiday celebration so far.

We took a long weekend and are staying with Caleb's sister and our brother-in-law Patrick who are currently, albeit temporarily stationed in Tucson. It has been the best having some local relatives in AZ. They were excited to announce they will be moving to Germany in March for three years.The picture below is Patrick and his plane. Becky and Steve got a little base tour upon their arrival on Wednesday. Caleb, myself and John (Caleb's brother) arrived in time for dinner Wednesday evening. We've had plenty of food, football, fun and conversation to go around so far. What a relaxing four days we are in for!

We won't see these guys for Christmas this year so Josiah was surprised with his first Christmas gift almost as soon as we got our bags unpacked. Grandpa searched high and low for the perfect John Deer gear and Josiah was definitely a fan! What a cutie!

you may notice the monkey harness in this one: we pulled out the baby leash the other day in case I needed to use it in airports on my recent trip to WA. I didn't really end up using it, but once Josiah realized he had a monkey on his back, he wouldn't take it off. He wears it all the time. He is so funny. That is one of those memories that I hope I have documented well because I never want to forget this precious and silly stage!

We brought Shep to Tucson with us to hang out with his pal Coda. Turns out Coda is quite a talented sled dog!

Caleb smoked the Turkey on the Treager for Thanksgiving day and a brisket today. What a guy. Of course we brought the Treager to Tucson as well. Duh. Good thing we have a minivan. We were so packed full with the Treager, our bags, stroller, hiking gear, toys, etc. we barely had room for, well the adults, baby and dog.

I had a tiny role in dinner...I helped with the innards of the apple pie. Sarah did the rest, and John did most the sides. It truly was a group effort! We commented several times that there was really no stress for anyone. What a great way to spend a holiday.
Besides eating and football we managed to squeeze in a little "outdoor" time.

Tomorrow we are hiking. We also fit the hiking pack for Josiah into the car. Hard to believe there were actually a few important things we forgot including my inhaler for the cat allergy. After a rough day and a half, we finally got a replacement this morning. I am sure there will be more pictures to come from the next few days as we have a hiking trip, a Christmas card photo shoot (if I can talk the family into humoring me on this request) and a whole other family coming to stay with us on Sunday. We have much more celebrating to do!

Lion cub

2010-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

I personally think we excelled in the creativity department with our safari theme for Halloween this year! We tried to get Traci to be a giraffe (she graciously participated in our family theme night for Halloween last year), but declined this year for a better party!

We mistakenly assumed Josiah would refuse to wear some or all of his costume so we bought the cheapest lion we could find. Turns out he loves it! He has worn it several times, we've had to wash between wears (which didn't go too well), and he still roars every time he sees the pictures. Maybe next year we'll splurge a little since it appears he likes dress up!

I wonder if it is really the costume he loves so much or the association it obviously has with copious amounts of chocolate.

Halloween (check)...now, on to the holiday season! Starbucks Christmas cups are back! I love this season. Even if I can't wear sweaters or drink hot cocoa or see snow gently landing on rooftops, it still feels like fall (at least when I am inside with the AC on).

The Zoo

2010-10-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

We love the zoo! Most of our trips take us around the usual paths; the lions, tigers, monkeys. But lately we've found a new little section of the zoo that is just perfect for Si. The last two times we've been there, we haven't done anything else. A few weeks ago Si and I went with a friend and her two kids and we spent the whole time at the "farm". Turns out Si loves goats and cows just as much as he loves lions and tigers.

He also loves tractors!

This morning was "family day". It is really unfortunate that family day is rare enough to warrant a special name but between staggered work schedules and Caleb's class schedule, we have too few opportunities to hang out just the three of us! So, family day consisted of a trip to the Zoo and a lot of football on TV. Again, we spent several hours at the zoo and all of them at the farm.

It is so fun to see life through a child's eyes! Josiah is at a wonderful age as he soaks in life like a sponge. It is amazing how exciting life can be!

Si is peeking at a goat on the other side of the bench. The goat pen holds maybe 30 goats. All of them have little collars with their names and all are remarkably patient. We love the goats.

We recently brought home our first set of Little People. It is the Little People farm and matches the playground area at the Zoo Farm. It is a perfect toddler play area and Josiah is getting to be quite the expert on the slide!

Caleb was the photographer for most of Family Day Zoo Trip but luckily I snapped this quick one in the parking lot to prove he was there! We'd already changed Si's shirt because of a mud puddle, but it really was the same day. Love these guys!

I am so thankful for family days!

wanna be like Dad

2010-10-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

It was a weekend of projects. Josiah is nothing if not ready to help! It is so fun to see this kiddo be "all about his daddy". He truly wants to do whatever Caleb is doing. Try as I might I couldn't keep him away from the tools or out of the yard while Caleb installed the new dishwasher and spread the new grass seed/steer poop. I am more sure than ever that I have bred a tiny Caleb.
I especially love this next one; he really might be the most adorable child in the world!

In AZ you have to reseed your winter lawn every fall, unfortunately that means spending the next two or more weeks with a backyard of dead grass covered in manure. That's why in one day we went from green grass to, well, the pictures that follow. 27 bags of steer manure smell like you'd assume it would. Won't be spending too much time out there in the next few weeks. Sorry to our neighbors who chose to spray paint their rocks green rather than replant grass every year.

Josiah saw this project through from beginning to end. He stayed outside and followed Caleb around the yard for hours.

Seeing my son love his daddy so much has so encouraged my own love for my husband! It has blessed me beyond words to watch Caleb become a daddy; and not just a daddy, but a truly devoted, loving, fun daddy who is involved in every aspect of Si's life. One of Caleb's pastor friends joked tonight that this sermon was the first one Caleb had preached since Josiah's birth that didn't include a story or illustration about Josiah. Thanks, Josiah for making every aspect of our lives better: just by being you!

a weekend in october

2010-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

My 31st birthday was this past weekend. We had a nice quiet weekend planned. Caleb planned a date night for Friday night and a friend watched Josiah. I had an all-day retreat for church on Saturday so our only real plan for the end of the day was to spend some much-needed time as a family!

The one little nuisance in our prep was this crazy cough I couldn't seem to shake. I have been coughing for a couple weeks now but had no other symptoms to speak of. I decided against going to the doctor and hoped it would just start to get better on its own. We also had a well-baby check up and shots for Josiah on Friday morning so we both attended that appt. and proudly told our pediatrician that it had been months since Josiah threw up.

We left the ped's Friday morning and by Friday night when he went to bed , he'd thrown up 6 times. We were concerned and besides thinking it was a little ironic we'd just told our doctor how he never throws up; we assumed he was having a reaction to the shots (although he'd had them all before and had never had a reaction to any of them) or maybe it was that toy he'd borrowed from a sick-looking kid in the waiting room. Either way we'd hoped it would get better through the weekend. It didn't. 6 throw-ups a day was par for the course this weekend. This poor little angel is sucking down Pedialyte like crazy because be can't hold anything else down.

Caleb and I still went on our date night; still thinking Si was suffering from a reaction and knowing he was in the quite capable hands of one of his AZ grandpas. We had sushi and watched "The Social Network". Both were amazing and come highly recommended by me!

We also got our family time on Saturday. I still went to my retreat (even though the cough persisted) but I made it through. (who knows how many people are now coughing up a storm). When I got home Caleb, Josiah and I went to a little pumpkin patch and farmer's market, played at a park and ate at our favorite restaurant, which coincidentally, gives free meals out on your birthday! We had a great day and the pics below are from this day.

Sunday came and we had a whirlwind day, not unlike most of our Sundays, with church services in the morning and evening but this past Sunday we also added the annual church picnic which fell, of course, right during Si's normal nap time. So we did church, picnic, nap, church....all the while Si throwing up every few hours.

Monday finally roles in and I go to work in the morning. By noon Josiah and I both had diagnosis...Josiah: Some crazy contagious virus that is going around that he is too young for any kind of treatment for. Should last a few more days with the throwing up and several more after that with diarrhea. Anna: Pneumonia. While Josiah and I spent the rest of the day convalescing, Caleb was off to work and then school (he got an A on his Greek quiz). On the way home he says: I have a horrible headache and sore throat. I guess that was inevitable.

Although we have been freely spreading our gems around town all weekend, I still would not advise a trip to the Fields house any time soon.

Can't get enough of this cute face!

2010-09-18T13:25:00.001-07:00

Caleb and I are absolutely smitten with this little boy! We laugh all day long and love, love, love life with Josiah. Sweet, sweet baby.

14 months and quite the busy little boy

2010-09-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Josiah has made himself quite busy and useful around the house these days...
If he's not sweeping up (one of his favorite pastimes), he's out running errands in the car.

He hardly ever makes a mess...

...and I often find him multi-tasking.

We decided we'd waited long enough...it was high time to invest in what every one-year-old is entitled to: A cell phone. This happens to be a donation from the charity at church that provides old cell phone to domestic violence shelters. I am sure the good Samaritan who donated this beauty will be glad to know their act of selflessness is being put to such good use. I pretend to use this one periodically so Josiah still thinks it is worth his time.

Josiah's little personality is blossoming in so many amazing ways these days. His absolutely favorite game is tag...only I am ALWAYS "it". I guess in his mind tag is a game where mom and dad always chase Josiah and Josiah always chases Shep. At least those are the rules as far as I can tell. Thankfully, I don't mind chasing as much since I always get darling smiles and hysterical giggles from the chasee.

Si is still throwing us for a bit of a loop in the allergy department. He appears to just need to throw up more than most children. We have taken him off all milk products but have had trouble finding a good combo for him. For instance, do we go with Almond or Rice milk but add Calcium and Vitamin D supplements and extra fat to his diet? Or do we go with a soy milk and add a stool softener? After multiple attempts at different combinations we have put him back on Formula; a soy/toddler formula...and a stool softener...and reflux medication. No wonder this poor kid is so messed up! It's a good thing he sleeps and eats like a champ or this allergy thing might seem a bit more daunting.

Milk is supposed to be the "mild" allergy; paling in comparison to the "severe" allergy he apparently has to our dog. Notice we haven't done anything to remedy that one. We just decided to blame milk.

Josiah has a very favorite spot and he beelines for it every time we go outside. Several months ago we bought a shed. Rather than move or level all the rock on which the shed now rests, we decided to put down a plywood "foundation" for the shed. The plywood sticks out about a foot in front of the shed and makes a perfect little porch for Si. He could sit on his porch all day long I think. It really is his favorite place. We daily sit on the porch and chat and toss rocks across the sidewalk, we decorate the shed, sidewalk, fence and porch with colored chalk, we talk on the cell...you get the idea.

Josiah is a giggle monster! Being tickled ranks second only to being chased and we are ever-so-happy to oblige. When he wants to be tickled (usually after a good chase), he sits down on his bottom and leans way back like he is falling over backward (he's got good abs) and he fake-giggles until you come over and tickle him. He has a really good fake laugh that he has been working on and it is quite darling.

It is so fun to see his preferences emerge...like his favorite book right now is "Where The Wild Things Are". As you may know, that book leaves lots of room for interpretation. One page has no words but the picture indicates that Max and the Wild Things are howling at the moon (at least in the Fields home that is what's happening). From the second we get the book out Josiah starts howling...awhooooooo. Last night I was driving home and started reciting the book (because I obviously have it memorized) and without even having the book physically present, it only took my saying a few words before Josiah was howling from the backseat.

Unfortunately, his second favorite book is "Everyone Poops". Which I also have memorized. Thanks to Caleb, that book also comes with sound effects.

I was especially proud today when Josiah went and hunted through his toy box to find the shapes that go in the shape-sorter and then found the shape-sorter (because they rarely get put away together) and THEN put the right shapes in the right holes all by himself!

Josiah is also a water fanatic! He has yet to meet a body of water he didn't love! Puddles, splash pads, pools, bathtubs, dog dishes...just can't keep our little fish out! And note to self, swim diapers aren't really diapers in the "keeping it all in" sense. Josiah also loves brushing his teeth, not altogether unrelated to his love for water I am just realizing. When I mention brushing, he will run to the bathroom and point to the medicine cabinet where his toothbrush and paste are kept. I have no idea how I got so lucky to have a child to loves this mundane chore. They must put something pretty special in that Elmo toothpaste.

Si is getting lots of little words...many with their own inflection and obvious meaning; but most sounding something like Da Da. He is talking all the time. Sometimes I come up with games, or encourage games that I know I will later regret. Like the other day I initiated yelling in the house. It went Si: Yell, giggle; Mom: Yell, giggle, repeat repeat repeat. Then there was the time I let Si stand on the toy box (which is also our coffee table). I regretted that one almost instantly! Thankfully he didn't seem to remember how fun those times were the next day. phew!

Oh, in the spirit of admissions, I think I would be remiss if I didn't share in a 14-mo update that I called poison control for the first and hopefully only time today (well, certainly it was the only time today, hopefully, it will be the only time ever). I walked out of Si's room to grab some more baby wipes and seconds later when I returned Si had the Purel pump bottle in his mouth. (that is not good.) He seemed fine and I wasn't sure he even got any in his mouth, but although I was thinking "it's just alcohol, right?", I decided to call...and move the Purel to a higher shelf. Thankfully, the Purel pump is not likely to expel a dose potent enough to do any lasting harm. Phew!

Well, that seems like a pretty good way to end an update. Josiah, I hope you forgive your mom for sometimes placing the Purel within reach and for sometimes forgetting to brush your teeth twice per day, and for sometimes not catching all your puke fast enough to keep it from getting on your clothes. Somehow, we keep learning and growing and giggling together! What a fun ride!

our favorite time of day...

2010-09-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well summer in Mesa is hot, that's all there is to it. A hard time of year to have a newly walking kiddo who prefers running around outside to just about anything. That being the case, our favorite time of day is dusk when the temp is most likely to dip to a tolerable 95. Our after-dinner ritual involves a half-naked baby, a dog and a lot of shade in the backyard....oh, and at least one parent running like crazy to make sure all the dog poop gets scopped before said baby picks it up. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose.

Here are a few pictres and videos of Si playing outside in the evening.

Look at Josiah's little white body! He is obviously a kid whose mom doesn't let him out during the day. I was hoping there were some recessive olive skin tones somewhere back in the gene pool, but if there are, Si didn't get any of them.

When we are outside, Si prefers dog toys to his own plethera. This one is especially dirty and slobbery...Perfect.

Josiah will be 14 months old this week. If that isn't a great reason to take a ton of pictures and to get another post on the way, I don't know what is.

Lincoln City 2010

2010-07-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

I will not give up!!! It has been a rough summer for my dream to be a real blogger but I have not waived the white flag just yet. In fact I am going to make up for it with more pictures than anyone really wants to look at.

We took a fabulous vacation to Lincoln City, OR in mid August with the Mock's and the Hovis'. Since it took me the better part of a month to get these pictures up (this is a tiny fraction of a very overwhelming number of pictures), I have decided to let them speak, for the most part, for themselves.

Isabelle and Claire are 5 and 3. They did amazing with their baby cousin, Baby Josiah and are very excited to be big sisters to their brother in October!

This was the first trip we'd every made a fire on the beach! It was a hit! Doesn't get much better than hot dogs and smores!

Lincoln City is always overcast and freezing but we had some great weather a few days. We spent one of them at the dunes at Pacific City. What a beautiful place! I miss OR.

We have far too few opportunities to get these kids together! I am so thankful for each moment we got to soak up together.

We actually spent the first two days of our trip in Portland and got to see some friends from when we lived there. It was a great time but I have yet to convince my husband to email me the pictures he took on his cell phone. Sorry to those of you who know you saw us and are now feeling soarly under-represented!

We are now back safely in AZ, gearing up for fall and all that that brings. My hope is to keep posting so I can brag about my walker...no runner, who continues to amaze me everyday with the things he has learned and the goof-ball things he does (or that I find myself doing!).

My AWESOME Day!

2010-07-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

Things were a little different today.

Usually I have to be kind of clean, but today I got to eat my yogart all by myself.

It was a good way to start my special day.

Then I took a bath.

Then some of my friends came to play.

This is Maggie.
She's nice.

I can't think of anything funner than playing in the water.

Then I got a jungle cake.

I have never had so much sugar in my whole life.

I wanted to touch the candle but mom woudn't let me.

I wasn't quite sure what to do, but I didn't let that stop me for long.

yum.

oh, yummm.

ooooooh, yummmmm.

Then I took another bath.

Then I played for awhile with my new toys...

while they put my car together.

while I waited I practiced my driving skills because owning a car is a big responsibility.

It was a great day.

Just another day...

2010-07-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

I came home today after a long and stressful day at work. I left the house this morning at 9 AM and got home at 10 PM. I missed Si terribly today, as I do everyday I leave knowing I won't see him all day. I walked in the door, Si already sleeping peacefully in bed, tossed by work bag down and headed strait for the bathroom. As I sat there, a rare moment of quite in this crazy day, I thought about how chaotic it sometimes seems for Caleb and I to be balancing two full-time jobs and a master's program without using regular childcare. How chaotic it seems in general to be parents to a little boy (one year tomorrow!) who can be best described by the words 'energetic' 'curious' and 'walking'. Then I looked down to see the toilet paper was crumpled up and re-rolled onto the cardboard, a clear sign that Caleb had salvaged the roll after Si successfully TPed our bathroom (probably for the 10th time today!). And all of a sudden, the stress from the day disappeared, a smile spread over my face and I was reminded of how overwhelmingly joyful I am in the midst of the chaos.

what happened to the camera craze?!

2010-06-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

I guess we got busy, or the new is wearing off of our sweet little boy! Just kidding, Josiah just keeps getting cuter and more precious, but our over-the-top obsession to photograph every smile is starting to fade a bit. Our 11 mo photo folder has about 10 pics in it...and the Grandma's took them all! So lest I admit defeat before Si's first birthday, I will post what we have and assume that I am not likely to look back 10 years from now and mourn the gaping hole that seems to have become June of 2010!

Si and I took a trip to WA while Caleb was on a mission trip with the church. These pictures might look a little "wetter" than what we've had in AZ. I think we can "claim to fame" for at least a week that we recently tied Antarctica for the lowest humidity ever recorded. Those are the kind of stats you get excited about when you live in the desert. Thank goodness we'll be in Oregon for a bit in August! Looking forward to some more respite from the heat!

Summer!!!

2010-06-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Triple digits is an understatement here in beautiful AZ since the entire past week was around 111 degrees. I think it's safe to say the desert summer is upon us.

Thankfully, even though we don't have a pool at our house, we have had some great opportunities to pull Si's adorable swim trunks out of the dresser! Just last weekend, my mom visited for a week and we stayed a few nights at one of her BlueGreen properties! Sometimes pools, housekeepers and a day off are just what the doctor ordered!

Si loves the water so much I am convinced he must be hiding fins and gills under his skin somewhere.

This amazing raft/floaty was a huge blessing on our little retreat. We could keep the babe shaded and also allow him to float and kick around safely without having to hold him the whole time. Usually, I think the whole baby industry is way out of control with products that you "think you need" but really are just bound to encourage entitled, bored and sensory-overloaded children. But this floaty is not one of those items!

We borrowed it from a girl friend in case anyone is thinking it is a little girly for a manly-man like my son!

Si is fearless; loves to jump in head first, kick, float, etc, So safety first, people: swimming lessons here we come!

It is a little sad that summer is upon us here in AZ because I fully recognize how much Josiah loves to be outdoors. I mean, he is truly a different child when we get him outside. For instance, indoors (he's still perfect, BUT) he needs toys and a lot more direction to really be content. Get him outside, and he instantly relaxes, uses his own creativity to explore, and is just content in a whole different way than he is inside. I love it! My plan to make him hate video games is coming along quite nicely.

The problem is, that at this amazing developmental/mileston-y time between crawling and walking, it is so darn hot here that we can really only have him outside in the yard to play between 6 and 7 am. That makes for a long stretch of day for any child to be inside, and that much more for an almost-walking, budding outdoor-enthusiast like Si. So we will have to be creative...at this point, "creative" is SPF 85 sunscreen (who knew they made that?!) and friend's pools. Let me know if you have other sanity-saving summer tips for desperate moms!

Si turned 11 months this week and I will have to post a big update soon. I will be in Yakima all week while Caleb is on a mission trip. Si and I are going to hang out with my parents so that I can work without buying childcare for a week. Now that I say it, it sounds a little foolish to fly 1500 miles to avoid paying a babysitter for a week.

Maybe I should just call my little excursion what it really is: NOT TRIPLE DIGITS!

10 Months

2010-05-19T20:40:00.001-07:00

Caleb's mom was in town this weekend and took some time for a little photo shoot. What a challenge with our little mover.

Okay, so this next picture...

...is not as bad as it looks! Shep doesn't bite down...and usually doesn't envelope Si's whole face in his mouth. This pic is a treasure, that's for sure, and quite possibly the reason for several worried phone calls. Thankfully, Si is no worse for the wear.

See, just fine!

Look at those beautiful blues.

We had so much fun with Becky! Si loved all the attention and I loved having a painting partner. Becky is teaching me how to watercolor

We are collecting baby Yoga poses. This is downward Dog...I think we have three now which we plan to make into a collage...and then what? I don't know. What would we do with a baby yoga collage?

This kiddo is so awesome! I can't get enough hugs!

I think this is such a cute picture of my guys!

Sweet, sweet baby boy.

Si has started dancing!!! Wow, Si does some adorable things, but this takes the cake! We'll have to catch him on video one of these days.

Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T11:54:00.001-07:00

In honor of two amazing ladies...

I am so blessed to have a wonderful mom that has sacrificed so much for me over the years. She is a beautiful example of grace, strength and compassion. I am so thankful that she loves our son with every bit as much passion as she loved me! Thanks, Mom, for being the most wonderful mom and mooma! Siah can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

I am also blessed to have this beautiful lady in my life! I am so grateful that she raised the man I love to be a man of strength and integrity. She is a great mother-in-law and a fabulous grandma! We are all so excited to see you this weekend, Becky!

Siah will be going through his little photo album of faces and will be practicing the words Grandma and Mooma in anticipation of the coming visits!

...and Happy Mother's Day to me!!! I love being a mom! Everyday I get to watch this little person make new discoveries and gain more and more passion for life! What a great gig this is! Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there who make sacrifices every single day for their children. I love knowing that the adventure that I am now on is the most important thing God has called me to, the most challenging thing I could ever take on, and the most rewarding experience I could imagine!

I also have the incredible honor of working every day with another group of women who deserve honor. Yesterday was birth mother's day! I can't imagine a bigger sacrifice, as a mom, than to say good bye to your child in order to give them the kind of life you want for them. There is no greater love than to choose to give your child both roots and wings. The roots of their biological heritage and identity that will follow them in their smile, their gifts and talents and the color of their eyes. And to give them wings in the opportunities and love that are provided when a little child is placed in the arms of an adoptive family. Parenting, as I now know so well, is really about bringing as many people as possible around a child to love them. And isn't that truly what adoption is about? I love the birth moms I get the honor of journeying with. What incredible hearts they have! I am thinking about and praying for many of these women this weekend.

Videos

2010-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

The worst toy ever

2010-05-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Baby's R Us the other day to buy a little toy that had lots of gears and knobs and things to do that would create a developmentally appropriate learning experience about cause and effect for our young prodigy.

Well, we thought this one would do the trick, who doesn't love driving? And look at all those buttons to push. Looking back, it wouldn't have hurt to take it around the proverbial block for a spin before checking out with it, but here's to hindsight.

So we get it home and of course the anticipation is building in our young son who is ready to jump behind the wheel. Thankfully it had batteries already in it so we didn't have to wait long to hear this toy in all it's glory.

So what's all the fuss about? Imagine, if you will, that this little toy's noises, although it appears to use children's songs, is sung by junior-high-sounding children...and not only is that a little strange if you ask me; for a toy for a 9 month old. But the children are creepy as well. They sing songs about car crashes (not kidding) set to the tune of well known children's songs but the words are changed. It just started seeming a little "Chucky" like to me; but I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Then I touched the horn. Seriously, this horn says verbatim "Get Out Of My Way!!!" in like the snottiest, rudest, junior-high voice you have every heard (or if you haven't had the pleasure of hearing a junior high girl say those very words, just use your imagination). Trust me it is not the first sentence you want your baby learning.

This toy came complete with police sirens and Harly-esk revving noices for the budding delinquent in the home! Needless to say, that toy is now back home safe at Baby's R Us and far far away from our child. Seriously Vtech, you are what is wrong in the world. I am sticking with Baby Einstein from now on !

Anyway, here are some pictures to round out month 9! We are heading quickly toward month 10...Unbelievable! Caleb likes to remind me that we have now successfully kept a child alive for 10 months. I like to think we have done a little better job that that (despite our poor choice of children's toys). We have one happy, healthy little guy here who loves people (and dogs!), can find excitement in (oh, everything)...and is the light of my life and the very best reason for getting up each morning!

I feel like this pretty much sums up the ins and outs of our day to day. Par for the course really, so yes, Josiah probably has many more germs than your child!

Shep is starting to stand up for himself though so I am sure things are about to get a lot more interesting around here. Did I mention that Si is walking around the coffee table now as long as he holds on and has a full glass of water in his sights. (he is very goal-oriented).

Si was a little confused about what to do next after putting his flip flop out the doggie door. Thankfully he has not figured out how to exit through the doggie door (yet).

He is my cuddle bug and loves to snuggle. I am a lucky mommy!

I'm busy...

2010-04-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

...but not too busy for a few pictures. We had Si's 9 month check up the middle of this month. He is doing just perfect! He is 18.5 lbs and 27 inches long. Around 25 percentile. I will post something more interesting this weekend. Caleb says he's been on video duty so stay tuned...

We had a picnic in the back yard the other day. A perfect location for a naked baby and teething biscuits.

Okay, this hat does come off a little girly in photos, but I am convinced that it will be super adorable when it fits him. We are going to the OR coast in August so he'll need some shade for that fair skin.

A TOOTH

2010-04-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

3 days shy of 9 months and Siah has his first tooth! We were beginning to think he would be just like his mom: no teeth on the first birthday. But now, after lots of drool, the pearly white on the bottom right has finally poked through! Yeah, Si!

THANKFULLY, he hasn't been too fussy so we are hopeful this teething experience will be smooth sailing.

Josiah was being hilarious today. We hung out in the backyard this evening after the gym and Si was so excited to chase Shep around the yard. By the way, Si has a favorite KidZone worker at the gym, her name is Hannah and we are always happy to see her there. Also, Hannah informed me today that Si is in love with a little girl there. She is about 4 I'd say. I guess it is safe to assume he likes daycare now....and we thought he cried because he missed us. Turns out he just needed to make some new friends!
Since I am off topic anyway, might as well brag that I have been to the gym at least 4 times a week recently. One of these days I will include pictures of how buff I am. (but don't hold your breath!)

Anyway, back to the back yard. I took some pictures of him "on the day he got a tooth" I think the fact that most of these are blurry as well as viewing the video below will make it obvious why I was unable to actually take a picture of his tooth. Maybe this is the time that the picture-taking slows down...won't be able to get him to sit still.

So no pictures of the teeth, but trust me; it is there.

This is the best video ever. I am starting to get an idea of the chaos soon to engulf the Fields house. Shep and Si were actually playing together; Shep trying to keep his toy away from Si. (At least I think he was playing!)

The Great Outdoors

2010-04-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Spring has definately sprung in AZ. And our little man has discovered the joys of grass, dirt, rocks and dog toys!

We have spent so much time outside lately and Josiah loves it. We have a neighbor (with two girls by the way) who assured us that all babies will stay on a blanket outside on the lawn because they hate the feeling of grass. We thought that sounded a little odd when he said it but since Si wasn't crawling yet we didn't have any evidence to the contrary. Let me asure you that the blanket would have to have walls and barbed wire to keep him off the grass. If Shep can be on the grass; Si can be on the grass. We have quite the explorer on our hands. It is no surprise really. The only surprise really, being a "nurture" minded person, is how close the apple really does fall from the tree! Caleb was ALWAYS into everything as a child....and as an adult. Little Fields appears to be quite inquisitive too...uh oh.

Si has been crawling really well for about a week now. It is so fun to get to see him get to where he wants to go. We can physically see now what he has been thinking he wished he had all this time. The knobs on the drawers of the entertainment center is apparently the big prize.

And our new-most-used phrase: No, Josiah, look at this!

On another note, that tree in the background, in the pot, is now enjoying some wiggle room in the ground after it failed to grow at all or yeild a single piece of fruit after three years. I guess "dwarf mandarin" doesn't mean it fits in a pot! Maybe next year we will actually get some fruit.

We went to the Tempe Art Festival last weekend for some people-watching and junk food-eating...and art.

(Notice Siah's rosy cheeks)

We weren't at the fair for more than 2 minutes before a woman (perfect stranger) looked at Si and then shot daggers at us and said (under her breath) "sunburn" like Caleb and I were the worst parents ever for having Si in the sun all day without sunscreen. Did I mention we had been there not more that 2 minutes at that point and had 50 proof slathered all over our poor son. You may know the kind of comment; she wanted us to hear her but didn't want it to be direct enough that we would call her on saying it. Well we did. Caleb gave her a piece of his mind and I'd say she will think twice before being passive agressive with perfect strangers again.

So here is the explanation for those of you who thought the same thing. Si has rug burn on his face because he still uses it to balance himself during his explorations. A perfectly good explanation if you ask me.

Speaking of exploration; here are a couple of videos of Siah escaping to the great outdoors.

the beginning of mobility

2010-03-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

...and we're off! Now that Si is getting from one place to another with slightly more agility, it seems like there are hazards and cords and sharp obstacles everywhere. A little scary to say goodbye to the ease of immobility, but we are so excited too! We have a crawler (almost, he still rolls to get most places quickly) and life as we knew it is over! Amazing. We are on to new adventures and couldn't be more excited.

Check out our progress! What a cutie, huh!?

Perfect Timing

2010-03-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

What an incredible weekend we had recently. My parents are in the middle of a home remodel with painters and plastic everywhere and long overdue for a visit to see their grandson while Caleb and I were long overdue for a date night. So mom and dad flew down for the weekend! They got away from their makeshift studio apartment and paint fumes and got to spend some time in the sun with one of their favorite families :).

Josiah welcomed Mooma and Papa with open arms and Shep was rather fond of the added attention too!

We decided to check out the Wildlife zoo this weekend. It is on the other end of the desert, so we spend a lot of time trying to decide if it would be worth it. It was so worth it!

While Josiah is too young to really appreciate the regular zoo, he loved this one. there is an aquarium there that he loved and all the other animals were close enough for him to really see. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it! Better hurry, I have now heard that funding for the zoo is in question so it may not be around for long! (That will be a sad day.) Actually, we were wondering the whole time we were there why there weren't any PETA representatives picketing outside.

We'll just enjoy it while we have it!

8 months so soon

2010-03-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Josiah is 8 months old! WHAT?! How has that happened? Our little man is absolutely incredible. We can't believe he is growing up this fast. Month 7 was probably a great one for Josiah but it was a little crazy for his parents. Caleb and I had a whirl wind month of work which made our home life a little crazy too. The biggest thing we lacked was time together as a family (and sleep, but who's counting), I am sure there are others that can relate. We love that we don't have to use regular childcare, but we have felt a little more like "two ships passing in the night" that we envisioned in our initial "plan" for life after our child entered our world.

Well, we at least saw this season coming and we coped; I guess that is about as accurately as I can put it. We are at the end of 6 weeks of a lot of overtime, or as I like to think of it as a salaried employee; volunteerism. WE MADE IT and finally got a whole day as a family without so much as a work phone call to interrupt our time. We went to the zoo, hung out at home on the grass in the warm sunshine and just enjoyed being a family. I think it solidified the fact, for Josiah, that he does in fact have two parents.

Josiah thinks his dad is hilarious! Which is great for Caleb who doesn't always have the most generous audience for his jokes at our house!

We hadn't seen this guy yet. He seems to hide out whenever we come to the zoo; giving us a beautiful landscape of grass and dirt to view..Got you this time, Tiger.

Bananas are definitely one of Josiah's favorites, unfortunately we usually have to counter balance them with prunes which is not one of his favorites; not even close.

Within days of our beautiful, sunny zoo day, we had one of the most powerful rain storms I have seen. Our family had a blast bundling up and watching it from the porch. We don't see too much rain anymore, but this one was a doosy! Not like Oregon and Washington that just drip constantly, this was the real deal. Thankfully it only lasted 20 minutes and then we were right back to status quo; a status quo that I have come to love in my nearly four years so far in the desert.

Team in training

2010-03-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a glimpse into play time at the Fields house. Josiah doesn't crawl yet but he can palm a basketball! Okay, not quite that, but we have brought out an assortment of balls and Si seems to be partial to the basktball at this point...or is it orange he's partial too? hmmm...

Josiah is doing much better for those of you who were worried. He was stricken with RSV + Sinus Infection + Ear Infection + Diarrhea + Diaper Rash...all at once. Poor little thing must have felt just awful but he was so brave! Besides being a little whinny, he was such a trooper! We have had breathing treatments and antibiotics for the last week and I think we are almost better. Still staying at home with him since he apparently is contageous until he is a-symptomatic as far as the RSV is concerned. That means no gym for now. Although I blame them anyway! When I brought Si to the doctor for this whole mess; she asked if Josiah had recently started daycare or something....hmmmm. Since we joined that darn gym I've been sick twice, Caleb once and low and behold, Si gets RSV. All those immunities, there is probably the equivelant of a force shield around the Fields house now. Nothing else is getting in here.

We have had a really busy February with work. Caleb and I are truely experiencing the "two ships passing in the night" thing for now as we finess our way through way too much work and not enough hours in the day. Thankfully we know this is a season (and a relatively short one) that we should be making our way diligently toward the end of. The light at the end of this tunnel is that my parents are coming for a visit next week and we have planned a date night and a work day (safety proofing and deep cleaning) into the weekend. Oh, who are we kidding, probably not the deep cleaning part so much, but at least we hope to be more organized and hope to alleviate some of the more glaring safety hazards in the house.

Here are some pictres of recent days. Does this look like a sick kid to you?!
We hear veggie sticks (shown above) are the best finger foods because they are so easy to hold and then desolve in your mouth. True, unfortunately I like them too, and don't really need vegitable flavored potato chips

Assuming the position; almost ready to take off! He really has stepped it up after we made sure his toys were just out of reach!

AFTER (above) BEFORE (below)

a picture says a thousand words

2010-02-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Splish-Splash!

2010-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Josiah turned 7 months old on the 10th! What a fun age! A friend with adult children told me that 8 months was her favorite--super fun and not able to talk back and/or run, I guess! I can't imagine loving any age more than the one we are currently experiencing. Josiah loves life and by extension, has made his parents appreciate every second we get to spend together!

Si is an expert "sitter" and becoming quite the accomplished "inch worm". Certainly not a crawler yet, but so cute as he works at getting to that toy that is just out of reach!

This little photo shoot happened on the day Si turned 7 months. I like to try to capture exactly what he looked like on each month birthday! Pretty cute, huh?

We are excited to announce that Josiah LOVES water! We were using that bucket bath; which was very cool and we liked it a lot, but I am not surprised, knowing our son, that he could hardly contain himself once we finally let him out of that confined space! FREEDOM! Si is a little fish, I can tell already! We stuck him in the big boy bath tub this week and I think he could have played for hours; maybe an option when I no longer have to hover over him on my knees.

We also attended our first "family swim" at the gym! Josiah couldn't wipe the smile off his face for hours! We didn't get a picture that even comes close to how cute he is or how much fun he had in the pool. The picture I will always have in my mind, however, is of this adorable little guy floating on his back with both arms "relaxing" behind his head, kicking and splashing his legs and smiling from ear to ear. So precious!

These two are the best! I have the best Valentines ever! This is why I get up each morning!!!

We shot this video when Si first got in the pool, he was not quite sure what was going on. Let me tell you it didn't take long for him to figure out that he was, in fact, in heaven!

sick days

2010-02-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

Si and I have been sick all week. Stuffy nose, coughing, fever, chills, headache, sore throat...

Josiah is such a champ though, it's his mom who is complaining! Actually, the above symptoms are mine. Si seems to be escaping with the first two only! Thankfully! He has become accustomed to the bulb-suringe and even thinks it's kind of funny to get his snot suctioned out.

By the way, this is not a good time to ask about the gym. I thought I had a hard time in the last class I took because I am so out of shape, turns out I just had a fever! Anyway, in hopes of not spreading our germs we have not been back to the gym for a few days. We'll be back tomorrow, right?!

Here are a few pictures of our sick days together for the people who miss him most!

getting back into shape!

2010-01-30T11:23:00.001-08:00

We really have come full circle this year. I remember writing a blog just about a year ago about our early 2009 kick-start into fitness. That whole deal lasted, in some form, through my pregancy, but after little Josiah came on the scene we have been painfully lazy. Ok, to give ourselves a break; preoccupied!

Well 2010 is our year for fitness....again. This time we are putting a little more monetary motivation into it. We have joined a gym complete with child care and classes and, most importantly, accountability. Seriously , if I don't mention the gym every once in a while in this blog, I want someone to comment...."hey, Anna, how's the gym?" or "worked out lately?"

We joined a few days ago and have been to two classes already. My goal is to gain about 10 pounds in muscle. It took my strapping on my tennies and sporting the workout clothes again to fully realize just how lanky I am. I was under the impression that my muscles would grow at the same rate as Josiah. Not so. What grew was my back ache, so here we are publishing the fact that we will be lazy no more! I won't tell what Caleb's goals are...but we decided that there would be some really exciting insentive at the end for meeting our goals!

Whether or not we were going to trust the child care center at the gym was a little touch-and-go or awhile, but we have gotten to a good place with them and they are very loving toward our little guy. I am very excited for the next time we have a Saturday afternoon together as a family because they have a family swim time so we can get Si in the pool...he will look so cute in his little swim trunks!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks as Josiah has gotten more and more sturdy sitting up and has started to work on getting into the crawling position. I think we are a little ways off from actually crawling but he is certainly getting interested in getting from one place to another. We just started giving Si some finger foods along with the new baby foods we are trying. He just keeps getting cuter every day!

Caleb is great at putting Josiah (and himsself) to sleep.

He loves the backpack. This is perfect daddy/son time.

All my favorites within arms reach on a Saturday morning!

Josiah loves playing with his block-train set; but he loves the cardboard it came in a little better!

Josiah is full of smiles and giggles! We can't get enough!

This is exactly how I have always slept--on the tummy with one leg bent and one arm up. We are never quite sure where we will find Si each morning. He is full of surprises!

6-month-milestones

2010-01-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Can it really be possible?! We have a 6-month-old! Josiah is 6 months old today. He is a happy, loving little boy and we could not be more blessed with this little one! He is absolutely the joy of our lives!

Josiah is sitting up pretty well these days. Of course he needs a little help getting to the sitting position but once he is there, he is doing a great job balancing himself, especially when he has a toy to play with/stablize him.

His Little Personality: He giggles all the time. He loves to be tickled. He loves Shep so much! In fact, he gets way more excited when Shep enters the room than when either of his parents do. He loves to be held and is very much a snuggler. He is extremely interested in faces and is totally entertained by his father's antics. He loves to touch our faces and talk to us while we make goofy faces at him. He drools constantly but has no teeth yet. He also has a little temper that tends to flair up when he feels like there is no reason that he is not being held at any given time of day. He is very social and so far has been willing to make friends with just about anyone.

This is one of his favorite toys. He and I were sitting at it playing the other day and he decided to stand instead! Look at those strong legs. This was a very quick picture with my hand just out of camera view-promise!

Josiah is eating his veggies now! We started solids a few weeks ago, but we really started being consistent with him last week. He has been eating (and liking) green beans, banana, squash, avocado, sweet potato and rice. We are starting him pretty slowly since I had so many food allergies as a child but so far, so good! Caleb and I are making our own baby food. We think we have a good system now of making four or five different kinds of veggies, etc on a weekend and freezing it for the week. We are using the ice cube tray method and since we are not the most gifted domestic engineers, we are pretty proud of ourselves for this one. (Not willing to use cloth diapers, but can make baby food like nobody's business!)

Josiah loving his green beans!

Caleb and I get a break now and then when he decides to hold his own bottle.

We have Si's 6-month check-up next week. He has had one little cold, but over all has been so incredibly healthy. I am a little worried about the flat spot on his head...that no doubt can be attributed to the 12 hours of sleep he gets every night. So far, our doctor has not thought it was a big deal, or at least a big enough deal to put a helmet on him yet. Thankfully, he is starting to sleep more on his side and stomache on his own in recent weeks, so hopefully we won't have too much more trouble with the flat head thing...seriously could be a problem for a bald kid.

These first 6 months flew by and we are so excited for the next 6.

Happy New Year

2010-01-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

We started our new year with an early morning walk on the 1st. It got kind of chilli so we ended our walk with Si snuggled up inside Daddy's sweatshirt. Thanks to Mooma (my mom) Si keeps warm in quite possibly the cutest hat ever!

Then we braved the zoo for a second time since becoming proud owners of a zoo pass, this time with the Weatherly's and a lot more sunshine!

Since returning from Washington after Christmas, we have had almost all 70 degree days! You have to love Arizona in January! I am even hearing that Florida is getting snow. One of the many perks of living here that outweigh, or at least even out the slumping economy and plummitting value of our home!

My favorite guys in the world!

It is so nice to have a stroller at the zoo, to carry you diaper bag, lunches, extra clothes and souveniers; which really frees up the arm space so you can carry your child!

Monkey village is the coolest part of the Phoenix Zoo! You get to walk into the exhibit and watch the monkeys play all around you. Josiah was moderately interested in these little guys.

Not so interested in these ones though. Many more animals were out this time around. It was a beautiful sunny day and we (not the babies) were entertained for hours.

If you're Josiah it is kind of hard to get all geared up for the zoo animals when you get to have close encounters with a big furry animal every day at home!

Don't judge! This is just so darn cute when it happens, you might let Shep kiss your child on the mouth too!

After the zoo, we settled in for an afternoon of football. (Sorry, Oregon) It was a great day for the Fields and a great start to 2010!

Josiah is six months old this week! Unbelievable, how quickly time flies! Josiah changes every single day....His 6 month photos will be up very soon!

Our first Christmas as a family of 3

2010-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas with our family in Washington. Josiah got to meet many of our WA family for the first time and we spent most of Christmas week just hanging out in Yakima with my parents. We finished some last minute shopping, played games, watched football and Caleb and I even got a date night.

Becky and Steve gave us a great camera that is way better than our old little camera. We should be able to vastly improve on our pictures from now on. Thank you, Fields! Becky is a professional photographer in WA and generously gave us a hand-me-down. We are so thankful!

At 5 1/2 months, Si is learning to sit up but still needs support. He is such a strong boy and is starting to be able to get around pretty well by sort of thrusting himself forward either on his stomach or back...really trying to get those buns in thier air so he can crawl. I know he is going to be so active and we'll likely have some frustrating days between when he really wants to be moble and when he can actually coordinate it all together.

The Mocks arrived on Chistmas Eve. I am so glad we got so much time with them. Casey has done an amazing job of "talking up" the Fields so the girls really feel like they know us even though they are growing up so far away. Caleb and I plan to talk up Josiah's cutie-pie cousins as well in hopes that our kiddos always feel bonded as a family; even 1500 miles away.

Caleb and Si got some bonding time here in the basement when they and their football game were banishd in favor of Curious George's Christmas Program. I think it is clear that Si is a lot more interested in haning out with daddy than watching the game.

2nd cousins! My mother and her sister Francie have a combined 8 grandkids to date. We finally got all the families together and one very brief opportunity to line the kids all up on the couch. Josiah is in good company here as the third baby born this summer alone! So fun to get our growing families together! From Left: Charlotte Hansell, Isabelle Mock, Josiah Fields, Liam Heideman, Claire Mock, Gage Heideman, Jake Heideman, and Hunter Hansell.

My parents had a blast with their favorite Isabelle, favorite Claire and favorite Josiah in the whole world! They worked very hard to get a Christmas picture with these three cuties...still waiting for it to come in the mail :)

Our family is so very blessed!

Christmas Eve is when most of the presents get openned at the Hovis house and a picture almost exactly like this gets taken each year, like it or not.

Si made out pretty well in the gift department and for the most part we made it home with it all. One of our suitcases was 49.5 pounds. We think we've found a great new tradition that we learned about from some friends to help our kids learn that Christmas is not all about presents. It is so important to us that Josiah and any other children we raise in the future understand that Chirstmas is about Jesus, not Santa. Some friends shared with us that they give their daughters 3 gifts. The girls know that they get three gifts because Jesus received 3 gifts when he was born. I like it. I look forward to all the space-saving traditions that we can incorporate into our lives that will assit our growing family to continue living in an 1100 sf home.

We come to the end of 2009! It has been a big year for us! We have started an incredible journey as parents and feel so humbled as we remember what a huge responsibility and blessing it is. We said again today, as we do so often now, that we just really didn't know that our hearts were big enough to love anyone as much as we love our son!

2009 brought us some of the biggest joys and greatest challenges that we have ever experienced. We are so sure that God has placed us here for such a time as this. We look forward to beginning 2010 with purpose! To live this life to the fullest. To love well and to be faithful with each new experience we are blessed with.

Happy New Year!

Washington for Christmas

2009-12-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

We are in Washington! Due to our own ignorance and lack of detail orientation we had a less-than-perfect start to our vacation. It was a comedy of errors really, the kind that you choose to laugh through gritted teeth so that you don't break down in tears! To preface all of this airing-the-dirty-laundry, I do have to say that this was not the first time we'd traveled with Josiah. We went to Texas with him when he was 8 weeks old and packed perfectly. We had no trouble at all, forgot nothing, made no messes and inconvenienced no one; I think we got a little cocky for trip #2.

Here goes (I've numbered them so we don't lose count):

1. On Thursday morning, before we flew out, we made one last mall trip to get a specific present we had not been able to find anywhere else. We purchased the gift then stopped by American Eagle to grab Caleb a new pair of jeans before the trip. We were running a little short on time so Caleb didn't even try on the jeans, he bought them while I took one last work call and we headed home. It wasn't until we were ready to leave the house for the airport that we realized we didn't have the games. Caleb left them at on the counter at American Eagle. Really short on time at this point, we made a second trip to the mall before our flight.

2. Running late, we dropped Shep off at our friend's house and got to the airport. We parked and ran in. Well, we didn't run in because we were carrying a baby in the bjorne, 3 suitcases, a car seat and base, a stroller, a backpack, a purse and a diaper bag. But none the less, we got inside quickly and then did run through the gate when the airlines staff yelled "come on, you're the last one on. I'm closing the door." Thankfully she said that to us and to the other few stragglers with kids and gear.

3. We had a great flight but were seated in the bulkhead, the front seat, so our bags had to be stored in a seperate compartment. We got to WA and got off the plane to meet our family. As soon as we got back through the security point we realized we left the bjorne on the plane. Caleb had to go find airlines staff to run back out to the plane to get it.

4. So after all that, we were hungry. Mom and Dad took us to Anthony's. We had a great dinner and then started our 1 1/2 hour drive to Yakima. We drove for a half hour when I realized I forgot my purse at the restaurant! What? I guess my only excuse is that I use either a diaper bag or a purse, not both. Sigh.

5. Finally we arrived at my parents' home in Yakima. We started to unpack: first bag contained all of Josiah's rise cereal which of course broke open and spilled rice-confetti all over everything in the suitecase.

6. Second bag. I unpacked the monitor and realized that I had only packed the parent's end, and left the part that watches the kiddo conveniently on his crib at home. Huh.

So Thursday was a rocky start! On Friday we re-packed one bag for all three of us and headed out to Tacoma. Our plan was to visit several friends and family over the weekend before returning to my parents house for an entire week. We had a great time, but...

7. Caleb forgot to pack underwear

8. and although I packed at least 10 onsies and 2 pairs of pajamas for Josiah for a 48 hour period, he either puked or pooped on ALL of them before we got him home. Seriously, we had to pick up a new pack of onsies for our naked baby on the way home.

All in all, I think we will be lucky to make it home in one piece. Thank you, Lord for grace and laughter.

One huge blessing is that we got to spend time with some of our favorite people in the world! Here are some pictures of our trip so far.

Our nieces Claire and Isabelle with thier new cousin, Baby Josiah.

Our lovely Isabelle hanging out in Josiah's Bumbo

We got to spend an afternoon with the Brocks! We love the Brocks and had so much fun getting to see their growing family, a beautiful two-year-old, Elisa and their handsome two-month-old, Jonathan who is the same size as Josiah (at 5+ months).

I think Jonathan might actually be a pound or so bigger than Si!

Our little buddy loves his daddy!

We also stopped by and had dinner with our friends Brooke and Jeramy and their two girls Madison and Ashley. Look at these cuties; holding hands...Si's got a thing for the ladies. Look at those eyes :)
Here is Josiah at Caleb's parent's house just after he pooped through his last outfit. Quite the pair, my husband without undies and my son with only undies!

Caleb's mom, Becky with her first grandson.

Also in our short weekend we visited one of my greatest friends from college. Laura and Ryan are adding a little girl to their family in a couple of weeks.

Finally back to my parent's home. Si is loving all this time with Mooma and Papa! He has a little cold but is doing just fine. As you can see, he is taking in everything around him and loving all the attention.

He is giving lots of kisses and we can't get enough! Si's great grandmother was the lucky recipient of this one.

My sweet husband is still wearing shorts and t-shirts even though there is snow outside! We are loving the relaxation that being in the presence of family and friends brings! Now, bring on Christmas!

our most precious boy

2009-12-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

The votes are in here in Arizona: Josiah looks exactly like his daddy!
We all think he is the spitting image of Caleb.
However, recently I was looking at photo albums of my family and of Caleb as a baby. I have to say, Josiah may look a little more like his mom....at least when I was a baby. What do you think?

Caleb

Anna

One thing is for sure: Josiah is WAY cuter than his parents!

Being a parent is the most incredible experience in the world! I've had the most vivid childhood memory lately of my own wonderful parents . I used to love falling asleep in the car, especially late at night on the way home from Nani and Papa's house or some similar location. The street lights creating a perfect, twilight glow and the motion of the car created the most peaceful, cozy environment. The best part though, was that I knew that my dad would carry me in to the house from the garage if I was still asleep when we got home. I loved that! I got really good (I think) at pretending to be asleep so I could get the carry-in. Well, now I get to carry Josiah into the house when he falls asleep in the car and there just is nothing better! I really do always think of my own childhood and truely feel most like a parent when my little boy folds perfectly into my arms, completely trusting, as I carry him inside and put him into bed. I hope he "pretends" for a long time, because I will never tire of this precious experience.

5 months!

2009-12-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful baby boy is 5 months old today!

...and perfect in every way!
He sleeps wonderfully! We are talking 12 hours at night and a couple of naps during the day.

Caleb and I are so thankful! Now if we are exhausted in the morning we have only ourselves and Redbox to blame!

We have had lots of giggle fests lately! This is such a good natured, happy little man! We have so much fun rolling around on mom and dad's bed tickling each other! Si even (sort of) tickles back and he "honked" my nose the other day! What a smarty pants.

Also significate along side Si's incredible growth and development is the fact that it is WINTER in Arizona! That's right, we have lows of 35 and highs of 65 in the last couple of weeks! Bring on the sweaters!
Cold as it was, Caleb and I were not willing to pass up our first family trip to the zoo. Unfortunately our camera died shortly after we arrived, but at least we got one family photo with this hippo! All the desert-acclimated animals were hiding in their dens anyway because it was so cold (50)... that's right, the Fields are tougher than wild animals.
This is Josiah's "out for a walk when it's 35 degrees" duds. He actually does own a really cute coat but it was laundry day :).

He stayed nice and toasty in the pack with Dad...and with socks for mittens on his hands.

Si's fifth month is bound to be a good one! Already, he has eaten solids, sucked on his toes, gotten his first "injury" (he's fine!), gone to the zoo, and worn a sweater...and we have the whole month ahead of us! Next week we are headed to Washington for a whole new set of adventures! We can't wait for Josiah's first Christmas!

So much to be thankful for

2009-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

From our wonderful family both here in Arizona and in Washington to our wonderful little boy who just keeps getting sweeter every day, Caleb and I couldn't be more thankful! We are thankful for a God who loves us in good times and bad and for people who do the same.

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Arizona with Caleb's parents and some of our friends here. We had a great time and a huge spread of food!

I can't help but remember that at this time last year we still believed that having a baby was a reality that we might not ever get to experience. What a miracle it is that we now have a happy, healthy little man living with us that God has allowed us to parent! I don't know why, but He did and we could not be more blessed!

Here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks and of our Thanksgiving celebration.

Josiah has started to like his bumbo chair...it was touch and go at first. He is so cute in it. It has become his football watching chair.

NO SHEP! NO SHEP! NO SHEP!....ughhhhhh

2009-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

These were the words heard approximately 3 am on the first night of our camping weekend...They were uttered by our friend Bob seconds before Shep was sprayed at point blank range by a skunk. Those skunks, wow, do they smell! Fortunately, Caleb, Josiah and I were sound asleep in a nice cozy camper during this unfortunate fiasco and didn't know anything about it until morning. Instead our friends who did sleep outside got the pleasure of hosing him down and banishing him to as far-away location as possible (because he obviously smelled horrid) but that was near enough that he wouldn't whine all night...an impossible task to be sure. Poor Shep: The smelly kid no one wants to hang out with!

To be fair, Rocky would have been there trying to eat the skunk right along with Shep but his leash was too short.

Josiah loves camping! Well, he certainly loves being outside. It will really be fun when he actually knows he is camping and he can run around and enjoy the outdoors. We had planned to really rough it, but didn't plan wel enough for that, so several days before we left we changed plans from Sedona to Canyon Lake. Canyon Lake is about 20 minutes from home and is basically a huge RV parking lot in front of a lake.

As you can see, our "campsite" was complete with picnic tables, a lawn, and a camper! Not really roughing it, but a good first camping experience for a 4-month-old. We ended up feeling pretty thankful for the use of a camper!

"crash landing " is one of our favorite games. I love to hear Josiah giggle!

Traci and Si

Bob and Bethany around our campfire. It was the coldest weekend of the season so far...I won't mention the actual temperature, or we will sound like wimps, but we desert folk were thankful for a good campfire none-the-less.

We had planned to go hiking all day Saturday but after a night of no sleep, we opted for naps and relaxing around the campfire all day long...it was wonderful! For most the group the lack of sleep was due to Shep's skunking...for me, it was because I slept in bed with the most violent-sleeping four-month-old ever who tried to snuggle with me all night! Don't get me wrong, those early mornings that we bring Si into our bed at home are some of my favorite moments. But all night with him was a horrible combination of being afraid that I might roll-over on him and him trying to roll-over on me! I could never have a family bed.

Bethany and Si

Joan and Loren and Si

This was the most activity that happened on Saturday...and the girls didn't even play.

Josiah wore socks on his hands all wekend bacause it's hard to find baby mittens in Arizona.

Parker also got skunked by proximity, and although he took like three showers on Sunday, none of them necessitated tomato juice.

Poor Shep!

baby bath found..

2009-11-20T09:16:00.000-08:00

We found the baby-bucket-bath at http://www.mom4life.com/. It was 49.95 and worth every penny! We didn't get the stand because we didn't think it attached very well when we barrowed katie's. It seemed kind of dangerous, and although cute, was another 50 bucks. We can't wait for it to arive. (see last post for pictures)

I am planning to post some pictures of last weekend's camping trip but will wait until I have done enough working and cleaning to justify it! Just thought you might want to all go out and purchace a bucket tub in the meantime!

bath time

2009-11-17T21:01:00.001-08:00

We love bath time around here! Here is a typical scenrio that plays out in our house when Caleb and I bathe Josiah together...

Caleb: Gets the baby bath down from it's hiding place and runs the water in the sink to get it to a nice warm-but-not-hot temperature.

Anna: Gets Josiah undressed, gathers the wash cloths and towel and changes his diaper (but doesn't put a new one on since we are going to put him in the bath).

Caleb: Doesn't get the bath water warmed up fast enough to accomodate a smooth transition....or Anna is just too lightening fast at her job....you could look at it either way ;)

Anna: Ends up holding an adorable naked baby waiting for the right temperature and praying that he will "hold it" long enough to at least submurge him in water

He doesn't always make it! On this particular occasion I held him just a little too long and our little naked baby peed all over me (as well as created a sizeable puddle on the floor) before we could get him in the bath! I think Joisah's face says it all....and then I showered.
We have a friend that let us borrow her new tub. It is bucket-like, I can't remember right now what it is called but as soon as I get a link to the website she ordered it from, I am getting one! It is shaped this way to simulate "what a baby experiences in the womb". (That statement is in quotes because I am not sure how 'they' know what a baby experiences in the womb and also because I hate the word womb.) Well, all that really matters is that Josiah LOVES it! It is so much better than a regular baby tub...as soon as our new flower petal tub gets here we are 86ing the old one! He is able to sit up strait in this tub without being held and he really enjoyed his bath. Also, we are able to keep most of his body under water so he doesn't get cold at all! Love it!

I feel like there may need to be a disclaimer that no babies have been exploited in the making of this blog...I probably will never, ever post another picture of my baby naked but decided you all would enjoy our cutie and that 4 months may be about the cut off for even the most modest nakedness. A great friend of ours commented that these are the pictures that will be on Si's wedding slide show! I couldn't agree more!

4 MONTHS!

2009-11-10T14:35:00.001-08:00

Josiah is 4 months old today! It is so hard to believe how fast he is growing up! He is so much more interactive and fun now that he has come into his adorable little personality, but we still have yet to really get it on video. I know baby-doing-nothing videos are pretty boring unless you are the adoring parents--or at least that is what I always thought when someone would send me a video of their baby just laying there. I guess now it is my turn. We are really trying to get the roll-overs and the giggles on tape, but just haven't gotten our little man in performance mode yet. So here are a couple cutie-patutie, baby-not-doing-much videos for your viewing pleasure (or bordom).

This is so embarrassing! What I won't do to get my kid to giggle, huh? Imagine what I must have looked like...maybe next time Si can tape his weird mom acting like a goof-ball!

Our week in pictures

2009-11-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Si had a special night tonight! Armondo's parents and nephew, Brandon were in town all weekend so that they and Traci could spread Mondo's ashes at the Grand Canyon. Tonight some friends had a BBQ in their honor before they head back to Ohio tomorrow. Armondo Sr. made Josiah this beautiful wooden race car! I just can not wait to see him racing it all over the house! We are so blessed to know the Tijerinas.

Josiah had a rough little night as you might be able to tell (just a little tummy ache that I am happy to report are very few and far between these days) but he LOVED Brandon! It was very cute to see them get to know each other! Another big tough guy bites the dust in the presence of a baby! Well a crying baby, but cute none-the-less.

Si also LOVES his daddy! Thank you, Lord that we are able to have such flexible work schedules that allow Caleb and I to share childcare and be with our son almost all the time! It is so fun to see Caleb as a daddy! One thing is for sure though, Si will not learn ANYTHING about fashion from him! See below:

(what you can't see about this outfit that makes it even worse is that the "shirt" is actually a whole outfit with shorts attached...it's like a unitard of sorts....the kind that you don't put pants over) This is what happens when I work the early shift and Caleb gets him dressed!

I recently bought the cutest little "Baby Yoga" DVD! I love it. It is a yoga/palates workout that incorportates play with your baby as well as baby massage and baby yoga. I am sure someone just made up the term "baby yoga" but I bet it sells a lot of DVDs. We love it! We are learning lots of fun ways to play together and Si really loves the stretching and massage! Don't worry, Si will also be super manly, as soon as we can start including weapons and violence in our play, I am sure we will!

We had our friend Maggie over to play the other day. It was my first afternoon with a 3 month old and 7 month old together. They did great, but WOW was I tired, you really do need some extra arms for that job!

Caleb and I have been trying to take some videos since Si has been SO cute lately! He has this adorable and histerical little giggle, the kind where he is just learning how to get the giggle out but rather than the cute, high pitched kid giggle, it is this loud coughing noice with a huge smile! It is absolutely precious and makes me feel like the funniest person in the world when I hear it directed at me! What an awesome feeling! Unfortunately Si is much better live than on camera...he tends to stop rolling, giggling, smiling when he sees the camera come out and just stars at it. So we'll keep trying to capture the perfect video that shows off just how awesome he is, but you really have to see it to believe how blessed we are to be his parents!

Josiah will be 4 months tomorrow! Can you believe it?! I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow so we can all capture exactly how he looked at 4 months even! I really had awesome intentions of getting some professional pictures taken when he was 3 months so I could put one in a little "3 month" frame I have but since there are only a few hours left of 3 months and 30 days and none of them are during business hours; I don't think I am going to make it. Here's to good intentions.

We got spirit!!!

2009-11-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween! We celebrated at trunk-or-treat on Friday with our church. Josiah was as cute as ever as a lttle football star. Actually, he was half football player, half football which I thought was kind of weird but whatever, I guess realism isn't the point of Halloween. A shout-out to Joan and Loren for leting us borrow their precious Vikings jerseys! Josiah wasn't loving his costume (he must hvae wanted to be a Viking too) so we didn't put it back on for Saturday night. Instead we had family night at home and handed out candy to our neighbors.

Just took a few pictures this week; here is a sample

He had a little rash from drooling and chewing on the bjorn.

Baptism

2009-10-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Josiah was baptized this past weekend! We had tons of fun and I think it was one of the most entertaining baptisms I've recently seen. Now Caleb and I are not from backgrounds where babies are normally baptized; that is, until the last few years we were used to seeing grown adults being baptized who could behave themselves. It was hilarious to watch our beautiful baby boy become the center of attention in a crowd of hundreds: and those were just his God parents!

Well, not really, but close! Caleb and I were a little confused. We thought that "sponsor" was a person or persons who supported you while your child was getting baptized and who were committing to walking with you as a family and helping Josiah to learn about Christ....so we asked the people in our lives here in Arizona who are like family to us and who we expect to help us to raise our young man right! Well, first, I introduced my grand plan for 5 families to stand with us as we had Josiah baptised to our friend Bev. She cried and said she would be honored to be up there with us. I let her know who else we were planning to ask and she thought it was a great idea. Well then our lives came to a sudden halt when Armondo died and I never got around to asking the rest of our "family" to join us on stage. So it was a few weeks before the "event" when Bev kindly mentioned to me that she was pretty sure no one else knew about our plan for baptism or their role as our "sponsors". Over the next few days I appologized to the remaining four families and basically listened to them inform me that they already had plans for October 25th and wouldn't be around to see the baptism let alone take part in the blessed event!

Thankfully, they were kidding (Bev had gotten to them first) and we had all our closest friends here stand with us at the baptism. Only a few days before the baptism did we find out that it was highly unusual for that many people to be "god parents" to a child. (the church secretary told us when she couldn't fit all the names on his certificate). Well, I say the more the marrier, but apparently it is customary for a child to have one or two god parents...so we spent some time informing ours about how good they have it because they can be off-the-hook for at least some of the many requirements that a god parent is required to do, then we spent some more time joking about the prayer and greeting card schedule we could put them all on to accomplish the combined responsibiltiy of their new role! We are so excited to have, like 12 God parents and I am sure Josiah is too....hmmmm, who should be pick if we have another child?

The stage was made all the more crowed when Pastor asked all the children in the congregation to come forward so he could teach them all about baptism while he actually performed one! It was a big day at church. Caleb's students who had finished 3 years of confirmation classes were also being confirmed this Sunday so they too looked on from the stage area. It was very good timing to say the least since Josiah's baptism and the kid's confirmation falling on the same day meant that Caleb only had to wear a suit once....two birds with one stone.

Josiah was quite the charactor! First, he nodded and smiled on cue when Pastor asked him if he was ready! quite cute! Second, he started crying mid way through the baptism and third, felt much better after he threw up all over himself! He was all smiles after that! It was all the more adorable that this was the first baptism that was shown as live feed on the huge monitors...it was larger than life barf, let me tell you!

It was a big weekend for Josiah, not only did he "become he newest member of God's family" he also got his first taste of ice cream, thanks to his new god parents! Is THAT what god parents are supposed to do?

Also, Josiah got to turn around and say goodbye to his car seat while riding in his jogger! big day since he HATES his car seat. He absolutely loves to be outside and to look out at all that is going on outdoors, so this was pretty huge! he loved it. The family walks will never be the same!

Bars and Tattoos

2009-10-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

We innocently accepted an invitation by some good friends this weekend to go out with them for pizza and dancing. It became clear when we met them at the pizza PUB that we had brought our baby to a bar. I guess it wasn't really a bar bar, it could be considered a family restaurant, I guess. But I couldn't stop thinking about a very funny scene from "Sweet Home Alabama". Not one of my proudest moments.

It was my 30th birthday this weekend, which many of you know judging by my facebook page! Caleb and I had some close friends stay with Josiah and we hit the town. By hit the town I mean we went out to dinner and Caleb wore pants and a dress shirt rather than cargo shorts and a free-camp-tee. We are both now officially in our 30's!

Then we went to a church picnic where I put a stick-on football tattoo on Josiah without even thinking to look at what kind of ink or whatever they use on the tattoos. So in one weekend, we took him with us to a bar, then left him with a babysitter so we could go out, then defiled his little body with a tattoo. I think "Parents of the Year" is just around the corner!

Si went to the doctor last week and all is well! He weighs 12 pounds, 2 ounces. Not that the stats are either specific or important, but he is in the 10-25% in weight and head circumference and the 25-50% for height (tall and skinny). He is a healthy, happy boy!

Caleb and I have been pretty pathetic when it comes to this adorable little boy! The other day we hugged and cuddled Josiah and then put him to bed...then within a few minutes we were both sitting in our office on two seperate lap tops, both looking at pictures of Josiah online.

Then, as we were brousing the isles of Gymboree for cute clothes for Si, we came to the realization that we were supposed to be on a date and there we were shopping for our child.

I was having a conversation with Caleb's mother, Becky the other day and explained to her how we always keep the car seat in the new van and then Caleb or I, whichever one of us is not with Si, takes the old car in to work. Becky then pointed out to me that really, Josiah has his own car and Caleb and I share the old beater. :)

We just can't get enough of him. We think he is the greatest!

3 months already

2009-10-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful boy is 3 months old already! Time is flying by and I am just praying that he won't grow too quickly out of his cuddle stage! High school feels like it's just around the corner! Here is just a quick update of some pictures from the last week or two...Notice that many to most of them are on some continuum between out-of-focus and just-plain-blurry! I think that means that we do need to "splurge" for some professional (Walmart or it's equivilant) photos for some of the big milestone months...you know: 3 mo, 6 mo, 9 mo and so on! We think he is adorable blurry or not but that is probably because we see him in person all the time. Maybe you all would like some professional pics. Anyway, here are the unprofessional ones: Hope you like. Maybe this week will yeild enough time to run by a studio. We also have a doctor's apointment this week, so I'll let you know how that goes...just a well visit and some shots.

One of the students in our youth group is swimming this year so Josiah and I like to go to support her and to get some wading experience.

Josiah in his "snuggie"

So, Si will not be hiking in this anytime soon! Maybe next year! Caleb is like "what? he fits!" Also, yes, this picture is taken in our bathroom...apparently Caleb was carrying him around in the pack right before he needed to take a shower.

He is so happy, what a good natured kiddo

Tummy-time is a lot more interesting when Shep is the object/target of Si's affection!

Daddy and Baby hitt'n the books. At least Caleb is wearing clothes.

Cas was in town last week with some friends and stayed with me for a couple days before she went home. We celebrated our upcoming 30th birthdays with some shopping and sushi!

Any port in a storm...

2009-10-07T17:40:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful time in San Antonio a few weeks ago and if there is one thing we learned it's that Josiah is a little social butterfly. There was never a shortage of people wanting to cuddle him and he was all too happy to oblige!
Oma and Si hit it off great! It was almost everyone's first time meeting him so he was passed around a ton...if his parents had any reservations about the child-passing we got over it really quickly!

Caleb's mom, Becky and Si chatting it up!

This is Caleb's brother, John and his father, Steve. The whole family stayed together at this amazing 100-year-old house a few blocks from where the wedding reception was held. It was a perfect location and a beautiful place to stay! We all felt so at peace when we walked in the door...which is good because not all aspects of our trip were stress free! Thankfully, the house and the company were!

Josiah slept the entire wedding and reception...I have no idea who we got so lucky...he actually slept that night as well. We must have really tired him out, or over-stimulated the heck out of him...maybe the sleeping was just a well-developed coping mechanism. Either way, he behaved beautifully considering one parent was a bridesmaid and the other was reading scripture in the wedding, we were initially a little concerned about who has to take the baby out of the church if he starts screaming in the middle of the ceremony. (that's a hard thing to just ask someone in the family to do-at a wedding!) but thankfully we had lots of volunteers and we didn't end up needing a runner anyway.

Just for the record, he also did an amazing job on the plane both to and from San Antonio! Slept the whole way and didn't even seem to notice the pressure changes! thank goodness. I like to think I have no problem being embarrassed of a screaming child but I am not sure I was yet prepared for a two-hour flight with no escape...not quite the same as the grocery store.

Joel and his new bride Ali drove from Houston to see us, the baby and the wedding...in that order I like to think!

Bringing the families together...one baby at a time! This is Sarah's new father-in-law dancing with Si at the reception. I am glad someone was taking pictures because I had no idea where Josiah was for much of the reception! Horrible mom, huh?!

Danny claimed Josiah from the very beginning! We are so thankful for so many people to love our kiddo!

The beautiful bride looking incredibly relaxed and de-stressed: Good job, Sarah!

What an awesome vacation! It has been some time since I have experienced more fun with family or more drama in one week! You gotta love weddings! Notice there are no pictures of the actual wedding. That's because we didn't take any. Having a child has not made Caleb and I any better and taking pictures. I wish we were but it is apparently not in our DNA. I seriously think once in a while, I have to take some pictures so I can put them on the blog! So if someone sends me some wedding pics I would be glad to put them on...(I probably don't need to clarify, but I will put them on if they are pictures of Sarah's wedding, not just any wedding!)

Fall is here!

2009-10-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Just a few cute pictures of Josiah from the last several weeks. We can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by. Si is 12 weeks old (3 months on the 10th). He is a happy, healthy kid; smiling and trying to giggle all the time now! We love it! It just keeps getting better and better.

Josiah cuddling up with Grandpa Fields in San Antonio. Grandpa calls it "wrestling" but we know the truth! Don't they look cozy! We spent a week in San Antonio in September for Aunt Sarah's wedding. I think there are some wonderful pictures from our time there....only most of them were not taken by us. So I will post them when I get them from other generous family members.

This is one of our favorite positions in the world these days! Nothing better than taking a nap with baby bear on our chest. Don't worry, they are not going hunting.

He is still the spitting image of Caleb if you ask me! Caleb thinks that must mean he is the most adorable man on the planet since Si is so adorable! Josiah is around 12 lbs now, officially doubling his birth weight! He surprised us in Texas by rolling over for the first time! We were very excited but we haven't seen it again yet...not that we don't practice every day!

The weather here is finally starting to cool down a little and is even in the eighties this week! So we are getting to spend a lot more time outdoors! Si LOVES it outside...so far so good, we are really hoping he is an outdoor kid naturally rather than a video game kid. Not that he will have much of a choice, what with all the rules we'll have against TV and stuff! Just kidding, you can remind me of that when we have three kids and put movies on all day long just to keep some kind of peace and sanity...but good to have ideals for now, right?! Anyway, Si loves to lay on his blanket outside and we took a long walk yesterday with him in the Bjourn. He is doing so well with his head and neck strength, I think hiking in the backpack is just around the corner! Yeah for fall in Arizona!

Si is sleeping great at night and thankfully enough during the days that we are able to get a tiny, and I mean tiny, amount of work done. FYI, I typed this entire thing one-handed (left handed!). Just one of the many one-handed tricks I'velearned...so no comments about typos!

I will post more when I have two hands and some pictures from vacation!

We are not in control

2009-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

This past month has flown by and I can't say I would re-live even a minute of it if given the opportunity. We have had a hard month.

On July 1 one of our best friends was diagnosed with Leukemia and on September 1 he went to be with our Lord. We could have spent 10 lifetimes with Armondo and not felt like we had enough time with him so we are thankful that we know and serve a good God who will right all wrongs and will one day allow us to serve alongside Armondo in eternity. Caleb is devistated that he lost a brother and somehow has a peace that surpases all understanding that his brother is now rejoicing with his Father.

The death of a 30-year-old man, husband, brother, friend, son, uncle, muscian, worship leader is an injustice that I hoped we would never have to bear. I will not even attempt to understand; instead I will grieve with his wife, support and love my grieving husband and church, attempt to protect my son from the overwhelming grief inside his parents, and trust that there is a distinct and beautiful peace resting inside of us that comes only from the Holy Spirit.

I know that Armondo's life was lived each and every day to glorify God. Never was this so evident than sitting with him in his hospital room while he played his guitar and worshiped; singing "How Great Is Our God". Armondo and Traci knew that they were not in control and they carried themselves through Armondo's sickness with such incredible faith; their strength a beautiful picture of God's grace in this brief life.

I know that I spend so much time attempting to control everything in my life. Why? How arrogant to assume that I have any amount of control of the outcome...to assume that I deserve or am entitled to one more day on this planet. Instead, I hope that knowing this kind of pain and watching one of my best friends become a widow will help me to live a life that is much more free of control. That I will feel much more free to simply love each momemt that I am blessed to spend with Josiah and Caleb...that I will cherrish things that last and let go of things that won't...and that I will live a life that reflects an urgency to serve God with each day He gives me.

This post feels very therapeutic for me and I am having trouble figuring out how to gracefully transition into an update about all the adorable things that Josiah has been doing in the past month. So I am going to save that for next time. I should have some cute pictures from Aunt Sarah's wedding and our trip to San Antonio last week so I will add those soon.

We are now in the process of figuring out what life without Armondo looks like. We are already getting better at it and know that we will continue to grow into some kind of "new normal". With the same amount of control as we've always had, but a much deeper understanding of how out-of-control we really are.

Thank you, God that You are in control.

Our 6-week-old

2009-08-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Si is 6 weeks old today. It is amazing how fast this time has gone. Over the last 6 weeks Josiah has gained over three pounds, and his parents have come a considerable way in learning how to provide for our little angel's every need! We are having so much fun! I have said so many times how desperate I am to remember every little face he makes; he is just so adorable. I feel so incredbly blessed to get to be his mommy.

We are dealing with a bit of acid reflux with him so he has been put on a medication to reduce the acid in his little tummy. Basically he was spitting up (or projectile vomiting) every time he ate and any time we laid him on his back--so being astute new parents, we decided to bring the problem up to his pediatrician. Turns out he should out grow it soon and doesn't at all seem to be effecting his growth, so with a few new tricks up our sleeves and a medication that Si hates the taste of, we are doing much better in the spit up department--and laundry department by extension!

Here are some pictures and video from the last week or two. Enjoy!

Tummy time is a group activity!

Probably the last time I videotape myself laughing at Josiah while he cries!

I haven't been able to capture the smile on camera yet, but close...very close

The boys are becoming best of friends. Shep is acting very much like Lassie lately. It is really amazing. One evening Si had just started crying because he was hungry while Caleb was holding him. While I finished something I was doing on the computer, Caleb attempted to pasify him until I got over there to feed him. Well that was not good enough for Shep, he ran in from outside, busting through his little doggy door, ran strait over and "pointed" at Josiah and then ran directly to me and started poking me in the ribs with his nose. After he had gotten my attention he ran right back outside. Si is sure lucky to have such an attentive dog!

This is the "fat" picture: We are so thankful to see some roles and can't get enough of that double chin! What a cutie

This look happened approximately 3 seconds after we gave him his aforementioned medication for his tummy, and approximately 1 second before his parents feared they had just over-dosed their young child. Caleb grabbed the bottle to re-read the dosage and the insert to read the list of possible side-effects....and in the middle of all that I grabbed the camera. BTW: he did not OD and he has never reacted in such a fashion again.

Josiah loves to nap with Daddy

I promise; this is the same kid that has the huge double chin above...skinny little guy isn't he?

Our strong boy!

I've taken back the reigns

2009-08-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well thanks to my mother you've seen some pictures of Si from the first few weeks and also heard his little voice as we imagine he has lots to say! Well, now Si is one month old and mom has gone home and I have again realized that it is my responsibility to keep you all up to date with new pictures. So no more "Si's Perspective"; I'm taking back the reigns and you are getting Anna's perspecitive! Here are some pictures from this weekend since Becky has been here.

So here are some things I have learned in the first month of parenting:

1. First and foremost, epidurals are amazing: don't be a hero, ladies...get the hard drugs! They made labor and delivery a wonderful experience. (the first several hours were not...)

2. Breastfeeding and pumping to stay ahead is a full-time job. (wait, don't I have a full-time job that I have to return to in a couple of weeks!? Yikes, that's two full-time jobs...other people do this, right?!

3. The books that I read about parenting, bonding, feeding, sleeping, bla, bla, bla...filled me with tons of hope for a angel/textbook/easy little lad. And then he came and I found that I was prepared for exactly NOTHING that Si did.

4. Little boys have AT LEAST a 20 inch "spray zone" and no allies even though I feed him, house him, bathe him, etc. There is just no loyalty.

5. "Sleep when your baby sleeps" is an unfortunate myth that seems to remain illusive to me if I want other small things in my life...like a shower, clean dishes and adult conversations.

6. When you have a Husky/Shepherd it is impossible to keep the hair out of the room...or off the baby...or out of his bottle for that matter. And then you realize how important the phrase "oh well" is! For everything really, not just dog hair.

7. Allowing baby to sleep the day away is a really bad idea once it is night time. And also, concerning sleep...baby appears to have a long enough memory to remember that you allowed him to sleep in bed with you last time....and this crib is just not quite the same.

8. Grandmothers have a lot of valuable knowledge like its okay to continue to bathe a baby in water he has just peed in....is that really okay?

9. I could have every burp cloth we have (which are many) sitting on practically every surface we have in our tiny house; and still the second Si projectile vomits there is nothing in the whole room to wipe it up with!

10. There is absolutely nothing in the world that is more wonderful or a bigger blessing than becoming Si's mommy!

Si is doing wonderfully! He has gained a couple of pounds since birth and is just thriving! Although we were not EVEN CLOSE to prepared for his early arrival, we were profoundly blessed to have my mom, dad and sister fly in within 12 hours of his birth. They got us prepped and ready for anything and I just sadly said goodbye to mom about a week ago. I had a short stint as a single parent for a long weekend while Caleb was out of town (don't plan on doing that again...ever) and now we are so excited to have Caleb's mom in town for a few days. Caleb and I are so thankful for our families out of state and for the AZ families we've been adopted into here in the desert. Thanks for all of your support!

Just Me & My Mom

2009-08-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hi again. Daddy's off to his BFFs wedding in Oregon (that's the real reason I came early--if they were still waiting until next Tuesday for me, Daddy couldn't go see Joel get married), so mommy and I are just hanging here in the Arizona heat. I've gained a bunch of weight, as you can probably tell from these pictures. I even have some fat on my arms. Last time they weighed me I was 6 pounds 11.5 ounces--and that was last week. Just think how much I weigh now!

I'm really strong, too. I can lift my head up when I'm doing Tummy Time and I can even turn it over and look the other direction. Watch this!

Mooma went home. She said she still loves me even though she had to go back to Washington. I believe her, 'cause she kissed and hugged me a lot. She said three weeks was probably enough for Papa and Andy to fend for themselves.

Daddy's mom is going to come see me this weekend. She takes really good pictures (she's a pro) so we'll have even better pictures for me to post later. Just wanted to let you know how I was doing. Bye for now.

PS: Hurry home Daddy--we miss you.

I'm Home

2009-07-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I'm home, and I'm a whole week old--cool, huh. I really only had to stay at the hospital a couple days and we all came home together. My Papa and Mooma and Auntie Casey were all here to meet me, but Papa and Auntie Casey had to go home. I guess my Mooma really likes me 'cause she's still here.

It's been a really busy week. Yesterday they actually took me to have some medical thing done so the other kids won't make fun of me in the locker room; anyway it really hurt at the time, but I'm OK now. See how good I can move around!

Today is my daddy's birthday. I don't think you can tell, but my onsie says "I love my daddy" and I really do. This is me snuggling with him. I can tell when I snuggle with my daddy because he has all that prickly stuff on his neck. I kind of like it, though, and mommy says he's handsome.

Daddy went to float the river with the youth from our church. He said I couldn't go 'cause it's only for Junior & Senior High kids--whatever that is. Maybe next year he will take me. I'll be lots bigger by then.

I have to go now. We're having cake and ice cream for daddy's birthday. Hope it's good--I've never had that before. Oh yeah, one more picture. This is one of my mom's favorites. She's really impressed with what I can do with my feet, but she says I can't run away and join the circus. Hmmmm.

I'm Here

2009-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Mom's kind of busy (trying to get me to eat) so I thought I'd let you know I'm here. On Thursday I heard there was a really hot weekend coming up and decided it would be a good idea to get out of this cooped-up space. So I just decided to assert myself and come on out. It took awhile but I made it by about 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10. Turns out my decision-making skills could use some work and I really should have waited until August 4 like everyone expected, but you know--live and learn! Everyone keeps asking my mom and dad how big I am, so I might as well come right out with it: I'm 6 pounds and 19.5 inches long. I got to go--mom's pretty insistant that I eat; but she'll write more in a couple days! Can't wait to meet you all! Love, Josiah...PS: Check out my wing span (NBA here I come)! And I have better pictures, but this is my very first one--I think I'm only a minute or two old!

33 weeks and counting

2009-06-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update and photo of what week 33 brought this little pregnant mama! "little moms" is what the instructor at our birthing class called us...I had a hard time deciding if I liked being called that or if it was a tiny bit offensive. I guess in any case, "big moms" would have been much worse.

Josiah is doing wonderfully I am happy to report! We just had a doctor's appt. yesterday and our doc says that he is doing great. He is moving all the time! She felt around my belly this time to help me figure out where he is positioned. Finally it seems our little man has put his head down where it is suppose to go...good to see since I was beginning to think he was committed to being breech till the end. Mostly he seems to sway his little buns from one side of my belly to the other. According to my best-guess websites, Josiah is around 4-5 pounds and 19 inches long. He will gain about a half a pound a week and I will gain about a pound a week from here on out. He is filling out now and preparing to make his grand entrance. Sometimes I just take him into his room and we walk around and I talk to him about how cool it's going to be when he gets here and we can play with all his stuff! (Between the sleeping and crying of course).

I am very anxious to meet him! Every day it seems I realize how boring life has become without a baby around! What a weird thing to think before he is even here. I guess that is God's way of preparing me for this huge life change. Unfortunately I am still waiting for the nesting period to begin! I really am looking forward to an energy boost and a clean and organized house...nesting isn't just a myth, right?! it really happens?! If not, I am just going to have to manufacture the energy from somewhere because it still seems like there is so much to do!

I was a little lonely this week because Caleb was gone all week on a summer youth trip. Thankfully the weekend came and he returned. Just in the nick of time...it is a lot harder to have a traveling husband when you're 33 weeks pregnant. Must be those raging hormones again! Caleb's had 2 trips so far and 2 more to go before Josiah is born. In fact, you can all be praying for Josiah to come AT LEAST after July 27 as Caleb will be in New Orleans for a youth trip from the 22nd until the 27th. A little scary that close to my due date, but we like to think of ourselves as "adventurous". Never a dull moment! Thankfully my parents will fly in the day before Caleb leaves so at least I won't be alone if the unexpected happens...and of course we have lots of contingency plans for how to get Caleb home if I go into labor...except that if he is already in New Orleans, the plans still include a standby flight and who knows how long that will take! So pray the contingency plans are not needed!

But I am sure you will hear much more about that when the time comes. As for this last week, Caleb took a team of 30 up to the Navajo reservation for a week of VBS. They had a great time and we finally got him home and in bed around midnight last night. It was a little lonely for me. Usually I do great with his summer travels and am eternally greatful that he has a job where a few trips in the summer are all we have to deal with. However, remember the hormonal changes...I got really lonely, even though I spent time with friends at least half the nights he was gone...and then worked full time on top of that. I don't know what to make of it, but I am going to have to gear up for these last two weeks of his absense. Let's just say it is wonderful to have him home! Here are some pictures of his trip.

Caleb and the team on a hike

Some of the Navajo kids during VBS

The River is a long-held tradition for the team...

(don't you wish you were there!)

In case you have not been introduced to Caleb's Traeger...

This is it! Caleb took it to Navajo and used it to feed a ton of people this week!

He is very proud!

Quite the week 31

2009-06-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

This week was a busy one! I am 31 weeks pregnant and we had the incredible fortune of having my great friend Carolyn come for a visit! Carolyn is expecting her second child, a little boy, about 8 weeks after Josiah is due.

This picture is entitled "Belly to Belly". I thought I had a 22 week photo, but I must not. I do remember, however, that I am pretty sure I showed more at 16 weeks than Carolyn shows now at 22... Carolyn and I have decided that although we are the exact same height, what I have in legs, she makes up in Tourso! We are pretty sure her son is standing strait up in there and creating no tummy what so ever!

She is really working here for this much tummy...I however, am not working at all to show off Josiah to the world...Josiah is all to happy to show himself off at this point!

We had a ton of fun this week shopping for maternity clothes and mostly just talking and relaxing!

We also did a project for Josiah! I know this is a pattern for me where I have friends come over to help me with projects that I am just not Martha Stewart-y enougth to handle...and this week was no exception!

Carolyn is VERY crafty and has a very cute "birdy" mobile in her daughter's room...so she volunteered to make a mobile a reality for Si as well.

I think it turned out very well! Certainly much better than if I'd been left to my own devices! It is pretty funny, we are going for this animal/noah's ark theme for his room and I had this idea to make a mobile out of thin wood animal pieces that we could paint to match his room colors...anyway, we went to the Hobby Lobby and bought each and every wooden animal they had which turned out to be a very eclectic assortment from dogs and cats to a moose, rooster, kangaroo and aligator and even a large mouth bass-or that, at least is what we think it is. So they all went on the mobile together. Thankfully we have some time to learn which sounds each of those animals make before we have to start teaching Si...What does a large mouth bass say?

From Josiah's perspective!

It was absolutely wonderful to have Carolyn here. I truly felt so refreshed after our visit! Just what I needed.
Thank you, Carolyn for taking time away from your husband and daughter to hang out with me. So fun to get to experience pregnancy with a great friend--especially one who has been pregnant before and can share all of her pearls of wisdom!

We girls were also blessed to have my wonderful husband take very good care of us. As many of you know, Caleb has a new Traeger BBQ (no, scratch that...I mean "smoker") which he used to cook us some amazing food! I had been without Caleb for the entire week before Carolyn arrived and had been pretty much a vegitarian in his absence. (in my opinion, sometimes you just need a little break from the traeger). So it was great to have him back home and he took very good care of us this week!

Carolyn left this Wednesday morning and we picked up another member of our family! Our friends Bob and Bethany left town for the weekend and left us with their 100+ pound dog, Rocky! Rocky and Shep have a very love/hate relationship, so it is always entertaining to get them together! Just a cute picture of all my boys, Caleb is taking the picture. It occured to me with stark reality how my femininity will be far, far outnumbered soon....Yikes.

To round out our hectic week; Caleb and I had our 4th wedding anniversary on Thursday which we spend at our Child Birth Preparation class. We got to meet several cool pregnant couples, learned a lot about anatomy and viewed some very disturbing videos about our almost immediate future! It was great. It was much more like Lamaz class than I was expecting, especially since I am fairly committed to receiving an epidural as soon as possible, but I am glad for all the information about breathing and relaxing anyway! Caleb was a great coach!

We did actually get to experience our anniversay in a tad more romantic way...we just waited until Friday. Here is a picture of us out to dinner to celebrate 4 years together! Pretty sure our next four years will look very different from the last four!...and we couldn't be more excited!

Si's First Party

2009-05-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our first baby shower! Caleb and I flew home a couple of weekends ago for our very first baby shower with family and friends from the Northwest! It was a
quick trip and a lot of plane and car travel to reach our destination (my parents
house), but so worth it! We were blessed to spend time with both Caleb's and my
sides of the family as well as some great friends.

Of course, we jumped on the plane without our camera and had then, no pictures to document our trip, thankfully my mother and Becky came through for us...the

only problem is that I had to download them from a Kodak website which apparently only allowed me to save mini-pics....so happy looking if you can actually see any of these. If you can't tell, we had a great time. Some of you may
recognize yourselved in these, but maybe not! One of my friends here in AZ commented about how savy I must be with computers to figure out how to blog

and add pictures, etc....well FYI, you don't really have to know anything at all about computers or uploading or downloading anything...just somtimes you end up with mini-pics and weird spaces that someone smarter or with more time probably could figure our how to rectify. But not me, I am fine with mediocrity! So blog away folks, it's easy!

So here is the quick recap of our crazy weekend to WA...Caleb and I love to fly, mainly I think, because of the expectation and excitment of traveling in general.
So on Thursday, early in the morning we drove to the airport and excitedly got our lattes at the airport which always signifies the beginning of any trip. Then we

sat on two different planes for a total of...all day...before landing in Seattle. Got in just in time to meet Caleb's family and had a fabulous dinner with them!

Unfortunately, Thursday night, I had a HORRIBLE allergy attack which consisted of lots of misery, the inability to breathe and unfortunately quite a lot of benadryl. I

mention this just to fill you in on what I believe was probably my first failure as a

mother: I know benadryl is on the "somewhat safe list" for pregnancy, but I also realize that pregnancy-safe, with any drug really just means that drugging your baby is better than both of us dying due to lack of oxygen in my lungs.

It was a terrible experience when at 4 am I was popping my third benadryl of the night and sobbing to Caleb about the perminent damage I was likley causing to our child. It was a tad over the top in the hormonally crazy department, but really only a fairly average glimpse into my hormonal mood swings lately! I thought for much of this pregnancy that I was handling it all in stride, but about a month ago my hormones and emotional state went crazy and even I could easily recognize that I've slipped into some sort of weird psychotic pregnancy world of crying...all the time for no reason.

Anyway, after Thursday night, Josiah was definatly moving less, or at least it seemed that way to me, so whether or not I put him in a little baby coma, I am sure that anytime in his life anything goes wrong, I will blame it on the benadryl.

(or whatever I do next to inadvertantly tramatize my child).

But Friday came and baby eventually woke up and our little family drove to Yakima! We had a great time with my family, Case and Jarrad and the girls came with another good friend of ours from Tacoma and we girls took my mother out on the town for mothers day on Friday night!

We had the shower on Saturday complete with some silly games in which groups of my family and friends creatively made up songs about my growing family to the tune of "Old McDonald had a Farm" Some of my favorite lines were...

"Here a labor, there a labor, everywhere a labor, labor" "...will Shep end up in the

pound?" and "with some breast pads here and some fresh wipes there..."

It was a very entertaining game by the way.

After the shower, we let the boys come back and BBQ for us all! A great day and wonderful for us to get to share two great parties in one day with all of you who we see so rarely.

Sadly, on Sunday it was back to Seattle for another day of travel and back to work on Monday...but at least we will always have these tiny pictures to remember Josiah's first party!

April in Review...

2009-05-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

April was an okay month...I think. I can't quite remember where it went or what I did except that I never really let you all in on what was happening. I had to take a peek at the last post
to remember what was going on...oh, six weeks ago. I am afraid I look quite different now! I am almost 28 weeks along which means that I am just starting the last trimester. Hard to believe!

My mother has now flipped her little baby widget on the blog to count down rather than up! It is hard to believe I am almost done...although, we've just entered that time in AZ where it is over 100 degrees each and every day in a given 10-day forecast...which means that I may stop believing that this pregnancy is flying by soon...I sense the dragging on and on about to set in!

I still feel great. Hardly a thing to complain about...a co-worker of mine tells me that after week 27 I will magically lose my ability to sleep. I really hope that is not true for me! I get really grumpy with no sleep but I guess I am going to have to get used to it sooner or later, right?

Last time I posted I was getting ready to head back to the doctor for another ultrasound and I was a little nervous. Well I am happy to report that although Si was still breech a month after the first ultrasound, they were able to get much better pictures of him this time and he is, I'm sure the healthiest kid ever! Seems to be growing like a champ...just like his mother!

So here is a quick update on Josiah and some photo memories of our fly-by April....hoping May brings much more down time and a little less work, no offense Catholic Charities, but I could use some down time. Thankfully they are releasing me from my servitude this coming weekend! Caleb and I will be going to Yakima for my first baby shower! How exciting! Hopefully I will get to see some of you there! And hope you read this before hand so I don't get too much gruff about not posting anything for over 6 weeks! Okay, now for the update.

Si weights over 2 pounds, so they say. I think he is likely around 15 inches long from head to foot. He is moving a ton now which is one of the most thrilling things I have ever experienced! I love to feel him move. Even better is now I can sometimes even see him move...no hand or footprints yet, but definitely an attempt to escape from the belly! A few friends even got to experience this weird "belly roll" the other day...which was a little alien. One of my favorite things so far is getting to feel him have the hiccups inside of me! WOW, babies are a miracle! Caleb and I are getting so excited to be parents and can simply not wait to meet our son!

Here are some other things that have been keeping us busy...

Caleb got the incredible opportunity to participate in the biggest sailboat race in the world a few weeks ago! We have some great friends here who have a sailboat in Newport and for several years have done the Newport to Ensenada race.

Well, Caleb apparently proved himself last Thanksgiving and joined a crew of 7 other guys to make his first international voyage.

I think there were like 500 + boats involved in the race and the boys had a great time. It took

them right around 24 hours to finish the race and then they took their time coming back to Newport from Ensenada.

I like to think of them being on the "fun team" 'cause let's just say they didn't come in very close to the front of the pack!

While the guys were sailing, I got to spend the weekend in Tucson with the wives club! We stayed in a hotel, went out to dinner and attended an amazing conference held by one of my friends' spiritual mentors.

Here are the guys after the big finish! Several of
the youth from church went with their fathers and Caleb was blessed to meet some new friends as well. I think he is hoping he'll be invited back next year!

We had an exciting weekend this past weekend
as well...we learned how to paint stripes on a wall! Finally we got around to painting the nursery! It turned out great and we love it. Caleb and I are very thankful to have wonderful and crafty friends here that are willing to help us in our time of need....if it weren't for them, we'd still have green walls and a mediocre motivation to change it. Thanks, guys!

The best part is our friends are willing to work for food! Caleb received his long awaited Traeger BBQ smoker a couple of weeks ago and since then, we have experienced a ton of productivity as we bribe our friends to help us get stuff done that Caleb and I are not talented enough to do on our own! We just promise them salmon or steak and they come right over with paint supplies and smiles! We love them very much and are so thankful for our friends here!

So here is the nursery! We love it and feel like Si will of course, move right in with thankfulness in his heart for all the work it took to put brown and blue stripes on his walls. He now has the best room in the house by far! Which is great, because I plan to spend a lot of time in that room in the middle of the night very soon.

By the looks of these pictures, you'd think Caleb was the hardest worker in the group....those are strategic, I guess. Caleb and the boys did some work on the yard and enjoined an afternoon was napping and watching golf...

This is who really made the magic happen! I am so thankful for Traci and Bethany who are expert painters and got us through our first set of stripes!

22 weeks

2009-03-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

Si seems to be doing great! It is really fun to talk, sing and read to him. My mother and sister are so great at making up songs....that must be a learned skill that you develop with motherhood because I am a little rusty in the creativity department! I'll keep practicing.

We also got news the other day that "the ultrasound pictures were not clear enough" (says my nurse) and we need to go back (on April 13) for another altrasound. A little ensettling, but she assured us that there was nothing that they saw that was cause for concern, rather they just didn't get good enough pictures (maybe due to his position during the last ultrasound). Part of me is excited to get to see him again, but it is also unnerving to hear about anything even slightly out of the ordinary. I'll keep you posted.

I just copied one of the email updates I get each week so you could see baby's progress during week 22! We're flying here! I will try to copy one of these each week so you can follow along with me. The picture is always kind of cute.

Week 22: Get Moving--No ExcusesYour Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy --

By BabyFit

Your Baby This Week You and baby are both eager to meet each other! Your baby is kicking up a storm, and you feel like you're getting bigger every day. Your baby weighs more than 12 ounces (.35 kg) and is more than 7 inches (18 cm) long! Baby's eyelids and eyebrows have developed and her muscles are growing stronger--something you can feel by the strength of the movement in your tummy! Your baby is probably moving more regularly now-not just once in a while!

After birth, she'll recognize the songs you sing or play for her now, resulting in a soothing effect.Your Body This Week Although your tummy is growing, you should still feel comfortable and energetic enough to bend over easily and move around.

If you are feeling exceptionally tired, make certain to get a blood test for anemia, which is common during pregnancy. Time for a Nutrition Check-up You've recently passed the halfway point of your pregnancy, so the day you set your nutritional and health goals may seem like a long time ago. How well are you acquainted with your good intentions? As we settle back down into personal everyday routines, falling back into some old habits can be easy, painless and even without recognition. Think about or dig up your initial nutrition goals. What has been easy? A challenge? Something you forgot to try? A change you didn't like or couldn't keep for very long? One way to test of how well you're sticking with your program is by comparing some healthy snack rehab ideas.

Your Best Excuse Not To Exercise Excuses. When it comes to exercise, they're as varied as the individuals who voice them. Lost interest. Lost my workout buddy. Lost my motivation. Lost directions to the gym. Lost my shoes. But one excuse is pretty universal among most--no time! In our frenzied way of thinking, one of the hardest concepts to understand is that taking time to exercise has such an impact on the rest of your life that it can actually save you time. More energy, clearer thinking, more endurance--these are all things that can help you take care of the rest of the day more efficiently. No more excuses. Check out this collection of ways to be inefficient on purpose.

Josiah David Fields

2009-03-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

We finally have decided on the perfect name for our son. We are very excited to announce that Josiah is doing well and really starting to kick up a storm. As you may remember Caleb and I were having a terrible time deciding on a name. We went round and round with many possibilities and wanted to share with you not only our decision (which we think is final but of course, always subject to change) but also the reason for our decision and the meaning behind the name Josiah.

Josiah literally means "Fire of God". So, come on, how cool is that!? We could have stopped there, but the actual reason we chose the name is because of who the person Josiah was in the Bible. Feel free to read all about our inspiration starting around 2 Kings 22. Some of you may know that there were a long line of Kings who ruled both Judah and Israel throughout history. In the beginning Judah and Israel were united and there was a King who ruled the entire nation. Those Kings were Saul, David and then Solomon. After those first 3 kings, the kingdoms were seperated and seperate kings ruled the two territories. Well, many generations passed and there was never, ever a good king in Israel and in the whole history there were only recorded to have ever been 4 good kings in Judah. Josiah was one of those good kings.

Josiah was the son of a very evil king. His father died and Josiah became king of Judah when he was just 8 years old. Even from that early age, he was a very good and faithful king. At the age of 25, Josiah initiated total reform of Judah and reintroduced the scriptures to the people of Judah. He took down all the objects of pagan worship that other generations had errected and he completely brought the entire nation back to the Lord. Until that time, the scriptures had been completely lost, but Josiah found a copy of what is probably the book of Deuteronomy and had it read to all the people. He reestablished scripture as the cornerstone of what people should base their life on. We see Josiah, today as being a man of faith, wisdom, obedience and most of all, an incredible passion to serve God.

It is so obvious when you read the bible that names are so important to God. The Lord often gave a new name to a person to reflect their character or a specific role He was calling them too. Also, all throughout scripture, the meaning of names are given to help you understand the significance of the person that is being talked about. For our son, we wanted to honor how much God cares about the meaning of a name and we wanted to honor our son by giving him a name that represents the character that we are praying that he posess. We plan to raise him to love the Lord and to serve Him and we especially love that Josiah of the bible loved God and remained faithful from the time he was a small child. We are believing that our Josiah will also become a faithful man of God who is a reformer and a leader.

So there you have it! Thus the reason for naming him what most of our youth think is "weird". I have been using the nickname "Si" a lot when I talk to him (No "Joe" please).

David (our choice for the middle name) was also a king (and also a very good king) but rather than having a fixation with royalty, we just thought David sounded good with Josiah. What do you think?

So...a bible lesson and homework assignment had the makings of a pretty boring post, so I thougth I should at least put some pictures in here and talk about what else is going on in life. (Not that anything is more important than what is going on in the bible!) Here is a picture of the first little shirt Caleb and I bought Si. We had mistakenly been under the impression that there were no cute boy clothes out there, but we are starting to come around. I know this hoodie isn't very "AZ" but hopefully it will get some good wear when we are home for Christmas.

Here is another updated belly-pic. Getting bigger! I promised myself and most of my friends that I was not going to be a complainer after all we went through to get pregnant in the first place. I truely am so thankful for the breeze of a pregnancy I have had and the incredible joy I feel for getting the privilage of experiencing it. However....due to Caleb's back problem we have a very firm matress which is totally fine with me (although pregnant or not, I would prefer to sleep on a soft fluffy cloud anyday)! but now that I am pregnant is it okay to complain about the fact that my hips are soooo sore!? Firm matress was fine when I could sleep on my stomach or back but now with only the sides as options, it has been pretty hard to sleep. I even tried sleeping in the guest room last night (mmmm...remember my college bed, Laura? Didn't you want to sleep forever on that fluffy cloud!?) So I slept there for one night, but missed Caleb too much so I won't be doing that again. It was a nice break for my hips but who wants to sleep alone? Actually it was really not even a better night sleep due to the printer noises and water heater turning on, not to mention the few glow in the dark stars that still remain on the ceiling from the last homeowners. Printer noises? you might ask... my printer started making noises in the middle of the night. I woke up and almost became convinced that it was going to feed the paper and print me some creepy ghost message, but thankfully it stopped short of a terrible horror film I'm sure someone's made. I guess we have a few modifications to make before the guest room/office will be guest ready. Sorry to all of you who've already had to endure the stars.