Happy Anniversary!

One year ago today I started this blog. Yesterday I sat down and looked through some of the old posts from last year. I can't believe how much has happened since then! 2009 was a big year for our family. Since the blog began, here are some of the bigger things that we've accomplished:

played our first organized sport

got someone completely potty trained

found out we were getting a third baby

sold our house

bought a house

visited Mayberry, NC

finished medical residency

said goodbye to dear friends in WS, NC

moved to GA

started practicing medicine

got rid of a pacifier

vacationed at Lake Hartwell

changed churches

celebrated Coleman's 2nd birthday

started preschool

had stitches

broke an arm

visited Charleston, SC

Thing 1 and Thing 2

welcomed our third boy, Jonathan Jackson

celebrated the holidays in our new home

celebrated Andrew's 4th birthday

and a ton of other memories from daily life. This has turned out to be so much more fun than I could ever have imagined. How fun to have a record of all these milestones and memories of our life right now. We can't wait to see what God has in store for our Quiver this year!

Valentine's Day

Can you believe I'm getting my Valentine's post done and it's still February?! We had a sweet Valentine's Day this year. It was low key, which is great at this time of life. Brent and I had our "date" earlier in the month while the boys were at Gigi and Papack's. The snow kept us from our planned circus outing on Saturday, so we got to stay home and make Valentine's cookies. Cookie making is always a hit around here.



The Thursday before Valentine's, Andrew's class had their Valentine's Day party. It was also Winterfest which I'll post about another day. Anyway, the class had a fun party. Andrew wore his Valentine's shirt, which read, "Mommy is my Valentine." They had pizza and rice krispy treats for lunch.

The class had made gifts for their parents and we got to open them at the party. It's a magnetic frame of puzzle pieces that says "I love you to pieces". Too cute!

We also did a little craft/project during the party. They had exchanged Valentines with their classmates and we brought home a nice bag of treats. Andrew gave his friends a small bag of teddy grahams with a note that said, "Bear Hugs for You from Andrew".

Here are my yahoo Valentines.

Somebody get me a spoon because I could just eat them up!

Wordless Wednesday

Bathtime

Jonathan has outgrown the baby sponge we use for baths when the boys are really little. He has graduated to the little blue tub. In the pictures, he looks a little unsure of himself, but he really seems to like his new bathing station. He smiles and talks during his baths most of the time.

These were from a visit to Gigi and Papack's. He borrowed their kitchen sink for his bath that Saturday night. The first picture shows his hair really well, and the second one is just after getting a rinse cup dumped over his head.

For the Birds

Several weeks ago, we completed a project for the birds in our neighborhood. As many preschool and elementary kids as I have worked with, I had never done this activity. We used pinecones, peanut butter and birdseed to make birdfeeders to hang in our crepe myrtle by our front door. Surprisingly, it wasn't even that messy. The boys loved making these, so I'm pretty sure we'll do it every year.


Andrew spreading his peanut butter on the first pinecone. Doesn't he look like he's about six in this picture?!

Coleman took his job very seriously too.

rolling the cones in the birdseed

the finished feeders hanging in the snow

I couldn't get Coleman to come have his picture made with the feeders. He was too busy walking in the snow.

the view from our dining room window

Andrew and I get quite excited when we see a bird eating. However, we have to be careful to not let Coleman know there's a bird or he'll run up to the window and roar very loudly to scare it away. Not sure what he thought we were going to do with the bird feeders if we didn't want the birds to actually eat them. . .

Snow Again!

Friday afternoon we got a big snow! Gainesville got between 2 and 3 inches during the afternoon and evening. When Brent got home we dressed and went out to play while it was still coming down. Saturday we had tickets to the circus in Atlanta, but had to stay home due to some pretty icy roads that morning. Fortunately, we hadn't told Andrew and Coleman we were going, so they weren't disappointed at all about staying home and playing in the snow again!



Coleman just struck off down the road on his own. I guess he had miles to go before he slept.

His snowsuit reminds us of Randy from the movie "A Christmas Story". He has a hard time bending over in it, and if he falls down, he is at the mercy of a family member to help him get up. He holds his arms up and says, "Help me! Help me! I'm stuck!"

He looks pretty pitiful.

But he quickly gets back into a playful mood.

Andrew was determined to try to ride his bicycle in the snow. Didn't get too far.

Here they are laughing as Brent has just thrown a snowball at me. Or is getting ready to. I can't remember which.

the view from the deck while it was still coming down on Friday

Coleman got to make his first snow angel. Brent had to help him move his legs.

Saturday morning the sun was out and so we had to hurry and make a snowman.

Everyone was pretty much done with the snow by the time we finished with her. Hopefully, these will be the last snow pics for this year. We're ready for daffodils and flip flops!

Mr. Smiley

Jonathan has been lighting up the room with his smile lately. We have finally been able to capture some of his smiles on film. Enjoy!


reading Harry the Dirty Dog with Daddy - this was a favorite with all three boys


That Harry is so funny!




Andrew really had him smiling and talking Tuesday morning.



Coleman and Daddy got a bunch of smiles one night after supper.

Whew! All that smiling just wears him out! He gets so tired he even has to hold his bitsy in!

A Visit to Gigi and Papack's

Last weekend Gigi and Papack came and picked up the two bigger boys for the weekend. They left Saturday after lunch and came home Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, Coleman ran a fever off and on while they were there, so it kind of limited their outings. However, the boys (like every other person in the US this winter) have had some cabin fever so they were very excited about a change of venue. Here are some pictures from their visit.



When they arrived, Andrew wanted to watch TV from Gigi and Papack's bed. We don't have TVs in the bedrooms, so this was quite a novelty!


Papack said that Saturday evening they missed Coleman. Looked all over the house for him. Called him repeatedly. Look where he was.



The boys love to ride "Old Blue."

Monday morning they were leaping into the pillows in Andrew's room. Here's a picture before takeoff.

Thank you Gigi and Papack for a great weekend!

Two Months Old

Jonathan turned two months old today! It's hard to believe we've had him with us that long. He had his check up yesterday and weighed 11 pounds 5 ounces. He's 23 inches long! He is a big smiler now, though we couldn't catch one on film today. And he's found his little voice. When we talk or sing to him, he works very hard until he coos back at us.

Month number 2 was very busy around here. We celebrated Andrew's birthday, Jonathan's baby dedication, and took him on his first trip overnight to Gigi and Papack's. We went to the library several times, MOPS, the barber shop (he was a big hit even though he didn't get a haircut), church, and The Varsity. Jonathan loves his two brothers, even though they gave him his first cold last week. He still has tons of hair, though some of it is starting to lay down on its own. He's beginning to be interested in toys and books. So far his favorites seem to be Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and playing in his activity gym.

We made two pictures of him today. The first one shows his hair better, and he has a bit of a grin. It was before his bath. The second picture is after his bath and is a little closer to his face.

Baby Dedication

On Sunday the 24th,we had Jonathan's Baby Dedication sevice at Lakewood Baptist. It was a very sweet service, in spite of a very rainy and cold afternoon. Andrew and Coleman's dedications were done during the Sunday morning service at the churches we were attending at the time. They were nice services too. Lakewood has their dedication services at 4:00 on Sunday afternoons. The families and friends of the babies come and share in the service and then fellowship at a reception afterwards. It was a very sweet service and we loved the laid back atmosphere.

The service started off with a welcome from the preacher and then we sang a praise chorus together. After that, the children's minister got up and called each family individually to come to the stage. She shared some information from a form we filled out prior to the service. They asked us about his name, what he was wearing, and anything else we'd like to share. We wrote, "Jonathan is our third son. Like his brothers, he was given a biblical name and a family name. We chose Jonathan because it means "gift of God" and Jackson is for his grandfather. The gown he is wearing was made by his mother, and the blanket he is wrapped in was used in his brothers' dedications and his mother's baby dedication. Our prayer for Jonathan, and his brothers, is Proverbs 3:5-6. 'Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."

Then the preacher held Jonathan and prayed over him. Each family did the same thing for their baby. We also had another couple standing with us. Lakewood pairs a seasoned family with each baby being dedicated. This couple promises to pray for the child and their family during their upbringing. We chose a couple from our Sunday school class. While we haven't known Bill and Suzanne long, we know they love God and His Word. We are honored to have them on our "team," praying for us as we raise our boys.

After each family was seated, we said a prayer of blessing over the babies. Then we closed the service with a slide show of pictures of the babies. We were asked to send in around ten photos of Jonathan and our family for them to use. The staff compiled everyone's pictures into the slideshow. It was a really sweet end to the service. Here are the pictures from the afternoon.

Jonathan in his dedication gown (Papack has much better pictures, but I haven't been able to download them yet.)

Bill and Suzanne with Jonathan and us

Dr. Tom Smiley with us

The Archer Five - Please notice that the yahoos are wearing their rainboots. This was not because it was raining. Thankfully, it was raining so they didn't look too absurd. As we were getting ready to leave, Coleman's shoes disappeared from our house. Gigi, Papack, Brent and I tore the place apart looking for them. When we could wait no longer, the decision was made that he would have to wear his rainboots. I had a sneaking suspicion that Andrew would want to wear his when he saw Cole's. Sure enough, when we got to the church and Andrew saw Cole's boots, he wanted to change out of his shoes. Good thing I had grabbed his pair as well. When we got home, Coleman's shoes were in the middle of their bedroom floor. I have no explanation for how they got there.

The Archers

The Archers and Bells