Corban 11 months

Sweet Corban, you are 11 months old. Here are a few things I want to be sure to remember about you right now:)



-You are so close to walking. You can pull up on everything and can use your push walker to get where you need to go. I think you will definitely be walking by next month.
-You are full of personality and are very confident in expressing how you feel. Screaming is the way you express your discontent. We firmly tell you 'no' but can't help but chuckle because of how dramatic you are when you are upset. Most of the time you put your head to the ground and sob, look up at us with your scrunchy nose, and then put your head back down to cry again.
-You are a pretty opinionated little boy. Still an easy baby, but when you want something, you make your needs known.
-Your favorite word is 'da-da.' You walk around and say it all the time randomly. But you also seem to know to associate that with your daddy. You only say ma ma when you are upset...that's not very fun for me.
-You love to play in your brother's room. Since you are so mobile now, your brother gets annoyed with you because you tear down his towers...which is followed by your screams and him shouting no at you. Ahhh...brotherly love. It's already starting. Most of the time you all get along though. You love each other very much.
-You are attempting to say a few words. You try to mimic the word 'duck.' You have a toy duck that you love. You can mimic different sounds/syllables after me when I say them. Words like 'Ba la' and 'Ra Ra.'
-You are sleeping though the night really well now. Bedtime between 7 and 8pm and you wake up between 6 and 7am.
-I nurse you in the morning and at night still. You will eat almost anything as long as it's soft and not too chewy. Spaghetti and green beans are your favorite right now, but you will eat pretty much anything I give you. I LOVE this about you.
-You point at things now and babble something and then look at me. It's cute.
-This past month you decided that you love horses. You spend a lot of your play time looking out the sliding door watching the horses. You reach or anyone who is going near them. You rode with your daddy last weekend and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Daddy and I are excited about riding with you and brother this summer.
-You still stay with Jesica once a week while I work and seem to be doing really well.
-Most everyone says you look just like your mama:)
-You love your Ra Ra. The last few times we have been around her, you are glued to her. It's cute:) I think she likes it too!
-You LOVE to dance. Anytime you hear music you start to dance...it's adorable. Sometimes you are really feeling it and spin around on your bottom in circles...or course with your scrunchy smile the whole time.


Corban, we love you so much. You bring such color and joy to our family. God has blessed our family immensely.

Look what I did!

Enjoying my boys

The weather is really warming up and we are spending a lot of our time outside now. Corban is really having fun discovering the outside by himself since he is so mobile. He is also Mr. Independant as you will see in the spaghetti fiasco picture:) He refuses to let us feed him anymore. Aaron is done with school next month for the summer. He is already talking about all the swimming he is going to be doing. We are excited about this summer!!

Spring weather

This past weekend was GORGEOUS! We took full advantage of it and spent as much time outside as possible. It was so great wearing just a tee-shirt and jeans and even some SHORTS:) Aaron even learned to ride his bike without training wheels. His idea...not ours. But he is doing great. We posted a video on facebook. Mom and Raich came for the weekend which made it even better. Corban is finally better after having a high fever for a full 5 days. He ended up having to get 3 antibiotic shots in order to kick the stupid virus. It is so nice to see his sweet scrunched up smile again. Saturday morning we went to a mobile pantry that our church was participating in with an organization called "5 Loaves 4 Kids" which gives lunch to lower income kids every week. They were sponsoring a mobile pantry for those same kids during their spring break. It was a GREAT turn out and there was NO food left. I know that we were able to help so many families with this effort. For that I praise God. That afternoon we went on a hike with mom and Raich. Aaron was so excited for my mom in particular to be here. He even requested that he sleep in his room with him and have a 'sleep over.' She agreed. I love it! I know he talked her ear off:) We worshiped Sunday together and ate lunch before they had to leave. A great small group ended the evening and then off to bed. This weekend was a great for me because I was renewed after finding myself in a pretty stinky, low mood over the past few weeks. I'm not even sure I knew how deflated I had felt until I had such an uplifting weekend. Thank you God for knowing just what I need!

10 months

This weekend, you will be 10 months old Corban! You are crawling everwhere and becoming more and more aware of what is going on around you. You have pulled up a few times, so we are expecting big things from you soon:) You have been sick twice in the past month with ear infections and a nasty virus that is still trying to stay around. We have locked ourselves in the house for this entire week waiting for your fever to go away. This mama is exhausted after being up for a solid week day and night. So this month's post is just a few pictures. Love you bunches.

Gracious

I am putting together (writing) something for small group that has to do with the virtue of being Gracious. I chose the topic. I am now finding it ironic that I chose that particular topic since I am currently struggling with possessing this particular virtue right now. Well, who isn't? I guess I mean in the past week it has been particularly difficult. I have categorized my thoughts into two categories; 1) being gracious and 2) receiving graciousness. So, what did I do first when starting research??? Looked up the definition. There are several, but here is what most say:

Gracious (according to the Bible Encyclopedia) - "to favor," "to show kindness" to an inferior and "to be compassionate."
Mostly this word is used in the Bible to describe God and his favor, mercy, and kindness.

First thing in the definition that struck me was the fact that being gracious was to favor, show kindness, or be compassionate toward an inferior. An inferior?? Another definition said 'someone of lower social status.'

So I don't have all my thoughts together but I have a TON of questions. So here are a few I am throwing around. What do you think???

1. Is there a difference between being Gracious and being merciful?
2. When is being gracious easy? When is it hard?
3. How have I felt when someone acted graciously toward me? Did that change the way I act toward others?
4. What other virtues should I have so I can be better and being gracious?
5. What can I do to improve how 'gracious' I am to others?

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 145:8

9 months!

I know this blog is way late...oops. Still got it done though.

We made it to 9 months Corbs:)




-As usual, you are an easy baby. Although right now you are going through the 'never put me down' phase.
-If you are unhappy about something you are quick to voice how you feel in a loud scream or screech. No one gave you the memo that we are not a family that screams. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's pretty obnoxious.
-Nicknames: Corb(s), Corby little warbs.
-You have started crawling. You are getting faster every day and seem to be much more content now that your world has opened up. I am having to re-adjust to you being more mobile though. I have even lowered your crib because you are starting to pull up some.
-You nurse 2 times a day and eat when we eat our meals. You still just have 2 teeth but are learning how to chew pretty well. I can feed you most soft things in small bites. Favorite foods: yogurt, spaghetti, graham crackers, puffs, vanilla wafers, potatoes, mac and cheese. You basically eat a ton of stuff and aren't too picky.
-You are in 9 month and some 12mo clothes now. Your cheeks are very pinchable:) You weigh 18 1/2 lbs and are over 28inches long.
-You take 2 naps a day. One around 9am for about an hour and the other between 1-2pm for a few hours. You are attached to Nuzzy for sure for sleeping. You normally wake up between 6 and 7am.
-I have gone back to work (again) this month and you are staying with Jesica Crowe. She is really great with you and you don't cry when I leave you...this make a mama happy:)
-You are a daddy's boy. If daddy is around, you prefer him. Your daddy LOVES this. So does a mama.
-My favorite thing you do right now is follow your brother around while he plays. You know where his room is and if you know he's in there you will go in there and play 'with' him. Most of the time this results in you screaming because he is trying to shove you in the closet to play with him, but you will both play in there for a good 20-30min before I have to intervene. Big brothers are awesome to play with:)
-You are saying 'ma-ma' 'da-da' 'ba ba' and many other sounds. You clap your hands and throw them in the air when you hear music. This cracks us up, especially when we sing "If you're happy and you know it."
-You wave hi and bye and put your arms above your head when we say "praise the Lord!"
-You scrunch your nose up when you smile...just like your mama! Most people say you look just like me, especially the nose scrunching thing. It IS pretty adorable.

What if you were almost 1 year old Corban???!!! We sure do love you. Your smile is contagious. We are so thankful for the blessing your life has brought our family. Keep growing sweet boy!