Maverick & Jonah... Best Buddies!

Best Buddies!

So much fun hanging out together!

"g" babies!

 Halloween Costumes...

Monkey&Banana

1980s Prom Queens(we were on our way to a costume party)

So I decided against a "Halloween" post because... well... these kiddos didn't get to do anything for Halloween(actually, Jonah did make an appearance at the Harvest Festival, but Maverick didn't even make it that far...)!  Jonah, the banana and best bud of Maverick, belongs to my good friend Alyssa(the other prom queen in the pic), and as she and I spend more and more time together, naturally so do the boys.  They are about 8 1/2mos apart, but they truly have fun together, even with Jonah being so little!  Maverick enjoys sharing his toys with Jonah, and Jonah is trying desperately to start "chatting" like Maverick.  They enjoy watching Baby Mozart together, and Maverick tries to share his food with Jonah.  They lay on the ground and laugh together and they like hanging out staring at each other and "talking" in the back seat of the car together, and unfortunately, we discovered they also get sick together...  For the last 3 weeks they have both either been sick together with various things or take turns passing it back and forth.  The pictures above show the extent of Maverick's costume wearing this year because Halloween night instead of hanging out with his banana buddy at the Harvest Festival, he was tucked away in bed sick with the flu.  Currently, he is still getting over a yucky cold and unfortunately now Jonah has it as well(like I said, they like to share...EVERYTHING!).  I feel like Maverick is finally his way to being back to normal and healthy, and I am so so glad!  I have had to keep reminding myself these last few weeks that we really have been blessed his whole first year with a clean bill of health(as far as colds and flu go) so I really can't complain too much about him getting sick now, but it hasn't been fun for either one of us.  

A few updates on Maverick's new skills...  He can say(when he feels like it, which is not super often at this point): baby, dad, mom, bye-bye, hi, and ball.  He has also learned the art of kissing!  It has been something we have had to work on perfecting, as his first kisses were open-mouth, tongue and teeth highly involved- all over your mouth- kisses, but now I have taught him to hum as he comes at you for a kiss which naturally makes his mouth closed... so much better!  He has become very spiritual...he "Praises the Lord!"(Grandpa taught him to raise both his hands every time we say "Praise the Lord!") and I love it!  He has discovered dancing.  He started out dancing with the pirates on Mickey's Clubhouse and now he dances with all kinds of music...the way too early Christmas music that plays in Walmart, praise music on the radio during dinner, songs on the TV, and he even bobbed his head and "Praised the Lord" when Alyssa and I were practicing worship music for this weekend!  He showed off his dancing skills to his daddy on Skype tonight, he was pretty proud of himself.  He is learning to feed himself with a spoon, and surprisingly gets most of it in his mouth!  And lastly, he is walking...sometimes... and he won't do it for me!  I hear from people like Grandma and Grandpa that he can walk across their kitchen floor, and when he is with Alyssa and doesn't know I am watching, he will walk across her living room floor to her, but turns around and sees me and starts crawling again. The little stinker!  His doctor says not to worry though, this is normal, they don't like to show Mom independence because they worry mom will not be around as much if they do... who knows if that is true or not, but it makes me feel better! 

Our New Home Sweet Home!

So, as you know, we were coming to the end of the lease on our house and had to move last month.  I ended up finding a great townhouse to move into that makes us neighbors with some good friends of ours and I have never been so happy to move!  The house that we just moved out of was a mess that just felt like one problem/disaster after another and I am so happy to be officially free of it tomorrow.  Packing and unpacking almost always seems like an overwhelming task, but surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad this go 'round.  Because I know that when Elisha gets back from Afghanistan we will likely be moving again, the biggest job was the packing... I had to be VERY organized with the packing so that I only unpacked the boxes in the townhouse that were necessary for living the next few months and could stack and store the rest in the basement ready for the next move.  We have now been here a month, and for the most part, are unpacked and settled and it feels like "home"... I almost don't want to move when Elisha gets home!  I love decorating and making places "ours", and I as much as I like this house, I am sure that I will love decorating and personalizing wherever we end up next as well(and hopefully the next place we live will be one that we own and can settle in for a loooong time!).  Here's a peek into our townhouse:

Maverick's Room

We are transitioning from a barnyard theme to a western theme

Yep, his crib is one of the 3 closets in his room!

My Kitchen- Love the deep counters!     

 Downstairs bathroom

Breakfast nook

 Love the wood floors throughout the house!

 That door leads to a Big unfinished basement and laundry room

Behind that shower curtain is a Jetted Tub!

Master Room... this one still isn't quite all unpacked, but its live-able 

The house isn't anything fancy, but I love it!  I turn in the keys to the other house tomorrow and though I had some amazing help getting it cleaned and it is in WAY better condition than we got it, I am a little nervous about getting our deposit back.  The property management company has been very difficult to work with and has not been honest from day 1.  My hope is that despite who they have shown themselves to be, they will be honest when it comes to our deposit and return it all because we have taken good care of the house and made several improvements on it.  Whatever happens with it, we have learned a lot throughout the whole process and very much look forward to owning a home again and not dealing with renting anymore!  In the meantime, we are grateful for this townhouse and we are blessed with great landlords who are very understanding of military families and have put no pressure on us to sign a long-term lease.  Elisha will be home in less than 3months (YAY!!!!!!) and we will keep you posted about where we are headed next!

Maverick's 1st Birthday!

The Birthday Boy! 

 Maverick & his buddy Jonah

CHEESE!

 Such a cutie!

Showing us how old he is...1yr old!

Mommy and Maverick

Maverick's 1st Pumpkin experience

 Trying to figure it out...

 Not sure what he thinks of the pumpkin goo...

Pumpkin goo feet!

Maverick's Pumpkin Birthday Pie!

Watching his video from daddy(and waving at him)

 Birthday Bow :)

His 1st cars! (no more giving me a hard time about him not having "boy toys")

Pie anyone??

Present time!!!

I can't believe the day has already come and gone, the day our baby turned 1year old!!!  It's weird that its over and we officially have a toddler now... I know it is cliche to say this, but it went by so fast!  Maverick's actual birthday was a great day.  We got to start the day by skyping with Elisha so that Maverick could open his presents from daddy while he watched.  I always love watching them interact because it is reassuring to see and know that Maverick has not forgotten his daddy and I love that Elisha is able to be a part of our big moments even though he is so far away.  Maverick and Elisha got to spend about an hour together opening presents and smiling and waving and blowing kisses and chatting before moving on to the next activity in our day.  Grandma, Grandpa, Desiree, Alyssa, Jonah and the Stephan clan all headed to the Pumpkin Patch with us to get pumpkins.  I have been praying daily for cooler weather to arrive so that we could start enjoying fall, and true to God's perfect timing, we had a beautiful, and very cool day for Maverick's birthday.  We were able to stay at the pumpkin patch long enough to enjoy a little bit of everything(as you can see in the above pictures), and then got our pumpkins and headed home to carve Maverick's 1st pumpkin!  I figured it would go one of 2 ways: he was either going to love it and be a complete pumpkin mess or he would be weirded out by it and want nothing to do with it... his reaction was the first one.  By the time he got done sticking his hands in all the pumpkins and "helping" everyone carve their pumpkins, he was one big pumpkin mess!  Seeds between his toes...on his cheeks...in his hair...and all over his cute little 1yr old self!  I am always sad when he has a "1st" that Elisha is not here to enjoy with us, but my good friend Alyssa was great at capturing our day of firsts so that we could share them with him.  

Later in the evening, we had more birthday guests arrive for dinner, pie and presents.  I made a completely "Maverick friendly" dinner and pie and I think he liked it!  Cooking for this little man has been a challenge, but I finally feel like I am getting the hang of it and we can enjoy meals that feel a little more normal now.  I didn't get a picture of all the gifts before he started digging in, but I can assure you, he is one BLESSED and LOVED child!  We had a perfect ending to the birthday party when Elisha was able to skype us again before he headed into work and everybody got to say hello and Maverick got to show his daddy all of his birthday presents.  Also, it was perfect timing that a birthday package that Elisha had sent Maverick 3wks ago arrived right on time- not a day early or late! It was a video of Elisha reading books and talking to Maverick and a copy of all the books that he read for Maverick to follow along with... I love it!  Maverick sat there and tried to interact with the video, thinking it was daddy on skype... he waved at him and pointed at him and "chatted" before realizing it was a video.  He watched the video again this morning, this time he actually watched it and would point at the books and smile.  

I loved the whole birthday day, but it was definitely full of lots of different emotions.  I loved celebrating Life.  I loved watching and being a part of some "firsts".  I felt Blessed every time I looked around and saw the people that were celebrating with us, the ones who have walked alongside us this first year and been such a huge encouragement and support!  I felt Proud as I watched our son, who is no longer a baby, do "kid" things and knowing that we had done some things right to make it to this day.  I felt Joy knowing some exciting things are on the horizon; the coming years are filled with so much learning and I can't wait to watch it all and be a part of it all!  I felt a little sad... wishing so much that my husband could be there to celebrate our son with me and wishing that he didn't have to experience the whole day 2nd hand... BUT I also felt Peace because I know & have seen God's faithfulness in holding our little family together in His Hands, and I trust that He will bring us through this even stronger and better than when we started!  Its the little things, like Maverick laughing when he saw Elisha on skype during his party, that make me smile and know that God is still working things "together for good" even when there are less than ideal circumstances.  

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of Maverick's first year of life!  He is not at all lacking for love, and I am so grateful for all the amazing people, both family and friends, who are a part of our lives!

Sometimes you just need to play!

Every little boy needs a cape!

Just being silly :)

He LOVED swinging!

We found a friend at the park 

Learning how to brush his teeth... all 6 of them!

So here it goes... my first blog post!  The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of packing(for our upcoming move next weekend), teething(little man), doctor appointments(for both Maverick-allergies&me-arms), and many many days spent with friends who have been both grieving and celebrating where God has them right now.  I woke up today tired, both physically and emotionally, and not motivated to do much of anything.  So, I decided I was going to take the day off of all responsibilities and to-do lists and just spend the day enjoying being a mom.  I haven't really taken the time to make that a priority lately and I realized it was really the only thing I truly needed to do today- the only thing that couldn't wait another day.  With "Be a mom" the only thing on my agenda for today, I got to spend the day reading books to Maverick(well really only 2 books over and over and over...) and then taking a nap with him(something I never do).  After nap and lunch, we went out to frozen yogurt together(its one of the few treats Maverick is not allergic too, as long as it is fruity) and then a date at the park where we played on the swings and slides and in the grass.  Maverick was very chatty and happy and I absolutely loved hearing him laugh as he was swinging!    We finished the day with a big bubble bath and more books and cuddle time in the rocking chair before he drifted off to sleep.  It was a much needed day of rest and fun and laughter.  There was no agenda, no to-do list, no time frame to work with, just quality time with my little man.  He will be a year old in just a few weeks and unfortunately I tend to put playtime with him at the bottom of my to-do list when life gets busy and rob myself and him of days, or even just moments, like today where we just get to laugh.  God is showing me more and more of Himself through Maverick... I am learning more of His Kindness in moments when I am so overwhelmed and busy that I neglect to spend time with Maverick and instead of holding a grudge against me(like we as adults tends to do) he rushes to me the moment I do turn to him and is so eager to be near me and to share with me whatever toy has been occupying his imagination while I have been "busy"... I am learning more of His Love when in moments of exhaustion and frustration I snap at Maverick for things that are not his fault and instead of getting grumpy back at me he falls into me wrapping his arms around my neck and flashes his big toothy grin at me, as if saying,"its ok mom, I love you still"...I am learning more of His Joy when I take days like today and make it all about what makes someone else(Maverick) happy and in return I get to feel the joy of watching him laugh and learn and experience new things.   It's in those everyday moments that I see my desperate need for God and recognize the truly wonderful, beautiful, gracious Gift that I have been given through my little man.