Atlanta

Jonah says his name!

Tonight I was rocking Jonah right before bedtime and singing Jesus Loves Me to him.  He was snuggled in tight.  Halfway through the song he pulled away from me and got really serious and said "Do-nah!"  So then I changed the lyrics to "Jesus loves Jonah" and he giggled then settled right down.

Heat Wave

Down here in Alabama the temperature has hit 100 every day since June 17th.  Today the heat wave finally broke and it rained!  Here are some pictures of the boys cooling down with dip in our pool.  I put it on the porch so the water would stay clean when they got in and out.

Jonah's 1st Birthday!!!

July 1st was Jonah's Birthday.  For his birthday, we taught him to hold up one finger and yell "Dat!" When we ask him how old he is.  He was very excited about the whole event.  We had a rubber ducky party for him.  One of his first words was duck and he still gets excited when he gets to play when his rubber ducky in the tub.  Now he has over ten of them!  I guess that's what happens when you're the third child.  He loved his cake (which I made).  He really didn't get that messy.  I think he wants to be like everyone else so he tried to eat as neatly as possible.

At one, Jonah:
-Likes grapes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and goldfish.
-Can stand for 5 seconds on his own.
-Signs more, eat, drink, and all done.
-Does a perfect imitation of Newton's meow.
-Is a crazy dancer whenever music is turned on.  The louder and faster the better!
-Can go up and down the stairs all by himself.  He even claps for himself when nobody else will!


Here's some more pictures from Jonah's day.

Look at my big present!

Reed is helping!

I like this  new ball learning table!

Duck Cake

I just want to eat that cake!

Finally I get to touch it!

Cake!

Why haven't I had this before?  It's good!

mmmmmm

All Done!

Baseball

Well the tee-ball season is now over for the boys.  They both had great seasons.  Reed has improved greatly from last year.  He consistantly made outs every game.  On his first game he played first base and made 3 outs in a row in one inning.  His other favorite position was pitcher because he liked fielding the ball and running it home for an out.  He also enjoyed playing with his friends Isaiah and Justice.  It was such a blessing to have friends to play with who he already knew.  His coach was Chris Pohl who did a good job with the boys.

Simon's first season was fun for him.  He learned how to play as a team and listen to his coach.  He played all the positions and could field the ball pretty well.  He loved running the bases and drinking water with his friends in the dugout.  I think being on the field was a bit overwhelming but he hung in there.  It wasn't that unusual to see half of his team playing in the dirt instead of paying attention so I wasn't too upset when one of them was Simon.  I think the funniest time was when Simon decided to pick the dirt up and drop it so the wind would blow it.  The wind changed direction and the dirt ended up in his eyes!

Here are some pictures from our tee-ball season.

Bedtime for Jonah

I'm starting a new routine with Jonah now that he's stopped nursing.  Now we cuddle in the rocking chair in his room.  I help him through a short prayer (he babbles and grunts like he's repeating what I'm saying) and then I pray over him myself.  After that I sing Amazing Grace and Jesus Loves Me with him.  Then we just rock and cuddle for a few more minutes until I lay him down in bed.  He is still awake when I put him down, but he's calm and stays settled down.  It is so nice to be able to enjoy some quiet time with my baby boy before he goes down.

Simon is now 4!!

Tuesday was Simon's birthday.  We celebrated by having family and friends over for a super hero party.  I tried to make it as laid back as possible so the kids had chicken nuggets from McDonald's with goldfish and spiderman fruit snacks.  I also put out the Bat Cave and all the superhero action figures I could find.   It was fun to watch all 10 kids playing together and in the backyard.

Simon has grown so much over the past year.   Here is an off-the-top-of-my-head list about Simon:
-He can now count past 20 and skip count by 10s.
-He loves to personify objects and make up stories about them.  One time I found him saying, "oh no! don't eat me!"  every time he put a grape in his mouth.
-He likes to cook.
-He can now peddle his own tricycle.
-He sings with more emotion than I have ever heard out of a child.  My favorite is when he sings Yesterday by the Beatles, although I don't know what troubles Simon has :)
-His favorite foods right now are grapes, peanuts, toast, and chicken nuggets.

Simon: Friend of animals

 Here is Simon and Newton hanging out in the laundry basket.  Simon likes to sit quietly with Newton when the cat wants to rest.  They have been known to  sit under bushes and trees together.  I've also found them in corners and other small spaces around the house.

Of course Simon loves his Aha. Elephants flock to him too :)

Seriously, Simon is a gentle soul who loves all kinds of animals.  He tells us his favorite animals are ducks, penguins, and birds.  He notices every little animal that comes along.  He's also the first one to come running when there's a dog to pet.  He even likes to touch those crazy scaly reptiles.

Jonah at 11 months

Jonah has grown so much over the last couple of months.  He has really been working on his sounds lately.  His favorite thing to talk about right now is his rubber ducky that he takes baths with.  He calls it Duh.  He also now has names for Reed and Simon.  They are Dah and Bah.  It's especially evident when he's yelling at them to get their attention.  Jonah has also been practicing his car sound.  Now when ever he has a car in his hand be trying to make that brmm sound.  He also says, "bubblew" when we aren't quick enough at saying, "bless you" for him when he sneezes.

Our little Jojo is also quite the eater.  His favorites are bananas and chicken nuggets.  I can honestly say that I have never seen him turn down meat.  He is a protein eater.

Jonah really is quite the happy baby.  The only things that really frustrate him are when he wants to be with his brothers and he can't.  It has been so fun to see how he fits in with the other boys.  Simon seems to have knack for helping him feel better when he's sad.  Simon also likes to help Jonah go to bed and get up.  Reed is the one who tickles and chases him.    Jonah can usually get Reed to get him what he wants if Tim and I aren't around.

The other day Reed said to me, "Mommy, I'm so glad that we have a baby in our family!"  I agree, and I can't imagine life without him.

Reed graduates and turns 6!

On May 19th, Reed had his kindergarten graduation.  It was a fun ceremony where they interview all the kids about their favorite field trip and their favorite subject.  Reed's answers were the train ride and reading.  Afterwards there was a cake and punch reception.  He did such a good job reciting his memory verses (John 3:16 and Ephesians 6:1) and singing Jesus Loves Me with his classmates. Here is another from that day with  Emily and Abigail.

The other major thing for Reed this month is that he turned 6 on the 12th.  He asked me if he could have a lego party.  so we invited a few friends over to play and have cupcakes.  I put little candy legos on the cupcakes and we decorated with lego posters.  Here are some pictures of that.