August Fun.

Silas is going to be 6 months old in just a few days. He has been army crawling, getting up on his hands and knees and rocking, and sitting up (mostly) by himself. Toppling over is still a pretty common occurrence, so I'm always staying close by. Another new hobby of his: scooting his way on over to the floor vent, propping himself on hands and feet, and letting the ice cold air blast him in the face. I'm not sure if I should be alarmed by this or not. It seems weird. But, then again, Joe is kinda like a polar bear insisting on arctic temperatures, so the apple must not fall too far from the tree. Silas also responds to his name, and has pulled himself up to a stand one time. It was at Chrissy's house, on this adorable little cube, which is just the perfect height for Silas and Titus to do reckless tricks on. I like to pretend that was a fluke.

Judah is talking up a storm these days. He is putting 4 and 5 words together pretty consistently, and naturally, making us all laugh until we cry. One my favorite things that he does is tell me all the things he likes. It usually goes something like this: We will be rocking wrestling before nap time, and he will start the list (which is always pretty random, but you can sometimes see connections between the items). " I wike outside. I wike Grandma. I wike Maggie. I wike birthdays. I wike cake. I wike swings. I wike church. I wike cheese". What a guy. He has become increasingly infatuated with sweet baby Silas which just melts my heart. And scares the crap out of me. The kid still has zero concept of gentleness. Let me tell you how Judah/Silas interactions usually go: Silas is laying on the floor minding his own business. Judah is playing/jumping off of something/being a renegade. You see him recognize Silas' presence. He zeroes in. Judah sits down on the floor a couple feet away from Silas and scoots his little bottom right over to the baby's head, all the while yelling/growling his name. (if you've heard it, you know what I mean). Silas becomes wide-eyed and clearly concerned for his safety. Smart baby. Judah either says "hold it!" in an attempt to ask permission to hold Silas or just drags him right up into his lap using whatever limb is closest. Yikes. And that's why I can't get anything done during the day, my friends. These boys require constant supervision. :) They are oh so entertaining, though!





Roman is currently obsessed with bugs. Grandma Suellen has got to be loving this (I wish she were closer!) and I'm trying to learn enough to encourage him to keep learning about what interests him. In the last couple of weeks, we have caught butterflies, a caterpillar, a dead cicada, and an ant. He tells me about his love for bugs and how they are "so beautiful". Oh my. Roman is in a bit of a hoarding phase. Well, at least I hope it's a phase. It has been going on for a while now. I know most of his hiding spots though. For example, I couldn't find some papers that were in my Bible {under his bed}, or my hand mixer {under the trampoline in the toy room}. He will make a pile of toys in a chair and sit directly in front of it so no one can reach them. Roman's current favorite book is a compilation of four parables that we got him for Easter. He loves to retell the story of the foolish man who built his house on the sand and the wise man who built his house on the rock. Coincidentally (or not!), that was the gospel reading we chose for our wedding. Makes me so happy every time.





Speaking of our wedding, let's talk about how great my husband is.





The other day I was cleaning up supper dishes while he played with the boys in the toy room. I spoke his name and it all came rushing back to me. In the simplicity of such an ordinary moment, I flashed back to knocking on this very front door and being welcomed into this very home by his mother. I remembered praying with his family right here. Listening to him play guitar in the basement, toasting our engagement at this very table, celebrating our rehearsal dinner in what is now our living room. So much has happened here, within these walls. We started our family here ...before we even knew that's what we were doing. God is in the details. I'm so grateful for the way He has orchestrated all of these moments to create this life that we are living.





And, I am so thankful for you, Joe. I always knew that you were a good man, a Godly man, a generous man. One of the first times you spent an afternoon with my family (before we even started dating) my grandma made a comment about you having a gentleness about you. And you do. It's not always the first thing that someone would notice, because you're strong, a good provider, you're funny and you're confident and you're outgoing. But, it's the gentleness in your strength that makes you easy to trust.

It's the love in your leadership that I have leaned on all these years. The way you encourage my faith and yet challenge me to grow. The way that (three times!) your eyes have met mine in that delivery room...and in the greatest possible pain, as you brush the tears away, nothing needs to be said because I am so comforted just by knowing you're with me.

Every girl wants to marry a man who is thoughtful and kind. One who would lay his life down for his family. I just had no idea I would be so blessed to have one who would pick up groceries for my grandma; one who would fabricate the most elaborate, silly stories to make red headed boys giggle the night away; one who would always put my needs before his.

I didn't foresee any of that when I knocked on this very door.

The Big Boys (and the big differences).

Roman - 4 years

Judah - 2 years


I don't know if I've mentioned how very, very different my two big boys are. If you've met them, you know.

Roman is a ham. He always has been. He wants to be in every picture but he can hardly stay in the shot long enough for me to get one because he immediately wants to look at the picture of himself. He is very intelligent. He has a crazy good memory and very accurate fine motor skills. He was a pretty high maintanence baby, but he was talking before he turned one and could put together his United States puzzle by the time he turned two. He could even tell you some of the state names. He is a people person. He introduces himself to everyone he meets and wants to keep tabs on what everyone is doing. He will remember details about someone that he met at the mall months ago and bring it up randomly during lunch. Sure, it's borderline creepy, but I love it. It will make him a great friend and husband. Or priest. Who knows. Whatever God has planned for this boy....it's something big.

Oh my Judah. My sweet, sweet, crazy Judah. I had no idea that he would be so crazy. He was such a laid back baby...cuddly and smiley for everyone. He has these beautiful big blue eyes, crazy teeth, and more charm than should be legal for a two year old. I am going to have to keep him far, far away from girls for a loooong time. :) As soon as Judah started walking, he started climbing. He has no other agenda in life than: eat, run away from mom and dad, climb something, and jump off of it. Oh, and asking for more food about 10 minutes later. So, you could say that fine motor skills are not his strong suit. Doing a puzzle with Judah is one of my favorite things because it is just hilarious. He sees right away where a piece should go, but he just can't make it fit. So, what's a boy to do? Scream, throw the piece, and move on to climbing the nearest object. I assume that the NFL will be recruiting him within the next few years. The kid is a tank. Words cannot describe his adorable deep voice. It's so stinkin cute. I wish I could write about more Judah stories, but this blog will never do him justice because it's not what he says that's funny, it's just his nature.

Roman has always been so funny because he loves being the center of attention so he'll say or do anything for a laugh. Judah just is funny. He doesn't even have to try.


Anyway, when we were at the park this morning, I got to witness the perfect manifestation of their differences. It had rained a little bit when we first got there, so everything on the playgorund was wet. We don't really have plans for the rest of the day, so I wasn't worried about them getting their play clothes wet.

Naturally, Judah ran right to the top of the slide and slid on down. Every square inch of his backside was soaked. And he totally didn't even notice.

Roman ran around trying to catch butterflies with his net for a while and and, after awhile, decided he was ready to go down the slide too. Except that when he got to the top, he said "Mom, the slide is wet."

"I know, buddy", I answered, "but it's okay. We'll just change clothes when we get home, so you can go ahead and go down."

He looked back at the slide clearly weighing the pros and cons. I wasn't sure what he would do becuase he hasn't hesitated to play in mud puddles in the past.

He decided on squatting down and inching down the slide on his feet...all the while explaining that if he got wet he would get a rash.

Oh, my big boys. I'm so proud to be their mama.

A Judah Video...with a little help from Roman

Birthday Boys!

Do you feel like you haven't seen many pictures of my family lately? Because that's how I feel. So, I'm going to remedy that today. I will say, though, that I don't have many options to choose from because I have not been so good about taking pictures. Much the way I have not been good about blogging. But the other day I went to upload and saw that there were 150 pictures on my camera. I was just about to pat myself on the back and say "hey, Ruth Ann, you're not doing so bad. 150 ...that's better than you thought it would be..." Well, then I realized that about 97 of those pictures were not taken by me....and they all looked something like this:


our couch and our ceiling.

A foot and some blocks. These will be so helpful someday when the boys want to take a stroll down memory lane and relish in all the fun they had when they were small.

...and this one is my personal favorite: Roman's nose. The photographer himself. Please excuse the boogers.

So, I haven't been doing well on the blogging with only two posts in June, but June was a busy month...that will be my excuse.

June 2nd was Judah's 2nd birthday, I posted about that earlier, but here's a picture of my big two year old:
We got him blocks for his birthday. He's not so much into building, though. He's our demolition man.

...and the Elmo cake:

June 15th was Roman's 4th birthday. The big four year old:

we got him a barn and some farm animals. Big hit.

...and his minion cake (which was maybe the highlight of his life):

...and this is a cute four month old. Just because I can't get enough of him.

I am going to try to post some videos soon...but remember I only post twice a month now, apparently...so I might be playing it fast and loose with the word "soon". We'll see.

Where have you been all my life? Or is it where have I been all my life?

WELL.

I didn't write anything on this blog during the entire month of May. Yikes.

All three of my boys are napping (which is miraculous!) and so here I am. Finally.

Let's just catch up, shall we?

Mr. Silas is...

Well, just kidding. Now I only have two sleeping boys. But I can cuddle a baby and type, so we're still good. (Do you see the predicament? :))

Mr. Silas is rolling from tummy to back (since he was 9 weeks old...he is currently three and half months old, so that's old news, really...not that you would know since I never write on my blog...). He is also scooting around on his back, smiling up a storm, cooing all the time, and just starting to laugh. Mostly at Roman. That biggest brother is a funny guy.

Judah - my big two year old! He had his golden birthday on June 2nd and loved it. He sang along anytime someone sang him Happy Birthday. And now he just sings it to himself about once a day. I made him an Elmo cake, which he loved, and he got new blocks, cars, and water flutes. This little boy is loved. He is chatty all the time but we usually can only understand about one word per sentence. He goes on and on in some made up language that sounds like a variation of Japanese and then ..."strawberry" or "cookie". It's usally food. When in doubt, you can pretty much garuntee he's talking about food. Judah also loves to go to church and talk about God. He is fascinated by Father Jim and runs up to him immediately when we walk through the church doors. He stands right as his feet and stares up at him with a big grin on his face. He usually doesn't say anything, just smiles. But during church, he is very vocal. Anytime Father opens the book, extends his arms, and begins a prayer, Judah has to do the same. It's pretty adorable. But then he ends up LOUDLY saying "Far" (father), "church", "ho speart", "Jesus", "God", "Amen". It's quite the worship experience. But it brings us so much joy. Silas was the one born of the Feast of the Chair of St Peter, but Judah might end up being our priest. :) Judah has a passionate love for the movie Madagascar, and more specifically, the song Move It, Move It. Probably about 10 times a day, he will walk up to me and say (in his deep voice) "...uh...move it?" It makes me laugh every time. So, about 10 times a day, we have a little dance party to Move it, Move it.

Roman is going to be four next week. Could someone tell me how that happened? FOUR?? He has been to Vacation Bible School all this week and is loving it. He gets really excited about singing and dancing to the songs.
Some of my current Roman faves:

• Roman: "Mom, are you going to feed Silas?"

Me: "yes"

Roman: "you are a nice feeder".

• he calls his piggy bank a "penny pig"



• Me: "Roman, how many hands do you have?"

Roman: "two"

Me: "yes! How many mouths do you have?"

Roman: "One!"

Me: "good job! How many hairs do you have?"

Roman: "RED!"

• When he learned that our friend from church, Katlin, was going to be spending a semseter in Rome, he said "Katlin, are you going to be a priest??"



• I'm sure most of you have heard the story, but for the sake of me remembering in 10 years, I have to make sure I put this on the blog. About three and a half months ago we brought tiny baby Silas home from the hospital. As we were getting the boys ready for bed our first night home, Joe was sitting in the rocking chair with Silas and he asked me to go get some scissors so that we could take off all of our hospital bracelets. Roman and Judah were jumping on their beds. I came back with scissors, clipped off Silas' bracelet, and then I heard the sound of absolute terror. Roman was suddenly screaming and crying so I turned around, assuming he had fallen of the bed or something. But then he shouted "She cut his finger off!!!" He really thought that I had amputated one of Silas' fingers. It was very sad and scary and CONFUSING. But we finally got him to count all of Silas' fingers and assure him that I would never hurt anyone. (I didn't know we needed to cover that, but apparently it was NOT clear to him.) Even the next few days he would occasionally ask me if I had cut Silas' finger off. NO. Just so everyone is on the same page, the answer is no.



• I taught him the song Pharoah, Pharoah the other day when we were reading about Moses. (How the heck do I remember all the words to that song??) Now he asks me to sing it all the time.

Oh, there's so much more to say about my beautiful boys, but I will have to save more for later.

As for me, lately I have been spending wasting my time on the follow things in no particular order: watching Modern Family, The Voice, and The Event. Figuring out Pinterest (due to my very savy tech skills, it has taken me a while. Now I'm just trying to not become addicted).

I have been also done a few worthwhile things with my time: obviously spending time with my fam, trying to figure out how to clean my house with three children, reading, writing and leading our high school girls' Bible study!, and probably some other stuff.

I am really just starting to figure out how to handle our family of five without feeling completely overwhelmed. I'm not going to lie, adjusting to three has been a challenge. I think that's why I've taken such a long blog hiatus. I'm just trying to keep up.

People ask me how I do it...and I feel kind of silly when they do. It's not like I'm the first person to ever have 3 children. It's not like 3 is a large number of children. It's not like I'm really even very successful at it. yet. :) It's not like they are ridiculously close together. I feel like there are so many other amazing families out there that they could be asking, but I want to give a few honest answers to that question here. Because, while it's not that I have a super large family, I have heard from numerous people that adjusting to their third child was the most difficult for them.

So, here's how I do it. You can either read this because you would like to see how you might like to do things... or to see how you would not like to do things. I won't judge you either way. :)

• I memorize scripture. Large chunks of it. (Psalm 1, Psalm 46, the Magnificat) Because I have been failing miserabley at having a consistent, daily God time. But if it's on my heart, I can take it with me wherever I go. Or shout the verses over screaming children to maintain sanity. Either way.

I wish I was kidding.

• I try to be out and about. As difficult as it is to chase Judah around the library, at least we're having a good time, getting some fresh air, and maybe some adult conversation (between running after toddlers, of course!)


• summer. summer = parks, pool in the backyard, walks, and more outside adventures. Winter is not so easy. If only I could control the weather...


• I try to talk with other stay-at-home moms frequently. I need to be better about this because it's always refreshing when you're sharing a specific vision for your families.


• I read the blog A Holy Experience. So encouraging every day.


• I need to post this on my wall. I love love LOVE being at home with my boys. But sometimes I want "me" time. I want quiet...and sleep... and the ability to run errands without 6 potty breaks, the chaos that is loading and unloading 3 boys from the car, and bribing someone to "just sit quietly for 5 more minutes". I need that post to remind me of what's important in life, and why I do what I do.


• John 3:30. Most of all, what gets me through the day, is reminding myself that He must become greater and I must become less. Being a mom is a daily reminder that our call as believers is to let go of self, die to our own desires, and let God be enough. He will sustain us. He is enough. I can't love my children or my husband enough. Only HE is enough. I can't make myself happy with things or free time or even with friends and family (amazing as they are). Only He is enough.

Only He is enough.

Three.

I feel as though I owe you all an apology! I have been slacking on the blog writing. Not that I'm trying to offer excuses, but here's what I've been up to (in case you were thinking that Roman and Judah had me locked in their room or something. Don't laugh...it's probably not that far-fetched).

We have been enjoying every newborn minute with our sweet little Silas. He continues to be about the most low-maintence baby ever. He has such a sweet disposition and really rarely cries. He is adorable and content and doted on by big brothers all day long. We just adore him.

We have had lots of guests, which we have LOVED! Joe's mom came to stay with us for three weeks, which was a huge blessing. Like words cannot describe how much I appreciate her and miss her. I definitely cried when she left and I will never forget the ways that she just stepped in and cared for our family so selflessly.

We celebrated Silas' baptism on Easter Sunday. It was beautiful. Joe's whole family was here and we enjoyed their short stay immensely. Angie is still here which is good...I would be going through serious withdrawl if they had all come and left so quickly.

As far as daily life goes, I have to be honest. The transition to three kids has been a challnege for us. That sounds ridiculous after I just told you what a great baby Silas is...but it's true. It's not so much Silas, or even "juggling" three kids...it's how the big boys have been/are still adjusting to sharing mom and dad with another little one. They LOVE love love Silas which we are so thankful for. They just seem to be a little more grumpy when they don't get immediate attention. Some of that is ok. They need to learn that they are not always the center of attention. But they also need to be reassured that they are always always loved and that mom and dad always care about their individual needs.

SO, if anyone has suggestions on how to help the big brothers adjust, I'd be so grateful.

Also not helping that situation is that Judah is trying to give up an afternoon nap. Um...WHAT?! He's not even two yet. I feel like that's totally not allowed. Except that I can't really make him nap. And I only have about a half hour of rocking/wrestling in me before I give up.

And yes, I have tried letting him play in his room until he falls asleep but he just plays for an hour and never goes to sleep. So...yeah.

On top of all the excitement at home, I am also in the process of co-authoring a bible study for high school girls. Not with a goal of publishing, just for use with some very sweet girls that need Jesus, just like you and I. We are going to start using it/teaching it this summer. If you would be so kind as to pray for grace to cover my fumbling words, I would very much appreciate it.

I want to tell you a hundred funny and charming stories about my boys, but I can barely keep my eyes open. So, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite things (And I promise to try to write more soon!):


Roman:

• love the way he talks to Silas in a syrupy voice and says things like "hey sweet baby. Yes, you're a good boy! I love you pumpkin!" (I wonder where he learned that...?) :)


• says really funny things when he's trying to explain how he feels...i.e. "I'm angry because I'm sad".

Judah:

• asks for food all the time. i.e. we are putting together a zoo animal puzzle when he stops and says "cake?" I tell him we don't have any. He persists in asking for a variety of other foods..."chips? cheese? strawberries? goldfish?"


• loves shoes. He found Roman's spiderman snowboots the other day and insisted on wearing them around the house all morning.

Silas:

• cooing and smiling


• wants to nuzzle right under your chin all the time


• getting big! 12lb 8oz at his 2 month check!

A Few Letters...

Dear Roman,
You could not have been cuter at your big brother class last night. And I had so much fun on our McDonald's date. I love the way that you got out your "big brother" bag of goodies and showed them to me all over again today...three times. You are so adorable.

Dear Judah,
I love the way you say "my-tar" instead of "guitar". I love that you are a cuddler. I love the way you shout "yah!" when you get excited about something. I love the way you are constantly asking me for food. Tonight after you finished all of your dinner you kept saying "saushage?" Maybe Daddy will make you some for breakfast tomorrow. He has a hard time saying no to you.

Dear Joe,
I'm so thankful that you are patient with me...especially when I'm grumpy and complaining. I love that you totally understand (or at least pretend to!) when I disappear in the evening for a hot shower...and I love that I can hear you laughing with the boys when I come out. I'm so proud of how hard you work and how well you are doing at your job.

Dear DOLE,
Thank you for making the Asian Salad Kit. Its scrumtrulescent blend of flavors is delightful to my tastebuds. I'm pretty sure I could eat a whole bag in one sitting. At the current moment I would totally blame that on my unborn child...because I'm a good mom like that.

Dear Roman,
Please stop waking your brother up during "nap time". Do you know why it's called nap time? You are supposed to sleep. Or at least rest. Thirty minutes is not enough sleep for Judah to have before you wake him up to jump on the beds and wrestle in the blankets.

Dear Judah,
Please stop waking your brother up in the mornings. 4:45 is not an acceptable wake-up time. And pulling Roman's hair is certainly not an acceptable manner in which to wake him. For.the.love.

Dear Mom and Bob (and Maggie),
Thank you so much for watching the boys all the time. It's awesome to have you so close. I love that Roman and Judah get to have a great relationship with you like Jim and I had with our grandparents.

Dear Mom (mom#2 - Suellen :)).
I'm so excited and SO SO thankful that you're coming to visit when Silas is born! You are always so willing to serve. We appreciate your willingness to go out of your way to nurture our family. The boys will be so excited to play with you again!

Dear Roman,
I love how you are totally awed by everything right now. It's such a fun stage. I feel so blessed that I get to watch you experience life everyday. The joy you have in the simplest things is incredible. I want to be more like you in that way.

Dear Judah,
I really can't tell you how much your smile melts my heart. I love seeing how proud you are of yourself when you complete a puzzle. It makes me laugh to see you dancing to music. Seeing you sad literally makes me cry. Like today when you got a HUGE goose egg from running head first into the piano. Let's stick to laughing and smiling tomorrow.

Dear Joe,
Thanks for letting me sleep in on Saturdays. You are so so good to me.

Love,
Me

Weakness

I have been feeling like a bad mom rather inadequate this week. Do you ever get in those slumps? The ones where you feel like you're just trying to "make it through" your day? Where surviving with a few ounces of sanity becomes the goal?

I hate feeling that way.

But, the reality is that it happens. Maybe it's just to me, but I'm guessing that some other people have felt this way before.

I could make a thousand excuses for myself - the boys haven't been sleeping as well now that they share a room, and I am 8 months pregnant and tired, and it's been so cold that we coudn't play outside and I'm crazy emotional about nothing most days, and I just need more "me" time, and on and on and on...

But I have come to realize that excuses don't change anything. I said that I hate getting to the end of my day and feeling like I haven't been purposeful, like I haven't enjoyed the little moments. If I hate it, then what has to change in order for me to change?

Not that some of those things don't factor into making a stressful day, but most of my problem right now is that I have been horribly inconsistent about having my God time. Meaning, it hasn't happened all week. How am I supposed to be giving my children good, Godly parenting when I'm not receiving it myself?

The real heart of the problem is not any of the exhausting things about having little boys. The heart of the problem is that my heart is not in the right place. I am trying and trying to make our house run smoothly and be a good mom and feel like we accomplished something by the end of the day.

But It's not about me.

If I want to give my boys love...true love...Love Himself, then it's about time to realize that this whole journey or parenting and family is about Him. I will never be capable of doing it all and doing it perfectly. The key is surrender. Because His power is made perfect in my weakness.

How freeing!

I don't want to miss out on the right nows...even the times when I feel like I can't possibly say "Judah, please don't climb that" in a nice way one more time. Because they are only little once. And I know there will come a day when I will miss saying that.

***

And how about you, dear friends, what do you do to ensure that you spend a purposeful day being truly present with your kiddos?

A Little Bit of Everything

It's about time for an update on my little guys...although I am realizing that soon I will have to call them my big boys, since they are going to have a new baby brother in 6 weeks. (SIX weeks?? Seriously. How can that be?)

Anyway, I feel like I don't even know where to start since it's been so long...so let's start with Christmas....because, well, why not?

As you can imagine, since we hadn't seen Joe's parents since last Christmas, the anticipation of their arrival was just about enough to push us overboard. I even felt like a little kid, counting down the hours.

I really wish I would have videotaped Roman's reaction when they came in the door. He was way more excited about Grandma and Grandpa coming than he was about Santa (which is fine with me). He had been talking about it for weeks and his poor little body could just NOT contain the excitment. Have you seen the Saturday Night Live skit, "Surprise Party"? If you haven't, do yourself a favor and click on that link. So.Funny.

Anyway, Roman's reaction reminded me of that girl. He ran up and down the hall and all around the living room just screaming and laughing like crazy. It was awesome.

Their stay was filled with laughter, good conversation, celebrating, shopping, napping, movies, presents, trips to Dutch Oven Bakery (SO much sugar), lots of love and attention from aunts and uncle, singing, Mass, toy trains, horsey rides, playing in the snow, Settlers of Catan, Apples to Apples, and too many other fun things to list. If you really want a good recap, you should watch Mary's video. You can find it here.

Oh. And Roman's first Christmas play.

Yep. Roman was a cow in his first theatrical production. Some friends of ours from church, that homeschool their kids, like to do monthly recitals at one of the local nursing homes. So, they invited us to join them for their Christmas play. I would like to tell you that Roman was a natural on stage but, well...let me just show you:

Do you see the cow? Riding the horse? Directly in front of the Holy Family?

And here...rearranging the set. This one honestly makes me laugh out loud every time.


I'm not saying he doesn't have a future in theatre, I'm just saying we might need to reign it in a little.



In all seriousness, he did pretty well and he had a lot of fun. We just need to figure out how to get through to him that he is not, in fact, the center of attention at all times.

Anyway, it took us a while to recover from the withdrawl of all the Pomettos leaving. And since then? Well, we've had some big changes when it comes to living arrangements. And by "we" I mean Roman and Judah.

It was early in December that Judah (just shy of 18 months old at the time) learned how to climb out of his crib. As I have mentioned, he climbs just about everything, so honestly, I was surprised we made it that far. Anyway, we avoided moving him to a "big boy bed" for a while because we weren't quite sure how to go about doing it, since he would be sharing a room with Roman. After Joe's parents left, though, it was time to break down and make the switch.

It went surprisingly well. It only took a few days/nights of trial and error before we figured out our system. For a while we had revert back to rocking him all the way to sleep before putting him in the room. Although now he is getting the hang of putting himself to sleep in there. The catch is that we can't put both boys in there awake. Otherwise they just spend hours jumping on the bed and laughing, which is cute, until they end up super grumpy the next day.

So, we usually put Judah down and then give him about half an hour to fall asleep and then add Romant to the room. Roman doesn't wake Judah if he's already asleep, which is great. I can't say the same for Judah, though. If he is awake in there and realizes that Roman isn't...well, he just hops right into bed with him and smacks him on the head until he wakes up. So, if we put Roman down first we have to rock Judah to sleep before putting him in there.

Anyway, that was two whole paragraphs of probably way more than anyone cares to know about bedtime routines. Riveting.

On to the funnies!!

Roman:

• one day I was playing with Roman while Judah was supposed to be napping. We could hear him getting into the closet when Roman said "Judah's not very good at sleepin." No, no he's not.
• one day at the mall, the boys discovered the "rides" - meaning the horse that rocks at about .3 mph. Too bad we weren't even nice enough to put a quarter in them. Oh, well, they were very entertained by the not-moving rides for quite a while.
• this is one of my all-time favorites: One day I was asking Roman about all the fun things he was going to with our family when they were here for Christmas. I said "Roman, what do you think you'll do with Grandma when she comes to our house?" He thought seriously for a while and said "She'll probably want to play hide and seek and watch Milo & Otis." That gave me a little chuckle and I said "yeah, she probably will". He went on to tell me that Theresa would want to watch Frosty and Rudolph and that Angela would want to go downstairs and watch Veggie Tales. Good guesses all around. Then I said "Oh! Roman! I bet I know what Grandpa will want to do when he's here! He will want to take you to the bakery to eat donuts!" Roman was very excited about this. He said "YEAH! And Grandpa has a gooood mustache!" Seriously! What a funny kid!
• Roman also likes to copy the things that I say, so when Judah gets up in the morning, I'll often hear Roman say things like "There's my sweet Judah" in a very syrupy tone :)
• One day I was singing along to some Matt Maher. It's the current favorite around here. Roman said "Mommy, let Matt Maher sing it". Thanks a lot.
• On the morning that the Pomettos left I reminded Roman that Grandma and Grandpa were going to have to go back to South Carolina. He responded, sadly, with "Is that today?"
• Roman has been turning over his puzzles and putting them together with the blank side up. What does that mean?
• Both of the boys are really into this game: "Mommy!! I got SOMETHING for your BIRTHDAY!!" which is followed by them bringing me a basket or a bag full of random toys. It's pretty hilarious and I love that Judah has caught on. His version is slightly less understandable but it's in the exact same tone that Roman says it!

Speaking of Judah:

• When we say bedtime prayers Judah often thanks Jesus for Nemo, Dory, and Crush. Can you tell what the current movie of choice is at our house??
• He also asks for food all the time. Occasionally we'll be riding in the car or playing with toys and he'll suddenly ask "Chicken?" or "Fries?" "Cake?" "Donuts?" Notice the nutritious trend in those questions.
• Judah LOVES the David books. (as does Roman. And what's not to love?) they are really cute and funny. It just priceless how excited gets about "Dayid". They are the first books that he has been able to sort of "read" on his own. He had Oh, David memorized after about a week of borrowing it from the library. :)
• Some of my other favorite things he says right now: "here comes!" (this is mostly when he's waiting for a song or video to come on.) "Oh no, wha happened?", "Yemme see it", "Are Far" for Our Father, and "Far, Sah, Hoh Spirr, Maymen" when attempting to make the sign of the cross.
• Judah is starting to understand giving kisses...like he actually aims for your mouth occasionally. It's pretty scary, though. I'm usually afraid one of three things will happen: 1. He will bite my nose. 2. He will slip a little tongue in there. 3. He will miss the mouth and get slobber all over my face. But it is still, somehow, melts my heart and he's very proud of himself when he gets a good reaction out of someone.

Silas:

• has been making me eat: Italian food, spicy things - especially buffalo chicken, and occasionally some sweets here and there - mostly chocolate, but one night it was powdered sugar donuts. Joe was nice enough to stop at a gas station and get me some that night. Although then he had to tell me: "You know, you like to pretned you have this really refined taste, but when it comes down to it, you have really podunk cravings." He cracks me up.
• Is moving around all the time. I love it.
• is going to be here so soon! I can hardly believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. You can read Roman's birth story here and Judah's here. I can only pray that Silas' will be similar to Judah's. :)
• Thanks so much for praying for him and for our family. We will never be able to thank you enough.

Alright...that's enough about us for tonight! Leave a comment and let me know how we can be praying for you! God Bless your weekend!

No Sled? No Problem.

yeah...I'm a little behind.

Remember this post about playing in the snow? From almost a month ago??

Well, I thought it was time that I finally followed up on that. I'm sure you've all been waiting on the edges of your seats in anticipation. Or, more likely, you probably don't remember that post at all . :)

Either way, you've got to see this:

1. Why yes, yes that is a recycling bin and a jump rope. I can actually hear Jeff Foxworthy making millions of dollars off of a new "You Might Be a Redneck..." joke.

2. Joe was so excited about doing something fun with the boys in the snow that he dug around in the garage until he found something to take the place of the sled-that-we-don't-have. Pretty awesome dad. And the boys loved it.

3. As Tony so eloquently put it: "Now it doesn't matter how awesome of a sled you buy...your kids will always want you to drag them around in the recycling bin." Sweet.

4. Priceless memory right here. Love my boys.

A little Bit of Everything

So, even after all of my unloading in this post, I still hadn't realized how heavy my heart has been for the past month until we got the good news at our ultrasound last week. It's literally like a weight has been lifted. Yay for Jesus being awesome.



Now I need to catch you up on some good Roman and Judah stories!



A couple of weeks ago, Roman and I went to visit my friend Lindsay. She was kind enough to make us all kinds of fun treats to eat when we were there. One thing she had to offer was candy corn. Roman was lovin that. He kept sneaking more after I told him to stop...until I caught on and finally he gave it a rest. But, it was enough that he was all hyped up on sugar as we were leaving.

As soon as we started walking out to the car, it got really bad. He was rolling around in the leaves and would not follow me to the car. I didn't mind him playing in the leaves for a couple of minutes, but then he was seriously getting out of control. Usually if I ask him "Roman, are you going to come like a big boy, or does Mommy need to help you?" he comes right away. He's all about doing things by himself. So, when that didn't work, I just went and grabbed his hand and he came to the car. He was still squirming and squealing though...all in excitement. He could hardly even sit down in his car seat. Finally I kind of raised my voice and he snapped out of it. He looked at me very seriously and said "I had too much candy corn". HA-larious.

Then as we were driving away, I said "Roman, I had such a fun day with you!"
To which he replied "CANDY!!!!"
Love you too.

10 minutes later he was completely passed out.

Moral of the story: if you want your kid to completely OD and crash on sugar, just give them candy corn. But, remember that first you'll have to deal with the beloved sugar high. :)

My other favorite things about Roman right now are that he loves "Jamma days" because I let them stay in their pajamas occasionally...but now it's become a daily request. And that he loves letters. He is starting to write some words like "cat" and "hat".

And our sweet Judah...
He is talking all the time now...sometimes whole sentences of only-God-knows-what, but it's pretty stinking cute. We are slowly learning to understand more of his words though, and he is getting clearer and clearer. Here's what Judah has been saying:

• "Puppies Everywhere" - when he wants to read Puppies, Puppies Everywhere
• "go sleep"
• "bless you"
• "I ate it all" - which comes out more like "i a it ahh"
• "oh my goodness"
• "See me?" - in a really high pitched voice when he wants to come see you.
• "where did he go?" - while playing peek-a-boo...this one is pretty hard to understand, though
• "set...go!"
• "that's nice"
• "Buzz" - as in Lightyear. Duh.
• "bapple" for "apple" :)
• "oh no"
• "ah, man!"
• "boy", "sky", "house", and lots of other daily vocab type words...these are just his favorites. he must like the way they sound because he repeats them a lot.
• "Cookies? Cake?" at the end of almost every meal...just in case I might have a treat for him
• "get down" and "sit down" - probably because that's what he hears every 5 minutes. He's a good climber!
• "yep"
• He is also starting to count and can say some ABCs...still pretty random orders though. :) And he can say colors, but doesn't identify any yet.

These boys are SO much fun! It makes me so excited to see what the dynamic will be like with three of them running around!

It has been really hard for me to adjust to not lifting the boys. Mostly Judah. I know that I am being a good mom to our third little guy when I am taking it easy, but it makes me feel like a not-so-good mom to Roman and Judah. I know it's just because they don't understand, and that it is a short period of time.

Praise the Lord I have had so much help over the last several weeks! First of all, I can't say enough about my husband. He is such a good dad and has taken on so much more around the house since I am trying to do less. He puts up with all my crazy pregnancy hormones, and is so good at calming my fears. In our couples' group last week, I got all emotional when they talked about the man being the Christ figure. He has been exactly that during this whole experience. I love you, Joe.

On top of that, I have my friends and our amazing church family. I am so blessed to have several "Titus 2 women" in my life. You know who you are...and I am so so thankful for you. Thanks for teaching me what it means to be a Godly woman.

And, let's not forget my incredible brother, Tony. He has been such a blessing to our family. He deserves some kind of award for all the dishes, and diapers, and other dirty jobs he has done.

So...that was all over the place...but at least it was an update! I have been so horrible about writing lately. Please know I'm praying for all of you and your families!

Roman Rides a Horse

...and Judah got to ride too! :)

Thanks again to my Uncle Dan and Aunt Marla for letting us come and ride their horses! (And to Caleb and Cana for spending the day with us and helping the boys have fun!)

For a long time now, Uncle Dan (my dad's twin brother, by the way!) had been telling Roman that he should come out and ride the ponies sometime. So, knowing that Roman can be a little bit anxious about trying new things, I started showing him youtube videos of kids riding horses, and getting library books about horses, and showing him pictures of Uncle Dan's horses. He started getting excited about it and eventually asked me "When can we go ride Uncle Dan's horses?" So, we set up a time and kept talking it up.

Joe and I still wondered how he would do. And, although he was little bit nervous when we were walking towards the horses, he loved the whole experience. I think it helped that Dan just picked him right up and put him on Rockstar for his first ride. He didn't have that much time to think about it.

Judah, of course, jumped right on with no trouble at all. That one has no fear.

On about lap #57 Uncle Dan said, "Ruth Ann, I think you started something!" I think he's right. And I think it's fantastic.

Our Sweet Judah

For those of you wondering "where are all the videos of Judah?", this post is for you. Not that any of you are probably wondering that...but just in case. :)

I don't have many good videos of Judah for the following reasons:
1. He is so much different than Roman. Roman loves showing his "tricks" and people clapping for him, etc. He loves to be the center of attention. Judah...not so much. He doesn't care about doing tricks. He smiles when you clap for him, but it provides him no motivation whatsoever. He is laid back and on his own schedule. I love him so much I can't even stand it!

2. Whenever Roman is awake, Roman does all the talking...in videos or otherwise. It's hard for Judah to get a word in edgewise. But, as you can probably guess, he doesn't really seem to mind it. He just goes with the flow. It's amazing how much more he talks when you get him one-on-one.

Also, let's just talk about this:
1. Judah's pants are so crooked throughout the entire video. I'm a good mom like that. Very observant and attentive.
2. Do you like how I say "careful" AFTER Judah falls down? Nice.
3. the "Mommy", "Judah" game...yeah, we do that all the time.
4. Could he get any cuter? Or sweeter? What a blessing.

Funny Boys

Sorry it has been SO long since I posted last! We have been busy around here! I wanted to be sure I got a few of these funny stories down before I forget them...so here goes:

Roman

• One day I was laying with Roman before his nap time, and he said "Mommy, what does a porcupine say?" This is a common dilema...he will ask us what the most random animals say...we usually just make something up. But this day I said "What do you think a porcupine says?" He poked my arm with his index finger and said "boop". Now you know.
• Life with Roman is like constantly being in a spelling bee. I don't mean to brag, but I did win the eighth grade spelling bee, so I'm usually pretty confident. :) But, seriously, all day he's asking "Mommy, how do you spell hat? Mommy, how do you spell Carter?" etc.
• Here's a good one. I think I've already mentioned that Roman is now potty trained! YAY! Anyway, the other day, as I was making lunch, Roman left the toy room, went to the bathroom, did his business, and returned to the toy room. A few minutes later I hear him saying "Mommy, what's it do? What's this do, Mom?" So, I went to check on him...only to find that he had stolen a tampon from the bathroom and had dissected it into 3 pieces. Neat.
• Roman is really starting to understand church. It's so exciting to watch him growing and learning. What an awesome feeling as a parent to know that your child is beginning to love the thing that you most want for him in life. A few weeks ago, one of our favorite priests of all time, Father Dennis Miller, moved from St Thomas in Ames to a new group of parishes in northern Iowa. We miss him already! But, we made a card for him before he left, and I asked Roman "What does Father do at church?" and he said "Father says 'Jesus' and Jesus comes down and walks with the people". He is also really starting to understand communion. When we go up, he says "Now you go and drink the wine that Jesus bleed". I just keep praying that he will continue to desire to know and love and serve the Lord!
• I overheard this during play time the other day "I love you, Judah. You're crazy!"
• Also, Roman is always trying to get Judah to make his "silly face". Which =

honestly, it's one of my favorite games because they laugh so hard at each other.

• The other day Roman was in the bathroom and I heard him say "This is a penis. It's not a toy." Not that I have to say that 80 times a day or anything. :)
• Baby Eliza (Ryan and Kathleen's sweet 2 month old daughter) was at our house the other day...when she was crying she sort of snorted. Roman said "She's like a pig".
• More on the topic of potty training...(like it ever ends!) We were eating at a restaurant with some friends way back in the beginning of June. It was just before Roman's birthday. We were out with all the lovely ladies in my women's Bible study and all their kiddos. We were seated next to a very sweet couple who were so patient and kind to our children. They told us about their grandchildren and it was obvious that they loved kids. As we were finishing, Roman wondered over near them and the lady asked him to come talk to her. She said "How old are you?" He said "I'm gonna be 3 on June 15th!" As if she knew...she asked our "trigger" question "What do three year olds do?" And Roman diligently responded with what we had been drilling into his head "Three year olds go potty on the toilet!" The man could not stop laughing. Only he didn't know it was about to get better. A few minutes later the lady commented on how adorable Eliza is and asked how hold she was. Kathleen told her...only to be interrupted by Roman's in depth explanation of childbirth "When I was born, mommy went to the hospital and pushed me out". We left quickly so as not to impart more graphic information that the poor couple never wanted to hear over dinner! :)

Judah

• is always making us laugh! Unfortunately, there are not a whole lot of stories to really type up because it's more just his nature and his reactions to things.
  
• He is still not talking a whole lot, although he does have a few new words to add to his vocabulary: down, no, mine, jump, elmo, boo, pizza, potty, ("der go" for "there you go"), he sings "Row, Row, Row" at the beginning of Row, Row, Row your Boat, yay!
• He is so so sweet. I love how he is smiling all the time and says "hi" in an excited high pitched voice to anyone in sight.
• He LOVES my grandma. He always wants to sit with her and touch her hair. She was running her fingers on his legs the other day and he was, literally, in a trance. He almost fell asleep sitting up.
• loves music and dancing
• still loving books. He is really into any books that have pictures of Veggie Tales characters. Especially "The Veggicational Book" from Aunt Angie. Bonus points if you sing him the Veggie Tales theme song at the end of the book. He tries to sing along...so cute.
• He also tries to sing the ABC's...which mostly comes out as "B B B B B B B" - but it's in tune!
• Has puppy radar. We have actually been looking for a dog since that was what Joe promised Roman as a potty training reward. Whenever we see them he can't stop saying "dog! dog!" in a very deep voice, or "pu-ppy" in a sweet little voice. So cute.
  

Well, that's the latest rundown. Sorry that it was so long since I'm trying to catch up! More to come soon!!

Boys

I haven't given an update recently so here goes:

Roman:

• is FINALLY having some success with potty training. Joe is the genius behind the potty training plan here...you'll have to ask him how he masterminded his brilliant system! :) It is working really well and we actually only had one accident yesterday and one today! YAY! Roman is very proud of himself and very much enjoys all of his prizes.
• Roman is also going to hold Joe to his promise of buying him a puppy once he got potty trained. He talks about dogs more than ever. Actually, we have some neighbors that moved in across the street a few months ago and recently, when we were playing in the toy room, we saw them outside with their dog. Then a couple of days later, we were outside doing sidewalk chalk when they pulled into their driveway. We exchanged "hellos" and then Roman yelled across the street "You have a dog!" The woman kindly responded "Yes, we do. We also have a cat." Roman was very impressed with this, "You have a CAT??" They nodded and went inside...but Roman continued to yell "Are you going inside to see your dog and your cat?" Nice.
• Today Roman told me he needed to go potty and so he got up and walked toward the bathroom. I was reading to Judah at the time and so I said "Do you need me to come help you, Roman?". This was his response: "I'm just gonna do it myself and you can read Love You Forever to Judah". Awwww.
  

Judah:

• climbs everything...including couches...which is terrifying since he really doesn't know how to get down.
• is talking up a storm: bubble, go, more, please, all done, puppy, mommy, daddy, hi, bye bye, "go-nee" for Tony, yeah, baby...and probably some more I can't remember :)
  
• loves books. His favorites are "Love You Forever" and any book that includes a picture of a baby or has different textures to feel.
• will push his big truck over to the window so he can climb up and look out
• loves playing in the pool with Roman
• makes the funniest face every time he sees Tony

Anyway, they are keeping me very busy and they are always making me laugh. Love those little guys!

One year ago today...

getting ready to go to the hospital...but first we had to take a few minutes to play squirt guns with Roman. :)

brand new Judah!

he was wide awake...

...and we were so in love.
Happy first birthday, Judah! It's a bittersweet feeling saying goodbye to your "baby" days, which we treasured, and saying hello to your little boy years...which we are so excited to share with you. We love you so much and you bring us more joy than words could ever say.

She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, "This time I will praise the LORD." So she named him Judah
Genesis 29:35

The Park with the Boys

Here's a little glimpse into what it is like to take my two to the park:

Today I got the boys loaded into the stroller and announced that we were going for a walk...to the park. Of course Roman was very excited, and Judah wore his usual laid back expression. :)

We started down the street, discussing the trees, birds, sky, cars, etc until we were about a block away from the park. It was then that I heard the sounds...sounds of a bus full of children at the park.

Uh 0h.

I didn't really want to try to keep track of Roman and keep Judah from eating rocks with another 30 kids to distract us. So, we headed in the opposite direction to a different park. It was a longer walk to a park with not as much equipment, but we were all glad to be out and about on such a beautiful day. Roman kept repeating what I had said to him "We'll just go to a different park."

And asking at each new block if the plan was still the same... "We're gonna walk to another park, mommy? We'll just go to a different park."

We discussed our rules for the park as we approached the playground.

I steered the stroller over the bumpy ground, unfastened the buckles, and set them free. (Well, I let Roman run over to the teeter totter, but I put Judah in the baby swing right away. He is happy as a clam for a good half an hour in a swing...just talking away and smiling ear to ear the whole time. He can't quite say "whee", so when I push him he coos "eeee" in a high pitched voice.

Roman keeps running across the park, to the teeter totter, to the swing...and back...and back to the swing. He keeps asking me to give him a "dog under". :)

We run and laugh, and play and sweat. We tickle, talk, and hug.

It is in these moments that I know memories are being made.



(disclaimer: naptime was not so picture perfect...but we'll take what we can get! :))

Need a Pick-Me-Up? Look No Farther!

a sleeping Roman...something I rarely get to see! Isn't he sweet?! Usually he has to be closed in a dark room in order to fall asleep. :)

My buddies. Roman likes to climb into the crib with Judah...Judah finds it very amusing. I should probably stop him from doing it but it's just so darn cute. So, I take pictures instead.


Mr. Blue Eyes

Why yes, yes this is three rolls of paper towels completely unrolled in our living room. Roman did this while I was making dinner one night....again, do you like how I just took pictures instead of correcting the behavior? :) I figure he worked pretty hard to get to that point, he deserved to enjoy it.

So happy!

Didn't that just bring some extra joy to your day?

A Day in the Life

Even though we have all been a little under the weather (we have all had a bit of a cold...and poor Judah has an ear infection), we had so much fun today!

For starters, Joe went out and got us donuts before he went to work today. He got some coffee for us, too, and decided he would give Roman a sample of his iced chai latte. Roman took a sip, grinned ear to ear, and enthusiastically asked "What is that called?" We all cracked up because his reaction was just so over the top and hilarious.

As I have mentioned, the boys love to have dance parties, so that was next on the agenda. Roman's newest fave is Nichole C. Mullen's "Freedom". This one is old school. She was one of my favorites in high school...we listened to this song a lot on our mission trip to the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota...I know some of my girls reading this are dancing just thinking about those good times!! :) When I saw Nicole sing at the Women of Faith conference I went to last weekend (that's another post coming soon!), I had to bring her back. Needless to say, she's a big hit with my little ones.

When the boys nap at the same time, I get to have some "me" time, which is great...and some days necessary. :) But, when they stagger their naps, like they did today, I get to have more one-on-one time with each of them...which I love! So, today I got to thoroughly enjoy each of my sweet boys.

Judah is loving music more and more everyday. He recognizes "Move it, Move it!" and gets so excited to dance to it. He also tries to beat box with Joe when Joe sings it to him. Hilarious! He is so sad after he coughs hard...which breaks my heart! Thank God it's finally starting to go away! He laughed SO hard at me gargling salt water the other day. Judah is a CLIMBER. He always sits on the bottom of the TV stand and then stares at me with defiance in his eyes when I tell him "no". When Judah has something he knows he is not supposed to have (i.e. remote controls), he grabs it and runs (ok, it's not quite a run...but it's a really fast walk) down the hall toward his room.

Roman is learning Genesis 1:1. I am trying to get him to learn how to compose notes for friends and family members, so that he can start sending mail. He is starting to get it, and it's really cute. He really loves putting coins in our Rice Bowl for Lent. He is really good at drawing triangles. He says the same sentences over and over again...i.e. "I'm all clean and fresh" after a diaper change or "Mommy, please can I get you some cold milk, can I get you some red milk?" when he wants a drink. I don't know why, but it seems like once he likes the sound of sentence he sticks to it. No variation. (And, as you can tell, we're still working on the pronouns. We're getting better...but it's going to take a while!)

After their naps, it was nice enough to go for a walk. We went yesterday, too, but it was pretty chilly later in the afternoon, and Judah wasn't really feeling it. But, today, it was BEAUTIFUL outside! We walked for about 45 minutes and enjoyed talking about everything we got to see along the way. Naturally, Roman's favorite thing was seeing all the dogs out walking. Joe has told him that we can get a dog as soon as Roman is potty trained...which doesn't really seem to be working, but we'll be excited to get a dog sometime...you know, hopefully before he's 12.

My Recent Favorites

Judah:

• will be 9 months old tomorrow!! Wasn't he just born?
• is walking! (As of about a week ago, I would say that he is a really proficient walker) He is even starting to be able to turn around. He's good.
• such a good eater! I know I say it every time, but seriously, it brings me so much joy. Today at lunch I literally had to bribe Roman to eat pizza. Pizza. Judah, on the other hand, laughs when the spoon is coming towards his face and yells when I am taking more than about 3 seconds in between bites....which brings me to...
• he doesn't cry, he yells. It's not a half-cry. It's not a high pitched scream. It's a from-the-gut intensely angry yell. This is Joe's newest biggest pet peeve.
• he says "ba-ba" when you ask him what a sheep says and sniffs when you ask him what a bunny says.
• Raises his hands above his head when you ask him how big he is...and smiles ear to ear when you say "so big!"
• he LOVES to play with Roman. They laugh at each other so much. They especially like to wrestle around on the floor in blankets.
• loves playing "peek-a-boo" and now puts the blanket over his head by himself.
• is obsessed with drinking out of sippy cups...and chases after Roman's as if he has found the Holy Grail.

Roman:

• "reads" books all the time (from memory)...which I find to be the most charming thing ever.
• memorized Hebrews 11:1 this week
• so good with letters! today he put his drum sticks perpendicular to each other on the floor and then announced "That's a 'T', Mommy! T says /t/ like Tony".
• still not able to count objects...just can't get the one-to-one correspondence. Ideas?
• is currently obsessed with the movie "Homeward Bound".
• LOVES making Judah laugh and chasing him around
• Yesterday I asked him "Roman, what color is grass?" After some deep thought he responded "green?"...yeah, I can't really remember either.
• loves dogs...especially Sedona, Chrissy and Jon's new dog. He told us on Sunday that Sedona is his best friend.
• is more affectionate now than he ever has been. No complaints here. :)