HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, JOSHUA!

 Friday, May 16th  

Time just doesn't want to stand still, does it?  Today we are celebrating Joshua’s 11th birthday.  He asked for scrambled eggs for breakfast, homemade napolitana empanadas for lunch. potato soup for dinner and pumpkin pie for dessert. 

Here’s what my Thursday/Friday morning looked like:

2 pumpkin pies made (Joshua birthday dessert request)

30 empanadas made (Joshua’s birthday lunch request)

A big pot of potato soup made (Joshua’s birthday dinner request)

2 loaves of bread rising on the counter (to go with the soup)

24 cinnamon  biscuits made and a big bowl of fruit salad chopped (for Saturday’s breakfast with company)

65 shish-ka-bobs made (for Saturday’s lunch)

2 9x13 dish of mandioca made (for Saturday’s lunch)

Three party signs painted and tons of balloons blown up

Plans for a smashing baby reveal shaping up

House semi-cleaned, guest sheets washed and dried

Saturday.  We had a “progressive party” at our place with all of our rural team mates.  We celebrated another team mate’s birthday, Joshua’s birthday, and our team mate's baby reveal.

FAMILY PICTURES

I love pictures and I love my family….

Ginny says: I thought that when I saw our family picture there would be a lot of people in it, but it just looked normal.  I mean, 9 people isn’t really a lot to me especially because I know everyone so well.

THIS GUY IS GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST

Josiah at 13 months

After being in our house a couple weeks, our guests commented that they didn't utilize their cardboard boxes near as much as they should.  Our kids LOVE boxes and create cars, houses, shelves, easels, beds...you name it...out of them.  Looks like Josiah is following suit.  He loved this box and for a couple days kept trying to crawl in.    

Josiah loves animals.

bath time.

learning to walk

helping big sister with a craft project

hanging out together

ADVENTURES...BOYS and BIKES

Every year some of our youth ministry minded team-mates take the older boys on an MK Adventure.  In the past it has included hiking, but this year they decided to do a biking trek.  They biked 14 miles from our team-mate’s house to our house.  They took a couple side roads but spent most of it on the main road…which, come to think of it, is more like an off-roading experience with dirt, craters, rocks and cows in the way.  They got to our house just before dark and with huge grins on their faces.  They immediately set up in the back room and began playing games.  These boys LOVE being together and I love watching them interact.  I seriously couldn't have hand picked a better bunch of boys for Ryan and Joshua to be best friends with. 

Jeff just got a great new grill (actually it was a gift from his SIM men team-mates….I told you we have an awesome group to serve with) and hosting hungry teen guys and dads was the perfect “excuse” for firing up his grills.  Plus, it was Mandy and Dave (our interns) last night in Jataity, so we invited their host family and made it kind of a going-away meal as well.

    And s’mores for dessert (thanks to our interns for hauling the supplies all the way from America).

And a BIG game of air-soft till 1 AM.  Man, these guys just don’t run out of energy!

They finally came in, showered, played a few more (indoor) games and spread out their mattresses and went to sleep.

The following morning the guys woke up ready to begin day #2 of the adventure.  Unfortunately in the night one of the boy’s bike was stolen right from off our porch along with another boy’s bike helmet and a third boy’s shoes!  Not too long after they left our house, one of the boys fell off his bike majorly injuring his bike and minimally bruising his body.  They were still close to our house then their destination so they turned back, ate lunch at our place, and headed IN CAR to our team mate’s house.  It's all the un-planned adventures that lead to a very memorable trip.

AND THE BEST MILESTONE OF ALL.....SLEEP

For as sweet and happy and content as Josiah is during the day, he is just as rotten at night.  In his first 12 months of life, he has slept through the night three times.  THREE.  That’s it.  Jeff and I have racked our brains for solutions.  I mean, after all, we have had 6 other children who slept through the night within the first couple months of life.  Surely we should know what we’re doing by now.

We've tried putting on his tummy, putting him to bed earlier, putting him to bed later, skipping naps, giving medicine, crying it out, patting him to sleep, giving more food, stopping nursing…and through it all he would wake multiple times.  I considered it a good night if he only woke up 3 times between 10 and 7.  I am exhausted, a bit worn down and probably a lot loopier than I realize.

This month we decided to try Josiah in a big, next to a sibling who we just assumed would be Joshua.  You see when Micah graduated from the crib, Joshua wanted Micah to sleep with him.  Then when Julia was ready, Micah moved to a twin bed and Julia took her place next to Joshua.  But Julia and Joshua have always had a special bond.  She LOVES her “Joshu-ee” and he adores her….and she doesn't want to move from his side.  For nearly a year Ginny and Julia have had a girl’s room with a queen bed that Ginny specifically requested so the two could sleep together, but Julia won’t sleep in it. 

 Here’s what I love about my kids: they love each other.  Both Micah and Tyler begged to have Josiah sleep with them, but since they are on top bunks, that wasn't an option.  Joshua desperately wanted to Josiah to join him and Julia, but there’s only so much room on a twin bed.  But Ginny, who also requested to have Josiah in her bed, was picked.

And would you believe that since Josiah has been next to Ginny, he slept through the night 7 nights in a row.

Unfortunately is was just seven nights.  With house guests and travel his new "good thing" got disturbed.  Hopefully he'll get back  on track next week at home.