Life at 6, 2, and 5 months

I am always posting pictures and not writing much - I hope you don't mind!  Sometimes I feel like life is just so fun with these guys but in many ways really ordinary and the same from day to day.  Playing, changing diapers, naps, lunch, snacks, therapy, lots of medical stuff, trying to keep up with cooking dinner and cleaning house.  Trying to bring up these boys to know the One True God and His words.

Some days, in my mind I am standing by the door for hours waiting for Todd to get there.  Daddy coming home is a wonderful thing! 

Dad's popcorn looks pretty good...

Never mind heavy equipment to smooth out the dirt piles...this boy's got his own machine!

Meet Vicki, Elijah's new "nanny".  She's from Jamaica and loves the Lord and our boy(s)!  Thank you, God!  Elijah gets little songs and Bible verses from her all day long.  On top of that, she's hilarious! 

Our backyard!  So thankful for this great place to play. 

Elijah was doing some therapy on the dirt piles one day, lifting his arm up to send a truck down the hill.  He was having fun. 

With three now, it's getting harder to get a good picture -- someone is always messing it up! But these are pretty cute.

picture collage of life

Elijah started school the middle of September!  He's going two days a week, for two hours a day.  It's great that we can choose his schedule, and he gets to have fun with other kids plus get extra therapy.

The first day of school brought out a lot of emotions for me.  I never imagined that my child would go to "special-ed", or need the wheelchair lift on the bus, or have to wear diapers and get them changed by strangers on occasion.  I cried thinking about how it must feel to be so different than other kids.  What kid wants to sit in a wheelchair with an "aid" during recess while everyone else is running around screaming and playing tag?  I even cried because he couldn't wear a backpack.

I choose to see what God is doing here...that Elijah is bringing us into a new world.  The second day of school I went to check on him, and I saw all the kids in his class who need someone to love them, too.  I saw a whole school full of kids and teachers who need to know the Lord.  Use us, God.  And please be with my little boy. 

I love this!  Zane just squeals and laughs; he's so proud of himself.

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit!

Todd's parents, aunt and uncle and two friends from church came to help us with a concrete driveway.  Yay for not having to step through mud getting to the car when it rains!  Yay for clean wheels on Elijah's chair!  Thanks everyone for all your hard work!

Watching the action with Grandma.

Two barefoot boys on the new swing!

Sure is nice to have another man around the house!  :)

life these days

How can he be two?

We loved having the Moffits come visit on their way to the Philippines a few weeks ago!  So encouraging to us!!!  This was apparently a serious conversation.

 A blueberry pickin' phenomenon!  :)

These two were a hoot together.  The dirt piles saw lots of digging when they were together!

 Sweet brothers in their cozy flannels.  It's getting cold here!

 Look at those bright eyes!

Little Lukie turned two!  He seemed to enjoy his birthday so much.  Todd and I enjoyed it, too.  :)  It was very joyous to see him enjoying presents and blowing out his own candles and eating his blueberry pie.  Strange to think that I've been a momma for over six years now, but this is the first birthday at our house where that's been true in a 'normal' sense.  God truly gives abundant grace, but for me, Elijah's birthdays have been mixed with a lot of sadness.  I laughed so much with Luke and it seemed like such a precious day for all of us. 

Sometimes I feel guilty that it's so much easier to enjoy Luke and the stuff he does, his laugh, the things he says, the energy and life he brings to our family.  It also is astonishing how much change has happened in the past two years.  The process of human development is miraculous and a gift from God.  I know in my head that all of the challenges Elijah faces are also a "GIFT" -- but so, so many days they don't feel that way.  It takes conscious decision on our parts to embrace the ache in our hearts, to ask God for compassion, to beg God to transform the ugly selfishness of our own hearts - to help us die to ourselves so we can find what is real and lasting and lovely.

God is working on us and I am enormously thankful.  I'm thankful for this beautiful life He's given us, the five of us.  Beautiful because we're learning how to love.  We have to learn how because we stink at it on our own.  Love, love, love...it only comes from You, Lord!

See the hole in the crust?  Betcha can't guess which little boy was trying to taste the pie ahead of time, can you?

How sweet to be two and so excited about simple presents like tractors and work gloves! 

The next day, Luke woke up and asked "have birthday again"?  I would call that a smashing success.