I love you!

You are getting lots more teeth, almost six on top and about three or four on bottom. I don't know if you are just trying them out or what but you have taken to biting my legs! Not hard but just enough to show me you have them I guess. It's kinda cute right now, but not for long!

You and your Papa made ginger bread men the other day, only Chris got the recipe off the Internet and did not read the reviews which said it was the worst gingerbread recipe ever! So what you ended up with were rock solid ginger bread men! But they smelled delicious when I came home. I tried to bite into one...unsuccessfully and then tried to soak it in milk for several minutes and I still was unable to eat it! The real funny thing is that you love them!! I don't know how you eat it, but you gnaw and gnaw at it till it dissolves and you are left with ginger colored drool down your shirt.

Your favorite (only) movie you watch is "Shrek". You particularly like Donkey and when the music plays you dance by turning in circles and moving your arms all around! You make your self dizzy and usually fall down. It is truly cute. Hopefully I can get it on video and post it here.

You have started to love reading. We read in the morning and in the evening before bed and if I am home you ask to read before naps. You either gather the ones you want to read and bring them to our reading chair or I hold a selection in front of you and you will point to the one you want. I know you are happy about your selection when you lean back into my arms and snuggle in to enjoy. I really need to get you some more books!

I thought by now I would have the "mommy look" down. But my sharp "no" and stern face does not even phase you! Usually you look back, smile and even more insulting...laugh and them go right on sticking whatever you can find into the electrical sockets!!!!
I do hope that one day I get the hang of discipline!

I have made a decision that I must find a way to work from home! Not because I really want to (although I do) or that I hate the workforce so much (cause I don't) but I have to because not being there to teach you and watch you grow literally breaks my heart! So hopefully by the time you are old enough to read this blog I will be working from home! I am very lost and scared about how to make that happen and overwhelmed by the hard work, sacrifice, and rejection it will take, but I love you so much that for me and my heart, I have no choice!

I love you,
Mommy

Dedication 3-21-10

A lot has happened this week, but the best thing is that Chris and I dedicated Chandler at Church on Sunday. We had family and friends over for a celebration. Your Grandma and Grandpa came, your Namma and Pap came and all your cousins, Aunts and Uncles on Chris's side and Chris's cousins and their kids, plus our small group and some extra friends from church were there to celebrate!

We had a lot of fun. You enjoyed running around the house with your cousins and following them as they played. You were hugged and kisses numerous times by everyone!

It has been warm and you are loving being outside, you take after your Grandpa. You roam around and play in all the water and dirt you can find. You pick up sticks and want the dog to take it from you, you throw the balls and play "catch" with the dog! You are truly an outdoor kid!

We have so much fun with you!

Sick days

This past week you have not been feeling well. Probably just the crud but you have been fussy, picky, and not sleeping well. But hopefully you are are the upswing today!

In this blog I don't want to just ramble about how cute you are or what you ate today. I want to mark the milestones and leave you with "Mommy Notes" that will hopefully impart some wisdom mixed in with the memories.

We have been really encouraging you to "use your words" even though all you say is "this" "that" and "Dada" you understand way more and we are hoping that you are on the verge of putting it all together. Communication is a huge milestone in life yet we never really seem to learn it or use it to its fullest potential. It will keep coming up as a area the needs improvement: school will push you to improve your communication, relationships will tax your communication abilities, and even your communication with God some how can not be completely expressed through language. It will be a frustrating area as you learn to make sentences and increase your vocabulary with words you want to communicate, as you try and express your thoughts and feeling - you say what makes sense to you yet the other person cannot understand your meaning even though they supposedly speak the same language as you, and there will be times when language itself does not seem to have the words that capture what you feel. It is one of the challenges of this life.

But pursue communication anyway because your ability to communicate and your desire to understand and be understood will greatly benefit you in this life not just in career or educational advancement, but in marriage, in friendships and in your purpose to live in relation with Christ and to share who he is with others.

I am excited about what you are learning and even though your first words were not Mama, I will do my best to teach you what I know about communication and will treasure all talks we will have!

Love
Mama

Me and your Papa

Let me tell you about your Mama and your Papa. We love each other very much. We are growing to love each other more and to love more like Christ, which means #1 we are not perfect, as a couple, as parents, or as people and #2 we are getting better and better at loving, and loving you too!

We complement each other in our differences but are very much alike in our thinking, interests, and personalities. I hope that you always can see how much we love each other and that you will feel secure about our family and the foreverness of us.

Next to your Papa you are the person I love the most on this earth. I cherish the moments of cuddle time I get with you (I only get moments because you are on to the next thing) and I steal all the kisses I can! You have started recognizing when I ask for a kiss and you will lean into me. I usually get your forehead or ear or hair but it tickles me that you are understanding affection!

Days with Papa

Chris, your Papa, is so very good with you. He is playful, silly, he is the best at making you laugh. He is also stern and good at enforcing rules, where I might give in, he stands firm. You respond very well to him and have learned that you can get away with different things depending on who is watching you. So for your Papa you take naps without a fuss and will go to sleep in 2 minutes, where as for me you cry and squirm and I end up sitting on the floor holding your hand through the bars on the crib till you fall asleep, which takes about 30 minutes.
He may let you play with power cords (unpluged ones) and eat cookie dough, or push all the buttons on the electronic devices (the TV now makes a high pitched noise), but you are having a great time and learning to explore your world. He loves you very much and truly has wanted you for so many years!

What has surprised me the most about watching Chris and you, is how much he focuses on teaching you. He is very excited for the time when you can talk with us and vocalize what you want. I think that because of this year that the two of you have been together, you will grow up with a closeness to your Papa that maybe will help the two of you work through the times when you butt heads and have disagreements.

Yesterday was the first warm day of the season. I came home to find fresh dirt in the yard scattered with a wheel barrel, shovels and holes. You and your Papa spent the afternoon in the yard, doing "manly things". You played in the dirt, chased the dog and took rides in the wheel barrel! You are getting go good at walking and enjoy being outdoors and exploring on your own. I know when you get just alittle older I will really have my hands full with my wonderful, wild, all boy, little Chan-man!

You learn so quickly and I love watching you and seeing the joy you get when you have found something new!

Steps towards a future.

Tonight we will leave you with friend of mine who will watch you while your Papa and I go to an "Artist Connection" at our church. It has been a hard week for you because your Grandma was here an extra night and although you love being with her, when she leaves you are very clingy with me. As if you have been distracted from the fact that I am not around or busy doing things around the house and once that distraction is gone you realize that you've missed me. I hate to leave you again tonight but we are trying to start a pottery and photography business and this artist connection will let us display our work and get to know people who are interested in art. Pottery and Photography are hobbies of both myself and your Papa so it is great for us to share that love and we are hoping that even if it never becomes a self supportive business that it can bring in some and maybe one day bring in enough where one of us can stay home with you.

I am very determined to be there for you in every way I can! When you are sick at school, I want to be able to come get you and bring you home to rest, eat jello and watch cartoons till you feel better. I want to be there to pick you up from school and hear about your day, good or bad. If you forget your lunch money or have a school trip I want to be there! Don't get me wrong you will know discipline and boundaries. You will work for the things you want and you will learn to be a responsible and respectful adult. But that is a process, and you will take on more as you grow.

So please understand that sometimes I have to be away from you but my love is always with you and we are working towards a bright future for our family to be financially stable and be able to be present, involved, and supportive of you as you grow.

Tub Time

Most of the time you really enjoy "tub time". We usually take a bath 3-4 times a week after dinner. You have a octopus faucet cover where the water comes out the octopus's tentacles. You have a blue duck, a yellow and a blue boat, but your favorite is to chew on the wash cloth and pull my shampoo bottles down from the shelf. Last nights bath was especially fun! Your Papa joined us for tub time. He was trying to get you to put your face in the water. You have done it a few times for me but he has never seen you do it. So he was coaxing you to put your face in but you would just look at him and laugh, so he thought he would show you. He stuck his face in the soapy water and blew bubbles, then pop up and smile at you with the water running off his beard. You thought this was hilarious (so did I). He kept doing it and you kept laughing. Then you started grabbing his hair and pulling his head into the water. This went on for five minutes or so. By the end we were all laughing!

You are such a joy and delight your Papa and I so much. Everyday you surprise me with how much you understand and the new things you can do! I can not wait till summer when we can get you into a pool and teach you how to swim!

Grandma Miller

Since the day you were born my mother, your "grandma", has been in your life. She came and stayed two weeks when I got home from the hospital and when I had to go back to work at 10 wks post partium she came two days a week to watch you (and give your awesome stay at home Papa a break!) She has been doing that for the past 14 months! I can not express in words how thankful I am to her. She drives an hour and a half each way and spend two days loving you and teaching you new things! It has greatly helped me adjust as I learn to deal with the fact that I cannot be at home with you all the time as I would want, but I know that between your Grandma and your Papa you are well taken care and loved beyond measure while I am gone!

You LOVE your Grandma and always want her to hold you when she is in the room! I listen from the bathroom as I get ready for work in the morning and hear you and her laughing as she feeds you breakfast in the kitchen. Then, when you have eaten all she can stuff into you, I hear the two of you coming down the hall. I wait for the peek-a-boo game that comes next as she holds you, so that only your face peeks into the bathroom and you can see me. Then she pulls you back (you laugh) and do it all over again!

She takes you on long walks around our neighborhood and helps you chase the dog around the house, to which you giggle so much you loose your balance! You help her wash dishes in the sink, even though you soak your cloths and hers! She plays "Hunter and Bear" with you the way she used to play with me when I was a child. And she teaches you about Jesus, in hopes that one day she will get to have a conversation about the grace and forgiveness He has given to you and how He loves you.

Your Grandma is an incredible woman who gives and sacrifices unceaseingly for those she loves and YOU are at the top of that list!

Blogging with Purpose -Day 1

I have been inspired to leave "memories" for my son, Chandler and for all future children if we are blessed with them. To remind him what our family was like when he was little and to testify to the grace and provision of Jesus in our lives!

I am excited...but out of time for today. Blogging takes a while!