March, April, and May...

Since I last posted, we drove to Oklahoma to visit Billy's lovely extended family for five days (and drove back in one day--not for the faint of heart!). The trip was even better than we expected and gave us quality time with all of his grandparents, every aunt and uncle, and half of his twelve cousins. Our kids had a blast playing on the farm, going fishing, exploring Enid's children's museum, staying in a motel, getting to know their family, digging in the dirt, and throwing balls for the farm dogs. We're already looking forward to the next time we will go again.

Right after we returned, my sister (and her in utero son) came for a visit for six wonderful days. I really appreciated having time to reconnect with her. She is an auntie extraordinaire and the kids soaked up more family time in March by playing, playing, playing with Auntie Shawna.

April brought changes. Or really, acceptance of changes. And also acceptance that some things are not changing. Though we had hoped and planned to move back to the Northwest, we are now planning--and coming to peace with--staying in the Valley indefinitely. I could not tell you why God is keeping us here, but I do feel that He is behind this. We are both so thankful for Billy's excellent job which he enjoys; it's really a perfect career for him. And fortunately for me and Billy, our kids are blissfully content to be "home" wherever mom and dad are, even if that's among the cactus.

Since we'll be here for a while, this month we are starting the search for a home of our own. We've lived in the same rental house for over three years and it's been a good place for us to have little kids but now that our family is growing up, we're looking forward to having a space that is better suited to our needs. The home buying process can be intimidating. Hopefully it won't take too long or get too complicated (hey, I can hope...).

Easter morning:

May also brought our first broken bone. John fractured his right thumb after a skillfully placed kick from his darling sister. That was urgent care trip number one. Four days later, I found myself there again with David. An empty olive can in the recycling bin gave him a very deep "L" shaped cut on his right pinkie. The doctor concentrated very intently to place five stitches in such a tiny finger. Both boys were so tough and incredibly tolerant of the pain (and blood in D's case). That was the same week that David and Hava both had the flu (which was the fourth or fifth time the flu has visited our house this season!). I'm praying that we are through with medical emergencies and that pesky flu for at least a few weeks.

In between urgent care visits, we went to see Seussical, a fantastic musical that featured my talented eight-year-old cousin, Sophie. David had a babysitter (hooray!) and we enjoyed the event with the "big kids," who were in Dr. Seuss heaven. What a fun show!

We have entered the Lego phase of life--for all three kids--oh my.

Next month, we are looking forward to a visit from Papa and Mimi and plenty of swimming when the hot weather is in full swing. And, maybe, we'll buy a house. That would be wonderful!

5.5

John Willis is 5.5! He is maturing quickly. Often, Billy and I wonder what he's thinking about now that he's past the preschool age of say everything you're thinking right when you think it. Not that John doesn't talk (he talks all day!), but I can tell he is becoming introspective and really trying to understand the world. At least as much as you can when you're five-and-a-half.

* John's passions in life are playing, food, and his Dad. Not necessarily in that order. The boy plays from the moment he wakes up until the moment I finally convince him to rest. He likes to read books with us, or watch an occasional movie, or rarely just snuggle...but mainly he loves to play, play, play.

* This kid is so ready for kindergarten. His speech is improving every day (he gets speech therapy at our neighborhood school twice a week), his confidence is growing, and he has a good grasp on the social and academic concepts he'll need to start kindergarten. I'm a little nervous about it, but he's very excited--it doesn't hurt that he'll be six inches taller (and as much as a year older) than the other kids.

* John is an excellent older brother. His siblings are lucky bums, for sure. He is selfless in his love and care for them and is constantly looking out for them (except he does love to pour water on Hava's face in the bath. sigh. I guess no one's perfect.).

We love you, John boy!

3.5

My sweet Hava Joy is 3.5! She says the funniest things every day and brings us so much JOY!

* Havilah's favorite things include reading books with Mom and Dad (she regularly sits for an hour at a time doing this--long after her brothers have moved on), making a mess, eating all kinds of food, playing outside, and being with other kids around her age.

* These two are joined at the hip. In fact, I wasn't really sure I could post about Havilah without at least mentioning her brother's name. Havilah's world revolves around John in so many ways. We are curious to see how she grows and develops when he enters kindergarten in August. For now, they are together 24/7 and that is a positive thing 23.5/7 (the other .5? That's when she complains "Mom! He's not obeying me!!")

* Havilah relishes messes. (Remember the sugar?) Someday she may be a neat freak, but these days she positively enjoys getting mud in her hair, getting scraped up from climbing the lemon tree, and on this particular occasion...rolling a "poop ball" for an invisible dung beetle, naturally.

* Hava loves to be barefoot. She takes her shoes off every time she gets the chance. Here's her bare foot at the Mariners' spring training game we went to recently--her shoes were in another row, where she had kicked them off.

* She is steadily learning to control those passionate emotions that make life with Hava a bit like riding a roller coaster. But when she's happy (and usually she is), she lights up our home with her smile.

I'm so glad to have this precious daughter!

1.5

David is 19 months old today--here is his 1.5 year old update (only a month behind!):

* David is Mr. Independent. If he can possibly do it by himself, he would like to do it by himself. This includes feeding, putting on his shoes, washing up, and lately--using the potty chair. An independent third child is a beautiful thing indeed.

* David is not speaking. Unless you count "Daddy" which I do, but barely. The pediatrician was concerned (it's her job to be concerned, I swear) so we had a state Early Intervention child development specialist and a speech therapist come to "evaluate" David. Their conclusion was that David is on target/advanced in his development and that he is not interested in talking like a baby so he'll probably start speaking once he's able to get full sentences out. That would not surprise me. Even if that's not the case, we don't see any signs of a speech disorder (thank you, Lord!).

* David thinks he's as big as John and Hava, and should be able to do everything they do. This can have interesting results. However, when it comes to potty training, I'm glad to have him be in a rush to grow up (nap time, on the other hand, is a different story).

* The kid is a charmer. Such a smile! He looks the most like Billy to me--maybe that's why I'm a sucker for his sweet little face.

* David's favorite things include food (all kinds, except meat), playing outside, Cutie (good gracious, that girl has been around a long time), anything John and Hava are doing, greeting Daddy when he comes home, EATING, playing in the church nursery, BATHS, and sometimes snuggling. My favorite is snuggling.

Love this kid!

Oregon trip, part 2

While in Oregon, we took a trip to Pacific City with both sets of parents and Ben and Anna. We had a great beach house big enough for all of us and the weather was gorgeous. It was very relaxing family time.

What a beautiful girl (this is at the top of the gigantic Pacific City dune)!

The kids loved snuggling and reading with Grandma Nee and Papa Dave at their house:

We enjoyed a visit with Stephanie and baby Cora:

My mom and I went out for lunch and when we got back to her house, we found two kids asleep with Papa Dave:

John and Hava helped Billy and Bill build this little picnic table, which they enjoyed eating at (inside the house!):

Mimi and Hava:

Such a nice vacation!