Crazy start of the year!

Neglected Judah.


January was insane. I mean crazy. In the past January was a nice and slow month for us. Definitely not this year. Joel's traveling picked up mid-January and has not slowed since. I have been judging quite a bit .. at least 2 times a week. We had Joel III's birthday. Then Potty training. I started a kickboxing class and church bible study. Joel III started a gymnastics class. And discipleship meetings for our church have taken up any available 'free time.' Insane. Something has to suffer when things get this busy for sure. I would say our spiritual life for one. We make time to read the Bible each day and are going through Bible in a Year for the 2nd (for me) and 3rd (for Joel) year in a row. However our readings and prayer time gets cut short when there are so many other things to do. It is times like these I am thankful for things like Discipleship, which continually pulls us back to the Word and making time for our Lord. (who, of course, deserves so much more than 20 mins of our daily lives.. right?) Especially since we are supposed to be 'leading' the relationship so we need to set a good example!

Another thing that has suffered: Judah. Poor Judah. He has discovered that life goes on around him and is therefore less interested in feeds. Joel is usually loudly playing while I'm trying to nurse him. And pretty frequently when daddy isn't home I have to interrupt a feeding for discipline or to clean Joel up after a meal. He also doesn't nurse too well on the go because he hears different sounds around him and is curious. And of course the colors of my nursing cover up are just so intriguing and it must be grabbed at all times. At his 4 month dr. appointment we discovered the consequences of these problems: Average weight gain from months 2-4 is 3 lbs and average height is 1-2 inches. Judah gained only 2 lbs and grew 3 inches. Hm.. His Dr. wasn't too concerned because we talked about how we might have just caught him after a height growth spurt and he hasn't put on the weight. I am hoping that his reflux symptoms will also get better, because that seems to hinder his nursing quite a bit as well. Poor little guy.



This video is one of my personal favs.




January 17th we celebrated Joel III's second birthday.


We had a few close friends over and the grandparents for lasagna and cake and presents. It was nice and laid back. I think Joel though was a little overwhelmed by all the adult attention and was acting up a little bit. (making mean faces, crying, and not listening very well) But that is to be expected I've heard. With the exception of his not-so-stellar behavior the night was a great success.





The next three days we began another potty training adventure that soaked up both parents time in huge ways. We literally got nothing done other than taking care of the boys. I guess that should have been expected too. Ohwell. At least this time it worked! seriously. I am shocked myself. It has been 2 weeks since we started and Joel has gone 5 days in a row without an accident. He doesn't like to go in front of other people (i.e. babysitters) and he doesn't like to go on the 'big potty.' Oh yeah, and he also doesn't tell you when he has to go. I have to put him on the potty at the right times. But other than all of those things we are doing very well! Next week we will all be traveling to Florida for assemblies and the annual Danny Wuerffel trophy extravaganza. I will not be bringing the little potty with us.. shocker. So, I am going to put the little potty away and see how it goes with the big potty at the beginning of the week.



Next week will be our first time flying with either child. I am kinda clueless about the whole process. I am excited to see how Joel will do. I think he will really enjoy it, other than the loud sound at take off and landing. Emily Holliday (who is in her 3rd trimester) will be flying down with him and then Judah and I will come a couple days later. (Don't ask me how I got away with that one!) The whole family will fly back together a week later. We decided a man-to-man approach might be best since we are all new at this. Thanks Emily!!

Joel III is soaking up new information like crazy! He is starting to put together sentences and even express his own ideas! The other day in the car he asked me to repeat a song, which he frequently does, by saying "do gain, do gain" but then he said out of nowhere, "like dat song!" I was blown away. Joel says he can even tell a difference in his language when he comes back from a long 4-5 day trip. It is so fun. Right now we (we this time being Joel III and I) are learning a Bible song to all of the new testament books of the Bible and he knows the first 6! Which, sadly is probably better than a lot of Christian adults. pop quiz/guilt trip: can you name them?

Please pray for safety during Joel's travel right now and the upcoming 2 weeks - he will be/is in: California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.