Amazement Squar_e

We had a great time visiting Amazement Squar_e for a family day and Esther's birthday present from us. We got some cute pics and lots of laughs that day. We even ran into some friends from church.

Peek-a-boo Jonas

One of Jonas' new tricks is when we come into his room he is peering over the bumper pad. I think he is kinda irritated with me for leaving it up, but it goes with his room, so....it's still there. When he gets upset in his crib, this is what I usually find, him waiting for me to come in. While I was at it, I thought I'd post some finished pics of his room. Now that he's almost 9 months, fitting for us to get his room finished. :)

Birthday Pictures

Esther is so fortunate with having a December birthday to get to see both families so close to her actual birthday. Hopefully she'll understand that as she gets older, as I've heard from lots of disgruntled December birthday-ers. :) So to that I say, celebrate your half-birthday too! We are going to have a mini-party on June 22 as she gets older. We love to party! Here's some pictures of our recent ones. She had a Dora party in Georgia and a Nemo party here in New Jersey. We have to give some props to Nanna and Uncle Adam who made the Nemo cake with regular things from around the house since Mommy forgot the Nemo cake pan. It turned out fantastic! I don't have the patience for those kinds of projects. Now for the pictures...

Birthday Letter to our little girl....

Dear Esther,

Even in the midst of this busy Christmas season, we will never forget how our lives were changed on December 22, 2005. Mommy was due to have you on Christmas Eve, but they thought you were going to be so big, they thought they should try to get you to come early. One thing led to another and after one long Thursday, you were born at 6:06 p.m. by a caesarean section. We were so thankful to God that you got here safely! When they brought you out, you were screaming and crying, and as soon as they brought you to Mommy, you stopped crying and knew that familiar voice. How amazing those first moments were! We spent a few extra days recovering in the hospital which gave time to reflect on the God who gave you to us and how He gave us His Son. We lifted up so many prayers for you and for us that God would guide us in parenting you. We'll never forget looking into those big blue eyes of you and feeling that enormous weight of responsibility that every parent does when holding their newborn for the first time. The next few days were a wild ride as daddy ended up in the hospital which started out as choking episode and ended up with an endoscopy the next morning. The Conley's and Chaney's arrived soon after you were born to welcome you. We celebrated Christmas a little late altogether, but noone seemed to mind the delay. You were the best Christmas gift we could have gotten. You have been such a bundle of energy from that first day. I can remember everytime I took you out, you would always try to engage others before you could ever talk by smiling and giggling. We have had lots of laughs with you. You have loved being with people and would always bring your pile of toys to follow Mommy or Daddy from room to room. We pray God will use that love for people to minister to others for His glory. Most of all, we pray that you will see the love God has given you and that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and trust Christ as your Savior. We pray that God will continue to guide us in parenting you in His grace.

We love you Esther Faith! Happy 3rd birthday!

Daddy & Mommy

Family Photo Shoot 2008

A few firsts...

First Haircut
Jonas got his first haircut already! It was getting a little shaggy on the ears and grew crooked so we straightened it up over Thanksgiving with the help of Aunt Elisabeth to keep the wiggly guy still! First Thanksgiving/Christmas We spent Thanksgiving at the Conleys this year and had a great time. It had been a while since we had seen everybody last. Jonas got to meet Uncle John. And we got to celebrate Christmas a little early. Jonas loved opening the presents. We also celebrated Esther's 3rd birthday with her cousins. We came back with lots of presents needless to say! It was nice to just be able to relax and rest- as you can see below Stephen was taking a little snooze after our early morning Black Friday excursion and Esther wanted to make sure he was complete to sleep with a wedge and toys.

Our little skunk

This is really overdue, but just so Jonas has some props too. Here was the cutest little costume we found and got our .49 worth out of it. He's going to kill us for this someday. We love you Jonas!

The Christmas Story...according to Esther

Last year we got Esther a Children's Nativity set for Christmas. She has enjoyed it this year even more than last and has been playing with it every day. You wonder how much of the concept of God they can comprehend in their little minds. We try to capture those 'teachable moments little and often' (thank you Mr. Fair! :), but still there's so much to learn! We are going through the Jesse Tree with her for Advent this year. I love going through this in Family Worship because it helps me also to focus on Christ in this busy, busy season!

Well, yesterday after church, Stephen and I overheard her playing with her nativity. She first said that Mary was going to have baby Jesus. (okay so far) Then she had the angel, and said, "And the angel, said...", then gets a little bit louder, "AND THE ANGEL SAID,..." (Stephen and I are feeling pretty proud at this point that she knows what the angel said.) "...the ANGEL SAID, NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!" What do you say to that? Needless, to say, we got our laugh in for the day!