A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

So, we went to a pumpkin patch yesterday morning. My purpose in going to the pumpkin patch was to come home with some great photos of the boys. I'm thinking my expectations are kinda high. I mean, they are almost one and almost two, so coming home with anything decent can be quite the challenge, right? Some of the shots we took in an attempt to get a good photo were priceless....the one of Daniel jumping in the photo on the left and the pumpkin in the forefront of the picture is our favorite! We put a heavy pumpkin in between the boys in an attempt to give them something to be distracted by and something that they couldn't push over. But....I guess we underestimated their strength. ;-) Here it is, along with some of the ones that turned out pretty cute!


No worries, Josiah DID actually get to get away from the photo opps and ran around the pumpkins and sat on the bails of hay. Andrew crawled around and found some hay to chew on himself. Daniel chased Josiah around. We all had a good time! YAY FOR FALL!!

other happenings in the past few months....

Josiah has a best friend. And his name is Elliot.

Elliot and Josiah playing in the back of Elliot's Daddy's truck...

Elliot is 5 1/2 months older than Josiah. They became best friends this past fall. They started hanging out when I went back to work. Elliot and his Mommy, Lindsey, came to keep Josiah. And, their friendship was born. Elliot got a new little brother just one day before Josiah got his new little brother. And, their friendship
became even stronger. Now they talk about the woes and triumphs and joys of being the big brother - and boy, do they have a lot to talk about!

Josiah and Elliot at Elliot's 2nd birthday party - riding horses and catching up on the latest big brother news.

Andrew began propping himself up, getting ready to be a big boy and sit up!

Daniel celebrated birthday #33 with friends at Istanbul Grill in Arlington.

Josiah has a couple of lady friends.

I went back to work at the end of March and a friend of mine kept

the boys for us. She and her daughter came over 2 mornings a week to play with

the boys. Josiah and Naomi fell in love!

Grace is another one of Josiah's friends. We tried to get together with Grace and her mommy about once a month. This picture is at Kindermusik. Grace invited Josiah to be her guest at Kindermusik one morning - he had a blast!

Other fun around our house.

Watching Praise Baby with all of his stuffed animals, the babies hanging out with each other learning how to be brothers, taking Josiah on a date with us by himself to Putt-Putt, playing dress-up with cowboy gear, having a first lick of an ice cream cone, sliding down a BIG slide at our church's carnival (so proud of him!)

the boys.

Well, it's almost June and Andrew is almost 6 months old. I last posted over 2 1/2 months ago. You probably guessed what happened to me... yes! Life has gotten busier with 2 boys and well, lots of things have taken priority over blogging. Though, I do miss it.

Since I haven't blogged in so long and I just got overwhelmed looking at all the pictures I've taken since my last post, I decided I'd just post a series of pics of the boys. Josiah has wanted to hold Andrew from day 1. And now, over 170 days into Andrew's life, Josiah is still wanting to hold him. And, he is sometimes trying to pick him up - THIS is scary! He also tries to sit on Andrew, hug him, pull him out of my lap, kiss him, tickle him, "zerbert" his belly.... he's very interactive with his little brother!

December 4, 2009 - birth day with big brother Josiah, almost 13 months

December 11, 2009 - one week and 13 months

January 4, 2010 - one month and 14 months

January 14, 2010 - 1 month, 10 days and 14 months

January 31 - almost 2 months and almost 15 months

February 10 - 2 months plus a few days

February 14 - almost 2 1/2 months and almost 15 1/2 months

February 27 - 2 1/2 months and 15 1/2 months

February 28 - 2 1/2 months and 15 1/2 months

March 6 - 3 months and 16 months

March 30 - almost 3 months and 16 1/2 months

April 4 - 4 months and almost 17 months

April 20 - 4 1/2 months and 17 1/2 months

May 15 - almost 5 1/2 months and 18 months

life

Life. There is joy, there is sorrow. There is excitement, there is disappointment. But in all circumstances we can rest assured that God is not surprised by anything that happens. And, when the storms come, He will see us through!


Andrew was born with a hole in his heart. He also has a condition called pulmonary stenosis (a valve in his heart doesn't fully open). January 20th we went to our 2nd pediatric cardiologist visit to find out that one of the two issues had resolved on its own - yes, the hole in Andrew's heart had already closed in just 6 short weeks of life. I think this is sooner than most if I'm not mistaken. And here's our little man...



That same week Daniel's dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He'd been having pain in his chest for about a year - the doctor thought it was a pulled muscle. Finally he was encouraged to get a chest x-ray. The x-ray showed fluid on his lungs, and everything went from there. The week following his diagnosis the Audis had planned a trip to see us. Despite the diagnosis, they came. And, we were so glad to have them here! What a special visit it was.

We got to process some of the diagnosis with them, we played games, shared meals, watched Josiah play, read books with Josiah, played in the snow, laughed, prayed, worshiped together. This was the first time Josiah had seen Daniel's parents since July. They are "Grandma" and "Grandpa" to their other 8 grandchildren. To Josiah, they are "Guh" and "Pa-pa". Eventually he'll join the others with the longer names, but for now, I think his names for them are kinda cute!

Here are 3 generations of Audis: Norman, Daniel, Josiah & Andrew Audi.

Yesterday...

Yesterday. Yesterday Josiah had his 2nd big mis-hap. The first was a couple of weeks before Christmas. He tripped in the driveway and ended up with this scrape on his nose. The scab finally went away a couple of days after Christmas.

Yesterday, like I said, was his second big mis-hap. And it was a double mis-hap.

It was about 5:30. Daniel's parents are in town and they were on their way to our house for dinner. Daniel had Andrew. I was in the kitchen catching up with Nikki on the phone while preparing dinner. Josiah was in the computer room next to the kitchen when suddenly I heard screaming and saw blood. I hung up quickly with Nikki to discover he had only busted his bottom lip, but he was pretty upset about it and the blood covered his bottom teeth and was pouring out of his mouth - it seemed worse than it really was. We got him settled down and got the blood cleaned up. Daniel's parents arrived and dinner was almost ready when suddenly, I heard screaming again. This time from the back of the house. Daniel runs in the room holding Josiah and says, "It's bad." I looked and a big knot was forming between Josiah's eyes and the area was already blue. "ICE!" I said to Daniel's mother. Josiah was screaming. I was trying to console him while not trying to panic, all the while thinking, "Oh no, his little head must be throbbing. This doesn't look good. How am I gonna get him to be still enough to let me put ice between his eyes?" We sat in front of the TV and put our PRAISE BABY DVD on (thanks, Molly, for a fabulous gift!) Josiah sat fairly still and calmed down quickly, though putting the ice on his bump was still a challenge. It was 6:25 when we finally sat down to dinner...

(see the black and blue between the eyes?)

Josiah went to bed just fine. A little banged up, but fine. He woke up this morning chitter -cattering away. Guess the black and blue between his eyes and the knot on his head and the fat lip are really only affecting me, he's quite resilient!

(see the knot between his eyes?)

Welcome to Mommyhood of 2 boys, right!?!?!? Guess I should get used to the bumps and bruises!!

On this day...

On this day 14 months ago....

Josiah was born! And our family of 2 became a family of 3...

And less than 13 months later, on this day 5 weeks ago...

Andrew was born...

And our family of 3 became a family of 4!

And, today...

the boys are loving life together!! (Well, you can't tell that Andrew is loving it in this picture, but trust me, he is!) ;-) We have been so blessed that Josiah is so in love with his new brother. He wakes up in the mornings either asking for his drum set next to his bed or saying, "baby, baby". And, when Andrew is crying, he has this sweet concerned look on his face and says, "baby, baby". (He also sometimes mimics the cry, which is terribly annoying, but we're working on that!) When I tell Josiah that the baby is sleeping, he says, "shh, shh" and puts his pointer finger up to his mouth. He really is adapting so well and learning so much! A few times a day now he walks up to me while I'm holding Andrew and pats his tummy, which I've learned means, "Mommy, will you put Andrew in my lap?" Of course, he's only interested for 1 second, maybe 2. Then, he shoves him off of his lap and is on to bigger and better things!

We've been so blessed these past 14 months! Thank You, Jesus, for entrusting us with these little lives! May we raise them in such a way that their lives honor You!

Happy New Year

We weren't so sure about our New Year's Eve plans until the last minute, but....Josh & Elizabeth and Caleb & Michelle moved their party from J&E's house to our house around 9:00 last night. We played Wii until 2:30 this morning, stopping only for a smooch with our spouses at the midnight hour. Then, we were back to our Wii playing. This is our 4th year to play games into the New Year with J&E and C&M. Thanks, guys, for a fun night bringing in the New Year. And, for wanting to celebrate with us despite the fact that we now have 2 wee ones at home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, blogging world! ....can you make out our human 2-0-1-0???