What I knew vs. What I didn't know

oh my. This school year has been a tough one.  However, in a lot of ways, I knew what to expect this time, but of course I had some surprises as well.

Things I knew
Judah would be easy the first 5 months, then start to get busier.
Joel's travelling schedule would involve many nights away from home.
To survive I would need to step it up - do a better job of taking care of my relationship with Christ, my body, my home, and my husband. (kids? somehow they do a good job of never being fully neglected, the other 4.. not so much)


Things I didn't know
Joel III would potty train so easily. (yeay!)
Going from 1 to 2 was much easier than going from 0 to 1.
Joel III's attachment to his parents would continue at varying levels.. sigh;)
Judah's personality would be a pure joy.
I completely lack organizational skills.
I have an inability to comprehend and focus on what I'm reading in the Bible.
Having 2 kids cry at the same time is extremely emotionally exhausting.
Going on a date with my husband would become a luxury but also a necessity.

Yeah. So I think Joel would say that he was surprised at how exhausting traveling can be.  He was also surprised at how well the assemblies and concerts went this year in states so far away.  This is encouraging, but still another reminder of the struggle of balancing his family life and work/ministry life.  I know every family has to deal with that... but there is something different about it when you have someone else to blame (i.e. boss/company you work for).  Joel works for himself, so it is up to him to be a good steward of our ministry's resources, but he also needs to be a good husband and father at the same time.  A lot of times I wish I was a guy (ok, think leader of the home, more respect from culture, etc.) but this is not one of those times.  I am happy I do not have the burden he has.

While we are on the topic.. Hawaii was awesome for us.  It made us realize that we haven't had a date since Judah had been born! (6 months) So, we made a commitment to have 2 dates a month and honestly, even the first month was a huge struggle to get that in.  We really only had 1.5 dates in April.  The second date involved a dinner with just the two of us (woo hoo!) and then a ministry commitment. However, anytime I'm out and about without the kids feels like a date so I was happy!

After being a Christian for almost 10 years (June, 2001) I finally gave in and decided to have my "quiet time" in the morning.  I have been against this for various reason but mostly bc I treasure my sleep.  I finally got to the point where my daily readings (yes, I was actually still managing to cram them in on a daily basis.. trust me, they weren't a quality time in the Word by any means) were so pathetic that I surrendered to the Christian  cliche of having a "quiet time" in the morning. I figured I'm already getting up earlier than I want to, getting less sleep than I would like and drinking more coffee than I should.. I might as well get up just a tad bit earlier to get some quality time with the Lord.  To my stubborn dismay it actually has been awesome for me.  Yes, my mind wanders to the extent that I have no idea what I just read. Yes, I sleep in occasionally still.  Yes, I've been super tempted to use that time to do other things ("Wow, Judah is awake, I could sneak in a feeding right now and it might actually be a good one because he wouldn't be distracted by Joel") But, for the most part things are going well.

Joel III and Judah 

People are saying Judah is looking more and more like Joel did when he was a baby.  Here's a great comparison of the two at the same age - almost 7 months. Check out the expression on their faces!  Even I can say they look alike here!



Judah has loved his new found mobility (in April he was not crawling yet but able to get anywhere he wanted somehow) and the freedom to play with big brother Joel.  He laughs constantly when Joel plays with him.  He is extremely flexible.  He sucks his toes all the time.  He falls forward into a straddle split and he pulls his leg up to his side while on his belly to push himself up to a sitting position.. while passing through a side split. Here's a video of one maneuver he has mastered, skip to 1:15 to see the gymnastics.



Judah has done well with finger foods.  He loves cheerios, bananas, and most of all, graham crackers.  I remember being annoyed with how messy this stage was with Joel but I did not appreciate how quiet it kept him for so long! Now, of course, I do.  Sometimes Judah sits in his highchair for 45 mins at dinner trying all sorts of different finger foods.  He is extremely content.  He wakes up around 7:30 and will roll around and suck his toes for an hour until I am ready to nurse him. 

Judah doing almost complete straddle split!

Precious Judah - 6 month pic

he's just so cute, my friend Crystal Jo did an awesome job!

Joel III spent most of April sick.  He had a horrible R ear infection that took 3 weeks to go away and 3 different antibiotics. You can see in this picture the ear infection was so bad that it caused his eye to have discharge and swell. gross.

Joel III's ear infection was so bad that it caused a conjunctivitis in his eye!

He has also had a lot of sinus infections.  He hasn't had much wheezing since he was a baby but when he has fevers the wheezing returns.  He had 2 days of fevers with this ear infection.  His Dr. thinks he has some seasonal allergies causing the frequent sinus infections.  We are now on singulair (read: expensive asthma/allergy med, chewable daily pill) and we will see if that helps.  Honestly, for $140/mo I think I might be able to deal with wiping his snot 20 times a day! But, if it will prevent other problems then it will be worth it. Joel is slowly learning how to poop in the potty now with very special rewards. here's one of our most favorite videos of him cheerfully drinking chocolate milk!


At the very end of March, Joel III built a snowman with his Daddy. He has been obsessed with snowmen all Winter and we never built one with him and thought that we missed our chance! here's a video of the final product!





Easter was a fun time.  Joel and Judah both slept well at Gamma and Papa Groskopf's house,  Joel and I were together briefly and had a chance to eat some amazing strawberry pie, and Joel enjoyed sneaking bites of Easter candy from Papa! Here's a video of Joel's basket from Gamma and Papa.


We are excited for May.  My brother Mike is getting married, The Hollidays are having their baby girl, and Joel will be home much more!