Josiah Video

He's actually only six months in this first video.  I love this little voice so much!!!

I have tried EVERY bib.  Velcro, snap, and now T-shirt collar.  Its no match for Houdini.  I need to just make a shirt style bib that ties in the back... also known as a straight jacket.

The boy is fast.  

I was just trying to capture his mad finger food skills with bananas.  And I got this!  He signs "more" for the first time at 8 1/2 months old.  I've been doing the more sign with him since about 6 months old.  So exciting!  Maybe this will decrease the fussing!

And here is a sweet little gem.  Ella LOVES her brother.  Sure there are the occasional frustrating moments where Ella wishes she had my attention, or his fussing is getting on her last nerve.  In turn, Josiah LOVES hi sister.  Sure there's always the moments where she turns on heel to run and accidentally trips over him, kneeing him in the head.  But isn't that what siblings are for!?  For the most part Ella is helpful, involved and intentional with her brother without every being asked.  And Josiah adores her, watches her every move and thinks everything she does is amazing and hilarious... you know, save for the kneeing him in the head thing.  I have prayed that they would have a wonderful sibling relationship and it brings me such joy to see those prayers answered.  I will continue to pray for their relationship all of my days!  

8 Months!

(There will be a follow up post of all video!!!)

Okay, he's really closer to 9 months old now, and I could barely get an in-focus picture because this little bubba does not stop moving for one solitary second.  But here he is in all of his 8 month glory!  Yes, he has food all over him.  It was my only hope of getting him to sit remotely still.

Oh hi mom!  This is the smile I ALWAYS get when he first sees me.  

You want me to pose?  Okay, how's this face?

Okay, I'm getting skeptical... how long is this going to take?

Bo-ring!  I'll eat my buckle.  I have a little bit of a buckle addiction to be honest.

Bbbpppllllll!  That's what I think of this!

Dude.  I'm outta here!

• He still likes to eat... lots more foods now.  He generally does not want you to feed him and only wants to eat things he can pick up on his own.  Independent.  Stubborn.  (must get that from his father... wink, wink.)
• He still doesn't like to sleep...well, naps are great now.  He goes to sleep like a champ at 6:30 and wakes up for the day around 7am.  But some nights there is still lots of resettling and he still nursing once in the wee hours of the morning.  I'm okay with it.  I'm rolling with it.  I'm savoring the sweet moments nursing.  I'm asking God what He has for me in this, what he wants me to learn (thanks to some advice from a wise mama of 5!)
• I know all the pictures of him are always all smiles...but don't be fooled.  That's only because he has my undivided attention.  He has a constant middle of the road fuss that you will hear non-stop unless he is sleeping, being held, being entertained or getting into something.  I'm going with the theory that he's HIGHLY intelligent and therefore needs stimulation or else gets bored.  That will serve him well in life.  However, I'm fairly certain it will give me many a gray hair in the near future and I'm willing to bet big bucks that I have my work cut out for me when he goes even more mobile!
• Speaking of mobile.  This boy can army crawl like nobody's business!  He's always one the go.  He wants to get into EVERYTHING and will!  He's constantly exploring and spots something new and undiscovered in seconds!
• It's harder to diaper this boy than it is to wrangle a greased pig!  Talk about squirmy!  Especially when his sister is around.  He LOVES his sister.  He can hear her a mile a way and contorts himself to be able to see her.  She can make him giggle and smile like no other!
• He talks a lot...lots of babbles, coos, noises, sounds, giggles, belly laughs, squeals .. fusses and cries.   
• He has more hair than Ella did when she was two and he weighs more than she even dreamed of weighing when she was one!
• He WILL not keep ANY bib on.  The child is Houdini.
• And he is a genius.  He just signed "more" for the first time today at 8 1/2 mo old!  
• He is a true boy joy who's giving me a run for my money but has completely run away with my heart.

Hi-HO, Hi-HO its off to work I go!

Maybe you've heard about this.... our government can't agree on and come up with a budget.  Its recklessly spending it's way into an oblivion of debt whilst hardworking people like ourselves are doing everything we can to get out of debt and live within our means... even... (gasp!) GIVING money away  AND putting money into savings.  Crazy I know!  Can you tell I get a little ruffled by it all?

Anyhoo, I digress.  Because our government is reckless, my husband is being furloughed at least 14 days it looks like.  What does furlough mean?  It means... we don't pay you for 14 days.  It means 20% pay cut   It means our nations national defense shuts down for 14 days.  Not good people.  Not good.

But I cannot control any of this.  I can only control what I think and what I do.  So I choose to pray and to trust.  And I choose to go get a job.

Yes, we'll be OK if the furlough goes through.  But we won't be able to save, continue to pay down debt and we'll have to cut out EVERY extra.  And by extra's I mean, buying ANYTHING for the kids or us other than groceries and gas.  We don't DO a ton of extras over here to begin with folks.

GOD IS GOOD.  I hopped on the internet to search for some sort of job that would provide us with some extra income but still allow me to stay home (because if I had to pay for childcare it would all cancel each other out anyway!)  HERE IS WHAT HE PROVIDED the very day I went online to look!

• I am going to score the essay portions of standardized tests (sure I might be geeky, but I think that sounds like fun!).  
• The hours are 5:30pm-9:30pm Monday - Friday.  WEEKENDS STILL FREE FOR FAMILY!!!
• It is not continual.  Bathches of tests come through and you sign up for the ones you want!  If you don't want to sign up for any because say.... your husband is going to be out of town for a month... you're going up to camp for a week... or you just want a break... You don't have to!!!
• COULD NOT BE ANY MORE PERFECT.  Praise God.

So I rejoin the "working" world again.  Orientation is tonight!  

Git 'er done!

Holy Hannah, though.  The sun popped out one day and temps warmed up to around 50 and it's got my house fixin' DIY mojo a flowin'!  Here's a list of what I want to do!

• Spring clean the whole house
• finish painting where we did reno in the living room
• finish painting where we did reno in the bathroom (I won't even SAY how long ago)
• put frame around bathroom mirror
• touch up paint on cabinets and wall corners
• finish the little bits of trim in the kitchen
• get my decorations back up in the living room
• finish stain and poly where we did reno in the living room
• put doors on the pantry
• put trim in the 1/2 bath
• paint the linen closet doors in my bathroom
• redo the woodstove hearth
• paint and create windowseat nook upstairs
• paint stairway
• paint hallway
• finish drywall on ceiling in upstairs bath
• organize the storage room AGAIN
• organize the utility room
• rebuild porch
• rebuild deck
• make firepit area
• put woodchips around new swingset
• take old swingset to dump
• tend my flower garden
• put fence up around veggie garden
• plan/plant veggie garden
• clean up branches in yard
• make wood storage shed
• Im sure I've forgotten something!

OOOOOh wait... I haven't had a full nights sleep in over 8 months and Im perpetually exhausted.  I think I'll vacuum the upstairs that hasn't been done in three weeks, blog my to-do wish list and call it a day :)

P.S. I know I haven't blogged in forever.  I have 1,000 posts swirling around in my head and 10,000 pictures and videos to post of my little loves.  But I'm spending my energy where it's needed.  Some day they shall all come flowing forth when I have the time!

7 Months Old!

He JUST keeps getting cuter! 

Josiah is 7 months old now.  He is such a joy!

You'll see his bottom two teeth in some of these pictures.  Too adorable! 

Multiple people say he doesn't look like me or Jason and I completely agree!  

I think he COMPLETELY looks like an Eklund! (My mom's Dad to be exact).  Which is not a bad thing at all, 'cause my grandpa was one handsome man!  

Any Eklunds reading this, give me a shout out if you agree!

He is just beginning to sit up.  He can do it on his own for up to 10 seconds, but will quickly topple.  In these pictures, he's helped by a Bumbo under the quilt that Auntie Jen made!

He rolls ALL over the place.  You set him down and he's off.  Never in one spot anymore!

He can do a little army crawl too!

This boy is busy and motivated to move!

We call him Grabby McGrabster because he has the York long arm reach.  Even if you think something is out of his reach... he lunges and shoots out his go-go-gadget arms and grabs it quicker than you can blink!  We've had a few water glasses spilled at the dinner table this way :)

He's interested in anything and everything.  And especially if it's new... he wants it... in his hands.  NOW!

He loves to be tickled and tossed in the air.  His giggles and full blown laughter are still the sweetest sounds.

He loves his big sister... all eyes on her when she's around.  And likewise she likes to entertain him with silly faces, dances and toys.  She's pretty much over the helping with diapers at this point.  But she insists on giving him hugs and kisses every time he goes for a nap and it melts my heart anew each time.

He's definitely a mama's boy.  His eyes follow me wherever I go and he's all smiles when I come into a room.  I can't say that I mind at all.  A friend of mine, when she found out we were having a boy, told me that there is a special bond between Momma and her son that is unlike any other.  I'm starting to get a taste of that :)

He's survived croup, an ear infection and the flu.  This boy's a trooper.  Ella was never this sick and it's caused me to educate myself even more on natural remedies, which we're now employing with MUCH success!

He's given us a run for our money in the sleep department.  After much advice, many trial and errors, and reading 4 books on infant sleep.  I finally came up with a method that worked!  He now consistently (save for the flu-zilla period of time) only wakes once a night to eat.  He goes to bed at 6 or 6:30pm, wakes at 3am to eat and sleeps again until 6 or 7 in the morning.  And with greater night time sleep, his daytime sleep has improved as well.  He now takes two long naps a day, sometimes a third short one thrown in in the morning.  Our house is much happier in general!  

All the video of Ella's skiing!

We took a lot of video of Ella skiing this past weekend.  So here it is, mainly for all me friends and family!  Please ignore my "awesome" commentary.  I simply wasn't cut out to be a sportscaster!  AND, after watching the videos I realized that you can't really tell how steep the pitches are and how fast she's going, because most of the video is shot from behind her, moving at the same speed as her...  but lets just say, she's skiing pitches I'd never dreamed she'd be doing the fourth time out at 4 years old... and her speed is enough to scare this momma, who is a speed demon herself on skis!  Enjoy!  

Video Proof! Ella Skis!!

If you've read any of my facebook posts, you've read of my excitement about how much Ella loves skiing and how well she's doing.  I'm always alone with her, so no video.  Then Auntie Erin and Jamie took video but the file was too big it wouldn't load.  Well, I finally have video proof!  I'm not a liar!

This weekend Ella and I headed north for a little mommy/daughter ski weekend.  We're staying with Auntie Jen and we skied at Hermon Mountain... my old stomping grounds.    It's where I learned to ski in second grade, where I spent many a night and weekend, where I later taught skiing and then finally raced throughout high school.  It's simply the perfect place to learn to ski, to go with the family, to get outside and hang out with friends on the nights and weekends.  If you're in the area and you've not checked it out... you're missing out!  (They have tubing too!)

Today was simply a perfect day!  No lines, no wind, sun shining, family bonding and Ella rippin' it up :)  Many thanks to the Whitcombs (Hermon Mountains most wonderful owners/operators) for their generosity today!!  :)  You know what I'm talking about!

Getting ready to hit the slopes with Auntie Jen!

Mommy daughter time rocks!!!  And LOOK we DID get on the coveted ONE pink chairlift!

Riding the chairlift with Auntie Jen.  Ella LOVED the chairlift... quite the upgrade from the rope tow (and MUCH nicer on mommy's back!).  Also, she's my dare devil so she loved how high we went!

Top o' the mountain to ya!

 And for those of you that have ANY idea about Hermon Mountain...  This was Ella's FOURTH time on skis.  She turned four years old less than two months ago.  I could not be more thrilled with how quickly she's picked up skiing and taken to it!  She skied slowpoke, lazy lane, long-view  lake-view AND scenic!  She's a speed demon, and scares mommy with how fast she likes to go... but then again, she probably takes after her mommy.  Most importantly, she LOVES it and is having SO much fun.  She didn't want even want to take a break and didn't want to go home!  Here's a video of her following Auntie Jen down Lazy Lane!  This is the slowest she went all day :)