Fall is here!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!