- Road trip with my brothers and parents to the twin cities
- So thankful that my kids are good travelers!
- Took Ava to an indoor water-park Sat. and Sun.
- Ava has no fear of water
- I’m so glad I remembered her life-jacket
- Had an absolute blast running around with her and doing crazy stuff!
- Also enjoyed the time when Nana watched the kids and I could go on the big slides 🙂
- Had a lovely time visiting with family
- We arrived home on Monday at 2am with some very tired and confused kids
- Took Ava on a girls date! We both had a great time.
- On our walk to Starbucks, Ava and I chased a butterfly, discussed what color grass we like, and found rocks to walk on
- Note to self, pumpkin-spice frappachino’s are a good alternative to the latte’s on a warm fall day
- I discovered that watching Ava talk on the phone is like watching myself…weird
- Ava made friends with a toad
- Lincoln gave out numerous amazing hugs
We are currently trying to catch up on sleep…HA! And enjoying the gorgeous weather. I think we are slowly finding a schedule that works for us and making it our “normal”. I am keeping busy with about 20 house projects I’ve got going and you know…everything else. We continue to make decisions as we go about Josiah’s treatment and are trying to walk where He leads no matter what.
I do have a prayer request that I would like to bring to you. We know a family who has a little girl named Tru that is about Ava’s age and has a heart defect (that is how we know her). She had her third open-heart surgery on July 16th and is still in the hospital. I just read an update on her and she is not doing well right now. She could use some serious prayer and so could her parents and her older brother. My heart is hurting for them. It is an indescribable thing to see your child struggle to stay alive. Please pray for them.
Rejoicing day by day.
Lincoln is just growing up so much lately. He is 8 months old already…how did that happen? About a month ago he learned how to sit unassisted, and as of July 21st, he is officially crawling, and, at about the same time, he learned to get into a sitting position by himself. You may remember 
We now have to keep the bathroom door shut as that is his new favorite place to be! He still just has the two bottom teeth, but he’ll probably have a couple more soon. Yay. He’s been pretty cranky at night but is still mostly his happy little self during the day. He is LOVING his new mobility and is so determined to get into everything. Ava is learning what she can not leave on the floor anymore. He is starting to reach out to us when he wants to be picked up, which I love! He knows how to play “where’s Lincoln” and thinks that’s pretty great. He has a couple of very ticklish spots. He still loves to jump and we put him in his exer-saucer and johnny-jump-up so he can jump without us breaking our arms trying to hold him. I thought he said “Ma-Ma” the other day, but he hasn’t said it since, so I think it was just wishful thinking. He tries to bite everything and I understand now where the term “ankle-biter” comes from 🙂 He is still loving his baby food and I have been making homemade stuff and we are both enjoying that.
He’s been wanting to be rocked more lately, which is pretty unusual for him, but I have been just trying to enjoy it while it lasts. He got his first haircut last night…what a wiggle worm!
He still loves the water and has enjoyed swimming this summer. He loves to pinch and scratch…we are working on gentleness and it does not come naturally to him. He’s still our smiley guy and he still adores his sister. I love that!
Your giggle makes me giggle. Your blue eyes are so full of life and fun and mischief.
Thank you for showing me how to smile and laugh every day. You have stretched me more than I thought possible…and I’m thankful for that (most of the time). I pray that God will use your determined nature for good and that you will grow to be a strong and gentle man.   You are my sweet love-bug and I thank God for you every day. He knew you would be a perfect fit for our family.
Beautiful Things 