Josiah Funny

Josiah funny: We were talking about the new baby and how there was a baby growing in my belly.  Josiah said he wanted a baby in his belly.  I explained to him that only girls can have babies in their bellies.  He thought about my comment for a few seconds and then responded with, “I need a wife.”  What a sweet and smart little man!  He is definitely excited about the new baby to say the least!  Chris then asked him if he wanted us to help him find a wife or if he wanted to do it on his own.  He told us he wanted to do it on his own.  Then Chris told him that there was someone who could help him.  Josiah wanted to know who.  Chris told him that God could help him find a wife.  Josiah thought about it and then said, "God and me will find a wife."  That is our prayer for him--that God is preparing a wife right now for him. 

CHRISTmas through the eyes of a child

CHRISTmas is just around the corner, and I'm enjoying seeing CHRISTmas thru the eyes of Josiah.  The excitment he has each morning as he sees the CHRISTmas tree never gets old.  This year, we have given him the responsibility to turn on the tree lights each morning and let me tell you he takes it very seriously!!  He even remembers to turn off the lights when we leave the house for an errand---I think he is taking after his Daddy on this one!!    I love how he says, "Daddy's favorite one," as our 1996 Olympic ornament plays the Olympic theme song.  There are times throughout the day where he will stand with his arms behind his back just gazing at the lights and ornaments.  One of his favorite ones to look at is a church that lights up.  He takes great responsibility in making sure Sophie isn't getting any of the ornaments, and he is quick to let me know if she is heading towards the tree.  I have to praise the Lord that we haven't had any big issues with her attacking the tree.  Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it has been--she wasn't given the nickname "The Beast" for nothing!!!   

This year, we have been doing advent on a more consistent basis.  The last four Sundays, we lit four small candles.  The first one was the Candle of Hope, the second was the Candle of Love, the third was the Candle of Joy and the last one was the Candle of Peace.  The last week or so, Josiah has really had a desire to light the tall white candle--The Christ Candle.  Each day, we tell him, we don't light it until CHRISTmas Eve.  The next day, he is ready to light it again.  His excitement to light the Christ Candle is challenging to me because the excitment he has as he anticipates the lighting of this candle should be the same excitment I have as I anticipate CHRISTmas morning.  Josiah has challenged me to slow down and remember the real reason for CHRISTmas--the coming of our Savior. 

I have also enjoyed his sensitive spirit.  He is so willing to go and do things for others.  This year, we have donated money in honor of our family to help four kids get adopted.  We gave Josiah three options--to buy shoes for boys & girls, to buy diapers for babies or to help some boys & girls  get a Mommy and Daddy.  His immediate response was, "Help get Mommy and Daddy."  I pray that this spirit to take care of others continues to grow within him.

In just a few days, CHRISTmas will come and go, but I look forward to the tradition of The Twelve Days of Christmas we started last year.  I took the box out tonight to look at it, and I can't wait to go over each of the symbols with Josiah and Sophie.  Last year, Josiah really enjoyed having our Twelve Days of Christmas devotional, but this year I look forward to him being able to communicate what each item symbolizes about the Christian faith.  This year I will try to take pictures from each night and post in the album, so you can get a glimpse of how we live our life. 

Look Who's Two

Two years ago today, God blessed us with a sweet baby boy.  Never in a million years would I have imagined how much this little boy would change my life.  I'm so thankful that God chose us to be his parents.  I find myself overwhelmed with emotion as I think about our Sweet Josiah.  He brings so much joy to our family.

We had a fun time Saturday celebrating his second birthday with friends and family.  We had his birthday party at our church and decorated with a jungle theme.  It meant a lot to have our friends and family there who love Josiah so much.  One thing that is hard about being in the ministry is the fact that we will more than likely never live down the street from any of our family.  Our children will never have their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in the same town.  We have been blessed to have people who have adopted Josiah and Sophie as their grandchildren and nephew/niece.  It means A LOT to Chris and I to see our children being loved on by others who truly do care about them.

So I've gone off on a little tangent...let's get back to the party.  We had quite a few kids there and they LOVED that they could run around the sanctuary and throw balls.  A few of the adults even got in on the fun!!!    Sophie did a super job considering that she didn't have her morning nap.  Josiah got LOTS of new toys.  We only let him open up a couple of them and have put the rest down in the guest room closet.  Can we say that it looks like a toy store!?!?!  He got A LOT of bubble items which were a BIG hit.  Chris and I had to chuckle because all of the bubble toys came from people who serve in the nursery on Sundays where Josiah is constantly asking for bubbles!    He got a bubble gun and a bubble lawn mower--two gifts that Daddy seemed a little excited about!!  I will post some pictures some time this week when I have some down time--Chris is on a mission trip for the week.  A couple of the grandmas are coming to stay throughout the week, so I'm not all alone.   I'm so thankful that they are able to take some time off from work and willing to travel here, so I wouldn't have to be all alone. 

I want to take a minute to reflect on all that our two year old can do.

*He can now run, feed himself, speaks words that we can understand, knows 12 shapes, knows all his colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, brown and black), can identify all of the letters when I ask him to point to them, can name almost all of his letters, can tell us that he is 2, can read 36 of his words from his reading program, he is eating the same things that we eat, loves to draw, loves to play with play dough, he loves to swim, loves his little sister and is so very gentle with her, loves to sing songs--especially, The Wheels on the Bus, he helps set the table, helps with the laundry, loves to help vacuum, helps put the dishes away, loves to help me cook, loves putting puzzles together and sleeps in a big boy bed. 

I know there is a ton more that he can do, but these are just a few things that we've enjoyed watching him learn how to do over the last year.  We look forward to watching him learn a whole bunch more things this coming year.  Happy Birthday, Josiah!!!  Remember, Mommy and Daddy love you very much and consider it a great honor to be your parents!

Melting Hearts

Well, I just feel like I need to write a special journal entry for our first born.  Today, he is 23 months--WOW, where has the time gone!?!  Last year on this day, Chris and I found out that Josiah was not going to be our only child anymore.  I can remember being excited about having another baby, but at the same time a little sad.  I didn't feel like I had enough time with just Josiah.  I worried that he would feel neglected one the new baby got her.  Well, I can say now that those worries where just worries, and I wasted a lot of time fretting.  Josiah has done a great job adjusting to having a baby sister and has learned so much!  In the last year, he has started walking (and "running"), talking, sleeping through the night and eating table food.  He has learned how to read some words, recognizes shapes and letters. He has become a tremendous helper by putting the silverware on the table, helping us get drinks for our meals, takes his own rag to clean and even helps push the vacuum clearner.  But the things that make our hearts melt is the way that he loves life and the people around him.  He has a contagious laugh and a silliness about him that makes us want to be silly with him, too.  The way that he loves and protects his little sister is so precious, and I pray that this relationship will last the rest of their lives.  The way that he asks for his Bible and devotional in the morning or after dinner how he wants to pray for the next person on our prayer wall.  I'm so thankful that I've been able to stay home with him every day to invest in his life.  I pray that one day when I stand before the Lord, He will tell me that I've been a faithful servant by raising our children in way that glorifies Him.  I can't believe that in one month we will be 2 years old.  We look forward to watching him grow over the next year and be a part of all that he learns.  We will continue to praise the Lord for choosing us to be his parents. We love you, Josiah Potter, and we are so honored to be your parents!

More from Josiah

Well, Josiah is really getting to the fun stage.  As he is learning more and more words, we find ourselves laughing more and more each day. 

*This week, we were out running some errands.  Chris was putting Josiah into the car and was fussing about the sunshade on his window.  I bought some stick on sun shades months ago.  I then made the comment that he just needed to go ahead and hang them up.  Chris then said that he wasn't going to do it until the weather was above 30.  Then out of Josiah's mouth, "Do it! Do it! Do it!"  Chris and I both started laughing so hard!  Then Chris started playing with him and saying, "I'm not gonna do it!"  Josiah's response, "Do it! Do it! Do it!"  I guess I will hand over the reins and let Josiah do the nagging for me! 

*Earlier in the week, Josiah and I were working some with his letters.  I decided to go ahead and see if he knew any of the letters.  By the time we went through the alphabet, he pointed out 16 of the 26 letters!  He didn't tell me the names of the letters, but he could point to the letter after I placed three letters for him to choose from. 

*The other day, I was cleaning the bathroom.  I had my rags out on the edge of the bath tub.  I sprayed the inside of the shower and closed the door to let the cleaner sit for a few minutes.  I turned around and there was Josiah with a rag "cleaning" the shower for me. 

*At the beginning of the week, we went to finish up Josiah's H1N1 shot.  He was such a BIG boy because he didn't even cry when he got his shot. 

Well, that is it for now.  We'll keep you posted on the latest antics of Josiah.

18 months

Well, this is a little late for his 18 months, but better late than never!  Josiah continues to grow each day.  We are really enjoying these last few days with him before his sister arrives.  As Chris has said many a times, "It won't be just the three of us for very much longer."  As ready as I am to have Sophie here, I try to cherish each moment I have with just him. 

Josiah is really learning leaps and bounds. Here are some of the latest Josiah things:

• His newest things are recognizing shapes.  He quickly learned circle, triangle, square, star and heart.  For Christmas he got a clock that also has shapes.  He can now recognize pentagon, hexagon, octagon, oval, diamond, rectangle, parallelagram and a quatrefoil.  For those of you along with me who had NO idea what a quatrefoil was until we got this clock--it's a clover shape.  Chris picks on me because I continually use the word quatrefoil when we play with the clock.  He says I'm probably one of five people in the world who knows what a quatrefoil is--now we have six--seven if you count Chris!   


• He continues to do well with his reading program.  We have really started working with him to read the flashcards on his own now that we have been through all the videos.  He is starting to show us the words that he has learned, but it's hard getting an active 18 month old to sit still long enough to go through all the cards.  He is also doing a great job with his animal sounds.  Our newest favorite animal sound is the camel.  Some of you might be wondering, "What sound does a camel make?"  Well, we have taught him to chew like a camel and then "spit."  For those of you who have a Facebook account, feel free to go look under my video section to see Josiah showing us his animal sounds.  


• We also bought him some great Melissa and Doug toys with some of his Christmas money.  We have some wooden cards that have words on them and then there are some wooden letters to spell the words.  Well, he is doing a great job picking out the letters he needs to use to spell the words and placing them in the appropriate spot. 


• His knowledge of words is just astounding.  We can put a pile of pictures on the floor (around 15 different pictures) and ask  him to find a certain picture and he does. 


• He is also doing a great job with his body parts.  He knows his head, hair, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, tongue, teeth, feet, toes, hands and fingers. 


• As a family we have started doing a devotional together in the morning before we get our day started.  He loves coming into our bed to "talk" about his night.  So we listen to him for a few minutes and then we start our devotional.  We tried to get a devotional that was kind friendly, but at the same time had some depth to it.  We got one that has some colorful photographs to it in hopes to keep his attention.  Well, he is more interested in my Bible that we read the scripture from than the devotional.  It does my heart great joy to "struggle" with our 18 month old son to get the Bible so I can read the passage for the day.  Chris and I took some more of his Christmas money and bought him his own Bible.  He will sit there a flip through the pages.  We just pray that as he gets older, he will still have this passion to read his Bible as he does now. 


• He is doing a better job eating.  He is starting to expand his taste buds and eating more of the food that we eat.  It's amazing what he will eat with a little mashed potato mixed with it!   


• He continues to be a very social child.  I have a feeling that I will have many conversations with him about NOT talking ot strangers.  When we are at church, he has no problem walking around saying hi to people.  Maybe we need to get


• We have also discovered how "messy" we truly are.  Josiah will find all kinds of little pieces of lint or crumbs and tell me "trash."  One night we were eating dinner and all the little pieces of crumbs on his plate, Chris' plate and my plate were all "trash."  I guess in a way it's our fault because when he was smaller anything that he would pick up and try to put in his mouth, we would tell him "trash." 


• The other day we were saying our blessing for our meal.  Sometimes, Josiah is a little hungry so he will start to whine while we are praying.  Chris will say, "Shhh..." and then continue with the prayer.  Well, this particular day, Josiah decided he was going to "Shhh..." Chris while he was praying.  The best part was he started laughing after he did it.  I think this child knows comedy already--I think I should be very scared has his mom and future teacher--I think I will have a class clown on my hands!  

Well, that is about all that is going on with Josiah.  We are so truly blessed to be his parents and each night during our bed time prayers, we make sure to thank God for blessing us with such a wonderful little boy.

Measels, Rubella, Roseola, Rash

Well, it's been quite a week.  The Monday after Thanksgiving, Josiah had a little bit of a stomach bug.  Let's just say we were changing LOTS of diapers!   He was fine for a couple of days, then he started running a fever.  We saw that he had two new molars coming in, so we didn't think anything about it.  His fever went away and then a couple of days later, he broke out in a rash.  I took him to Immediate Care on Saturday and the doctor there said he had measels--period.  He told me that I needed to stay away from him because of being pregnant.  Chris was at a youth function, so I called him crying.  Being the wonderful husband that he is, he left immediately to come him to care for Josiah.  At this point there was nothing we could do.  We called my doctor's office and talked with the doctor on call.  She confirmed that I shouldn't be around Josiah.  Chris and I started reading in our baby books and on-line about measels.  Everything we read, didn't line up with the symptoms he had.  When we were reading, there was a possibility that it could be rubella.  Still putting me at risk.   Monday morning came around, and we called Josiah's ped and my doctor.  We were both seen that day.  After taking Josiah to the ped, they said that worse case scenerio, he had roseola--at this point his rash was gone, so they could only base it on what we told them.  They said with the quickness of the rash going away, they felt it was probably a rash that was cased by the viral infection he had.  I went to the doctor that afternoon and told them what Josiah's ped had said.  They said that if he had roseola or a rash, then there was no risk for me.  They just told me to give them a call if I started a fever or got any sign of a rash.  Well, that afternoon when Josiah got up from his nap---he was sleeping by the time I got home--I was ready to give him a BIG hug!  While we weren't allowed to be around each other, I was able to get a lot of things done for Sophie.  I finished getting the items we needed for her.  I made the curtains for her room.  I was able to wrap Christmas presents, finish Christmas shopping, etc.  It wasn't fun not being able to cuddle with Josiah and it broke my heart when he saw me and wanted me to pick him up and  I wasn't able. 

Well, the Greenwoods are all healthy again, and we are getting ready to celebrate our Savior's birth in just a few more days.  Our family will be coming into town on Tuesday.  Originally they weren't suppose to, but Chris' granddad has been put into a hospice center.  He is expected to live anywhere from two days to two weeks.  We've had a trying couple of weeks with finding out the news of Chris' granddad, Josiah's sickness and finding out one of my friends from NC who was due 3 days before me died from a stroke.  We are praising the LORD that her son, Ymir, is fine.  We have deep sympathy for the fact that he will never be embraced by his mother.  Even though we've had these trials, we still praise the fact that God loves us enough to have sent His son.  We have peace in the fact that He knows EXACTLY how we feel when we are shaken by death because He watched His son being tortured, die and then being separated from Him because of our sin that Jesus was carrying.  All I can say is, "God is Good."  Even if we don't see the good in the situation at hand, we trust in the fact that there is a reason for these situations to bring Him glory.

We pray that everyone's CHRISTmas season is going well.  That you are remembering the real reason for CHRISTmas--the birth of our Savior!